March 1985
They sign to Parlophone Records after long negotiations with Bobby O’, who relinquished his contractual rights over them in return for a substantial royalty on future record sales.
They sign to Parlophone Records after long negotiations with Bobby O’, who relinquished his contractual rights over them in return for a substantial royalty on future record sales.
On April 5th, Neil leaves Smash Hits. In the next issue an ‘obituary’ is written, bidding him a sad adieu and predicting that in a matter of weeks Neil’s pop duo, the Pet Shop Boys “will be down the dumper and he’ll come crawling back on bended knees, ha ha ha”. “I spoke to my mum on the telephone and said how we’d signed with EMI and she said “But you’re not going to give up your job, are you?” and I said, actually I did last week”.
On July 1st, the first version of ‘Opportunities’ is released. It reached #116 in the UK.
They play a short set as part of the ICA Rock Week in London, Chris showing off his skills on the trombone. Neil and Chris are interviewed on stage by Max Headroom. They re-record ‘West End girls’ with producer Stephen Hague the same month.
‘West End girls’ is released on October 28th and goes to #1 in the UK in January. It is subsequently #1 in USA, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand and Norway, selling 1.5 million copies. “People endlessly ask us what it’s like having a #1” says Neil at the time. “But what it feels like is vaguely nothing. It feels like having a cup of tea”.
The Pet Shop Boys bring their Performance show to the Orpheum Theater in downtown Minneapolis. Although at the time the creator of this website lived within walking distance, he didn’t attend the concert because he wasn’t yet a fan.
The Boys perform their new ‘Barfly’ arrangement of ‘It’s a Sin’ on Parkinson—a virtual institution on U.K. television.
They perform in Melbourne, Australia.
Neil records harmony vocals for ‘Give It a Go’ at Pete Gleadall’s studio.
The 2018 edition of the Pet Shop Boys’ fan publication Annually is released.
The new single ‘Dancing Star’ is released digitally with five bonus tracks, including the new songs ‘Sense of Time’ and ‘If Jesus Had a Sister.’