February 1986
On February 24th, ‘Love comes quickly’, which will remain one of their favourite songs, is released, reaching a disappointing #19 in the UK.
History
March 1986
On March 24th, their first LP ‘Please’ is released. “It’s so people can go into the record shop and say can I have the Pet Shop Boys album, please?”.
April 1986
‘West End girls’ reaches #1 in USA.
May 1986
On May 19th a new version of ‘Opportunities’ is released. “The point of that song is that the humour is black, it’s like a joke. The impression is that the people in it are not going to make any money”.
June 1986
The Pet Shop Boys announce, then cancel, a tour of Europe and America; the cost of using a theatre designer and playing fairly small venues proves prohibitive.
September 1986
On September 22nd, a re-recorded version of ‘Suburbia’, a song inspired by the Penelope Spheeris film of the same name about a group of disenchanted rebellious youths in suburban Los Angeles, is released. “It’s about a riot happening in some decaying suburb. It’s just the description of the riot happening and then the aftermath”. On the B‑side is the first version of ‘Paninaro’, named after an Italian youth cult and featuring a quote they both liked that Chris had said on a TV show: “I don’t like country and western, I don’t like rock music, I don’t like rockabilly… I don’t like much really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately”.
November 1986
On November 17th ‘Disco’, an LP of disco remixes, is released.
On this day
1989
‘In Private’ by Dusty Springfield, written and produced by the Pet Shop Boys, is released as a single.
1994
The Boys perform the first of two consecutive nights’ shows at the Corona Capital Festival in Mexico City.
1999
Nightlife debuts on the U.S. album chart at its #84 peak.
2006
Neil and Chris spend some time ‘playing tourist’ out in the desert near Monterrey, Mexico.
2009
After a month-long break, the Boys begin what they describe as the ‘winter leg’ of the Pandemonium Tour with a concert in Athens, their first show in Greece in seven years. They also appear on Greek television this evening in a pre-recorded segment of the local version of X Factor, during which they perform ‘It’s a Sin.’
2011
Neil and Chris attend the Evening Standard Theatre Awards show at London’s Savoy Hotel. There they, along with their collaborator Javier De Frutos, receive the ‘Beyond Theatre’ award for their ballet The Most Incredible Thing. Their friend (and also sometimes collaborator) Sam Taylor-Wood presents the award to them, explaining that it’s in recognition of ‘people who swap genres and break boundaries.’
2012
They work in the studio on their cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Last to Die.’
2023
The Boys perform for the second night in a row in Mexico City, only this time at a different venue: the Teatro Metropólitan.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com