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History

April 2023

On April 14, a new Pet Shop Boys’ EP, Lost, is released digitally and as part of the latest edition of the Pet Shop Boys periodical, Annually 2023. Lost was planned as a four track EP of songs that were originally demoed in 2015 for Super though now, in some cases, seemly newly relevant. Its title — taken from the first song, “The lost room”, inspired by a film about military school bullying and written in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Crimea — “also seems,” says Neil, “to represent a sort of larger, philosophical or political point, where there’ve been times recently where the world feels a bit lost in terms of the direction it’s going in.” This sense is further amplified by the last-minute addition of a fifth song, a more recent composition “Living in the past”, which the Pet Shop Boys had posted on social media two months earlier in rough demo form, accompanied by a video in which Vladimir Putin appeared to shapeshift into Joseph Stalin. 

Lost

2023 June

On June 16, a new Pet Shop Boys compilation, Smash, presenting 55 Pet Shop Boys’ singles from the years 1985 to 2020 in chronological order, is released. The title was Chris’s. “I was thinking of the artist Roy Lichtenstein,” says Chris. “It seemed very Roy Lichtenstein: Pow! Wham! Smash! And there’s also, ‘It’s a smash!’ – that’s what people used to say about singles. Also, there is the connection with Neil and Smash Hits.” Its sleeve is a combined, distorted version of previous Pet Shop Boys’ sleeves. “Listening through, I felt quite proud of the whole thing,” says Neil. “This astonishing number of singles over such long period of time. And I think the last CD is really good. You sort of imagine a moment where you might think, ‘this is all a bit dodgy now’, but in my opinion that doesn’t happen.” 

SMASH – The Singles 1985-2020
History

On this day

1986

The Pet Shop Boys appear on the popular syndicated U.S. TV show Soul Train, which generally focuses on ‘black’ music and rarely features ‘white’ artists. They perform ‘West End Girls’ and ‘Opportunities.’

2002

They appear on the syndicated U.S. television show Regis & Kelly, performing ‘Home and Dry.’

2005

Neil and Chris meet with Yoko Ono to discuss performing with her at the Meltdown Festival.

2006

The documentary Pet Shop Boys — A Life in Pop debuts on U.K. television Channel 4. (The webmaster of this site makes a few brief appearances as a commentator.)

2007

The U.K. leg of the Fundamental Tour begins with a show in Gateshead. It’s virtually a ‘hometown crowd’ for Neil, who was born in nearby Bruntun Park and spent most of his childhood in the area.

2010

The Boys and their tour entourage are at Elmstree Studios in Borehamwood, near London, rehearsing in preparation for their upcoming summer concerts.

2014

They headline at the Babylon Soundgarden Festival in Istanbul. Proceeds from the festival will be donated to a charity benefiting families of the victims of the recent Soma mine disaster—the worst mine disaster in Turkish history.

2018

Working in Berlin, Neil and Chris begin developing a demo by Chris that will, with time, evolve into ‘An Open Mind.’ They will focus on this one track for the better part of the following week.

2022

The Boys perform this evening in Cardiff, Wales.

2023

Legendary rock singer Tina Turner passes away at the age of 83. Neil and Chris, who had worked with Tina on their 1996 song ‘Confidential,’ immediately express their sadness and condolences on their website.