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1954 - July
Neil Francis Tennant was born on July 10th
in North Shields, Northumberland.
1959 - October
Christopher Sean Lowe was born on October 4th in
Blackpool, Lancashire.
1970 - 1971
Neil plays in a
group in Newcastle called Dust: Their most popular song is
a preposterous affair he has written called "Can you hear
the dawn break?". They are heavily influenced by The
Incredible String Band. "We were convinced we would become
terribly famous. It was a very kind of stoned seventies
but we used to think it was absolutely brilliant at the
time".
1975 - July
After completing a degree in
history at the Polytechnic of North London, Neil took a
job at Marvel Comics, anglicizing spellings and indicating
where over-risque woman needed to be redrawn decently.
While there he interviewed comic fan Marc Bolan, who
politely pointed out that his tape recorder wasn't
working. In 1977 he worked at Macdonald Educational
Publishing, later moving to ITV Books. In June 1982, he
joined Smash Hits.
1976 - 1978
Chris played trombone
in a seven piece dance band wittily named One Under The
Eight, who played old-time popular favourites like "Hello
Dolly", "La Bamba", and "Moon River".
1978
Chris
went to Liverpool University to study architecture. During
1981 -1982 he spent a year gaining practical experience in
a London architectural practice, designing a staircase in
an industrial development in Milton Keynes. "It's not a
remarkable staircase", he commented when he visited it in
1988, "It's just a functional staircase".
1981 - August
On August 19th, Neil and Chris met by chance in an
electronics shop on the Kings Road. Realizing they had a
common interest in dance music, they began to write
together. To begin with they called themselves West End;
later they came up with the name Pet Shop Boys, a name
derived from some friends who worked in a pet shop in
Ealing. "We thought it sounded like an English rap group".
1983 - August
Neil is sent to New York by Smash Hits to
interview The Police. By this time the Pet Shop Boys were
obsessed by a stream of hi energy records made by New York
producer Bobby Orlando, known as Bobby O'. "I thought
well, if I've got to go and see The Police play then I'm
also going to have lunch with Bobby O'". They shared a
cheeseburger and carrot cake at a restaurant called The
Apple Jack on August 19th (two years to the day since Neil
and Chris had met) and Bobby O', flattered by Neil's
compliments, suggests making a record with the Pet Shop
Boys.
1984 - April
The first version of 'West End
Girls' is released. It is a club hit in Los Angeles and
San Francisco and a small hit in France and Belgium.
1984 - October
They made their first ever stage
appearance at the Fridge Nightclub in Brixton, singing and
playing over tapes.
1985 - March
They signed to
Parlophone Records after long negotiations with Bobby O',
who relinquished his contractual rights over them in
return for a substantial royalty on future record sales.
1985 - April
On April 5th, Neil leaves Smash hits. In
the next issue an 'obituary' is written, bidding him a sad
adieu and predicting that in a matter of weeks Neil's pop
duo, the Pet Shop Boys will be down the dumper and he'll
come crawling back on bended knees, ha ha ha. "I spoke to
my mum on the telephone and said how we'd signed with EMI
and she said "But you're not going to give up your job,
are you?" and I said actually I did last week".
1985 -
July
On July 1st, the first version of 'Opportunities'
is released. It reached #116 in the UK.
1985 - August
They play a short set as part of the ICA Rock Week in
London, Chris showing off his skills on the trombone. Neil
and Chris are interviewed on stage by Max Headroom. They
re-recorded 'West End Girls' with producer Stephen Hague
the same month.
1985 - October
'West End Girls' is
released on October 28th and goes to #1 in the UK in
January. It was subsequently #1 in USA, Canada, Finland,
Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand and Norway,
selling 1.5 million copies. "People endlessly ask us what
it's like having a #1" said Neil at the time. "But what it
feels like is vaguely nothing. It feels like having a cup
of tea".
1986 - February
On February 24th, 'Love
Comes Quickly', still one of their favourite songs, was
released, reaching a disappointing #19 in the UK.
1986
- March
On March 24th, their first LP 'Please' is
released. "It's so people can go into the record shop and
say can I have the Pet Shop Boys album, please?".
