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The PPG wave inspired Neil to write the chords for вЂњTonight Is ForeverвЂќ and in turn Chris used the PPG to generate the bass and organ sounds on the track вЂњViolenceвЂќ. The PPG was a digital polyphonic instrument with a unique sound it is still highly revered as an exceptional instrument. This was one of the first keyboards Neil and Chris bought in around 1984. In their early recordings the PPG Wave also features frequently. Eventually Akai killed off the EMU Emulator both in the Pet Shop Boys set up and in the music industry in general. These flexible and relatively inexpensive samplers offered much more versatility and clarity of sound than the Emulators. However, the Akai samplers of the late eighties and early nineties formed the back bone of the live set up for the Performance and the MCMXLXXXIX tours. The Emulator also generated the saxophone sounds on вЂњConfidentialвЂќ and вЂњDo I Have To?вЂќ, the sound effects in вЂњSuburbiaвЂќ, the French Horns on вЂњTonight Is ForeverвЂќ, guitars on вЂњSo HardвЂќ, the piano on вЂњLater TonightвЂќ and the trumpet solo on вЂњWest End GirlsвЂќ. The strings on the Emulator II feature on many early Pet Shop Boys records and we can see Chris playing an Emulator II+ as they appeared on the Channel 4 show вЂњThe TubeвЂќ. The EMU Emulator, Emulator II and Emulator II+ were great favourites of the Pet Shop Boys. That is not to say they did not use other sample based keyboards and samplers. The FairlightвЂ™s main competitor was the Synclavier II (favourite of Depeche Mode and Kraftwerk) but Neil and Chris stuck to the Fairlight as the centre piece of their studio for years. Songs such as вЂњItвЂ™s a SinвЂќ would sound very bare if it wasnвЂ™t for the Fairlight, its sampling capabilities were crucial to its success. However this synth isnвЂ™t famous for these reasons: itвЂ™s famous because of its ability to sample.

The sequencer was another of the FairlightвЂ™s strengths, whole songs could be sequenced and stored to disk simply and quickly.

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It achieved a very passable imitation of a full orchestra, something Chris liked: as whilst the Fairlight sounded вЂrealвЂ™, it also retained a unique timbre.

The Fairlight had to be programmed to mimic the orchestra note by note, attack by attack, and instrument by instrument. The string samples are also employed frequently on these two albums most notably on the song вЂњIt CouldnвЂ™t Happen HereвЂќ which, due to time restrictions, could not be recorded with a real orchestra. The drums on the Fairlight were considered to be some of the best samples around in the 1980вЂ™s and as a consequence they appear all over the albums вЂњPleaseвЂќ and вЂњActuallyвЂќ. Happily the aural evidence seems to suggest that Neil and Chris got use from their Fairlight in many ways.

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With a 60,000 pounds price tag the series III it was not a small investment. Chris even bought a series III around 1988 and used it as his home studio to record and create songs with.

The Fairlight features on just about every Pet Shop Boys record until around 1993 when the Fairlight finally succumbed to new technology. As I remember the вЂњOld Grey Whistle TestвЂќ performance features a CMI IIx, but Neil and Chris would have more commonly used a series III machine after 1985. Ok so who didnвЂ™t use the Fairlight in the 1980вЂ™s? A whole industry had sprouted around this machine companies hired them out, specialist programmers had to be employed to work the machine, someone had to move 50-70kg of gear around, but almost everybody used them. The Pet Shop Boys chose to work with the Fairlight CMI music computer widely, but not exclusively. When looking at the equipment used by the Pet Shop Boys we must start with the Fairlight CMI. The synthesizers of the 1980вЂ™s might have been unique, some even say вЂњclassicвЂќ, but they were also expensive, cumbersome and bloody difficult to get synchronised. What you donвЂ™t see is the blood, sweat and tears that when into programming and setting up those synthesizers. If you look back at Neil and ChrisвЂ™s performance on the BBCвЂ™s вЂњOld Grey Whistle TestвЂќ you can see the sheer volume of equipment required to reproduce a passable version of their early songs like вЂњOpportunitiesвЂќ or вЂњLater TonightвЂќ. As we move into an era where a small laptop computer can store and generate any sound imaginable, itвЂ™s easy to forget that 20 years ago you needed to be very lucky or very rich to possess the equipment to achieve what we can do now with the click of a mouse.

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