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”.
Future Smiths/Electronic guitarist and frequent PSB collaborator John Maher—better known as Johnny Marr—is born in Manchester, U.K.
The Pet Shop Boys sign a five-year management contract with Tom Watkins of Massive Management.
The Boys perform at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Neil and Chris write an unidentified song with Robbie Williams.
Continuing the promotional activities related to the new PSB hits collection Ultimate, Neil is featured on Matt Everitt’s BBC6 radio show The First Time. The music programmed for the show includes not only several PSB numbers but also tracks by other artists that have influenced them or otherwise played a role in their history, including (among others) the Beatles’ ‘Fool on the Hill,’ the Incredible String Band’s ‘October Song,’ the Flirts’ ‘Passion,’ Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love,’ and, perhaps most surprisingly, Isao Tomita’s electronic rendition of Debussy’s ‘The Girl with the Flaxen Hair.’
The Boys are in Austin, the capital city of Texas, in anticipation of their Super Tour show there the following night. The Pretenders also happen to be in town, so Chris and Neil attend their performance this evening (‘Brilliant concert,’ as Neil later enthuses on their website) and visit with Chrissie Hynde afterward.
A previously unreleased ‘short version’ of the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘The Way Through the Woods’ is released today on the various-artists digital album Emmi Aid, which is dedicated to the preservation of the endangered Emmauswald (Emmaus Forest) near Berlin. A video for the song is also released on YouTube.