“West End Girls” by the Pet Shop Boys: Memories of the Village Churne

Although the singer sounds a little bit like Bob Dylan, and the song went all the way to number one, every time I hear “West End Girls” by the Pet Shop Boys I think of summer time at an old burger joint in my home town.

Cruising
It was the summer of 1986, and I went to Coaldale with my good friend Mathew. He drove a green Bobcat with a yellow stripe, kind of like the Nike swish, and we’d pile into that car to go to Coaldale or, more often, Lethbridge.

Sometimes we went through Coaldale on our way to the city. On this day, we were passing through Lethbridge, and Mat stopped at the Village Churne.

The Village Churne
Back in the 1980s, and the previous few decades, every town had a place to get burgers, fries, and shakes from a place like the Village Churne. Fast-food chains had not really proliferated, so there was a market for a home-grown, home-operated place. Milk River had the Milky Way, and Vauxhall had Wendy’s (not to be confused with the fast-food chain, but a place named after a woman named Wendy).

My earliest memory of the Village Churne was in elementary school, like Grade 5 or 6. It was the end of the school year. The weather was getting too nice to be inside, and way too nice to do any meaningful schoolwork.

So, our teacher took us on a field trip. We walked downtown from St. Joe’s elementary-junior high, to the Village Churne, where he bought each one of us a soft ice cream. I still remember how long the line was, but we did have 32 students in our class.

By 1986, the Village Churne had taken on a different place in my life.

My classmate John, had become a friend. His older brother Robert had gone to Lethbridge Community College and studied to become a chef.

He struck out on his own, and bought the Village Churne.

Mat went there so we could say hi to John.

When we entered the Village Churne, John had his newest tape playing in the background.

It was playing, “West End Girls” by the Pet Shop Boys.

The band
“West End Girls” had been on the radio for awhile now. Long enough in fact, that a second single had been released.

I couldn’t think of it and, while we were sussing out the menu, I asked John what that song was.

“Opportunities,” he said. That’s right. I remembered it and sang the only words I knew, “Let’s make lots of money.”

John also told me the tape, The Pet Shop Boys debut album called “Please”, had another song he really liked, called “One Divided by Zero”. Being a math geek, I remember being intrigued by the title.

We ended up ordering some burgers, that John made right in front of us, and listened to the rest of the album over the Village Churne sound system.

The single
“West End Girls” is one of the anthems of 1980s music. It was released on October 28, 1985 and went all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 10, 1986. It finished the year at number 15 in the top 100 singles of the year.

Parting thoughts
The truth is, I never really liked the Pet Shop Boys in 1985 or 1986 or 1987. They were always on the radio, and served more as background noise than anything else.

Yet, as is the way with music, “West End Girls” brings back memories for me.

It makes me think of old friends, an old Coaldle institution, and a simpler time when all we had to do was jump in the car, drive to town, have a burger and talk about the music playing in the background.