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
1986
‘Love Comes Quickly’ is released as a single.
2011
The Boys continue work on ‘The Out Crowd’ (which is later transformed into ‘Hell’).
2012
After working in the studio on ‘Breathing Space,’ they watch the Oscars on television. Later they go out to dinner and then to L.A.‘s famous Troubadour club for a performance by the band Archers of Loaf.
2017
They perform at Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham, U.K.
2020
It’s announced that the Pet Shop Boys and New Order have scheduled a co-headlining concert tour, dubbed ‘The Unity Tour,’ in the United States and Canada for late summer and early fall 2020. (Unfortunately, this tour will later be postponed on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.) On this same day, Tom Watkins, the Pet Shop Boys’ first manager, passes away of undisclosed causes following a long series of serious health issues, although his death won’t be announced to the general public for another two weeks.
2021
In the wake of its recent use in an Allstate Insurance commercial during the Super Bowl broadcast, the roughly 35-year-old ‘Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)’ hits #1 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart, where it will remain for four weeks.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com