After completing a degree in history at the Polytechnic of North London, Neil takes a job at Marvel Comics, anglicizing spellings and indicating where over-risque woman needed to be redrawn decently. While there he interviews comic fan Marc Bolan, who politely points out that his tape recorder wasn’t working. In 1977 he works at Macdonald Educational Publishing, later moving to ITV Books. In June 1982, he joins Smash Hits.
‘What Have I Done to Deserve This?’ peaks at #2 on the U.S. singles chart. On this same day, ‘I’m Not Scared,’ produced by PSB for Eighth Wonder, is released as a single in Europe.
The Boys record ‘Friendly Fire.’
Madonna’s new single, ‘Sorry,’ is released in the U.K. featuring the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘Maxi-Mix’ of the track.
Chris Lowe sits down over beers with Chris Heath at London’s Groucho Club for a lengthy evening interview that later appears in the May 2007 issue of the official PSB Fan Club magazine Literally.
Neil is interviewed on BBC Radio 2 by host Dermot O’Leary to discuss his ‘pre-PSB’ work at Smash Hits magazine.