Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)

"Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. The song is a medley of covers of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", a 1967 song by Frankie Valli, though in an arrangement informed by the 1982 disco version of the song by Boystown Gang rather than the original.[1] The song accompanied "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?", the third single from their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990), as a double A-side in the United Kingdom (both singles were released separately in the United States). Released in March 1991, the song became the duo's 15th consecutive top-20 entry in the UK, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart. The band have said that they thought the guitars in the original sounded similar to a sequencer.[2]

"Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)"
Single by Pet Shop Boys
A-side"How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?"
B-side"Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend"
Released11 March 1991
GenreSynth-pop
Length
  • 4:31
  • 6:44 (extended mix)
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Pet Shop Boys singles chronology
"Being Boring"
(1990)		 "Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)"
(1991)		 "Jealousy"
(1991)

Background and inspiration

In the liner notes for the album Discography: The Complete Singles Collection, the Pet Shop Boys stated that they wanted to turn "a mythic rock song into a stomping disco record."[1]

Content

The Pet Shop Boys version differed significantly from the original version in its musical arrangement. In contrast to the U2 version's instrumental build-up, the Pet Shop Boys version opens abruptly with synthesized and sampled noises and a drum machine. The musical climax of the song is also changed in other elements; a background vocal sample of "burning down love" is played right at the start, and synthesized horns erupt with even higher notes immediately following each chorus. Singer Neil Tennant performs the lyrics with no vocal exertion or stresses, in contrast to Bono's performance. In addition, at the transition between "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", Tennant sings the two lines one after the other, with no change in pitch—pointing out the similarities in the two songs.[3] Following the release of the single, U2 issued a statement saying "What have we done to deserve this?".[4] Tennant mentioned to The People in 2002 that he had "managed at long last to patch things up with Bono" after meeting him at one of Elton John's homes in the south of France.[5]

This version has been paired with "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?", a song criticising the insincere humanitarian messages of a number of pop stars during the 1980s and the institutionalization of rock and roll.[3][6]

Live performances and recordings

To date, the Pet Shop Boys have performed the song live on five of their tours. The song was included in the main set list for 1991's Performance Tour and a recording of this from the Birmingham NEC in June 1991 was released on the VHS (and later DVD) Performance. The VHS performance of the song omits the Frankie Valli section due to a publishing issue, although the complete soundtrack was later restored to the DVD version in 2004. The song was also later performed sometimes on the 1994 Discovery tour, the 2002 Release tour, the 2004 Summer/Fall shows and the 2006 Cubism tour, of which a performance filmed in Mexico City on 14 November of the same year was included on the 2007 DVD Cubism.

Track listings

Charts

References
  1. "Where the Streets Have No Name". Retrieved 28 March 2010.
  2. Heath, Chris (2001). "Where the streets have no name (I can't take my eyes off you)". In Behaviour / Further Listening 1990–1991 (CD liner notes). London: Pet Shop Boys Partnership.
  3. "Pet Shop Boys — Product — Where the streets have no name (I can't take my eyes off you). How can you expect to be taken seriously?".
  4. O'Hanlon, Eamonn (21 April 2002). "Bono and Neil's row ends with a splash". The People. Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  5. Chris Heath (2001). "How can you expect to be taken seriously?". In Behaviour / Further Listening 1990–1991 (CD liner notes). London: Pet Shop Boys Partnership.
  6. "Australian-charts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  7. "Austriancharts.at – Pet Shop Boys – Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  8. "Ultratop.be – Pet Shop Boys – Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  9. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8 no. 15. 13 April 1991. p. 31. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  10. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  11. "Offiziellecharts.de – Pet Shop Boys – Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  12. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Where the Streets Have No Name". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  13. "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8 no. 22. 1 June 1991. p. 24. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  14. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 17, 1991" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  15. "Dutchcharts.nl – Pet Shop Boys – Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  16. "Charts.nz – Pet Shop Boys – Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)". Top 40 Singles.
  17. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor/SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  18. "Swedishcharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)". Singles Top 100.
  19. "Swisscharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)". Swiss Singles Chart.
  20. "Pet Shop Boys: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  21. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  22. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  23. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  24. "Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles – Week ending June 15, 1991". Cash Box. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  25. "Jaaroverzichten 1991 – Singles" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  26. "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts – 1991" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  27. "The Year in Music: 1991" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 103 no. 51. 21 December 1991. p. YE-32. ISSN 0006-2510 – via World Radio History.
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