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.”
An interview with Chris and Neil runs in the U.K. entertainment journal Biz.
The first of three consecutive nights’ performances by the Pet Shop Boys at London’s Wembley Arena. Derek Jarman observes tonight’s show in preparation for filming it over the subsequent two nights. After the show he tells Neil he should tone down his makeup, which Jarman says makes him look like ‘a sweaty panda.’ Neil will take his advice.
‘I Don’t Know What You Want But I Can’t Give It Any More’ is released as a single.
The Pet Shop Boys perform at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.
Having traveled to Israel for an upcoming concert and an appearance on the local edition of Pop Idol, the Boys take part in a press conference in Tel Aviv, during which they express their desire while there to get in a little tourism and relaxation.
Chris and Neil resume the U.K. dates of their summer tour with a performance at the Brighton Centre.
Neil goes record-shopping in Berlin this afternoon with Joel Gibb of the band Hidden Cameras, who lives there. They take a ‘selfie’ on the street that Neil posts two days later on the official PSB website.
They have their final day of rehearsals before the opening of their four-night residency at the Royal Opera House in London.