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| “Opportunities”
was released on July 1985 as the second stand alone single of Pet Shop
Boys and first single with their long-term label Parlophone. The artwork
was designed by XL Design with photos taken by Eric Watson. The look of
that band was established with this release showing Neil in formal wear
and Chris in jeans and hat. Two close-up portraits were selected from
the shooting taken in various locations in east London for use on all
formats on the record: Neil with dishevelled, curly, floppy hair, big
shirt collar, dark tie and a dollar sign on on his overcoat lapel; Chris
with a peaked cap, open-necked 50s style shirt, American leather jacket
and t-shirt and gold chain. |
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The
Pre-Release 12” Single featured the images in ‘photocopy’ quality: Neil
on the front and Chris on the back, both framed over a white background
with the title of the tack below the photo and the name of the band,
plus a black stripe with all the credit info. The 7” Single included
the original short version of “Opportunities (let’s make lots of money)”
and the B-Side “In the night”. The 12” Single included “Opportunities
(let’s make lots of money) (Dance Mix)” instead of the short version.
A second Limited Edition 12” Single was released with large 6” labels
including two new remixes of “Opportunities”: ‘Version Latina’ and ‘Dub
for Money’. The vinyl was issued in a matte black die-cut sleeve with
spot varnish lettering over “Pet Shop Boys” on top.
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| Ten
months later, in May 1986, a second re-recorded version of “Opportunities”
is released as the third single of “Please”, the first studio album of
Pet Shop Boys. At this time, the overall artwork design had been taken
over by Mark Farrow who did a great job on the 12” Remix Single of the
second issue of “West End girls” and for the single, the image of the
group became subordinate to their graphic and was reduced to typography.
According to Farrow, “it’s kind of a Factory sleeve… it was gold and silver
[gold type over silver background] because that’s what money is” and Neil
& Chris didn’t care too much about not being on a photo on it. There were
just 7” and 12” releases in the UK; the 7” Single included the new version
of “Opportunities” and the B Side “Was that what it was”; the 12” Single
included an unlabelled remix by Shep Pettibone, a ‘Reprise’ version, the
‘Original 1985 Dance Mix’ and the same B Side. |
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Some
international releases reworked the original design like the 12” Australian
version using the same artwork but changing colours: orange type over
black background; the Japanese 7” Promo kept the color but added Japanese
characters on the front cover and make the single as a Double A-Side
including “West End girls” on the other side with the same design style;
the Japanese 12” Promo was totally different with a white background
and the typographic logo used on the 1984 “West End girls” release on
black colour; the Philippine 12” Single included a photo of Neil & Chris
taken from the “Please” Inner Sleeve and added the name of the group
and name of the song with different graphic styles; finally a very rare
New Zealand 12” Single limited to 400 pieces and printed in Clear Vinyl
was released in a white die-cut sleeve with the the name of the band
in orange colour in the same style as “Love comes quickly” and 6” labels,
a rare photo apparently not available anywhere else on the front and
an orange label with the track list and credits on the back with the
same style as “Love comes quickly” back cover.
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