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
1995
Neil begins a week-long holiday in Spain, first in Santiago de Compostela—a locale that will provide inspiration for the first verse of ‘To Step Aside.’
2002
The Pet Shop Boys perform in Nyon, Switzerland.
2010
The Summer 2010 leg of the Pandemonium Tour comes to the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena.
2011
British singer Amy Winehouse dies at the age of 27. Neil and Chris—who had been falsely rumored back in 2008 to have recorded a James Bond theme with her—issue a statement of sadness at the news on their official website.
2014
A
very busy day for the Boys. Following its final rehearsal in the morning, Chris and Neil premiere their new symphonic/electronic work A Man from the Future this evening at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Concert Orchestra and Chorus, narrated by Juliet Stevenson. (Also part of the program are other Tennant-Lowe compositions: ‘Overture to Performance’ and ‘Four Songs in A Minor’ sung by guest vocalist Chrissie Hynde.) And if all that weren’t enough, our musical heroes manage to squeeze in (between the rehearsal and the concert) a recording session at Maida Vale Studios for their appearance the following month on the long-running BBC Radio drama The Archers.
2016
The Pet Shop Boys’ four-night ‘Inner Sanctum’ residency at London’s Royal Opera House concludes with this evening’s performance. Afterwards Neil writes on their official website about having enjoyed ‘four extraordinary nights… with wonderful audiences.’
2024
The first of five consecutive sold-out PSB Dreamworld concerts takes place tonight at London’s Royal Opera House.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com