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 Boys perform in Toronto, Canada. On this same day, ‘New York City Boy’ is released as a single in the U.S.
Chris attends a launch party at London’s popular club Kilo in celebration of the release of the new Bananarama album Drama. Neil, however, attends a book-launch party at the National Army Museum, which is also attended by Britain’s last surviving World War I veterans—men more than a century old.
Neil is interviewed on Los Angeles radio station KBIG FM. That evening the Boys perform the second of two consecutive nights’ shows in L.A. Backstage afterward they meet Diane Warren, the composer of ‘Numb,’ in person for the first time.
Dame Shirley Bassey’s album The Performance is released, featuring the Tennant-Lowe song ‘The Performance of My Life.’
The Pet Shop Boys appear on television this evening on BBC1’s The One Show.
Back in the States following a brief visit to Canada, the Boys bring the Super Tour this evening to Boston.
They work in the studio on ‘Happy People,’ after which Neil takes the U1 to record train sounds for use in ‘Will-o-the-wisp.’