I’m in Gay Boy Heaven right now. I’ve managed to, um, get hold of the pre-release promo remixes of Madonna’s next single, Sorry. It’s been radically re-interpreted by my all-time favourites, the Pet Shop Boys. Moreover, Neil Tennant actually provides all-new backing vocals. There are also some remixes by Saint Ken, Man With Guitar and Jayito but I haven’t got round to listening to those yet. I will, though, and expect to see the song in its various incarnations make a significant impact on my personal Audioscrobbler/last.fm charts next week, when they next update. As with the remixes of Hung Up, I will be playing these to death. The remixes by the Pet Shop Boys unashamedly incorporate hardcore electronic sounds straight out of the mid-80s and remind me of the likes of the Human League and Ultravox, as well as the Boys themselves when they were releasing such songs as Always on my Mind and Heart.

The involvement of Pet Shop Boys is a clever move for them, as within a couple of months they are going to be releasing their new album. I haven’t managed to get a preview of it but some people have and reports on the ‘net suggest it’s going to be brilliant. One review described it as their ‘best yet’ and on a par with the hugely successful Very, which contained, among other tracks, Go West, I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing and Liberation. Their last album, Release, was a radical departure for them into the territories of rock normally occupied by Oasis but I’m glad to know they are returning to what they have always been renowned for: clever, articulate, dance-pop. Madonna’s new single is, in many ways, not only another strong track from the Queen of Pop but a taste, I think, of things to come from the Boys.

Looks like Reya did pretty well at getting her idea of poetry tributes to Brigid ‘out there’ into cyberspace – just go see some of the responses she got on her blog. This has to be the start of an annual cyber-tradition, and can only grow. What a delight! The sharing of poetry is a blessing always to those who are receptive to the enticements of verse.