January 1988
‘I’m Not Scared’, a song the Pet Shop Boys have written and produced for Patsy Kensit, is released as a single by her group Eighth Wonder, and is their first hit.
History
February 1988
At the BPI Awards, the Pet Shop Boys win the Best Group award. They also mime to ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ on stage with Dusty Springfield. Afterwards Neil comments, “It’s kind of macho nowadays to prove you can cut it live, I quite like proving that we can’t cut it live. We’re a pop group, not a rock ’n’ roll group”.
March 1988
A different mix of ‘Heart’ is released as a single on March 21st and reaches #1 in the UK. “It’s a real disco song — the idea of ‘heartbeat’ the beat of the record and the beat of your heart. It’s actually pretty corny, to be honest, but I think the words are quite sweet and sincere”. The video, shot in Yugoslavia, is a resetting of the Dracula story with Ian McKellen in the title role.
May 1988
For the second year running, the Pet Shop Boys win the Best International Hit award at the Ivor Novello Awards, this time for ‘It’s a sin’.
June 1988
Ian McKellen persuades the Pet Shop Boys to play live at an anti-Clause 28 benefit, Before The Act, at London’s Piccadilly Theatre, performing ‘It’s a sin’ and ‘One more chance’. “A brilliant event”, they say afterwards.
July 1988
‘It couldn’t happen here’ is released on July 8th to mixed reviews: it wins an award at the Houston film festival.
August 1988
The Pet Shop Boys win the Berolina award in Germany for ‘Group of the Year’. The award is presented to them by Miss Venezuela.
September 1988
On September 12th, ‘Domino dancing’ is released, a song they recorded that February in Miami with Expose producer, Lewis Martinee. They shoot a video in Puerto Rico and appeared with a full Latin band on Wogan and Top Of The Pops.
October 1988
On October 10th, their new album ‘Introspective’ is released. It is so called because “all the songs, although it’s a dance album, are introspective”. The title was chosen after considering and dismissing ‘f’, ‘Dogmatic’, ‘Bounce’ and ‘Hello’. They explain that ‘Introspective’ sounds serious, like an art exhibition: “Nick Rhodes”, says Chris at the time, “will be so jealous”.
November 1988
On November 14th, ‘Left to my own devices’ is released: “an exaggerated autobiography”. The second verse refers to a time when Neil’s mother would worry about him because he’d wait in a corner of the back garden pretending to be a Roundhead soldier.
On this day
1999
Getting together again with Liza Minnelli roughly a decade after working on Results, Chris and Neil watch the BRITS Awards on TV with her at Sarm West Studios, followed by dinner.
2005
They attend the NME Awards to present the ‘Godlike Genius’ award to New Order.
2008
Neil and Chris attend the Berlin International Film Festival, where they watch the documentary If One Thing Matters, which concerns the photographer/artist Wolfgang Tillmans, who had created their video for ‘Home and Dry.’ In fact, a good deal of the film, in which the Boys appear, concerns the making of that video.
2009
Chris and Neil attend an orchestral concert at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, during which a piece titled Stakes ‘n’ Chips is performed for the first time. This work is a ‘random composition’ made up of one-minute segments contributed by twelve different composers, of whom the Pet Shop Boys were one. The Tennant-Lowe section is titled ‘Particle.’
2010
Two PSB TV appearances this evening: on BBC1’s The One Show and on CNN International’s Connect the World.
2012
Indie guitarist Adam Tressler is in an L.A. studio with the Pet Shop Boys, recording tracks for their next album (soon to be dubbed Elysium).
- Facts collated by geowayne.com