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
1993
Boy George’s ‘The Crying Game,’ produced by the Pet Shop Boys, debuts on the U.S. singles chart, beginning a 17-week run peaking at #15.
2002
The Boys tape a special live concert for BBC Radio 2.
2009
Neil and Chris take part in a 20-minute audio interview with Paul MacInnes, which is webcast on the Guardian.co.uk website. They discuss their 25 years as successful recording artists, their songwriting, and their new album Yes.
2011
In another promotional appearance related to The Most Incredible Thing, Neil discusses ‘life, music, and the ballet’ this evening with host Nick Ferrari on the U.K. classical music station ‘Classic FM.’
2012
The official PSB website notes that producer Andrew Dawson is currently busy mixing tracks for their next studio album. While he’s doing that, Chris and Neil take a break to go for a long walk in L.A.‘s Runyon Canyon Park.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com