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 Pet Shop Boys begin their three-week run of Somewhere shows at London’s Savoy Theatre.
The PSB back catalogue is re-released on CD with bonus discs.
The Release Tour comes to San Diego, California.
Neil and Chris are in Paris filming the video for ‘Minimal.’
Playing to an exclusive invitation-only audience, the Boys perform a live show for BBC Radio 2 to mark the re-opening of the historic BBC Radio Theatre in London.
Neil and Miranda Cooper collaborate on the lyrics for ‘Love etc.’
The Boys report on their official website that they have just finished composing the music for their ballet, scheduled to debut in 2011.
Chris and Neil are in Sydney, Australia in preparation for their upcoming three consecutive nights’ concerts at Carriageworks.
Neil records a telephone interview with the BBC’s Zoe Ball. Then he and Chris work on several tracks: ‘Omar’s Theme,’ ‘Ich bin Musik,’ and ‘Angelic Thug.’
The PSB Dreamworld Tour comes to Oberhausen, Germany.
The Boys perform at Sala Apolo in Barcelona, their second concert in that city in less than a week.
‘A New Bohemia’ with bonus tracks is released as a digital single today. (A physical release will follow.) This same evening, the Boys perform in Glasgow.