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.”
On assignment for Smash Hits, a pre-stardom Neil Tennant spends much of the day with Depeche Mode and their entourage before attending their concert this evening in Leicester, U.K.
The Boys perform in San Diego, California. Also, the issue with this date of the California gay magazine Frontiers features an interview with Neil.
In town for their concert the following evening, Neil and Chris visit the Denver Art Museum.
The Pet Shop Boys are informed that they will be recognized for Outstanding Contribution to Music at the next BRITS Awards.
On sale today: the latest issue of the U.K. political/cultural magazine The Spectator, to which Neil contributes this week’s ‘Diary’ feature. This same day, he and Chris are in the studio working on tracks for an upcoming special holiday release.
A busy day for the Boys. They sign 500 prints set to go to fans who have bought their new collection Ultimate from their website. Then they meet with designer Katrina Lindsay and choreographer Javier De Frutos about their upcoming ballet The Most Incredible Thing, during which they see a model of the set and hear production ideas.
Enjoying a day off during their brief visit to Mexico City, Chris and Neil travel roughly 30 miles northeast to the ruins of the ancient Aztec city of Teotihuacan. They make particular note of the famed Pyramid of the Sun, posting a picture that one of them took of it on their official website.
The Boys perform at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Neil spends time signing pre-ordered copies of his new book One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem.