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”.
‘Jerusalem’ by Fat Les, featuring a mix by the Pet Shop Boys, debuts at #10 on the U.K. singles chart.
The Boys perform in Moscow on the second date of their Pandemonium Tour.
The official PSB website announces the title of their next studio album, Elysium, and confirms it will be released in September. As an advance ‘taster’ for the album, the track ‘Invisible’ appears online with its own new music video. Meanwhile, back in the studio, Neil casually mutes some equipment in order to answer the phone, but then gets distracted and forgets what he has done. Unknowingly, they believe their still-muted gear is malfunctioning. (After all, they’re only human. It’s two days before their sound engineer determines the cause of the problem and simply presses the button again to ‘un-mute’ the equipment.)
They bring their Electric Tour show to Paris.
They perform at Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena.
The Boys bring their Dreamworld Tour to Belfast.