The Art of the Pet Shop Boys & Mark Farrow

Possibly my favourite band... or is that New Order? Anyway, I've always been of the opinion that the look of the record, CD or DVD whatever, is almost as important as the contents itself. You can buy a great record with a shit cover and it's still a great record, but a great sleeve makes it something special. How less great would "Sgt Pepper" be without it's Peter Blake sleeve design? Or Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" without the Hipgnosis's light prism? Nirvana "Nevermind" without the baby? Debatable.

The Pet Shop Boys have 95% of the time had fantastic graphic design, courtesy of their long time graphic designer Mark Farrow, who's worked with them throughout their career with only a brief break for 2002's "Release" album (which looked very poor). His designs for Tennant & Lowe have a distinctive look, distinguished by simple images and clean simple typefaces.

Enough yakking. Let's have a look.

"Suburbia" 12" single (1986)

A defining image of PSB in their early years, and one which they'd come back to, time and time again - a single image of either Neil or Chris, with little or no text, but you know immediately what the product is.

"It's a Sin" 12" and CD single (1987)

Another classic image from photographer Eric Watson, with Chris typically in the background, and no cover text again. Somehow you don't need it - the image says everything.

"Always On My Mind" 12" single (1987)

White. Small image. Small text. That's a recurring motif. Their first two proper albums "Please" & "Actually" began this, and their Christmas number one single was packaged similarly in a distinctly tasteful classy sleeve. You had to almost squint to read the credits. The photos come from the "forthcoming" PSB movie "It Couldn't Happen Here". The remix was similar but with a bigger font:

The American release had a different image but the effect's the same.

"Heart" 7" and 12" singles (1988)

Marketing gimmick? Or Art? You decide, but for what won't be the last time, you can choose either a Neil or Chris cover.

or both of them, if you buy the 12" singles.

"Introspective" Album/CD (1988)

A change from the norm. Coloured bars ala the Testcard ahoy. Apparently this was a kick against their perceived image and the white covers.

Now I wish I had this. The clear vinyl 3 x 12" single version of the album.

Typically, the Japanese get different stripes:

"Left To My Own Devices" 12" single (1988).

Now, this is nice. Initial quantities of the 7" & 12" came in an orange pouch housing this bizarre sleeve. The CD single also came in the orange pouch, but with a different cover for the CD inside.

In 1988 the Pet Shop Boys released their first and only annual, called typically "Annually" designed throughout by Mark Farrow and written by their long time collaborator Chris Heath.

"So Hard" (1990)

Another iconic image. Neil looks blank and emotionless, whilst Chris eats an apple. Strangely brilliant. And nice coats.


"Jealousy" (1991)

Back to the either/or options with this sleeve.

"Where the Streets Have No Name"/"How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously?" Remix 12"(1991)

Don't know why I like this one. It's really just a dull close up of Chris's keyboard but somehow the blurriness of the background and the striking green "Remixed" makes it look really dramatic.

"Performance" VHS Video sleeve 1992

Featuring Neil & Chris dressed in costumes from the 1991 shows, this enigmatically sums up the show in one image.

"Can You Forgive Her" Remix 12"(1993)

Some see this as the start of the downward spiral, but they're very wrong. As a reaction against the criticism of them standing around looking moody, Tennant & Lowe recreate themselves as bizarre unreal characters in increasingly artificial scenarios. Hence we get the dunces hat and egg look. Not to all tastes.

"Very" CD Box (1993)

"Tactile for the Nineties" is how they put it. Increasingly tired of the lack of imagination put into CD design Farrow, Tennant & Lowe came up with this Lego inspired design (above) which stood out on the shelves.

This bright yellow design adorned the vinyl version of the album. Hmmm. The cassette was a bit better:

Back on track with the very lovely limited edition version came in this rubber sleeve with a similar Lego tactile feel.

"Various" VHS video (1994)

All the videos from the "Very" album wrapped in this mad sleeve featuring all the versions of Neil & Chris designed for this campaign.

"I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing" 12" remixes and CD Singles(1993)

By this point they'd gone a bit mad.As you can see.

"Discovery" Laserdisc (1995)

This document of the South American tour for the "Very "album sees a return of the Dunces hats against a backdrop of the Brazilian flag colours.

"Paninario '95" CD Single (1995)

Back to a more classic PSB look after the day-glo excesses of "Very" with these simple designs. Above are the CD singles, below are the 12" sleeves.

"Bilingual" CD (1996)

Still wanting their CDs to stand out and look special, here's a yellow sleeve with frosted title effect, and a return to traditional PSB fonts. The reissue version went with a similarly striking yet less expensive cover:

"I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More" CD Singles (1999)

The Millenium is impending and the dressing up box returns. And a return for dogs, another running PSB motif.

"Flamboyant" CD & 12" (2004)

Relatively abstract, a blurred video image shields us from the horror that was Chris's mullet.

"Fundamental" CD album (2006)

Not white but black. But the effect's just as familiar, and the neon lettering works a treat.

"Cubism" DVD (2007)

The tour for the "Fundamental" album was built round the visual concept of the neon lights and the costumes, with a fitting sleeve for the DVD - a cardborad slip case meaning you can have either a Neil Or Chris sleeve, as ever.