After completing a degree in history at the Polytechnic of North London, Neil takes a job at Marvel Comics, anglicizing spellings and indicating where over-risque woman needed to be redrawn decently. While there he interviews comic fan Marc Bolan, who politely points out that his tape recorder wasn’t working. In 1977 he works at Macdonald Educational Publishing, later moving to ITV Books. In June 1982, he joins Smash Hits.
The Moscow Choral Academy records the choral background vocals for ‘A Red Letter Day.’
The Pet Shop Boys appear on the U.K. TV show This Morning. During the interview, co-host Richard Madeley famously asks Neil how his ‘wife’ is. Neil is understandably amused by the question.
Elvis Costello and Neil Tennant serve as eulogists at the funeral of Dusty Springfield in Henley, U.K., which Chris Lowe also attends.
Still in Los Angeles as work on their next studio album progresses, Neil and Chris pay a visit today to Hollywood Forever cemetery. They’re sufficiently impressed by what they describe as the ‘very rock-and-roll memorial’ to Johnny Ramone that the following day they post a photo of it on their official website.
They visit Mark Farrow’s studio to check out some ideas for the cover of their next album, Electric.
Chris and Neil are on the guest list for the funeral today in Porthcawl, U.K. of former Visage vocalist and ‘New Romantic’ icon Steve Strange.
They take part in filming the video for the second single from their upcoming album Nonetheless, although they haven’t yet at this time revealed which song it is. (It turns out to be ‘Dancing Star.’)