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
1997
Neil attends an invitation-only live set by Depeche Mode at a South London TV studio. The DM performance, in which they debut tracks from their soon-to-be-released album Ultra, is videotaped for later broadcast on MTV.
2000
Chris begins work in a London studio (sans Neil, but assisted by Pete Gleadall) on the music for ‘Nine Out of Ten.’
2002
The Boys tape their appearance on Later… with Jools Holland, to be aired two days from now. They perform four songs.
2008
They work on several tracks, including their first attempt at the old Madness song ‘My Girl.’
2009
The CNN website runs a story about how the Pet Shop Boys had rejected a recent request by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) that they change their name to the ‘Rescue Shelter Boys’ as a gesture toward educating the public about the downside of pet shops. CNN even makes it the subject of a poll on the home page of their website.
2010
Chris and Neil attend Boy George’s show this evening at London’s Leicester Square Theatre. Afterwards George writes on Twitter, ‘Lovely to see the Pet Shop Boys tonite. Neil is looking über well and Chris is still a lovely rascal!’
- Facts collated by geowayne.com