Performance Tour

The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of ''The Guinness Book of Records''.

Three-time Brit Award winners and six-time Grammy nominees, since 1984 they have achieved 42 top 30 singles, 22 of these being top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart, including four UK number ones: "West End Girls" (also number one on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100), "It's a Sin", a synth-pop version of " Always on My Mind", and "Heart". Other hit songs include a cover of " Go West", and their own "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)", and " What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in a duet with Dusty Springfield. With five US top ten singles in the 1980s, they are associated with the Second British Invasion.

At the 2009 Brit Awards in London, the Pet Shop Boys received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2016, '' Billboard'' magazine named the Pet Shop Boys the number one dance duo/group over the 40 years since the chart's inception in 1976. In 2017, the duo received ''NMEs Godlike Genius Award.

History

Early years (1981–1984)

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in a hi-fi shop on King's Road in Chelsea, London, in 1981. Tennant had purchased a Korg MS-10 synthesizer which sparked a conversation with Lowe. Discovering that they had a mutual interest in disco and electronic music, they became friends. In particular, the pair had a shared love of two electropop records: "Souvenir" by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD); and " Bedsitter" by Soft Cell, which reflected their lifestyles at the time. According to Tennant, he and Lowe would listen to "pioneers of electronic music", including OMD, Soft Cell, Kraftwerk, the Human League and Depeche Mode.

The duo began to work together on material, first in Tennant's flat in Chelsea, then, from 1982, in a small studio in Camden Town. They say that their band name was taken from friends who worked in a pet shop in Ealing and were known as the "pet shop boys". In August 1983, Tennant, who was an assistant editor at '' Smash Hits'', went to New York to interview Sting. While there, he arranged to meet hi-NRG producer Bobby Orlando and gave him a demo tape containing "It's a Sin" and "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)".

From 1983 to 1984, Orlando recorded 11 tracks with Tennant and Lowe, including "West End Girls", "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)", "It's a Sin", "I Want a Lover", "I Get Excited", "Two Divided by Zero", "Rent", "Later Tonight", "Pet Shop Boys", "A Man Could Get Arrested" and "One More Chance". In April 1984, the Orlando-produced "West End Girls" was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco. On 2 November, it was voted "Screamer of the Week" by listeners of Long Island, New York, radio station WLIR. It was a minor dance hit in Belgium and France, but was only available in the United Kingdom as a 12" import.

''Please'' (1984–1986)

In March 1985, after long negotiations, the Pet Shop Boys cut their contractual ties with Bobby O, with a settlement giving Bobby O significant royalties for future sales. Hiring manager Tom Watkins, they signed with the London-based Parlophone label. In April, Tennant left ''Smash Hits'' magazine – where he had progressed to the position of deputy editor – and in July, a new single, "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)", was released, reaching number 116 in the UK. The B-side to this single, "In the Night", later resurfaced, in a longer remixed version, as the opening track to the duo's first remix album, '' Disco'', in 1986. This version was also used as the theme for the UK television series ''The Clothes Show''.

They returned to the studio in August to re-record "West End Girls" with producer Stephen Hague. Released in October 1985 it rose slowly in the British charts to become number one in January 1986. It subsequently replicated this success in the United States, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Israel, New Zealand and Norway and sold an estimated 1.5 million copies worldwide.

After the success of "West End Girls", the Pet Shop Boys released a follow-up single, " Love Comes Quickly", on 24 February 1986. The single reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and was followed by their debut album, ''Please'', on 24 March. In June 1986, the band announced a European tour; however, their plans for a theatrical extravaganza proved to be too expensive and the tour was cancelled. ''Please'' started Pet Shop Boys' penchant for choosing one-word album titles, which Neil Tennant has since stated is now a Pet Shop Boys "signature thing", akin to e.e. cummings' use of exclusively lower case letters. New versions of their second single, "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)", and the album track "Suburbia" were also released in 1986, followed by ''Disco''. In September 1986, Pet Shop Boys performed "Love Comes Quickly" and "West End Girls" at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles.

''Actually'' (1987–1988)

1987 started with the Pet Shop Boys receiving both a BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award for "West End Girls". Later, on 15 June, they released what became their second number one single, "It's a Sin". The single caused some controversy: Tennant's school, St. Cuthbert's Grammar School, in Newcastle upon Tyne, chastised him in the press, while pop impresario Jonathan King accused them of plagiarising the Cat Stevens song " Wild World". King recorded a version of "Wild World" in the style of the Pet Shop Boys to prove his point. The group later sued King and won damages, which were donated to charity. The video to "It's a Sin" also saw their first collaboration with director Derek Jarman.