1986
- April
'West End Girls' reaches #1 in USA.
1986 -
May
On May 19th a new version of 'Opportunities' is
released. "The point of that song is that the humour is
black, it's like a joke. The impression is that the people
in it are not going to make any money".
1986 - June
The Pet Shop Boys announce, then cancel, a tour of Europe
and America; the cost of using a theatre designe and
playing fairly small venues proves prohibitive.
1986 -
September
On September 22nd, a re-recorded version of
'Suburbia', a song inspired by the Penelope Spheeris film
of the same name about a group of disenchanted rebellious
youths in suburban Los Angeles, is released. "It's about a
riot happening in some decaying suburb. It's just the
description of the riot happening and then the aftermath".
On the B-side was the first version of 'Paninaro', named
after an Italian youth cult and featuring a quote they
both liked that Chris had said on a TV show: "I don't like
country and western, I don't like rock music, I don't like
rockabilly... I don't like much really, do I? But what I
do like, I love passionately".
1986 - November
On
November 17th 'Disco', an LP of disco remixes, is
released.
1987 - February
The Pet Shop Boys receive
the Best Single award for 'West End Girls' at the BPI
Awards. "It's a bit like the school prize giving day,
isn't it?", muttered Neil who turned up to receive the
award from Boy George. Chris stayed at home and watched it
on TV. Meanwhile, they had been working on the next LP and
considering, once more, whether to tour. "I can't see the
point really", said Neil at the time. "I quite like the
idea of being on the coach, having the meal beforehand,
the party in the room afterwards, going in the swimming
pool, signing the autographs in the lobby, and wrecking
the mini-bar. The only thing I don't like the idea of is
being on the stage and having to sing for rather a long
time". He now dismisses this comment as flippant; it had
been inspired by his happy memories of going on tour with
Depeche Mode for Smash Hits in Autumn of 1984.
1987 -
May
The Pet Shop Boys receive the Best International
Hit award for 'West End Girls' at the Ivor Novello Awards.
Vera Lynn performed at the lunch.
1987 - June
On
June 15th, 'It's a Sin', a song that originally appeared
on the demo Neil had in his pocket when he took Bobby O'
out to lunch, was released. "It's about being brought up
as a Catholic. When I went to school you were taught that
everything was a sin". It reached #1 and caused several
notable rumpuses. Jonathan King accused them of plagiarism
(he later apologized and paid damages to a charity at
their request). A teacher at Neil's old school, St.
Cuthbert's Grammar School, Newcastle, got very steamed up
about the picture Neil painted of his education and
castigated Neil in the press. The Salvation Army magazine,
War Cry, put the Pet Shop Boys on the front page and
noted, approvingly, "It's interesting that someone's
raised the concept of sin in our modern life again". Neil
was also asked to appear with Cardinal Hume in a press
advert for CAFOD; he politely declined the offer,
explaining that he wasn't a practising Catholic. The
song's video, a sombre tale of guilt and punishment
featuring the seven deadly sins, was the first time the
Pet Shop Boys worked with Derek Jarman.
1987 - August
On August 10th, 'What Have I Done To Deserve This?', a
duet with Dusty Springfield, is released. They had
actually wanted to record the song with Dusty - Neil's
favourite female singer - for 'Please' but had not been
able to arrange it in time. "She sounds right because her
voice has got that world-weary quality". On August 16th,
the Pet Shop Boys appeared on a Granada TV special, Love
Me Tender, commemorating the tenth anniversary of Elvis
Presley's death. They were asked to perform an old song he
had made famous so they sifted through some Elvis
cassettes and decided to do both a house version of 'Baby
Let's Play House' and 'Always On My Mind'. In the end,
they only did the latter. At the time they had no plans
whatsoever to release it.
1987 - September
On
September 7th, the 'Actually' LP is released. The title
was simply a word they say an awful lot. "We were thinking
of calling it Jollysight, actually", said Chris at the
time "which was the name of a hotel we saw in Italy - so
that, when people asked why, we could say because it's a
jolly sight better than the last one..."
