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The Pop Kids
release date: March 18th, 2016
chart: UK #-, US #-

'The Pop Kids', is the first single from the album 'Super'. Based on an instrumental demo Chris had written in a Munich hotel room in 2011 while on tour with Take That, it is about a friend of Neil’s who, as the song mentions, went to university in the early Nineties and had a friend who he would go clubbing with; the two of them were referred to by the other students as “the pop kids”. “The actual details of the story are all invented,” Neil points out. “I think the song is ultimately celebrating their friendship, which is expressed through pop music. It’s also celebrating what the song ‘Vocal’ celebrates: euphoria, and camaraderie, and all those things you can get out of pop music. Also it’s celebrating people who take something trivial seriously. Pop music, which is ostensibly trivial, is also very important. We’ve always thought that. So it’s celebrating the type of person who thinks that.”
The track was available on iTunes from February 16th, 2016 to anyone who has pre-ordered the album. The ‘PSB deep dub’ and ‘The full story’ versions are remixes by Pet Shop Boys including additional vocals and, in the case of “The full story”, an extra verse which brings the story of the Pop Kids up to the present. “In bits” was produced and mixed by Stuart Price. “One-hit wonder” was produced by Pet Shop Boys and mixed by Pete Gleadall - it is a new version of an instrumental track written in late 1981 and remade in 2014 as the theme for Berlin’s online music show, The One-Hit Parade. This is the first time the full track has been released. A remix package of “The Pop Kids” was released on March 18th. Available via digital formats only. Among the producers who have remixed the single for this release is acclaimed DJ and producer MK (Marc Kinchen), whose dub mix of “The Pop Kids” marks 23 years since his last remix for Pet Shop Boys - their 1993 single “Can You Forgive Her?”. "The Pop Kids" had its first play on BBC Radio 2's Ken Bruce show on Feb 16th, 2016.

promotional video
"The Pop Kids” is accompained only by a lyric video.
  • watch One Hit Wonder jingle
    		•
    digital
    DL: 2016 UK (X2 Recordings Ltd.; x20009DL2)
    1. The Pop Kids 3:39
      (Radio Edit)
    2. In Bits 3:32
    3. One-hit Wonder 3:20
    4. The Pop Kids 5:18
      (PSB Deep Dub)
    5. The Pop Kids 5:11
      (The Full Story)
    DL: 2016 UK (X2 Recordings Ltd.; x20009DL4)
    1. The Pop Kids 6:30
      (Offer Nissim Drama Mix)
    2. The Pop Kids 3:34
      (MK Dub Radio Rdit)
    3. The Pop Kids 3:16
      (PSB Deep Dub Radio Edit)
    4. The Pop Kids 7:17
      (MK Dub)
    comercial releases
    CD5: 2016 UK (x2;x20009CD1)
    1. The Pop Kids 3:39
      (Radio Edit)
    2. In Bits 3:32
    3. One-hit Wonder 3:20
    4. The Pop Kids 5:18
      (PSB Deep Dub)
    5. The Pop Kids 5:11
      (The Full Story)
    12'': 2016 UK (x2; x20009VL1)
      A
    1. The Pop Kids 6:30
      (Offer Nissim Drama Mix)
    2. The Pop Kids 7:17
      (MK Dub)
    3. The Pop Kids 4:38
      (The Scene Kings Extended mix)
      B
    1. The Pop Kids 5:11
      (The Full Story)
    2. The Pop Kids 5:18
      (PSB Deep Dub)
    promo releases
    CD-R: 2016 UK (X2 Recordings Ltd.; x20007CD1-P2)
    1. The Pop Kids 3:39
      (Radio Edit)
    CD-R: 2016 UK (X2 Recordings Ltd.; x20007CD1-PP)
    1. The Pop Kids 3:16
      (PSB Deep Dub Radio Edit)
    2. The Pop Kids 3:39
      (Radio Edit)
    CD-R: 2016 IT (X2 Recordings Ltd.; x20007CD1-P2) [mispress]
    1. The Pop Kids 3:39
      (album version)
    CD-R: 2016 IT (X2 Recordings Ltd.; x20007CD1-PP)[mispress]
    1. The Pop Kids 5:18
      (PSB Deep Dub)
    2. The Pop Kids 3:39
      (Radio Edit)
    CD-R: 2016 US (X2 Recordings Ltd.; x2009CD4-P)
    1. The Pop Kids 5:11
      (The Full Story)
    2. The Pop Kids 5:18
      (PSB Deep Dub)
    3. The Pop Kids 7:17
      (MK Dub)
    4. The Pop Kids 3:34
      (MK Dub Radio Rdit)
    5. The Pop Kids 6:30
      (Offer Nissim Drama Mix)
    6. The Pop Kids 6:20
      (RNG Extended)