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
2000
The Pet Shop Boys perform ‘You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk’ on Top of the Pops.
2002
A video created by artist Wolfgang Tilmans for ‘Home and Dry’ debuts, focusing on mice filmed in the London subway. Originally it didn’t feature Neil and Chris at all, but they were later inserted for brief appearances.
2012
The Boys are currently in Los Angeles working on their next album (as yet untitled) with the up-and-coming producer/engineer Andrew Dawson.
2014
Drawing upon an old instrumental track Chris had composed a couple of years before, the Boys (who are currently in Berlin) begin writing ‘The Pop Kids.’
2016
A mysterious week-long ‘What Is Super?’ promotional campaign begins with YouTube ads, a dedicated website, and posters in several European cities. (It will lead, seven days from now, to the announcement that the Pet Shop Boys’ new album, due April 1, will be titled Super.)
2019
The Pet Shop Boys’ official website announces that they have donated a complete set of signed Catalogue: 1985–2012 vinyl albums and a signed limited edition of Neil’s book One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem for a charity auction benefitting the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com