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.
On the cusp of international stardom—but not quite there yet—Neil appears as one of several panelists on the BBC Radio 1 show The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia Quiz in his capacity as an assistant editor at Smash Hits.
Liza Minnelli’s ‘Love Pains,’ produced by the Pet Shop Boys, is released as a single.
The Boys complete their brief Russian tour.
The official PSB website announces today that Neil and Chris will be ‘special guest speakers’ at the International Music Summit scheduled to take place in Ibiza in late May.