On August 19th, Neil and Chris meet by chance in an electronics shop on the Kings Road. Realizing they have a common interest in dance music, they begin to write together. Initially they call themselves West End; later they come up with the name Pet Shop Boys, a name derived from some friends who work in a pet shop in Ealing. “We thought it sounded like an English rap group”.
Neil is sent to New York by Smash Hits to interview The Police. By this time the Pet Shop Boys are obsessed by a stream of hi energy records made by New York producer Bobby Orlando, known as Bobby O’. “I thought well, if I’ve got to go and see The Police play then I’m also going to have lunch with Bobby O’ ”. Neil and Bobby O share a cheeseburger and carrot cake at a restaurant called The Apple Jack on August 19th (two years to the day since Neil and Chris met) and Bobby O’, flatered by Neil’s compliments, suggests making a record with the Pet Shop Boys.
The first version of ‘West End girls’ is released. It is a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco and a small hit in France and Belgium.
They make their first ever stage appearance at the Fridge Nightclub in Brixton, singing and playing over tapes.
Neil Francis Tennant is born on July 10th in North Shields, Northumberland.
‘I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind of Thing’ is released as a single.
The Boys’ rendition of ‘Somewhere’ peaks at #125 on the U.S. singles chart.
Chris and Neil write the song ‘Home and Dry.’
Neil attends a brief (five-song) live set by Madonna at London’s Koko Club. Afterward he goes to the Groucho Club with Bernard Sumner.
Tickets go on sale today for the premiere run at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre in March 2011 of the ballet The Most Incredible Thing, with music composed by Tennant and Lowe.
The official PSB website announces that the Boys will be performing at the upcoming New Year’s Eve festivities in Sydney, Australia, where they will present their entire Pandemonium Tour show ‘Down Under’ for the first time. Also slated to appear on the same bill are Culture Club, Jamiroquai, and Pseudo Echo, among others.
The Museum of Modern Art in New York City begins today a year-long exhibition titled Making Music Modern: Design for Ear and Eye, much of which concerns album cover design. Mark Farrow’s design for the PSB album Introspective is among the items exhibited.
Neil, along with the Boys’ collaborator, playwright Jonathan Harvey, and the original Billie Trix, Frances Barber, attend this afternoon’s matinee performance of Closer to Heaven at London’s Union Theatre and meet with the cast after the show.
The Boys perform this evening in St. Petersburg, Florida.
They work at length on ‘Hoping for a Miracle,’ including Chris’s piano part on the track.
The double-single ‘New London Boy’/‘All the Young Dudes’ is released in physical format today.