On August 19th, Neil and Chris meet by chance in an electronics shop on the Kings Road. Realizing they have a common interest in dance music, they begin to write together. Initially they call themselves West End; later they come up with the name Pet Shop Boys, a name derived from some friends who work in a pet shop in Ealing. “We thought it sounded like an English rap group”.
Liza Minnelli’s ‘So Sorry, I Said,’ written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys, is released as a single.
Critic J.D. Considine, writing in this date’s issue of Rolling Stone, gives Very a glowing review, stating that it has ‘depth that makes [it] worth hearing again and again.’
The Boys appear in concert in Bogota, Colombia.
Neil and Chris perform at the Sala Palatului (Palatine Hall) in Bucharest. By all reports, the show—their first ever in Romania, and postponed from an earlier date—proves a tremendous success. (The Boys refer to it as ‘the last Fundamental concert.’)
This afternoon Chris attends the first preview performance at London’s Young Vic Theatre of David Almond’s play My Dad’s a Birdman, which includes original music and songs composed by him and Neil.
In Leipzig, Germany, for the start of the European leg of their Super Tour the following night, Chris and Neil attend a performance this evening of The Hidden Cameras and their opening act, Evvol, both of which they thoroughly enjoy.