1987 - October
On October 12th, 'Rent', a mercenary love song, is
released.
1987 - November
The Pet Shop Boys spend
three weeks in Clacton and South London shooting 'It
Couldn't Happen Here'. What had originally been conceived
as an hour-long video based around the 'Actually' LP,
turned into a full-scale feature film to be released
cinematically, directed by Jack Bond and co-starring
Barbra Windsor, Joss Ackland and Gareth Hunt. "We just do
what we normally do in videos", explained Chris, "walk
around, me a few paces behind Neil...". On November 30th,
'Always On My Mind' is released as a single; it becomes
the Christmas #1.
1988 - January
'I'm Not Scared', a
song the Pet Shop Boys have written and produced for Patsy
Kensit, is released as a single by her group Eighth
Wonder, and is their first hit.
1988 - February
At
the BPI Awards, the Pet Shop Boys win the Best Group
award. They also mime to 'What Have I Done To Deserve
This?' on stage with Dusty Springfield. Afterwards Neil
comments, "It's kind of macho nowadays to prove you can
cut it live, I quite like proving that we can't cut it
live. We're a pop group, not a rock 'n' roll group".
1988 - March
A different mix of 'Heart' is released as
a single on March 21st and reaches #1 in the UK. "It's a
real disco song - the idea of 'heartbeat' the beat of the
record and the beat of your heart. It's actually pretty
corny, to be honest, but I think the words are quite sweet
and sincere". The video, shot in Yugoslavia, was a
resetting of the Dracula story with Ian McKellen in the
title role.
1988 - May
For the second year running,
the Pet Shop Boys win the Best International Hit award at
the Ivor Novello Awards, this time for 'It's a Sin'.
1988 - June
Ian McKellen persuades the Pet Shop Boys to
play live at an anti-Clause 28 benefit, Before The Act, at
London's Piccadilly Theatre, performing 'It's a Sin' and
'One More Chance'. "A brilliant event", they said
afterwards.
1988 - July
'It Couldn't Happen Here' is
released on July 8th to mixed reviews: it wins an award at
the Houston film festival.
1988 - August
The Pet
Shop Boys win the Berolina award in Germany for 'Group of
the Year'. The award is presented to them by Miss
Venezuela.
1988 - September
On September 12th,
'Domino Dancing' is released, a song they recorded that
February in Miami with Expose producer, Lewis Martinee.
They shot a video in Puerto Rico and appeared with a full
Latin band on Wogan and Top Of The Pops.
1988 - October
On October 10th, their new album 'Introspective' is
released. So called because "all the songs, although it's
a dance album, are introspective". The title was chosen
after considering and dismissing 'f', 'Dogmatic', 'Bounce'
and 'Hello'. They reckon 'Introspective' sounds serious,
like an art exhibition: "Nick Rhodes", said Chris at the
time, "will be so jealous".
1988 - November
On
November 14th, 'Left To My Own Devices' is released, "an
exaggerated autobiography". The second verse refers to a
time when Neil's mother would worry about him because he'd
wait in a corner of the back garden pretending to be a
Roundhead soldier.
1989 - February
On February 13th,
'Nothing Has Been Proved' is released as a single for
Dusty Springfield, written by the Pet Shop Boys, produced
by them and Julian Mendelsohn and taken from the film
Scandal. They actually wrote two songs for Dusty for the
film - the other which the film-makers passed on because
they thought it sounded too contemporary, was 'In
Private'. Meanwhile, they are busy producing - with Julian
Mendelsohn - an album for Liza Minnelli.
1989 - June
On June 26th, 'It's Alright' is released. They originally
heard this song - by Chicago House artist Sterling Void -
when one of them popped out during the recording of 'I Get
Excited' (The B-side of 'Heart') and bought 'Acid Tracks:
The House Sound Of Chicago Vol. 3' on CD and were both
immediately impressed by this song. For a single they
re-recorded it in a more poppy style and Neil added a
verse about the threat facing the world environment. "It's
about the power of music. It's a bit cosmic really - it's
saying that if people still make music then there's always
going to be a good side to what people do so mankind is
never going to be totally destructive. It's very sincere
and there's something about the song that makes perfect
sense. It has this beautiful line: 'I can hear it on a
timeless wavelength, never dissipating and giving us
strength'. I think that's true. Music is an inspiration to
people and always has been an inspiration to people. Music
represents the good side of mankind; music tends to be a
good force rather than a bad force".
