Pet Shop Boys – It`s A Sin

Each month we take a look at a classic track or album and discuss it from a music production perspective, examining any notable innovations that took place during its recording. This month we look at the Pet Shop Boys' 'It's A Sin', their second UK number one,  and Europe's best selling single of 1987.

The track was the first single released from Actually, the group's second album. It was engineered and produced by Julian Mendelsohn and mixed by Stephen Hague, and the way that the two of them shared their duties on this and other tracks on the album is interesting. 

Having tracked 'It's A Sin', Mendelsohn had to leave the sessions for another project with Level 42. Stephen Hague, who was himself producing several tracks on Actually, stepped in to mix the song. Speaking in Sound On Sound, Mendelsohn explains that he didn't have an ego in these kinds of situations, and that this sharing of the workload actually led to a great final result; 'He did a couple of neat little things, including dropping half a bar halfway through each verse to create a turnaround effect. I know that wasn't in the mix I did, but none of that bothered me. What was good was good. Some engineers used to get really upset when other people mixed their stuff, but I wasn't like that. All that mattered was everybody being happy with the end result.'

He goes on to explain that his mix was perhaps technically better than Hague's, but lacked the spark of that version. Speaking of his own shot at the mix he explains: 'You could hear separate things jumping out at you and it had greater dynamics and a fatter sound, but it also got a bit boring from about halfway through the track and didn't maintain the interest as much as Stephen's mix. By bringing a pair of fresh ears to the proceedings, he was able to zero in on what the track needed.'

Interestingly enough, on the second single from Actually, the roles were reversed. Mendelsohn explains that the 'exact opposite happened with 'What Have I Done to Deserve This?' Stephen had been working on the track for a week or two and was bored with it, and my fresh ears did the trick.'

Sometimes, when you spend a great deal of time immersed in a project, it can be hard to see the wood for the trees, and the best thing for the song is to bring in a fresh pair of ears. The successes of 'It's A Sin' and 'What Have I Done To Deserve This?' (a number two hit in the USA and UK) are great demonstrations of this.