On August 19th, Neil and Chris meet by chance in an electronics shop on the Kings Road. Realizing they have a common interest in dance music, they begin to write together. Initially they call themselves West End; later they come up with the name Pet Shop Boys, a name derived from some friends who work in a pet shop in Ealing. “We thought it sounded like an English rap group”.
While Chris is in Paris for an Arsenal football match (that’s ‘soccer’ to my fellow Americans)—the finals for the Cup Winner’s Cup—Neil records an early demo version of ‘For All of Us.’
Trevor Horn begins working with the Pet Shop Boys on their next album, which eventually will be titled Fundamental. Later that evening Neil attends a performance of Shostakovitch’s Seventh Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall.
The Boys perform in Chemnitz, Germany.
They appear at the Sandance Festival at Nasimi Beach in Dubai.
During a telephone interview this morning on BBC Radio 6, Neil reveals that he and Chris are currently in Berlin recording material for their next as-yet-unnamed album.