We are very sad to hear that the legendary Frankie Knuckles has died. The word “legendary” is rather overused these days, but Frankie Knuckles was a true dance legend and a pioneer of house music. We were honoured to work with him in 1988 when he did his brilliant dark mix of “I want a dog”. It was so exciting to drive out to Jersey City to hear this mix for the first time in his studio and then drive back to New York with the mix on repeat. We were thrilled with it and included it on our album, Introspective. In 1990 Frankie came over to London to play at Chris’s birthday party at Brixton Academy and enthralled the crowd with his brilliant set. In the early days, House music was referred to as “Chicago House” after the city where it was invented — it was great to visit the city last year and see that a street had been named after the music’s inventor: Frankie Knuckles Way. Love and respect forever. xx
Pet Shop Boys Volume, the complete visual record of PSB from 1984 to 2024, is published by Thames & Hudson today.
Recent Pet Texts
We had a fantastic night at the Electric Ballroom yesterday with a special guest appearance from Johnny Marr on guitar! Thanks to Johnny for playing with us and to all the wonderful Petheads. xx
Photo: Eva Pentel
Pet Shop Boys Volume is now available at Resident Music in Brighton, at John Sandoe in London and at Waterstones Deansgate, Manchester.
We had a wonderful first “Obscure” concert in Camden last night with a “no hits” set list which everyone seemed to be able to sing along with anyway. Thanks to our fabulous special guest, Sylvia Mason-James, and to the legendary Princess Julia for her DJ set. And thanks to the fantastic audience of Petheads! See you again tonight. xx
Photo: Eva Pentel
Pet Shop Boys’ complete Dreamworld performance at the Viña del Mar Song Festival in Chile can now be viewed on You Tube. Link below.
We are now a week away from the opening show of Obscure Pet Shop Boys at Camden’s Electric Ballroom. Doors will open at 6pm for ticketed fans who will have access to our exclusive Pet Shop Boys Lounge where you can relax and browse the new “Pet Shop Boys since 1984” and “Obscure” merchandise ranges. Copies of “Volume” and Neil’s “100 Lyrics and a Poem” book, a limited number of them signed, will also be available to buy. Clubbing legend Princess Julia will DJ from 7.15pm — 8.15pm before PSB take to the stage at 8.30pm. We look forward to seeing you there!
To coincide with the new “Volume” book, long term PSB designer Mark Farrow talks to Wallpaper magazine. Link below.
Faber & Faber today publish the paperback edition of Neil Tennant’s book, One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem, with a new introduction by Jon Savage. It is now available in book shops and online stores.