Skip to navigation Skip to content

History

March 2018

On March 10, the first American production of the Pet Shop Boys’ ballet The Most Incredible Thing premieres at the Knight Theater, Charlotte, North Carolina, performed by the Charlotte Ballet. This premiere is originally scheduled for one day earlier, but is delayed when a truss snaps during the afternoon dress rehearsal. For this new production, the Pet Shop Boys’ recorded score, mixed live, is used instead of a live orchestra, and the competition at the centre of the story is now staged through shadow-play. Neil attends. “In my opinion it was an improvement on the original,” he says. “I thought it was brilliant.”

November 2018

On November 1, a book by Neil, One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem, is published in Britain by Faber & Faber. (Neil had past history with Faber & Faber: “In the late Seventies and early Eighties I used to do freelance work for them as a copy-editor and sometimes as a proof-reader. Then in the mid-Eighties I sold a book, Like Punk Never Happened by Dave Rimmer, to them, and edited it. That was the last thing I ever did in the world of book-publishing.”) He selected the lyrics during train journeys between London and Durham, choosing those he thought would read best in this form. One reason for also including a poem was “to point out that the lyrics aren’t poems, they’re lyrics”. He also wrote an introduction and added annotations to the lyrics. “It is kind of like an autobiography, really,” he says. “Surprisingly, I think it’s quite revealing. More so than I normally would be.”

History

On this day

1986

Andy MacKay of Roxy Music records the saxophone solo at the end of ‘Love Comes Quickly’ at London’s Advision Studios. Neil and Chris spend part of the time chatting with Andy’s wife.

1989

‘Left to My Own Devices’ peaks at #84 on the U.S. singles chart. On this same date, Neil attends the final performance of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre. ‘Losing My Mind,’ which the Boys would soon demo and record with Liza Minnelli, comes from this musical, although whether it was Neil’s attendance at the show that inspired their cover or they were already interested in the song beforehand is uncertain.

1999

David Morales mixes the recent PSB recording of ‘New York City Boy’—appropriately enough, in a New York City studio.

2000

The Boys perform in Bremen, Germany.

2003

Disco 3 is released in the United States and a number of other countries. On this same day, the video for the single ‘London’ receives its official ‘launch’ at London’s Rocket Gallery, with Chris and Neil in attendance along with the video’s director, Martin Parr.

2007

Neil is the guest on today’s edition of the famed BBC Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs.

2011

Neil and Chris write the song ‘Invisible.’ Later they go out to dinner and a karaoke bar.

2022

The Pet Shop Boys and Soft Cell are at The Black Prince, a pub in the Kennington district of London, filming scenes for the video for their upcoming collaborative single, ‘Purple Zone.’