The continued success of "It's a Sin" was followed by the release of " What Have I Done to Deserve This?" on 10 August. Co-written with Allee Willis and also featuring Dusty Springfield on vocals, the single reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. Although the duo had wanted to release this track on their debut album, they had been unable to track down Springfield and were reluctant to record it with any other female singer, despite their record company's suggestions. Springfield's manager finally contacted them in 1986, following the release of ''Please'', and towards the end of that year, she travelled to London to record "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" with them. It was the first track to be recorded for the duo's second album. Pet Shop Boys had been told that Springfield was difficult to work with and even that she could no longer sing; however, her performance on the track put any such concerns to rest and they began a collaboration with her, which lasted until the end of the decade. Included on their second album ''Actually'', the song became a massive worldwide hit and resurrected Springfield's career, leading to her 1990 album, ''Reputation'', on which Pet Shop Boys were major contributing writers and producers. This duet was also the start of a series of collaborations with high-profile musicians, going on throughout the band's career.

Also in August 1987, Pet Shop Boys appeared on ''Love Me Tender'', a UK television programme, on ITV, commemorating the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. They were asked to perform one of their favourite Elvis tracks and they narrowed it down to two options, "Baby Let's Play House" and " Always on My Mind", eventually settling on the latter. Their Presley cover would later be re-released in a 12" version, consisting of a medley, along with an acid house track by the duo, titled "In My House". September 1987 saw the release of the duo's second studio album, ''Actually'', followed by the single "Rent" in October, which reached number 8 in the UK. The final song on the album, " King's Cross" accidentally anticipated the King's Cross fire at the London Underground section of the station in November of that year (part of the lyrics read: "Dead and wounded on either side/You know it's only a matter of time"). '' The Sun'' newspaper in the UK subsequently tried to get the track released as a charity single, but Pet Shop Boys would not allow this.

Towards the end of 1987, Pet Shop Boys started work on an hour-long film that would incorporate the songs from ''Please'' and ''Actually''. Working with director Jack Bond, the short film grew into a full-scale movie, '' It Couldn't Happen Here'', starring Barbara Windsor, Joss Ackland and Gareth Hunt. The film was eventually released in 1988 to mixed reviews. Footage from the film was also used for the music video to "Always on My Mind", now released as a single on 30 November; it became both the duo's third number one single in the UK and the Christmas number one single for 1987, beating "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl. In November 2004, ''The Daily Telegraph'' newspaper placed Pet Shop Boys' version of "Always on My Mind" at number two in a list of the fifty greatest cover versions of all time.

1988 started with another collaboration. Pet Shop Boys wrote and produced the song "I'm Not Scared" for Patsy Kensit's band, Eighth Wonder. The song became her biggest hit single and the Pet Shop Boys included their own extended version of the track on their ''Introspective'' album. March 1988 saw the duo achieve their fourth UK number one single (and their last to date), with a remixed edit of "Heart", different from the album version. This single version would be included on their first and third greatest hits albums, '' Discography: The Complete Singles Collection'' and ''Ultimate'', whereas the album version would be used for their second retrospective, the double '' PopArt: Pet Shop Boys – The Hits''. The video to the single, directed by Jack Bond, starred Ian McKellen as a vampire who steals Neil Tennant's wife.

''Introspective'' and ''Behaviour'' (1988–1992)

In the 1996 BBC Radio 1 documentary ''About Pet Shop Boys'', Neil Tennant noted that their " Imperial Phase" ended in 1988. On 12 September 1988, Pet Shop Boys released a new single, "Domino Dancing", and in the documentary Neil recounts his disappointment when hearing the news that the single had reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. He felt that their major success was now over and that it was going to be a challenge to maintain their level of success in the future.

Their third album, ''Introspective'', was released on . Unusually, this was a six-track album of previously unheard remixes and new tracks in extended form. It was followed by the Trevor Horn–produced top-five single "Left to My Own Devices", and a cover version of the Sterling Void single " It's Alright", in 1989. 1989 also saw the start of Pet Shop Boys' first tour, in which they performed in Hong Kong, Japan, and Britain. The tour followed the ideas of the extravaganza that could not have been afforded earlier in their careers. Derek Jarman returned to direct the performance and he provided several films that were projected during the shows.

The September 1990 single, "So Hard" reached No.4 in the UK and was followed by their fourth studio album, '' Behaviour'' (1990), which was recorded in Munich with producer Harold Faltermeyer. The album was not intended to reflect a dramatic change in mood from their earlier albums; however, it is noticeably subdued. It included the fan favourite "Being Boring", the second single from the album, which only reached No.20 in the UK Singles Chart, their lowest placing at the time. The song was inspired by a quote by Zelda Fitzgerald: "...she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn't boring", and was widely thought to be a commentary on the AIDS epidemic. The music video was directed by filmmaker Bruce Weber. By this time, the duo had also parted ways with manager Tom Watkins, replacing him with Jill Carrington, Heath, Chris (2001). In ''Behaviour'' D liner notes London: Pet Shop Boys Partnership who had previously been marketing director at Polydor.