1989 - June
On
June 29th, the Pet Shop Boys begin their first tour,
visiting Hong Kong, Japan and Britain, playing 14 dates in
all. The tour, a lavish theatrical spectacle is directed
by film-maker Derek Jarman. He has specially shot several
films to be back-projected, there are extravagant costumes
and the cast includes six dancers (Casper, Cooley, Hugo
Huizar, Tracey Langran, Jill Robertson and Robia LaMorte),
four singers (Mike Henry, Jay Henry, Carroll Thompson and
Juliet Roberts), an extra keyboard player (Dominic Clarke)
and a percussionist (Danny Cummings). "They asked for a
theatrical concert and that's what we're doing", said
Derek Jarman. "I suppose some people think pop music and
theatre shouldn't mix but I think pop music is theatre and
I don't see why it shouldn't be so. To my mind, there's
two ways of doing it - you either just sit there and sing
on a stool and do it the simple way or you go for it".
1989 - August
The first single from the Pet Shop Boys'
collaboration with Liza Minnelli, a hi-energy version of
Stephen Sondheim's 'Losing My Mind', is released. It is
her first hit single. The collaboration was the idea of an
executive in the American branch of Epic Records. Together
they recorded an entire LP 'Results' (released in
October). "I just put it completely in their hands, the
ultimate trust", said Liza. "It's weird, because I've been
working for 30 years and to find somebody who you like
enough and trust enough and respect enough to say forget
it, I'll do whatever you want is quite amazing".
1989 -
November
The Dusty Springfield single 'In Private' is
released on November 20th. Written and co-produced by the
Pet Shop Boys, it was originally also intended for the
film Scandal but was adjudged it to sound too
contemporary. "It's about someone having an affair with a
politician and being found out", Neil explained, "the
politician is saying different things in public and in
private".
1989 - December
'Getting Away With It',
the first single by Electronic, the group formed by New
Order's Bernard Sumner and The Smith's guitarist Johnny
Marr, is released on December 4th. The words are
co-written by Neil who also sings on the record and
appears in the video. The collaboration had come about
after Neil had sent a message through a mutual friend
earlier in the year saying that he'd like to be involved.
Both Neil and Chris also travel to Manchester to
collaborate on another song called 'Patience Of A Saint'.
1990 - April
The Pet Shop boys begin recording their
new LP in Munich with producer Harold Faltermeyer.
1990
- July
Dusty Springfield's first LP since the Pet Shop
Boys recorded 'What Have I Done To Deserve This?' with her
is released. It is called 'Reputation' and one half of the
LP is a collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys. "She's very
much a pop singer", said Neil, "and her voice
instinctively goes very well with our music". He explained
they also admired her melodramatic determination, "She
looks at making records as like climbing a mountain, you
have to grind yourself up, it's going to be quite a long
journey".
1990 - August
On August 4th, the Pet Shop
Boys make their first public live appearance in America,
guesting on two songs with Electronic at the Los Angeles
Dodgers Stadium. Electronic have been invited to play by
the headline act Depeche Mode. They repeat the same
performance the following night.
1990 - September
On
September 24th 'So Hard' is released. It is about "two
people living together; they are totally unfaithful to
each other but they both pretend they are faithful and
then catch each other out". The black and white video is
shot in Newcastle and co-stars Paul Gascoigne's sister,
Anna. A second twelve-inch mix is released featuring a
virtual re-recording of both 'So Hard and the B-side 'It
Must Be Obvious' by the KLF.
1990 - October
'Behaviour', the Pet Shop Boys fifth LP, is released on
October 22nd. It is recorded in Munich and co-produced by
Harold Faltermeyer who they originally chose because they
were interested in using old analog synthesizers. On two
songs, 'This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave'
and 'My October Symphony', Johnny Marr plays guitar.
