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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.”

On this day

1991

The Pet Shop Boys bring their Performance show to the Orpheum Theater in downtown Minneapolis. Although at the time the creator of this website lived within walking distance, he didn’t attend the concert because he wasn’t yet a fan.

2004

The Boys perform their new ‘Barfly’ arrangement of ‘It’s a Sin’ on Parkinson—a virtual institution on U.K. television.

2007

They perform in Melbourne, Australia.

2012

Neil records harmony vocals for ‘Give It a Go’ at Pete Gleadall’s studio.

2018

The 2018 edition of the Pet Shop Boys’ fan publication Annually is released.

2024

The new single ‘Dancing Star’ is released digitally with five bonus tracks, including the new songs ‘Sense of Time’ and ‘If Jesus Had a Sister.’