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.”
The Boys set up their own management office, ending their professional relationship with Tom Watkins.
BPI awards a U.K. platinum album to Behaviour.
BPI awards a U.K. platinum album to Discography.
They begin the Australian leg of their DiscoVery tour.
They perform on the U.K. TV show TFI Friday.
BBC Radio 2 airs the second half of its interview/popumentary Pet Shop Boys, Really.
The Pet Shop Boys perform at the Arizona State Fair.
Neil and Chris perform a brief set at a War Child benefit concert at Brixton Academy. They had been specifically invited to perform by Tim Rice-Oxley of the band Keane.
Ultimate, the Pet Shop Boys’ third hits collection, is released today in the U.K. and various other countries (although it had been released in several countries a few days earlier).
At Metropolis Studios in London, Neil goes through tapes in preparation for the re-mastering of tracks for their upcoming b‑sides collection Format.
The Boys perform at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas.
Neil’s book One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem is published in the U.K. today. Also, an online auction of ‘celebrity shoes’ begins today to benefit the charity Small Steps Project. Neil has donated a pair that he wore during a 2016 appearance by the Pet Shop Boys on The Graham Norton Show, during which they performed ‘The Pop Kids.’