Though at the time of release they didn't consider it to
reflect a substantial shift in mood, later they conceded
it had been. "It was more reflective and more
musical-sounding, and also it probably didn't have
irritatingly crass ideas in it, like our songs often do".
1990 - November
In Los Angeles, at the Mayan Theatre on
the night of November 6th, the Pet Shop Boys play their
first American concert using a collection of performers
(Casper and Hugo Huizar dancing, Dominic Clarke playing
keyboards and operating the computer equipment, and two
backing singers) with whom they had appeared the previous
day on the Arsenio Hall Show.
1990 - November
The
second single taken off 'Behaviour' is 'Being Boring'
released on November 12th. The song is inspired by a party
invitation from Neil's Newcastle days which quoted Zelda
Fitzgerald's line "She was never bored, mainly because she
was never boring". Its video was the first to be made by
photographer and film-maker Bruce Weber, "I loved the
lyrics", he explained "and really felt it was something I
wanted to be part of... in it there's the feeling that
times are different today, and the feeling of abandoness
we can't have today because of the way the world is". It
was shot in one day at a house in Long Island, near New
york, with a cast that included a selection of Weber's
beautiful friends, a horse and a chimpanzee on
roller-skates. Though MTV in America, and several British
TV shows refused to show it because of the nudity
included, it won Music Week's Best Video Of The Year
Award. On the same day, a book about the Pet Shop Boys,
'Pet Shop Boys Literally', written with their consent and
based around their 1989 concerts is published. At a London
bookshop on November 23rd they sign over 800 copies before
the police had to break up the waiting crowd.
1990 -
December
'Highlights', a video of eight songs from the
1991 tour, is finally released. An earlier plan to release
footage of the entire show had to be cancelled because
Neil and Chris thought the footage disappointing.
1991
- March
The plan is to release 'How Can You Expect To
Be Taken Seriously?', a sharp dig at "the aspirations and
pomposities of pop stars" as the first Pet Shop Boys
single of 1991. They drastically remix it in conjunction
with British dance duo Brothers In Rhythm and film a video
in which they parody a number of stars. Meanwhile they
have recorded another track, initially to release much
later in the year: a hi-energy version of U2's 'Where The
Streets Have No Name' segued with the Frankie Valli
standard 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You'. Eventually they
resolve to release both songs as a double A-side on March
11th, and make a complementary video for 'Where The
Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)'. "It
worked as a concept: one song is about rock stars so to
have a U2 song with it serves as a further comment".
(Pressed for comment on this new cover version, U2 issued
the wry statement "What have we done to deserve this?").
The Pet Shop Boys second tour, 'Performance', also begins
on March 11th in Tokyo. After Japan it visits the USA,
Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden,
Finland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia,
Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Holland and the United Kingdom
and Eire. It is put together in conjunction with director
David Alden and designer David Fielding, best known for
their avant garde opera productions. "It's going to be
more theatrical than the last tour", Neil announced. "We
felt that with the last tour there were still elements of
a rock concert that we'd like to get rid of". There are no
musicians on stage, (though two, guitarists J.J. Belle and
keyboard player Scott Davidson, do skulk in the wings),
just three singers (Pamela Sheyne, Derek Green and Sylvia
Mason-James) and ten dancers (Petee Aloysius, Trevor
Henry, Craig Maguire, Catherine Malone, Mark Martin, leon
Maurice Jones, Suki Miles, Katie Puckrick, Sarah Toner and
Noal Wallace) choreographed by Jacob Marley.
1991 - May
The first album by Electronic, 'Electronic' including the
collaboration with Neil and Chris, 'The Patience Of A
Saint', is finally released on May 27th.
