Crucial Track for November 22, 2025

"West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys

Listen on Apple Music

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What song would you dedicate to your younger self?

I thought about picking a song from the 1990s or 2000s—when I was a teenager or in my twenties, living in London. But why did I make the decisions that led me there? To find a song to dedicate to that person, I need to rewind to my childhood in suburban Birmingham in the 1980s—too young to go out and watch bands live or buy records. From that perspective, listening to music meant BBC Radio One or Top of the Pops: a band who were huge at the time and a song about crossing class boundaries, escape, and nightlife.