What records by other people, you may have wondered, do the Pet Shop Boys actually like? Here's a guide to their favourite ten records of the last year or so.

kylie Minogue: "I Should Be So Lucky"
"A 'classy' dance track -they're all there, readers! I like the two videos for this -the BBC one where she's looking Out of the roof of a car is one of the best videos of the year. The song reminds me of the one Stock, Aitken & Waterman did for Samantha Fox, 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now'. I like the bit where it goes 'I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I- should be so lucky' and I just Jove the line 'I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky'. If that's banal, it's strength. It's just a mark of pure genius. How anyone cannot see that that's fantastic beats me."

Bananarama: "I Heard A Rumour"
"I just loved this the first time I heard it. It's very similar to an Italian disco record called 'Give It Up' by Michael Fortunata. I loved it that when Bananarama came back with this they also had a choreographed dance routine they could do, a good song and they looked like they were enjoying themselves. If you're feeling down and depressed you can put a record like this on and it all goes out of the window. I'm no longer unhappy or sad.! Just cheer up."

Taylor Dayne: "Tell It To My Heart"
"I first heard this on a compilation tape a friend made off the radio ages before it was released - I think it must have been taped off a pirate station. I've always liked those Sbannon records (i.e. 'Give Me Tonight' and 'Let The Music Play) and this is in that vein. It's a very passionate song and the words - 'tell it to my heart/tell me I'm the only one' - are a bit corny but she's got a very powerful voice and she sings it like she genuinely means it."

Company B: "Fascinated"
The best dance record of the last year or so The first time I heard it at a club called The Jungle, I couldn't believe it Its got so much energy Its quite influential -that Bananarama track 'I Can't Help It' is virtually the same. Most of my favorite records are dance records -you do enough moping around being bored and listening to introspective stuff when you're a student. Mind you, I still think 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' by Genesis has some amazing musical stuff on it.

Alexander O'Neal: "Criticize"
"Absolutely fantastic The whole area of Jam & Lewis records I like are things like this and 'Diamonds (by Herb Alpeil; sung by Janet Jackson) especially when they get those really great hooky backing vocals like 'diamonds are a girl's best friend or 'don't you cdticize'. This has a brilliant baseline as well. In fact I just like everything about this record it's really, really brilliant."

New Order: "True Faith"
What can you say9 It 5 lust a perfect record They must be influenced by the same things as we are Their records are so European sounding. I think this is probably the best track they've ever done."

Bomb The Bass: "Beat Dis"
"I usually like records with very strong melodies -passionate love songs with a big dance production -whereas a lot of house music is very unmusical, but I like this simply because the baseline is so strong. Actually it's a bit like our baseline on 'Love Comes Quickly'..."

Whitney Houston: "So Emotional"
"The title says it all - a very emotional record. I didn't really like Whitney at first because she looks very false and cold and she's singing these tormented love songs with a smile on her face - all very showbiz. But then I heard this in a club and it's fantastic."


Various: "The House Sound Of Chicago Vol Ill Acid Tracks"
"The first time I heard Sterling Void's 'It's All Right' I couldn't believe how good it was. It has the same effect on me as Marvin Gaye singing 'What's Going On'; he's singing about world matters and it just makes you think 'how sad the world is, everything's going to end in disaster'."

Rick Astley: "Whenever You Need Somebody"
"One of the reasons I don generally buy albums is that they're so inconsistent but, with this, if you like Never Gonna Give You Up you re probably going to like the whole album. It's brilliant if you're ready to go out, or having a work out or just yibing up. My favorite track is 'Don't Say Goodbye' - it's so uplifting."