1991 - May
'Jealousy', remodelled to include a real orchestra, is
released on May 28th. It is a song that they had actually
written nine years ago, in the spring of 1982, and is,
quite simply about jealousy. "There's some good lines in
there", observes Chris, "like 'you didn't phone when you
said you would'. You know when you stay in and they say
they're going to phone at eight o'clock and they don't all
night and you go absolutely bonkers?" The twelve inch
version contains a quote from Shakespeare's tragic study
of jealousy, Othello. In the video, shot in a west London
car showroom, the Pet Shop Boys stand by as a roomful of
dining villains move from jealousy to violence.
1991 -
June
The third collection of Pet Shop Boys promotional
videos, aptly titled 'Promotion', is released on June 3rd
and includes videos for all their singles from 'Left To My
Own Devices' to 'Jealousy'.
1991 - June
In Dublin on
June 17th the Pet Shop Boys play the final date of their
tour.
1991 - August
Neil and Chris are invited to
take over Simon Bates' mid-morning show on Radio One,
Britain's national pop radio station, for a week. They
choose all the records, principally dance music. Chris
only swears on air once, and they are invited back to fill
the same role in July 1992.
1991 - September
The Pet
Shop Boys launch their own record label Spaghetti with a
single 'Heaven Must Have Sent You Back To Me', by a 21
year old Scottish singer, synthesizer player and
songwriter called Cicero. They first met him when he came
backstage at the Pet Shop Boys' Glasgow concert in 1989.
1991 - October
A single, 'DJ Culture', co-produced by
British dance music duo Brothers In Rhythm, is released on
October 14th. "It is about how facile and pretentious
modern life is", Neil explains, "just as in DJ records
everything is sampled to sound authentic, so in a lot of
aspects of modern life - for instance in politics - it is
almost as though attitudes are sampled. People pretend to
sound concerned; everyone pretends that the Gulf War was a
real war, and that President Bush or John Major are
successful war leaders. In fact they sample the past - the
Second World War, or a war movie - and the public also
samples their response from wars in the past. The whole
thing is sort of fake". In the video Neil and Chris appear
in appropriate costumes: as soldiers and doctors; as a
referee and a soccer player; as Oscar Wilde and his trial
Judge.
1991 - October
The Pet Shop Boys play a one
off concert at the London Nightclub, Heaven, at a party
after the Premiere of Derek Jarman's latest film, 'Edward
II' on October 15th. It is a deliberately untheatrical,
straight-forward concert, for which they are backed by the
three singers from this year's tour, J.J. Belle on guitar
and Lawrence Cedar on keyboards. They are introduced by
Derek Jarman, and supported by Cicero.
1991 - November
'Discography', a collection of the Pet Shop Boys' hit
singles from 'West End Girls' to the forthcoming 'Was It
Worth It?', is released on November 4th. Only six of the
eighteen songs have previously appeared on an album in
their single versions. At the same time a video
compilation, 'Videography', is also released.
1991 -
December
'Was It Worth It?' is released as a single on
December 8th. "It's a reaffirmation of the worth of love"
remarks Neil, "an 'I am what I am' sort of song". The
video mixes footage from the heaven concert with the Pet
Shop Boys amongst a clubland crowd mostly recruited from
the London event Kinky Gerlinky.
1992 - February
On
February 16th an hour-long film about the Pet Shop Boys is
broadcast by the TV arts programme The South Bank Show.
1992 - May
The Pet Shop Boys play a concert at the
Hacienda Nightclub in Manchester on May 13th to coincide
with an exhibition of Derek Jarman's paintings at
Manchester City Art Gallery and with the Hacienda's tenth
anniversary. They perform with J.J. Belle and Sylvia
Mason-James. In rehearsals they decide they want to play a
suitable cover version and - after tinkering with, then
discarding The Beatles' 'Fool On The Hill' - choose the
Village People's 1979 hit 'Go West'. The following month,
on June 8th, the Pet Shop Boys performed with the same
line-up at Roseland in New York, a benefit for Lifebeat,
an organization for people in the music business with
AIDS.
1992 - June
Neil co-writes and sings on a new
Electronic single 'Disappointed'. The title came to him
when Johnny Marr and Bernard Sumner's backing track
reminded him of 'Disenchantee', a song liked by French
singer Mylene Farmer. "'Disappointed' is", he says, "sort
of a love song, about not being disappointed".
