80s Jams #24: Pet Shop Boys with Dusty Springfield "What Have I Done To Deserve This" (1987)

Though it received much attention for an inspired touch suggested by a worker in the duo's then-management office -- namely, to get blue-eyed soul legend Dusty Springfield on the performance to make it a duet -- "What Have I Done to Deserve This" would have been a winner on its own. One of the duo's instantly catchiest melodies, purely pop without losing the sense of dancefloor punch that has always driven the Pet Shop Boys, "What Have I Done to Deserve This" springs to life with a seemingly off-kilter drum break, then slides right into a smart, deceptively simple, and full-bodied combination of big drums and sparkling keyboards. Credit to the song's co-writer Allee Willis, though, who came up with the "since you went away" part that Springfield went to town on, showing that she hadn't lost any of the beautiful power that had made her a legend. It's a contrast in vocal styles that theoretically shouldn't work, but which connects just right. -- Allmusic http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:d9fyxzrrldke