July 1954
Neil Francis Tennant is born on July 10th in North Shields, Northumberland.
Neil Francis Tennant is born on July 10th in North Shields, Northumberland.
The Pet Shop Boys perform at the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester both to commemorate the club’s tenth anniversary and to promote an exhibition of Derek Jarman’s paintings at the city art gallery. Included in the setlist is their first-ever concert performance of ‘Go West.’ The next day Jarman writes in his diary that ‘Neil was dressed in a grey Madame Mao outfit and Chris had a floppy grandad hat.’
They perform at the Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany.
Although there had been a ‘preliminary’ date nearly two months before in Veracruz, Mexico, the ‘Electric Tour proper’ (with a full setlist) begins with the concert this evening in Santiago, Chile.
Chris and Neil begin writing a song that evolves into ‘Happiness.’
Neil attends the performance this evening of composer Mark Simpson’s new opera Pleasure at London’s Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. Writing about it afterward on the official PSB website, Neil describes it as ‘original and absorbing.’
Chris is in the studio with Pete Gleadall, transposing the keys of songs the Boys have composed for Musik.