April 1984
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.
History
October 1984
They make their first ever stage appearance at the Fridge Nightclub in Brixton, singing and playing over tapes.
On this day
1986
Chris Heath interviews Neil and Chris for Smash Hits—one of their earliest major magazine interviews. Later the Boys watch the BPI Awards on TV, followed by dinner and a visit to a London dance club where they persuade the DJ to play an acetate of their new dance mix of ‘Love Comes Quickly.’
1987
The Boys receive the ‘Best Single of 1986’ award from BPI for ‘West End Girls.’ After the show, Neil (but not Chris) poses for a backstage group photo with a number of major artists, including Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Mark Knopfler, and the Bangles, among others.
2000
The Nightlife Tour performance this evening in Dortmund, Germany, is filmed for eventual release as Montage.
2005
Neil and Chris finish their demo of ‘Girls Don’t Cry’ and record Neil’s vocals for ‘Fugitive.’
2011
They complete their preliminary demo work for ‘Invisible.’
2015
Chris and Neil are in Berlin, where they work in the studio on a new song titled ‘Former Children’ (later to be retitled ‘Gramophone’).
2023
Quite unexpectedly, without any advance fanfare, the Pet Shop Boys release on YouTube a ‘home demo’ of a brand new song, ‘Living in the Past,’ inspired by the unveiling in Volgograd, Russia only a week before of a monument to Joseph Stalin.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com