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”.
Discography and Videography are released simultaneously.
Chris Heath’s book Pet Shop Boys vs. America is published.
The Boys perform in Sydney, Australia.
In Seattle for their Fundamental concert the following evening, Chris and Neil attend a showing of the film Borat at a local cinema. Neil subsequently describes it (on their official website) as ‘wickedly funny and highly recommended.’
Excerpts from the Warchild benefit concert three nights before, including one song by PSB (‘West End Girls,’ wouldn’t you know?), air on late-night U.K. television, carrying over into the wee hours of the following morning.
‘Thursday’ is released as a single in both physical and digital formats.
Neil appears this evening with the Boys’ chief graphic designer, Mark Farrow, at London’s University of the Arts for an onstage ‘conversation’ with the school’s Chair of Visual Communication, Scott King, including Q&A with members of the audience.
Neil and Chris are in Nashville, Tennessee for their first visit ever to ‘Music City, U.S.A.’ They present their Super Tour show there this evening at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s Andrew Jackson Hall.
Working with a full band in Berlin’s Hansa Studios, the Boys record ‘I Don’t Wanna.’