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
Chris and Neil write and begin recording ‘It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas.’
2005
Eight years to the day after they wrote the song, the Pet Shop Boys’ ‘It Doesn’t Often Snow at Christmas’ appears on the limited-edition charity compilation CD Elton John’s Christmas Party.
2006
For the second time in less than a week, the Boys perform on U.S. television, this time on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
2008
The Boys begin writing their ballet. Pete Gleadall assists with the programming.
2016
Most unusually, Neil and Chris perform this evening in a small town rather than a large city: historic Morristown, New Jersey, with a population of fewer than 20,000. But it’s on the edge of the greater New York metropolitan area, quite close to Newark, and less than two hours’ drive from Philadelphia, so there’s no shortage of nearby fans happy to travel to Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center for a PSB concert.
2018
They work on ‘The One I Want’ (soon to be retitled ‘You Are the One’).
2023
Although it won’t be broadcast for nearly a week, today Neil is in Berlin recording his guest appearance on Sven Helbig’s radio show Schöne Töne. Accompanied by an orchestra, Neil sings two PSB songs, ‘Cricket Wife’ and ‘Legacy,’ that have never previously been performed ‘live.’
2024
At this evening’s MTV EMA (Europe Music Awards) held in Manchester, the Pet Shop Boys receive the Pop Pioneers Award and perform a medley of ‘All the Young Dudes’ and ‘West End Girls’ with the Manchester Camerata.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com