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
1985
The original version of ‘Opportunities’ is released as a single.
2000
The Pet Shop Boys drop out from this year’s Roskilde Festival because nine attendees had died the day before during Pearl Jam’s set.
2006
In the wake of England’s loss to Portugal and elimination from the World Cup competition, BBC Sports airs a montage using the Boys’ ‘Numb’ as background music.
2007
Chris and Neil—or, more accurately, their avatars—perform as part of SecondFest, a three-day music festival taking place in Second Life, an ‘online 3D virtual reality world.’
2011
They meet with their manager, Angela Becker, to play songs they have recently composed and to discuss possible producers for their next album. This same evening, the film of the Tennant-Lowe ballet The Most Incredible Thing has its world television broadcast debut on BBC4.
2013
The Boys perform in Dortmund, Germany.
2014
Neil and Chris are interviewed this evening on the BBC Radio 4 arts program Front Row.
2017
They perform this evening at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin.
2023
Chris and Neil bring the 2023 leg of their Dreamworld Tour to the continent with their appearance in Cologne, Germany.
2024
The Boys perform this evening in Prague.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com