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 Crying Game soundtrack (partly produced by PSB) is released on their Spaghetti label.
The Boys launch their DiscoVery tour in Singapore.
They headline the Stonewall Equality Show at London’s Royal Albert Hall, having agreed to perform a ‘hastily arranged’ set only at the last minute. Chris later enthuses, ‘It was our greatest moment… our finest hour.’
The Pet Shop Boys perform in Detroit. By a remarkable coincidence, they’ve done consecutive shows in St. Louis and Detroit at the very same time that those two cities’ baseball teams are battling for the World Series championship.
2008: Neil and Chris attend a concert by the Last Shadow Puppets at London’s Hammersmith Apollo.
2013: Chris and Neil are interviewed by Graham Norton on his midday show on BBC Radio 2.