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.”
Neil and Chris are in the studio working on ‘Positive Role Model.’
The Fundamental Tour comes to Miami Beach.
Still in Buenos Aires following their concert the night before, Chris and Neil watch television coverage of the funeral of former Boyzone singer Stephen Gately. On their official website they write, ‘We got to know him a few years ago and he was always such fun to be around. A very sweet guy gone far too soon.’ Later the Boys fly to Lima, Peru, where fans greet them at the airport. They are then driven directly to a TV studio for a live evening appearance on El Show de los Sueños (‘The Show of Dreams’). They perform two songs—‘Love etc.’ and ‘Always on My Mind’—and are interviewed by host Gisela Valcárcel.
They work all day in the studio on the song ‘Odd Man Out.’
Neil and Chris make a live appearance at the Rough Trade East record store in London to sign copies of an exclusive seven-inch vinyl single of ‘Leaving’ as well as copies of their most recent album Elysium.
Neil and Chris attend Cliff Richard’s concert this evening at London’s Royal Albert Hall. They share a box-seating section with Chris’s mother and sister.