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 Munich, Germany.
They work in the studio on ‘Twentieth Century.’
Neil and Chris are rehearsing this weekend in preparation for their upcoming Electric Tour.
Chris and Neil announce on their official website that they will henceforth boycott The Beverly Hills Hotel, where they’ve previously stayed ‘a couple times,’ because it’s part of an international chain owned by the Sultan of Brunei, whose nation recently decreed death by stoning for gay people.
Although it has already had a number of performances, tonight is the official opening night of the London revival of the Pet Shop Boys/Jonathan Harvey stage musical Closer to Heaven. (The subsequent press reviews are mixed but, in general, lean more on the positive side.)
The third and final part of a documentary series about Dusty Springfield, Definitively Dusty, airs this evening on BBC Radio 2. It includes an interview with Chris and Neil concerning their work with her.