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.”
‘Rent’ is released as a single.
Neil serves as one of the onscreen commetators on this evening’s edition of the BBC One television arts documentary series Omnibus. Tonight’s episode focuses on the life and legacy of Oscar Wilde.
The Pet Shop Boys depart from Canada and enter the United States on their Fundamental Tour. Along the way, Neil gets his picture taken with Niagara Falls as a backdrop.
For their second Spanish show in as many days, the Boys perform at Barcelona’s Asics Festival.
They appear on the Brazilian TV show Programa do Jo—although, since it starts at midnight, it’s technically the following day, October 13.
Neil records vocals for the revised lyrics of ‘Hell.’ Pete Gleadall begins mixing its demo after completing work on ‘Winner.’
‘Leaving’ is released as a single.
Neil and Chris spend most of the day traveling through the Mojave Desert from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, stopping about halfway—in the vicinity of Barstow, California—for lunch. This evening they present their final U.S. date of the Electric Tour at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A.
A third consecutive day of working on ‘On Social Media.’
The Unity Tour comes to San Francisco’s Chase Center.