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.”
Directed by Derek Jarman, the Pet Shop Boys have a dress rehearsal in London for their upcoming tour—their first ever—which will kick off one week later with a show in Hong Kong.
‘Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You)’ hits its #72 peak on the U.S. singles chart.
Electronic’s single ‘Disappointed,’ co-written by Neil, who also sings lead vocals, is released.
The Boys perform in Hamburg, Germany.
Neil and Chris are in Amsterdam for their concert this evening at the Heineken Music Hall.
Tonight is the first of three consecutive PSB/Take That shows in Glasgow, Scotland. As they have throughout the tour, the Boys work on new songs back at their hotel. Today they begin writing a song titled ‘Making Waves.’
Chris and Neil work all day on a song titled ‘Wedding in Berlin,’ which they will later offer as a wedding present to some friends of theirs.
They perform this evening at the Nottingham Motorpoint Arena.
The Pet Shop Boys are among the artists—creators of ‘Northern anthems’ as voted on by the general public—depicted in an exhibition of original portraits by Manchester-based illustrator Stanley Chow that opens today at Sage Gateshead as part of the ‘Great Exhibition of the North.’ The PSB songs that have been nominated by the public as ‘Northern anthems’ are ‘Love Comes Quickly’ and ‘It’s a Sin.’
The Dreamworld Tour comes to Cork, Ireland.
Pet Shop Boys headline at the Isle of Wight Festival.