1992 -
September
Eric Watson's film of the 1991 Performance
tour - also titled 'Performance' - is released on video on
September 28th. It has been delayed after a copyright
wrangle with one of the owners of 'I Can't Take My Eyes
Off You', and all traces of that song have been ruthlessly
excised.
1992 - October
On October 26th, the
soundtrack to the Neil Jordan film 'The Crying Game' is
released on Spaghetti Records. Earlier in 1992 the Pet
Shop Boys had been asked whether they would be interested
in helping with songs for the film, at that time titled
'The Soldier's Wife'. After seeing, and loving, a rough
edit, they agreed to release the soundtrack on their
Spaghetti label, and to contribute songs produced by them
and performed by Cicero and Carroll Thompson. At the last
moment, it was suggested that they also produce a new
version of Dave Berry's 1964 single, 'The Crying Game',
with Boy George singing. They had lunch with him, and a
week later it was recorded. 'The Crying Game' subsequently
became the film's theme tune. It is a British hit single
in September 1992 and then, in the Spring of 1993, it
became an American hit in the wake of the film's immense
American success. "I'm as happy as a sandboy", Boy George
will comment, and plans will be hatched for he and the Pet
Shop Boys to work together again on his next LP.
1993
September
Very, Disco 2, Discovery tour and
Alternative
Performing in Turku, Finland in 1997
In
June 1993, Pet Shop Boys infamously re-invented their
image and made a strong return to the UK Singles Chart
with "Can You Forgive Her?". Taking its title from the
Anthony Trollope novel of the same name, the single
reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, while its iconic
music video featured the duo in orange body suits and tall
dunce caps, in a world of computer-generated imagery. The
theme was continued with the follow-up single, often
considered as their signature song, a cover of the Village
People single "Go West", which reached number 2 in the UK,
with another computer-generated music video, this time
inspired by the Soviet Union. The tune was adopted into a
football chant at Arsenal Football Club (whom Chris Lowe
supports) and is heard at grounds throughout Europe to
this day.
1996 –2001
Bilingual, Nightlife and
the musical Closer to Heaven:
In November 1995, Neil
Tennant saw David Bowie live at Wembley Stadium and met
him backstage. Whilst discussing Bowie's then-recent album
Outside, Tennant mentioned that his favourite track was
"Hallo Spaceboy". Jokingly, Bowie said that Pet Shop Boys
should remix the track and a week later, phoned Tennant
asking for this to happen. The new version was completely
re-recorded and featured Tennant on backing vocals, using
additional lyrics from Bowie's first hit song, "Space
Oddity". The single was released on 19 February 1996, with
Pet Shop Boys joining Bowie to perform the song on the
BRIT Awards and Top of the Pops
2002 - May
Disco
3, PopArt, Live 8, Back to Mine and Battleship Potemkin
After the mixed fortunes of Closer to Heaven, Pet Shop
Boys returned to the studio to start work on their eighth
album. After toying with genres including hip hop, they
went for a stripped back acoustic sound as a complete
change from the over-the-top dance music of the musical.
In 2002, they released the modestly successful album
Release. Most of the tracks were produced by the duo
themselves and many featured Johnny Marr on guitar. The
first single, "Home and Dry", featured a very peculiar
video, directed by Wolfgang Tillmans, mostly consisting of
raw camcorder footage of mice filmed in the London
Underground. The follow-up single "I Get Along" had a
video filmed by Bruce Weber, and after this they embarked
on another world tour, although this time it was a
stripped back affair, with no dancers, backing singers,
costumes or lavish sets.
2006 – August
Fundamental, touring, Disco 4, Catalogue, Concrete and
Cubism: Performing in 2007
Pet Shop Boys began 2006
remixing Madonna's single "Sorry", for release in
February. The single reached number one in the UK and the
Pet Shop Boys' remix included new backing vocals performed
by Tennant. Madonna subsequently used the Pet Shop Boys'
remix, including Tennant's vocals, on her 2006 Confessions
Tour. In April, Pet Shop Boys released a new single that
reached No. 8 in the UK, "I'm with Stupid", a commentary
on the relationship between George W. Bush and Tony Blair.
