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
1997
The Pet Shop Boys begin their three-week run of Somewhere shows at London’s Savoy Theatre.
2001
The PSB back catalogue is re-released on CD with bonus discs.
2002
The Release Tour comes to San Diego, California.
2006
Neil and Chris are in Paris filming the video for ‘Minimal.’
2007
Playing to an exclusive invitation-only audience, the Boys perform a live show for BBC Radio 2 to mark the re-opening of the historic BBC Radio Theatre in London.
2008
Neil and Miranda Cooper collaborate on the lyrics for ‘Love etc.’
2010
The Boys report on their official website that they have just finished composing the music for their ballet, scheduled to debut in 2011.
2014
Chris and Neil are in Sydney, Australia in preparation for their upcoming three consecutive nights’ concerts at Carriageworks.
2019
Neil records a telephone interview with the BBC’s Zoe Ball. Then he and Chris work on several tracks: ‘Omar’s Theme,’ ‘Ich bin Musik,’ and ‘Angelic Thug.’
2022
The PSB Dreamworld Tour comes to Oberhausen, Germany.
2023
The Boys perform at Sala Apolo in Barcelona, their second concert in that city in less than a week.
2024
‘A New Bohemia’ with bonus tracks is released as a digital single today. (A physical release will follow.) This same evening, the Boys perform in Glasgow.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com