@AshleyPomeroy I think they were all terrified something could go wrong, Fairlight's and Emulator's were not exactly reliable and you had two Fairlight's synched here.
I love the fact that the midi-page of their Fairlight was connected to the screens in the background showing the programming for the song playing along with their live performance. So great to see.
@@onomatopoeia99 Yes, his logo is on some of the keyboards (EII+ specifically). Supposedly one of the cables synching the two fairlights got damaged no long before they went on air and there was a frantic rush to fix it. Impressive kit list with two Fairlight CMI's (probably only beaten by AON's performance on the Tube where they had three!), A Yamaha DX1 and DX7, Technics PX1, and EMU Emulator II+, synching it all was a Friendchip SRC.
@@onomatopoeia99 I remember a while back there were two videos on RU-vid of Fairlight sequences from this song - one half of the arrangement from this video and the other hand the other half, which was basically just bass and drums. I have the impression that by 1986 a lot of the early Fairlights were just used as rhythm machines.
NOBODY: I would make an impossible live setup with two (2) Fairlights $30000 (around $100000 EACH adjusted in 2020s money), Yamaha DX1 $14000 ($40000 adjusted), EMU Emulator II $8000 ($22400 adjusted), Yamaha DX7 $2000 ($5600 adjusted), Technics digital piano $2000 ($5600 adjusted). PET SHOP BOYS: hold my beer !
And nowadays DX1 is worth approx. of 100 000€ as a collector issue. In 2022 was listed for 150 000 € on Reverb in Mint condition. Otherwise DX 7 MK I is Still avaible for 500-1000 € depending on condition and accesories. At that time DX1 had to be a very luxury affair, the same as these days.
Why, WHY was this not included in the Pet Shop Boys @ The BBC Special last night.......HUH?!!! They just used a regular TOTP mime special when they had THIS very rare totally LIVE performance of Opportunities in their archive. I mean...COME ON!!
I don't know if I want to go back, but I would like to go back to experiencing how I felt back then when this was on the radio, and I was a kid with dreams. Part of my dreams were to be big enough to go to clubs and go dancing to music like this! ha ha!
Every synth nerd - and I was one - watched this in awe and astonishment. When Neil looks the camera in the eye at 2:00, queer kids felt their hearts melt. Something for everyone! This is the 80s version of Bowie's TOTP appearance with Mick Ronson.
I got shocked by seeing Neil Tennant on keyboards back then. Made me understand these guys arrived to stay for an expanded period in the music scene. Simply a jewel.
The machines didn't run themselves. Quite a dangerous proposition actually for live tv. Nothing like it is today. You hit play and hoped your programming was right, and usually it was, but sometimes, things went astray. With only two guys, though, made sense for Tennant to do some duty as well.
@@foto21 The machines were quite un-reliable, Rick Wakeman used to reckon he played a lot of golf when he got a Fairlight whilst waiting for someone to come over from Australia to fix it, the PPG system crashed when SAW were doing "you spin me round" and Martin's PPG 2.2 went wrong during a concert where Karftwerk were in attendance! The EI/II was no beacon of reliability either and neither were most analogue synths. The DX7 was reliable though and that's one of the reasons they sold so many of them.
@@dglcomputers1498 I remember programming crappy old drum machines. What a black hole. Many things were better in the past, and a few things were def not. I don't own a DX-7 but I do have a CS-10. It doesn't have unlimited sounds, but what it does have sounds amazing and def different than vsts. THere was a guy out of Japan who was doing great renos on old Yamahas.
I'm extremely late to the party and just discovered this band last year (2021), and this was one of the first videos I ever watched, so I thought this was a normal setup for them, like "oh okay this group is 2 dudes on synthesizers and one of them also sings". Going back and rewatching after I've been a fan for about 6 months and forgot about this video, and I'm like 😯 "omg! Neil on a synth!!!" Haha
Neil is extrovert and singer. Chris is introvert and keyboarder. I think thats why they cooperating together by so many years. They fully complete each other!
I like the one on TV that girl singing with the driver is very moving .if they can incorporate the girl in the Duo it would be a very moving song . One of the reason i looked them up. And its a snapy tune.
@@jeanraymond281 Same reason I looked it up. It is an allstate commercial. I hate the hood ornament. is so creepy I turn the channel when that part comes on. LOL
I saw this performance on TV at the time. They'd already had 2 chart hits and I was curious to see them perform "live". It's amazing that this version is from 29th April as the single was released on 19th May and is so different. I can only assume they wanted to prove they could play live but didn't have the "tools" to do it justice (extra musicians, backing singer etc). This is raw and that's what I like about it. The finished version is way better and one of my favourite PSB tunes ever but the fact Neil is playing keyboards proves they're not just a karaoke outfit (like Erasure)
I watched this for the first time on New year's eve 1986 when there was a 3 hour special of the old grey whistle test best of 1986, followed by Jean Michelle jarre in Houston. I was 14 and had just got into playing keyboards and was a big fan of psbs (having bought a copy of E&MM (electronics and music making, still got the first one I bought in October 1986!) Big fan of electronic music in the day including Pet shop boys, new order, in fact anything with a synth. I was absolutely mesmerised by this and watched it hundreds of times. Still playing in bands to this day and have a collection of about 15 synths from that period, but only a DX7 from that line up! Bit of a nerd fact, but most of the gear was hired in, including the DX1, Emulator and Fairlights. You can see the hire company stickers on them!
2 Fairlight C.M.I. IIxs, a Emulator II, a DX-1,a Technics PK-1, and a very rare DX-1.All the keyboards except the PK-1 and DX-1 are part of the Arturia-v collection 8
Some parts of the song were pre programmed or sequenced using the two Fairlight C.M.I. IIxs. When you see Neil and Chris playing it's them actually playing not miming.
This clip. Saw it on a 'best of the 80s' BBC thing in 1989 and 'got it'. Now have my very own 80s synthpop tribute band. Not quite DX1/DX7/EMU/CMIs, but we do a few PSB classics. Thanks Neil and Chris. :)
One of the Fairlights was owned by Blue Weaver. Blue Weaver was the touring keyboardist for the Bee Gee's. There is a video of Blue Weaver's Fairlight parts used for this performance.I don't have the link to the video. Probably can do a RU-vid search for it
This was their first public live performance, I have the entire episode on an old video tape somewhere - not the clip of we've got a fuzzbox just before. Love is the slug is an excellent ep. Bostin'
Great! Saw this on TV at the time aged 12 and it’s what got me into PSB and synths in general. Couldn’t afford any of these (and definitely not a CMI), so my first “synth” was a relatively affordable Roland A50 after seeing one being played on tour in 89. Turns out it was a midi controller.. with dodgy poly aftertouch. I still have it.
