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| “Go West”
was released in September 1993, originally planned as the first single
of “Very”, the fifth studio album of the Pet Shop Boys, but abandoned
in favour of “Can you forgive her?”, becoming the second single of the
album. The artwork was designed by Mark Farrow and PSB with photos by
Chris Nash where Neil & Chris was wearing blue & yellow jumpsuits with
their famous rounded hats. The inspiration for the cover comes from the
combination of the gay utopia lyrics and the American symbolism which
was actually created while the US presidential election was underway and
it was based on real campaign badges and it was subverted by the communistic
overtones of the design. |
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Each
cover shows a different set of badges, some showing Neil & Chris, some
showing only Neil, some showing only Chris and some with type and illustration
only. The CD Single showed a Neil badge on the cover while the Cassette
Single showed a Chris badge instead; the 7” Single showed four badges
and the 12” Single showed 9 badges. The Cassette and 7” formats included
the original version of “Go West” and the B Side “Shameless”; the CD
Single included both tracks plus ‘Go West (Mings Gone West: 1st and
2nd Movements)’ and the 12” Single included three versions of “Go West”
remixed by Brothers in Rhythm, Kevin Saunderson and Farley & Heller.
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| Two promotional
12” Singles were released in the UK, one with the Brothers in Rhythm remix
and two Farley & Heller remixes and the second one with the Brothers in
Rhythm remix and two Kevin Saunderson remixes. There’s also a 12” acetate
including a full length version of “Go West” released in 1992 that was
sent out to tastemakers as the first single of “Very” but abandoned before
it made it to a pressing. |
| The international
releases of “Go West” showed only one of the badges with both, Neil &
Chris in most of their formats: Europe released two different CD Singles
packages in slim jewel cases, the US released one Maxi-Single in a regular
plastic case, a Cassette Single and a 12” Single housed in a die-cut generic
black sleeve with a white sticker using the same badge repeated three
times. There’s also a very rare official US 12” test-pressing, limited
to 300 copies, commissioned by EMI and sent to selected DJs titled “Go
West (Unauthorized Bootleg Remixes)” remixed by Mark Picchiotti & Teri
Bristol and included 4 versions of “Go West”: Sunny Beach Vocal - Cold
End, Sunny Beach - Percussion End, West End Dub (feat. Liz) and California
Dreamin' Dub (feat. Liz). |
