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 perform in Budapest, Hungary.
The Boys announce the cancellation (officially a ‘postponement’) of their planned Wotapalava touring music festival.
The Pet Shop Boys headline the Live 8 charity concert in Moscow.
They bring their Fundamental Tour to Liverpool, England.
They perform at the Old Ice Hall in Helsinki.
Neil attends the opening of the ‘Room Divider’ exhibition at London’s Wilkinson Gallery in London. A demo portion of his and Chris’s new ballet score could be heard as part of the show. Neil asks them, in his own words, to ‘turn it up a bit.’
The second PSB/Take That show at Wembley Stadium takes place tonight. This same evening sees the premiere episode of a new three-part documentary TV series on BBC2, Secrets of the Pop Song; Neil is among the participating commentators.
The single ‘Winner’ gets its world premiere on Ken Bruce’s BBC Radio 2 show this morning.
The Guardian reports that Neil has expressed his support for striking workers at Lambeth College in London by sending the University and College Union (UCU) a photo of him holding up a sign that reads ‘Lambeth UCU — Your fight is our fight.’
After having spent the earlier part of the day in the studio with Stuart Price listening to tracks proposed for their next album (which hasn’t yet been titled Super), the Pet Shop Boys appear as the headline act this evening at House Festival 2015 in London’s Marble Hill Park.