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This spring, the Pet Shop Boys, the duo who have been making excellent conceptual dance-pop jams since the mid-’80s, will release their next album Nonetheless. Last month, when the group dropped lead single “Loneliness,” they said that they were going for orchestral grandeur on the new record. Now, as if to prove that point, PSB have gotten together with the BBC Concert Orchestra to cover a rock classic.
David Bowie wrote “All The Young Dudes” in 1972, and he gave the song to Mott The Hoople, largely as a ploy to prevent that band from breaking up. “All The Young Dudes” became a massive hit and a generational anthem, and it’s been covered many times over the past half-century, including by Bowie himself. It’s not the kind of song that necessarily lends itself to a Pet Shop Boys cover, but Neil Tennant really goes for it.
Rather than flatly reciting the lyrics, the way I’d expect him to do, Tennant does his best to hit all the big notes. Interesting strategy! Interesting results, too! You can decide for yourself if it’s any good. Below, watch the Pet Shop Boys’ “All The Young Dudes” cover and check out the Mott The Hoople original.
Nonetheless is out 4/26 on Parlophone.