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
1991
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.
1995
Chris makes a brief cameo appearance on the popular Australian TV soap opera Neighbours.
2000
The Trades Union Congress lists Neil among 250 entertainers who endorse a hotline to help reduce racism in U.K. workplaces.
2002
The Boys appear on Top of the Pops, performing ‘I Get Along.’
2018
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.
2019
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.’
- Facts collated by geowayne.com