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.”
Produced by Bobby ‘O’ Orlando, the Flirts’ ‘Passion’—which ends up having a major influence on PSB—is released.
Chris and Neil record ‘That’s My Impression’ at Aosis Studios in London.
The Boys perform the first of two concerts in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Kylie Minogue records her vocals for ‘In Denial.’
To help celebrate 30 years of the BRIT Awards, Mastercard sponsors a competition for a member of the British public to win a live performance by an award-winner in the living room of his or her own home. The winner, Lorraine Sands of Twickenham, is surprised when the Pet Shop Boys appear today at her doorstep. They then recreate a portion of their recent Pandemonium Tour show in her living room, complete with backup singers and dancers. They perform four songs: ‘Suburbia,’ ‘All Over the World,’ ‘It’s a Sin,’ and ‘West End Girls.’ Afterward Neil describes the experience as ‘surreal but very good fun.’
While visiting Berlin, Chris and Neil write a new song called ‘Multi-Kulti,’ inspired by German chancellor Angela Merkel. (This song, still unreleased, is later retitled ‘About Time.’)
Neil re-records the vocal for ‘Leaving.’
A rumor begins to spread online that Neil has written a soon-to-be-published autobiography titled Petipedia that, among other things, describes something of a feud between David Bowie and Elton John. The story about the autobiography is almost immediately refuted by a source within the PSB organization.