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In 1992, when Pet Shop Boys were asked by Derek Jarman to perform at an AIDS charity event at The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester, Chris Lowe of the duo selected "Go West" as the song they would perform. Though singer Neil Tennant was unable to remember the lyrics during that performance, the two decided to record it as a single.
The original single version of the song, set for an earlier release in 1992 as a non-album single, was never used. However, both its extended dance mix, and its similarly unreleased B-side "Forever in Love" (an edited version was released on Very Relentless in 1993), were eventually released on the 2001 expanded reissue of Very. Instead, the song was released in a different version on September 6, 1993, as the second single from Very, and featuring the B-side "Shameless". This release included remixes by Brothers in Rhythm, Farley & Heller, Kevin Saunderson, and Mark Stent. The single peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart and number one in Finland, Germany and Iceland. The single also reached number one in Ireland, becoming the last of the duo's four Irish number-one singles to date, and topped the US Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart.
The accompanying music video for "Go West" was directed by British director Howard Greenhalgh and relies heavily on computer-generated imagery, like all of his videos for the Very singles. It begins with a red Statue of Liberty, and then depicts a grey city where the communist domination is evident on the basis of Soviet imagery such as red stars and red flags, the Yuri Gagarin Monument (a spaceman on a column) and the Monument to the Conquerors of Space (a rocket on a spire-like pedestal). Troops of identical Soviet men march up a staircase stretching into the clouds, seemingly toward a Western society, with the Statue of Liberty, now appearing as a black diva looming in the distance (played by backing-vocalist Sylvia Mason-James). Tennant and Lowe appear throughout; Tennant carries a blue-and-yellow striped arrow staff, and Lowe travels on a flying surfboard. Occasional live action shots of Soviet iconography appear; in one Tennant and Lowe appear in their costumes, walking across Red Square.
The video was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video in 1995, losing to "Love Is Strong" by The Rolling Stones. The "Go West" costumes were parodied in the video for their later 2006 single, "I'm with Stupid".
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