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.
History
April 1985
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”.
July 1985
On July 1st, the first version of ‘Opportunities’ is released. It reached #116 in the UK.
August 1985
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.
October 1985
‘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”.
On this day
2000
Chris and Neil perform in Budapest, Hungary.
2001
The Boys announce the cancellation (officially a ‘postponement’) of their planned Wotapalava touring music festival.
2005
The Pet Shop Boys headline the Live 8 charity concert in Moscow.
2006
They bring their Fundamental Tour to Liverpool, England.
2009
They perform at the Old Ice Hall in Helsinki.
2010
Neil attends the opening of the ‘Room Divider’ exhibition at London’s Wilkinson Gallery in London. A demo portion of his and Chris’s new ballet score could be heard as part of the show. Neil asks them, in his own words, to ‘turn it up a bit.’
2011
The second PSB/Take That show at Wembley Stadium takes place tonight. This same evening sees the premiere episode of a new three-part documentary TV series on BBC2, Secrets of the Pop Song; Neil is among the participating commentators.
2012
The single ‘Winner’ gets its world premiere on Ken Bruce’s BBC Radio 2 show this morning.
2014
The Guardian reports that Neil has expressed his support for striking workers at Lambeth College in London by sending the University and College Union (UCU) a photo of him holding up a sign that reads ‘Lambeth UCU — Your fight is our fight.’
2015
After having spent the earlier part of the day in the studio with Stuart Price listening to tracks proposed for their next album (which hasn’t yet been titled Super), the Pet Shop Boys appear as the headline act this evening at House Festival 2015 in London’s Marble Hill Park.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com