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History

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.

1986 February

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?”.

1986 March

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”.

1986 May

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”.

1986 September

November 1986

On November 17th ‘Disco’, an LP of disco remixes, is released.

1986 November

On this day

1998

Neil records the vocals for ‘Screaming.’

2007

An early-morning automobile accident in Moscow takes the life of PSB bodyguard, personal assistant, and good friend Dainton Connell. Known among friends as ‘The Bear,’ Connell had accompanied Chris to Moscow for a DJ’ing gig. (Chris was not involved in the accident.) Neil and Chris are, in their own words, ‘devastated’ by the news.

2009

Still in Chile enjoying a brief break from the South American leg of their Pandemonium Tour, the Boys take an afternoon drive up into the Andes.

2011

Continuing from the previous day, the Boys resume work on their demo of the song ‘Winner,’ changing its rhythm track to (as Neil states in his diary) ‘make it more electro.’

2012

For the fourth day in a row, they work on ‘Natural Wonders Every Child Should Know’ for A Man from the Future.

2013

The Pet Shop Boys perform the first of two shows at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California.

2019

Neil appears onstage ‘in conversation’ with poet Andrew McMillan at RNCM Theatre, an event that’s part of this year’s Manchester Literature Festival.