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”.
PSB protegé Cicero returns to his home town of Livingston, Scotland, for a performance to celebrate the release of his first single, ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You Back to Me,’ co-produced by the Pet Shop Boys. Neil attends the show this evening, accompanied by their handler/assistant Dainton Connell.
Chris makes a brief cameo appearance on the popular Australian TV soap opera Neighbours.
The Trades Union Congress lists Neil among 250 entertainers who endorse a hotline to help reduce racism in U.K. workplaces.
The Boys appear on Top of the Pops, performing ‘I Get Along.’
The second of four consecutive nights of PSB shows at London’s Royal Opera House. Earlier this same day, it was announced on the Boys’ website that the book One Hundred Lyrics and One Poem by Neil Tennant would be published November 1.
Neil, together with Frances Barber and Jonathan Harvey, films interview segments to promote the upcoming production of Musik. Later Neil works with Frances on some of the spoken segments of its songs ‘to get the timings right.’