February 1986
On February 24th, ‘Love comes quickly’, which will remain one of their favourite songs, is released, reaching a disappointing #19 in the UK.
History
March 1986
On March 24th, their first LP ‘Please’ is released. “It’s so people can go into the record shop and say can I have the Pet Shop Boys album, please?”.
April 1986
‘West End girls’ reaches #1 in USA.
May 1986
On May 19th a new version of ‘Opportunities’ is released. “The point of that song is that the humour is black, it’s like a joke. The impression is that the people in it are not going to make any money”.
June 1986
The Pet Shop Boys announce, then cancel, a tour of Europe and America; the cost of using a theatre designer and playing fairly small venues proves prohibitive.
September 1986
On September 22nd, a re-recorded version of ‘Suburbia’, a song inspired by the Penelope Spheeris film of the same name about a group of disenchanted rebellious youths in suburban Los Angeles, is released. “It’s about a riot happening in some decaying suburb. It’s just the description of the riot happening and then the aftermath”. On the B‑side is the first version of ‘Paninaro’, named after an Italian youth cult and featuring a quote they both liked that Chris had said on a TV show: “I don’t like country and western, I don’t like rock music, I don’t like rockabilly… I don’t like much really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately”.
November 1986
On November 17th ‘Disco’, an LP of disco remixes, is released.
On this day
1990
At the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards show this evening in Los Angeles, Liza Minnelli is one of several artists who receive the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences ‘Living Legends’ Award. Just before she is presented with the award, Liza performs ‘Losing My Mind’ as produced by the Pet Shop Boys.
2001
Neil records the vocals for ‘Home’ (which will later become ‘Here’), after which he goes jogging while Chris continues work on the instrumental backing.
2011
The Boys spend the whole day working on ‘Memory of the Future,’ including the recording of a new vocal by Neil.
2017
This evening they bring the Super Tour to Glasgow, Scotland.
2021
Frances Barber wins ‘Best Lead Performance in a Musical’ at the Off West End Theatre Awards (the ‘Offies’) for her role as Billie Trix in the PSB-composed show Musik.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com