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.”
‘What Have I Done to Deserve This?’ debuts on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart (as opposed to the overall pop singles chart, on which the record is also charting), where it will eventually reach #14 to become the Boys’ biggest U.S. Adult Contemporary hit.
Neil, who up to this point has never learned to drive, has his first driving lesson today.
This evening The BRITs Hits 30 airs on U.K. television, replaying memorable performances from BRITs Awards shows over the past three decades. The Pet Shop Boys’ rendition of ‘Go West’ accompanied by a chorus of Welsh miners is among the segments featured. A brief interview with Chris and Neil is included as well. Afterward the public can vote online for their all-time favorite BRITs Awards performance.
They note on their official website that they’re in the studio today working on their upcoming ‘Alan Turing project,’ A Man from the Future.
An auction begins today on eBay to benefit the St. Mungo’s Broadway charity, which works to help homeless men and women in the United Kingdom. Among the celebrities who have provided hats to be auctioned off are Neil and Chris, who donated hats they wore onstage during their Electric Tour.
It’s not surprising that Neil and Chris are making the media rounds to promote their new album Hotspot, now just one day from release. This morning they’re interviewed by Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 6’s The Breakfast Show.