Last night’s concert with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra was a wonderful experience for us. The orchestra played with such luxurious power and conviction, conducted by Dominic Wheeler, and the Manchester Chamber Choir brought ethereal beauty to, for instance, “Miracles” and “He dreamed of machines” (from our new piece about Alan Turing). To hear Johnny Marr playing the guitar riff from “This must be the place I waited years to leave” was a real thrill so many years after he played on the original record; his acoustic guitar playing on “Breathing space” was gorgeous. Other highlights for me were performing live for the first time “It couldn’t happen here”, “The survivors” and “For all of us”. Sven Helbig’s orchestral arrangements were both magnificent and subtle: “New York City boy” was returned to Broadway; “He dreamed of machines” had a pale beauty. Many thanks to everyone at the BBC, Parlophone and our management and tour personnel for making it happen, to Pete Gleadall for programming and to Jo Whiley for introducing it. The concert can be heard on BBC Radio 2 tonight at 8 pm. I hope you enjoy it. Neil x (Photograph by Kate Southall/BBC.)
Pet Shop Boys are pleased to announce the forthcoming album release of “A man from the future”, along with a special listening and conversation event in Manchester to mark the occasion.
Recent Pet Texts
Thanks to Ian McKellen for introducing us at the Attitude Awards in London last night with a wonderful speech! We’ve known him since we made the “Heart” video in 1988 and it was lovely to see him again. x
In a new BBC Bitesize interview, PSB and Andrew Hodges discuss their new collaborative album, “A man from the future”, which is out this Friday, and share the advice they would give their younger selves. Neil and Chris also remember their first days at school and explain how the technology that Alan Turing pioneered is at the heart of the Pet Shop Boys sound. Available to watch in the UK and to read at the link below.
The original cast recording for “Closer to Heaven” by Jonathan Harvey and Pet Shop Boys was released 25 years ago this week, following several months of shows at the Arts Theatre in London throughout 2001. The musical features Frances Barber as Billie Trix and has since returned to London theatre stages several times, most recently at the Turbine Theatre in 2024.
Happy Birthday, Chris!
Photo by Eva Pentel
In advance of Sunday evening’s broadcasts of “A man from the future” on Radio 6 Music and Radio 3, BBC 4 TV in the UK tonight will be showing three PSB shows: “Pet Shop Boys at the BBC”, “Reel Stories” and “Radio 2 in the Park” (2024 PSB concert). And streaming on the BBC iPlayer is the 1997 film, “Breaking the Code”, a factual drama about Alan Turing. Links below.
Pet Shop Boys’ classic “Suburbia” was released on this day 40 years ago. The music video was directed by Eric Watson and filmed in the suburbs of San Bernardino and Duarte in Los Angeles and in Kingston-upon-Thames in Greater London.