"Love Comes Quickly"
7-inch single cover
Single by Pet Shop Boys
from the album Please
B-side"That's My Impression"
Released24 February 1986
Recorded1985
GenreSynth-pop
Length4:19
LabelParlophone
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Stephen Hague
Pet Shop Boys singles chronology
"West End Girls"
(1985) 		"Love Comes Quickly"
(1986) 		"Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)"
(1986)
Music video
"Love Comes Quickly" on YouTube

"Love Comes Quickly" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released as the second single from their debut studio album, Please (1986). It peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1986.[1]

Writing and production

Love Comes Quickly was the first song written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe after they first met.

Producer Stephen Hague receives a co-writing credit for writing the first two chords of the middle section of the song.[2] Andy Mackay of Roxy Music plays the saxophone parts towards the end of the song.[3]

Release

As with "Opportunities", the 12-version of the single contains remixes by 1980s producer Shep Pettibone. The remixes of "Love Comes Quickly" and "That's My Impression" reached the top ten on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in October 1986.[4] Later, in 2003, new remixes by Blank & Jones were produced for the promotion of the singles collection PopArt.

In a 2023 interview with Greatest Hits Radio, Noel Gallagher stated that “love comes quickly” is the song he “wished he’d written.”

Cover

The cover, featuring Chris Lowe in a baseball cap emblazoned with "BOY" in block letters, has become an iconic Pet Shop Boys image. Neil Tennant of the duo later recollected that he had expected the image of the cap to be the group's coming out moment, calling it "incredibly gay".[5]

Music video

Directed by Andy Morahan and Eric Watson,[6] the video to the song is very simple, utilising facial shots of Tennant singing, interposed with blurry montages of the faces of various other people; at points, shots of Lowe, lying on top of a construction of a square grid, are superimposed over these shots. Watson would later call it a "complete disaster".[7]

Track listings

7": Parlophone / R 6116 (UK)

12": Parlophone / 12 R 6116 (UK)

12": EMI America / V-19218 (US)

Charts

Chart performance for "Love Comes Quickly"
Chart (1986) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 54
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 35
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[10] 74
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[11] 15
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[12] 12
Ireland (IRMA)[13] 13
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 8
Spain (AFYVE)[15] 6
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[16] 24
UK Singles (OCC)[17] 19
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 62
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[19]
with "That's My Impression" 		10
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[20]
with "That's My Impression" 		37
US Cash Box Top 100 Singles[21] 56
West Germany (Official German Charts)[22] 17

Cover versions

As early as 1986, a Japanese-language cover version of the song was recorded by pop singer Hidemi Ishikawa.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Pet Shop Boys Official Site". Petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  2. ^ Heath, Chris (2001). "Love Comes Quickly Archived 13 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine". In Please / Further Listening 1984–1986 [CD liner notes]. London: Pet Shop Boys Partnership.
  3. ^ "Love Comes Quickly by Pet Shop Boys - Track Info | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco 1974–2003, (Record Research Inc.), page 201.
  5. ^ Silcott, Mireille (1999). "The Pet Shop Boys, obsessively". Montreal Mirror. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2006.
  6. ^ Garcia, Alex S. "mvdbase.com - Pet Shop Boys - "Love comes quickly"". Music Video DataBase. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Interview with Eric Watson". Literally (Pet Shop Boys fanclub magazine). May 1992. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2006.
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 232. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Love Comes Quickly" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0734." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  11. ^ "European Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 3, no. 15. 19 April 1986. p. 12. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  12. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 233. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  13. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Love Comes Quickly". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Love Comes Quickly". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  15. ^ Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  16. ^ "Pet Shop Boys – Love Comes Quickly". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  17. ^ "Pet Shop Boys: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  18. ^ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  19. ^ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  20. ^ "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  21. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending October 4, 1986". Cash Box. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  22. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Pet Shop Boys – Love Comes Quickly" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  23. ^ (in Japanese) Hidemi Ishikawa discography page Archived 12 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
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