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
1999
Chris and Neil settle on the final running order of the tracks on Nightlife.
2002
In the wee hours of the morning they appear on Craig Kilborn’s CBS Late Late Show.
2007
They wind up the U.K. leg of the Fundamental Tour with a show in Swindon.
2011
The Boys resume work on ‘In Slow Motion,’ a song they had started writing the day before. Chris composes music while Neil works on the lyrics.
2012
A very busy, productive PSB day in Berlin. Among other things, they listen to some of the music they’ve already composed for A Man from the Future, select the Gareth Pugh designs for the clothes they will wear for their appearance during the closing ceremony of the Olympics, and begin work on ‘Love Is a Bourgeois Construct’ based on a Michael Nyman composition Chris had downloaded earlier in the day.
2013
Having arrived in Copenhagen in preparation for their concert there two days from now, the Boys enjoy a relaxing day of dining and shopping.
2014
The second Electric Tour concert Sydney.
2015
The Pet Shop Boys provide the closing performance of the three-day TresSesenta Festival in Pamplona, Spain.
2019
Continuing work from the day before, they develop ‘Johnny’s Dark Side’ and ‘Beautiful Laundrette,’ the latter track based on their old Bobby ‘O’ demo of ‘I Get Excited.’
2022
They perform this evening in Leipzig, Germany.
2023
Despite heavy rain just before going onstage, the Boys manage a successful show for their second night in a row in Madrid, this time at the Primavera Sound festival at the Cívitas Metropolitano.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com