The promo video featured Matt Lucas and David Walliams,
better known as the team behind Little Britain. Lucas and
Walliams portray Tennant and Lowe, parodying two of the
duo's previous videos, "Go West", and "Can You Forgive
Her?".
2009 - November
Yes, Pandemonium Tour,
Ultimate and Ballet Pet Shop Boys completed their newest
album in late 2008. Recorded with Xenomania and released
in UK on 23 March 2009, Yes was a critical success and hit
No. 4 in the UK, their highest album chart position in
more than a decade. Pet Shop Boys also appeared on Girls
Aloud's new album Out of Control, collaborating on the
Top-10 track "The Loving Kind", released on 12 January
2009 as a single
2011 - September
Format and
Elysium
On 28 September 2011, Pet Shop Boys announced
that they had written 16 songs for their next studio album
and expected to start recording the new songs in November
2011 for release in Autumn 2012.[33][34][35] In the
meantime, Format, an album of the duo's B-sides from 1996
to 2009 was released on 6 February 2012 as a sequel to
their earlier B-side collection Alternative. Format
entered the UK charts at No.26 on 12th Feb 2012
2012 -
September
In January 2012, Pet Shop Boys announced on
their official website that they had started recording
their new album in Los Angeles with producer Andrew
Dawson. On 9 June 2012, a film by renowned Los Angeles
artist/film-maker Brian Bress for the album track
"Invisible" began to be circulated on the web and was
posted to the official site and the band's YouTube page on
11 June, at which time Elysium was revealed to be name of
the new album.
On 25 June 2012, "Winner" was revealed
as the title of the first single from the new album
Elysium. It premiered on the Ken Bruce Show on BBC Radio 2
on 2 July 2012. Elysium is scheduled for release in the UK
on 10 September 2012 and in other countries the weeks
before and after.[39]
On 27 June 2012, the Pet Shop
Boys performed 3 songs before the Olympic tennis games in
Henman Hill, Wimbledon, which are Always On My Mind, What
Have I Done to Deserve This?, and their latest single,
Winner.[40]
On 28 June 2012, the Pet Shop Boys
announced release date and the complete track-listing for
Elysium, the new album by Pet Shop Boys, produced in Los
Angeles earlier this year by Andrew Dawson and Pet Shop
Boys, which will be released in early September on
Parlophone/EMI
2013 March the duo officially left
Parlophone after 28 years and entered into a new
arrangement with Kobalt Label Servicesfor their 12th
studio album which would be the band's first release on
their own music label 'x2' (pronounced "times two").
Tennant stated at the time of the announcement:
2014 July the Pet Shop Boys new work A Man from the Future
received its world premiere at the 2014 BBC Proms.
Performed by the BBC Singers, BBC Concert Orchestra and
the Pet Shop Boys, the work was inspired by the life of
WW2 code breaker Alan Turing and was orchestrated by Sven
Helbig.The concert also included Overture to Performance,
an orchestral arrangement of Pet Shop Boys songs used to
open their 1991 Performance tour, and four Pet Shop Boys
songs arranged by Angelo Badalamenti and sung by Chrissie
Hynde - "Vocal", "Love is a Catastrophe", "Later Tonight"
and "Rent". On 6 September 2014, it was announced on the
duo's website that they plan to begin work on their
thirteenth studio album in November
Pet Shop Boys are
scheduled to perform on stage with South Korean girl group
f(x) at the end of the year MAMA Awards on December 2,
2015.
2016 January the Pet Shop Boys announced that
their thirteenth album, Super, would be released on 1
April. The announcement was accompanied by the release of
an album teaser track, "Inner Sanctum". The lead single
from the new album, entitled "The Pop Kids", was released
on 18 March 2016."The Pop Kids" was the duo's eleventh
number one on the US Dance Club Songs chart. In July 2016,
they performed the 'Inner Sanctum' tour, for four nights
at the Royal Opera House in London. The subsequent Super
Tour started in October 2016.
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