Domino Dancing

Album: Introspective (1988)
Charted: 7 18
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Songfacts®:

  • Dominos are commonly arranged so if one topples, it will trigger a chain reaction and they will all fall down. This handy metaphor is used here to represent a tenuous love relationship.
  • Introspective was the Pet Shop Boys' third album and it was hoped that it would continue the chart-topping success of the previous two. However, it didn't happen, and afterwards, frontman Neil Tennant recalled, "It entered the charts at #9 and I thought, 'That's it, then - it's all over.' I knew then that our imperial phase of #1 hits was over."

    Tennant was right that their run of #1 UK hits (they had four) was over, but the group had a steady run of entries in the Top 10 for the next two decades. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Mike - Santa Barbara, CA
  • Pet Shop Boys, a British band, sought out American dance-music producers in the '80s. Their first recordings were with Bobby Orlando, who was shocked that anyone from England knew who he was. For Domino Dancing, they used the Miami-based Lewis A. Martinée, who brought a Latin flavor to the recording. Martinée, the mastermind behind Exposé, told Songfacts how it happened:

    "EMI contacted me because I did a song with The Voice In Fashion called 'Only In The Night' that was on EMI, and the Pet Shop Boys liked the sound. They told the label, 'We want to work with whoever's doing these beats.'"

    "Those guys were great," he added. "They were awesome to work with."
  • The music video was directed by Eric Watson, who was a photographer at Smash Hits magazine when Neil Tennant worked there. He also did their videos for "Jealousy" and "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" The Puerto Rican model Donna Bottman is the girl in the video, seen keeping her composure amid a welter of shirtless guys.

    Pet Shop Boys rarely played live around this time (they didn't tour until 1989), so they put a lot of resources into their videos.

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  • Usman Ali Khan from PakistanAll Time Favorite Song.
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