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.”
Although it’s not their first live appearance on the show, which won’t come for another week, the Pet Shop Boys receive their first mention on Top of the Pops as they enter the U.K. Top 40 for the first time: ‘West End Girls’ at position #40 on the nose during its gradual climb to #1.
The Pet Shop Boys appear on BBC2’s Rapido to talk about their latest album, Behaviour.
The Boys perform in Berlin, Germany.
They meet in Los Angeles with Dr. Dre’s programmer, Camara Korman, about possibly working with him.
BPI awards a U.K. gold record to PopArt.
Neil Tennant is among thirty celebrities (also including Tracey Ullman and Holly Johnson) who, in an open letter to the Evening Standard, protest the pending demolition of London’s Earls Court arena by real estate developers. They argue that the famed Art Deco structure should instead be preserved and restored. (Unfortunately, it’s nevertheless subsequently demolished.)
The Boys perform this evening at the ‘Poppodium’ in the Dutch city of Tilburg.
Neil and Chris reportedly attend this evening’s performance of American composer Nico Muhly’s new opera Marnie by the English National Opera in London.