Go West

(For the pop group of the same name see Go West - group)

Go West is a song originally recorded by American disco group Village People, released as a single in June 1979, the second from their fourth studio album also called Go West (1979).

The single reached no.15 in the UK in July, with the album reaching no.14.

Pet Shop Boys version
The song was revived and covered by British duo Pet Shop Boys in 1993, released as a single on 06 September and also included as the closing track on their studio album Very, released later in the same month. The single went straight into the charts at no.2 in the UK, the group's highest chart placing since no.1 Heart in 1988.

Whereas the Village People original intends "Go west" in the sense of pioneers expanding across the new American continent, Pet Shop Boys' version plays on the idea of Eastern Europeans looking towards the USA. The fall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Communist Bloc was still very much a part of contemporary geopolitics.

Imagery aside, the new version presents several differences compared to the 1979 original both musically and lyrically.

Go West was voted 2nd Worst Single of 1993 in the Smash Hits Readers' Poll with Pet Shop Boys 8th worst group (see 08 December 1993).

Releases

 * 7" - Parlophone (UK)
 * Go West c/w Shameless


 * CD Single (UK)
 * 1. Go West 2. Shameless 3. Go West (Mings Gone West: First And Second Movement)