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”.
The Pet Shop Boys are the focus of a feature story and interview in the latest issue (dated today) of the U.K. magazine Flipside.
‘Minimal’ is released as a single.
The live Cubism DVD is released in the United States, two months after it had been released in the U.K. and various other countries.
The Boys perform at Nottingham’s Splendour Festival.
Let’s hope they didn’t develop writer’s cramp: Neil and Chris sign 500 prints for the very limited special vinyl edition of The Most Incredible Thing.