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
The Pet Shop Boys perform in Stuttgart, Germany.
2002
They perform at the Dekalb Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
2012
They discuss album artwork for Elysium with Mark Farrow and Gary Stillwell.
2013
The second date of the Electric Tour ‘proper,’ with the Boys’ concert at Luna Park in Buenos Aires.
2019
They continue working with Frances Barber on her vocals for Musik. Today she provides new vocals for the older songs ‘Friendly Fire’ and ‘Run, Girl, Run,’ and also re-records her vocal for ‘Ich bin Musik.’
2022
The Boys arrive in Brussels for their Dreamworld Tour show the following evening. Unfortunately, their luggage gets stuck on the carousel at the airport, temporarily blocking the other passengers’ bags.
2025
Neil and Chris visit Manchester’s John Rylands Library to see the ‘Secret Public’ exhibition, which focuses on the influence of LGBTQ artists and activists on popular culture. Included are Neil’s original lyric manuscripts for ‘West End Girls’ and ‘It’s a Sin.’
- Facts collated by geowayne.com