In March 1991, a cover of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" as a medley with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", the 1960s pop song by Frankie Valli/ The Four Seasons, was released as a double- A-sided single with a remix of the album track "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?" by Brothers in Rhythm. This was followed by the duo's first world tour. Named ''Performance'', the tour kicked off in Tokyo, on 11 March 1991. The tour also visited the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The shows were designed by David Alden and David Fielding, who had designed several sets for the Royal Opera House.

Before taking a break in 1992, in 1991 the Pet Shop Boys released an 18-track compilation called ''Discography'', which included all of their single releases up until then and two new singles—"DJ Culture" and " Was It Worth It?"—omitting only "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?" (although it did appear on the video companion ''Videography''). While "DJ Culture" had some success, "Was It Worth It?" became the duo's first single to miss the UK Top 20 since their two Bobby O debut singles.

During this period, Pet Shop Boys continued to collaborate with many high-profile musicians. They worked again with Dusty Springfield, on the singles "Nothing Has Been Proved" (which was a song written for their soundtrack for the film ''Scandal'' about the Profumo political scandal in Britain) and " In Private". The duo later went on to produce half of the tracks on her 1990 solo ''Reputation'' album. Pet Shop Boys were also asked to write and produce an album for Liza Minnelli, in 1989. The album, ''Results'', generated four singles, including the hit single "Losing My Mind", a cover version of the Stephen Sondheim song from the 1971 Broadway musical "Follies". The duo's own demo of this appeared on their "Jealousy" single as a B-side.

Tennant worked with Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr on their first album as Electronic, whose first single, "Getting Away with It", co-written and co-produced by Tennant, was released on 4 December 1989. In 1991, Lowe also contributed to the Electronic project, contributing the chord sequence to "The Patience of a Saint" on their 1991 album. In 1992, Tennant sang lead vocals on the non-album single "Disappointed", which was featured on the soundtrack to the movie ''Cool World''. Pet Shop Boys set up the Spaghetti Records label in 1991. Their most successful release was the soundtrack to the 1992 film ''The Crying Game'', which featured Boy George performing the title song. The song was produced by Pet Shop Boys and featured Tennant on backing vocals. Other artists on the label included Scottish singer Cicero, The Ignorants, and Masterboy.

In 1992, they were the subjects of a ''South Bank Show'' documentary on ITV with contributions from Liza Minnelli, Eric Watson (photographer and video director), Simon Frith (music critic), David Alden and David Fielding.

''Very'' and ''Disco 2'' (1993–1995)

In June 1993, Pet Shop Boys re-invented their image and made a strong return to the UK Singles Chart with "Can You Forgive Her?". Taking its title from the Anthony Trollope novel of the same name, the single reached number 7 on the UK Singles Chart, while its iconic music video featured the duo in orange body suits and tall dunce caps, in a world of computer-generated imagery. The theme was continued with the follow-up single, often considered as their signature song, a cover of the Village People single " Go West", which reached number 2 in the UK, with another computer-generated music video, this time inspired by the Soviet Union. The tune was adopted into a football chant at Arsenal Football Club (which Chris Lowe supports) and is heard at grounds throughout Europe to this day.

The duo's fifth studio album, '' Very'', followed on 27 September and is the only Pet Shop Boys album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart. It was produced by Pet Shop Boys and mixed with additional production by Stephen Hague, who had produced their first album and had subsequently produced records by OMD, New Order and Erasure. The other singles from ''Very'', "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing", "Liberation" and "Yesterday, When I Was Mad", continued the theme of CGI videos, peaking with the "Liberation" video, which contained almost no real-life elements at all. All these videos were directed by Howard Greenhalgh, who continued to work with Pet Shop Boys well into the next decade. ''Very'' was also released in a limited edition including an entirely new album, ''Relentless'', which was composed of six all-new progressive house tracks, with a darker tone to the perky ''Very''.

In 1994, Pet Shop Boys offered to remix fellow Parlophone act Blur's single " Girls & Boys"; it was a club hit throughout Europe and started a sporadic trend for Pet Shop Boys to remix other artists' music. Also in 1994, Pet Shop Boys released the 1994 Comic Relief single, "Absolutely Fabulous". The song started when Tennant and Lowe were playing around with samples from the BBC
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