August 1983

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 19^th (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.

History

On this day

1986

The Pet Shop Boys perform ‘Suburbia’ on Top of the Pops.

2001

Johnny Marr records guitar parts for ‘Love Is a Catastrophe’ and ‘Between Two Islands.’

2002

They record four songs in a studio session to be broadcast over radio a little over a week later on The John Peel Show.

2006

Chris and Neil appear on U.K. Channel 4’s Paul O’Grady Show.

2007

Neil attends the London premiere Anton Corbijn’s film Control about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. Also in attendance are members of New Order, the band that grew out of Joy Division in the wake of Curtis’s suicide in 1980.

2012

They continue working on ‘Bolshy’ and also begin a new track, ‘Natural Wonders Every Child Should Know,’ for their Alan Turing project.

2013

The Boys perform at the Paramount Theater in Seattle.

2022

The Unity Tour comes to Minneapolis.

Facts collated by geowayne.com