On March 19 two books by Chris Heath – Literally from 1990, and Pet Shop Boys versus America from 1993 – were reissued by the Penguin imprint Cornerstone, completely redesigned by Farrow design, and new introductions and afterwords written by the Pet Shop Boys and Chris Heath.
On April 21, Discovery, the film of the Pet Shop Boys 1994 South American tour – “the tour I enjoyed the most,” Chris notes – is released on DVD, accompanied by the release for the first time of a CD of their performance.
On May 7, a new Pet Shop Boys song, the ten-minute “Cricket wife”, is released on CD (accompanied by “West End girls (New lockdown version)”) with the periodical Annually 2021. “Cricket wife”, written during lockdown, began as an extended piece of music created by Chris. “My mum asked me if I would write a piece of classical music for her,” he explains. “I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got nothing else better to do.’ ‘Classical’ in inverted commas, obviously – I’m no classical composer. In the style of classical music.” When Neil received it, it struck him that it might fit a poem he had written some years before. “It’s really about my parents,” he says. “My father played cricket for many years.”
On December 26, the Pet Shop Boys host a three-hour radio show, Pet Shop Boys, Takeover, on BBC Radio 2 between 9pm and midnight, playing a selection of favourite songs; a broadcast also billed by Radio 2 as “Neil and Chris’s Unpredictable Party Playlist”. (The show has been pre-recorded on the afternoon of December 13.) The Pet Shop Boys have recorded five new jingles for the show, titled “Takeover”, “Strings”, “Beautiful”, “Boxing Day” and “Electric”, and introduce a joyously eclectic selection of music, including records by Matt Monro, Alcazar, Paul Weller (their recent remix of his song “Cosmic Fringes”), Gloria Ann Taylor, Eric Prydz, Françoise Hardy and The 1975. “We’ve only ever done radio when we can play records that we want,” says Chris. “I love doing radio. There’s something very satisfying about broadcasting to the nation.”
Chris and Neil are winding up a three-week stint in South London and Clacton filming It Couldn’t Happen Here.
The Pet Shop Boys perform in Mexico City for a second night.
Continuing their post-touring vacation, Neil and Chris enjoy an evening as spectators at a Mexican wrestling match at the Monterrey Coliseo.
The Boys perform in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Neil and Chris are interviewed on Matthew Rudd’s Q Radio show, during which records by other artists selected by them are also played. The most delightful surprise to this writer? — Bob Lind’s big 1966 folk-pop hit ‘Elusive Butterfly.’
London department store Fortnum & Mason unveils their 2011 Christmas window decorations. The store’s creative director, Paul Symes, tells an interviewer that this year’s display is inspired by the Pet Shop Boys’ music video for ‘What Have I Done to Deserve This?’ He points out, ‘We’ve been very careful to stay on the glamorous side and not stray into anything seedy.’
The Boys are in Punta Del Este, Uruguay in preparation for their concert there the following evening.
As noted a few days later on their official Facebook page, Chris and Neil pay a backstage ‘surprise visit’ this evening ‘before the final curtain call’ to the cast of the revival of their musical Closer to Heaven at London’s Union Theatre.
The Boys are in Berlin. Today they work on a new song, ‘Only the Dark,’ after which they visit an electrical shop called Saturn.