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.
Chris continues working on the music for ‘Nine Out of Ten.’
The Boys’ appearance on the U.K. TV show Later… with Jools Holland, taped two days earlier, airs on this date.
They record new vocals for ‘The Resurrectionist’ and rework ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain,’ slowing the rhythm track down somewhat.
‘Together’ is released as a digital single in the U.S.—roughly five months after it was released in the U.K. and various other countries. On this same day, Chris composes music and Neil writes lyrics for a new song, ‘Everything Means Something.’
The Pet Shop Boys make the first of their two scheduled appearances at this year’s Coachella Music Festival in Indio, California. (To get there they first had to drive through a desert sandstorm.) Billboard gives PSB a glowing review, stating, ‘The duo may have fulfilled the role of elder statesmen for the day (no band on Saturday’s lineup has been around longer than the ’80s innovators), but PSB’s recent material packed an energetic punch that could have stood next to any of the younger acts on the bill.’
Neil appears as a surprise guest vocalist onstage with Johnny Marr and his band at Hammersmith Apollo in London, singing on a cover of David Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’ as well as the Electronic classic ‘Getting Away with It.’ Interestingly, Neil adds some new lyrics to the latter song.