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"Paninaro" is a song by English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 synthpop

Synthpop

Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...

 duo Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

. Originally a B-side

A-side and B-side

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 to the 1986 single "Suburbia

Suburbia (song)

"Suburbia" is a song by UK synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was remixed and released as the fourth single from the album Please in 1986 and became the band's second UK Top 10 hit, peaking at #8.-Overview:...

", it was released as a limited-edition

Special edition

The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...

 single in Italy during the same year; later, in 1995, a re-recording entitled "Paninaro '95" was released to a wider market, to promote the B-side compilation Alternative

Alternative (album)

Alternative is the ninth album by UK electronic music duo Pet Shop Boys. It was first released in 1995.Alternative is a 2-disc set, consisting of 30 B-sides in chronological order...

 (though only the original version was included on the compilation).

Overview

The song is about the 1980s Italian youth subculture

Subculture

In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...

 known as the paninari

Paninaro

Paninaro was a youth scene that took its name from a group of youngsters who used to meet at the Al Panino bar in Milan's Via Agnello during the early 1980s...

; derived from the word panino

Panino

Panini are small, filled, bread rolls, which are sometimes toasted. They are Italian in origin, but now found in other countries.In Italy, panino is the word for a sandwich made with a bread roll. Sandwiches there are customarily made from a roll or loaf of bread, typically a ciabatta or a rosetta...

, Italian for sandwich, they were known for congregating in restaurants serving sandwiches and in the first US-style fast food

Fast food

Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...

 restaurants, as well as their preference for designer clothing

Designer clothing

Designer clothing is clothing that bears the logo of a recognizable fashion designer.The 'designer' whose name is on the label may be:* A European couturier, e.g. Chanel, Christian Dior* A European luxury goods house, e.g. Armani, Gucci, Louis Vuitton...

 and 1980s pop music such as the New Wave music

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 of Duran Duran

Duran Duran

Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...

. Neil Tennant

Neil Tennant

Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...

 has said that they were drawn to the concept due to having shared those preferences.

Lyrics

"Paninaro" is one of the few Pet Shop Boys songs in which Chris Lowe

Chris Lowe

Chris Lowe is an English musician, who, with colleague Neil Tennant, makes up the pop duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...

 provides the majority of the vocals. Tennant, meanwhile, only sings the title repeatedly in intervals.

The main lyrical motif consists of eight words:

Passion and love and sex and money

Violence, religion, injustice and death

These words are repeated at the end of the song in a soliloquy

Soliloquy

A soliloquy is a device often used in drama whereby a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters, and is delivered often when they are alone or think they are alone. Soliloquy is distinct from monologue and...

 to the singer's "lover".

In reference to the fashion of the paninari, references to prestigious Italian fashion designers are repeated throughout the song:

Armani

Giorgio Armani S.p.A.

Marissa Sandoval S.P.A. is an international Italian fashion house that designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, eyewear, cosmetics, and home interiors...

, Armani, ah-ah-Armani

Versace, cinque

(Though Versace was removed from the B-side and the 1995 version.)

In addition, the middle of the song contains a sample of a 1986 Entertainment Tonight

Entertainment Tonight

Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...

 interview with the band:

1995 version

The new recording included a rap in the middle of the song, newly-written by Lowe; it laments the loss of the "lover" referred to in the pre-existing lyrics. In addition, the lyrics of the soliloquy at the end are changed from "You're my lover..." to "You were my lover...".

Release

The 1995 version received remix

Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

es from Angel Moraes, Tin Tin Out

Tin Tin Out

Tin Tin Out is a UK electronic dance music duo comprising Darren Stokes and Lindsay Edwards.-Career:They are well known as active remixers, working on increasingly higher-profile songs as the 1990s progressed, however also have their own recording careers...

, and Tracy & Sharon. Tom Stephan

Tom Stephan

Tom Stephan is a house music producer and DJ.-Biography:Tom Stephan was raised in the western New York town of Olean but moved to London to go to college. It was in London that he started his DJ career, opening up for Danny Tenaglia and eventually hosting regular house nights at the Turnmills club...

 of Tracy & Sharon would continue to remix for the Pet Shop Boys as his later alias Superchumbo.

CD 1 (UK)

1. "Paninaro '95" (Extended Mix) – 7:30

2. "Paninaro '95" (Tin Tin Out Mix) – 7:47

3. "Paninaro '95" (Tracy's 12' Mix) – 8:30

4. "Paninaro '95" (Sharon's Sexy Boyz Dub) – 5:47

5. "Paninaro '95" (Angel Moraes' Deep Dance Mix) – 10:39

CD 2 (UK)

1. "Paninaro '95" – 4:10

2. "In the Night" – 4:50

3. "Girls & Boys" (Pet Shop Boys live in Rio) – 5:04

12" (UK)

A1. "Paninaro '95" (Tracy's 12" Mix) – 8:28

A2. "Paninaro '95" (Sharon's Sexy Boyz Dub) – 5:47

B1. "Paninaro '95" (Tin Tin Out Mix) – 7:47

B2. "Paninaro '95" (Pet Shop Boys Extended Mix) – 7:30

12" #2 (UK)

A. "Paninaro '95" (Angel Moraes' Deep Dance Mix) – 10:39

B1. "Paninaro '95" (Angel Moraes' Girls Boys in Dub) – 11:57

B2. Paninaro '95" (Angel Moraes' The Hot N Spycy Dub) – 9:35

Chart performance

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Germany	39
Finland	5
Sweden	24
Australia	30
UK	15

Original

A self-produced music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

, filmed in Italy, was used for the original release; it consisted of footage of the duo singing the song alongside locals.

1995 version

The "Paninaro '95" video was directed by long-time Pet Shop Boys director Howard Greenhalgh. The Top of the Pops

Top of the Pops

Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...

performance of "Paninaro '95" replicated the imagery of the music video, with the same costumes, lighting, and male dancers involved.