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 perform ‘West End Girls’ on Top of the Pops—their first of more than 50 appearances on the show.
Neil and Chris make their second appearance on the German TV program Peter’s Pop Show, this time performing ‘It’s a Sin’ and ‘Rent.’
The Boys perform in concert in São Paolo, Brazil.
Chris and Neil supervise the recording of orchestral and choral backing tracks for various Nightlife songs. They also work on demos for their upcoming musical.
They perform at the O2 World arena in Berlin. Bernard Sumner’s new band, Bad Lieutenant, opens for them.
Neil and Chris are spotted in attendance at this evening’s performance of A John Waters Christmas at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
A very big, busy day for the Boys. They’re interviewed on several different BBC Radio stations (2, 5, and 6), talking about, among other things, their concert that evening with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and their new musical piece about Alan Turing (‘He Dreamed of Machines’). Then later, of course, there’s the orchestral concert itself, with guest guitarist Johnny Marr. (It will be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 the following evening.) Meanwhile, their official website posts news about the first U.K. dates (in June 2013) on their next concert tour.
They appear in their second of two nights’ shows at the Copenhagen Opera House.
A brand new ‘official’ lyric video of the PSB holiday song ‘It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas’ debuts today on YouTube.