Neil Tennant is used to signing autographs the world over. But in Britain, he is as likely to be asked to sign a copy of the Dairy Book of Home Management as he is one of his chart-topping CDs.

For long before Neil and his pop partner Chris Lowe scored massive success in the pop charts around the globe as the Pet Shop Boys, the North Shields-born performer was a book editor.

And he just so happened to edit the biggest-selling book of the Eighties in Britain _ the aforementioned Dairy Book of Home Management.

"It was sold through the Milk Marketing Board through the milkman, and sold £1.4 million copies in six weeks," he recalls.

"Everyone remembers it. If you go into any second hand book shop there's a copy of it. And people often get me to sign it as it's got my name on the front as general editor.

"I did that when I was about 24. It was the worst job I ever had. We had to put the whole thing together in 10 weeks. It was a lot of work I can tell you."

His days of book editing are, of course, long gone. The Pet Shop Boys are now officially the most successful British duo ever, and have been at the top of their profession for nearly two decades, with more than 30 hit singles and a string of number one albums.

But despite travelling the world and selling millions of CDs, he's never forgotten his roots.

He often ventures to his beloved home city and has put his name behind the campaign for Newcastle Gateshead to be named European Capital of Culture 2008. "I remember how Newcastle changed in the late 60s, early 70s, when I was a teenager, the T. Dan Smith years, when it was actually rebuilt, not necessarily in a great way," he says.

"Now it has settled down and it seems much more friendly, certainly than when I was in the sixth form in the early 70s.

"Newcastle was full of skinheads on a Saturday night and it used to be quite a scary place, it doesn't seem like that now. It's interesting how the trend in Newcastle has actually shifted further towards the river.

"But I also think it is a pity that they made all of Newcastle into shopping malls. I think that was a disaster in the 1980s.

"Newcastle, unlike a lot of cities in the North East, is a particularly distinguished city in terms of architecture.

"Eldon Square was very beautiful and they knocked it down. That was the real tragedy.

"They could have incorporated it into the Eldon Square Gardens if they wanted to _ and that was where I had my first ever live concert, a talent competition. I was in a folk group called Dust and we played there after school and got in to the quarter-finals and lost.

"But they really seem to have a progressive council in Gateshead.

"I was at the unveiling of the Angel of the North. I think it's a brilliant symbol of the North East."

So how did a lad from Tyneside become a worldwide pop success?

He moved from North Shields to Brunton Park, Gosforth, at an early age, with his parents William and Sheila, who still live in the same house there.

He has two brothers, Simon and Philip, and a sister Susan.

"My father was a sales representative for rubber goods, conveyor belts, and Simon and I spent a lot of our summer holidays sitting in the back of a car on trading estates. We used to like having lunch in transport cafes."

Changed days then! "Well, the last time I was in a transport café was not that long ago," laughs Neil. "We did a little tour in January/February and on at least two occasions we ate in something approaching a transport café."

"I was a terrible actor and was in various productions like Under Milk Wood," he recalls.

"Then later on I wrote a play. I was always into music and theatre. Saturday afternoons I used to go to the Theatre Royal and get a seat in the gods and see what plays were on.

"It was amazing what you could see in those days, they used to play there before going into the West End."

Neil left St Cuthbert's RC School in Newcastle in 1972 and went to North London Polytechnic. "I did an honours degree in history and as soon as I left, a friend of mine showed me a job ad for a production editor at Marvel Comics.

"I got the job and I was really annoyed as I was going to have a year off.

"I've never really had any time off, you know, and I worked there for two years and then I went into book publishing.

"I worked for educational book publishers, resulting in that Dairy Book of Home Management."

Neil then moved to ITV books and, through that, entered the pop world via Smash Hits.

"They asked me to edit a book for Smash Hits and as soon as I got there I actually became the news editor and I was suddenly a pop journalist.

"I had already met Chris (Lowe) and from 1982-85, we were writing songs together. I was star-struck. It was a good time for pop music. I actually interviewed an unknown Madonna in New York. I went to launch the American Smash Hits at the end of 1983. I was there for three months and it was when we first made West End Girls."

But did he ever think it would be the success it was, and lead to even greater success?

"Even now we only think six months or a year ahead."

And he doesn't believe in playing the fame game either, with both he and Chris vehemently guarding their private lives.

"We haven't operated as celebrities. We've made records and written songs, but Chris and I very rarely operate at a high profile.

"We made the decision right from the very beginning not to go to be tabloid celebrities. Some people like to run their private lives through the newspapers because it keeps them in the public eye, we've just never been like that.

"Look at Abba. Abba was a brand name. And the Pet Shop Boys has been a much more powerful brand name than it has been two individuals, and we've always liked that."

He's enjoying being based in the North East again. He and Chris recorded their latest album Release in Neil's Weardale home. "I wanted a house in the countryside and where you could walk outside on the footpath," says Neil.

"I spend about half my time up there.

"It's good to come home."

Show is based on musical talents

The Pet Shop Boys are at Newcastle City Hall on Sunday.

But don't expect the hugely extravagant type of show they've become known for in the past.

"We designed this as a theatre show, not as an arena show," says Neil.

"It's Chris playing keyboard and me playing the guitar and singing and we've got two guitarists and a percussionist and our programmer.

"We wanted to do something completely different than anything we've done before.

"Having said that, everyone is knocked out by the way the show looks because the lighting is absolutely stunning. It is quite unusual. My parents came to see the show in Brussels and they thought it was fantastic.

"At one time extravagant shows were quite unusual and now they have become more usual, like Kylie's show was part inspired by one of our early tours.

"We felt we just wanted to present the Pet Shop Boys as musicians. There'll be songs from every album we made and we've rearranged some of the old songs."

There are plans for a second Best Of album, after 1991's chart-topping Discography.

"I think to put out a double CD of 36 singles is a bit unwieldy myself and I would quite like to put out a single CD of our favourites," he says.

By The Evening Chronicle