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
The Boys write ‘For Your Own Good’; Chris also writes the music for ‘Call Me Old-Fashioned.’
2000
BPI awards a U.K. gold record to Nightlife.
2007
Neil joins the Scissor Sisters onstage at a London charity concert benefitting children and families living with HIV/AIDS. They perform the Boys’ ‘Love Comes Quickly,’ which segues into the Sisters’ ‘It Can’t Come Quickly Enough.’
2009
The Pet Shop Boys receive their ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’ Award at this evening’s BRITS Awards ceremonies. They also perform a 9½-minute medley of their songs with occasional guest vocals from Lady Gaga and Brandon Flowers.
2011
Neil and Chris continue working on the new song ‘Heads Will Roll’ and start work on a track Chris has composed titled ‘Sick’ (which soon will evolve into ‘Memory of the Future’).
2015
Still in Germany, the Boys take a day off to drive to Hohenschönhausen to take a guided tour of Stasi Prison, which now serves as a memorial to political prisoners of the former East German communist regime.
2017
They kick off the 2017 U.K. leg of their Super Tour with a show this evening in Leeds.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com