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 named Best British Group at the BRITS Awards. They also perform ‘What Have I Done to Deserve This?’ with Dusty Springfield.
RIAA awards U.S. gold albums to both Discography and Very.
The Boys perform in Paris.
They kick off their U.K. ‘University Tour.’
Neil records vocals for ‘I’m with Stupid.’
Chris and Neil work at a recording studio in Sherman Oaks, California, taking advantage of the vintage synths there. Among the tracks they work on is ‘Memory of the Future.’ Later that evening they attend a concert featuring the Icelandic electronic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson with the Formalist String Quartet at the Masonic Lodge in Los Angeles.
The fourth and final song from the Boys’ EP Agenda, ‘The Forgotten Child,’ begins streaming online, and the entire EP goes on sale on various digital outlets.
Neil is interviewed and answers audience questions at The Cambridge Union, home of Cambridge University’s free speech and debating society.