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.
‘Always on My Mind’ peaks at #4 on the U.S. charts.
The Pet Shop Boys appear on the cover of NME.
Friends star David Schwimmer gets a nasty gash on his forehead at a party thrown for the Boys in New York City.
They perform at the Grand Rex Theatre in Paris. The concert starts late, however, because one of the trucks carrying their equipment had crashed en route from their previous venue in Stuttgart. Fortunately the driver wasn’t hurt, but the accident causes a major delay in construction of the staging and setup for the concert. Aside from the late start, the show goes well.
Chris and Neil work on ‘A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi’ in Pete Gleadall’s studio.
My Beautiful Laundrette and ‘Cricket Wife,’ both previously available as special bonus CDs accompanying editions of Annually, are officially released today in downloadable digital format.