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
1995
The Pet Shop Boys are recording at Axis Studios, located above Studio 54 in New York City.
2002
They perform at this year’s Roskilde Festival in Denmark.
2006
This is the first of two consecutive nights’ PSB concerts at the Tower of London.
2009
The Pandemonium Tour comes to Stockholm. After the show, the Swedish duo West End Girls meet backstage with Chris and Neil.
2011
The second of the Boys’ two nights opening for Take That in Birmingham.
2012
Comedian David Walliams—known as a dedicated PSB fan—records track-by-track audio commentary with Neil and Chris at London’s Sarm Studios for their soon-to-be-released album Elysium.
2017
They perform this evening in Mainz, Germany.
2019
At Cardiff Castle, the Boys rehearse for their upcoming guest appearance at the following evening’s Glastonbury show by The Killers. The uncomfortably high temperature leads Chris later to describe it as ‘the hottest soundcheck of all time.’
2023
They wind up the 2023 U.K. leg of their Dreamworld Tour with an appearance at the Eden Project in Cornwall.
2024
They perform in Mannheim, Germany.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com