March 1985
They sign to Parlophone Records after long negotiations with Bobby O’, who relinquished his contractual rights over them in return for a substantial royalty on future record sales.
History
April 1985
On April 5th, Neil leaves Smash Hits. In the next issue an ‘obituary’ is written, bidding him a sad adieu and predicting that in a matter of weeks Neil’s pop duo, the Pet Shop Boys “will be down the dumper and he’ll come crawling back on bended knees, ha ha ha”. “I spoke to my mum on the telephone and said how we’d signed with EMI and she said “But you’re not going to give up your job, are you?” and I said, actually I did last week”.
July 1985
On July 1st, the first version of ‘Opportunities’ is released. It reached #116 in the UK.
August 1985
They play a short set as part of the ICA Rock Week in London, Chris showing off his skills on the trombone. Neil and Chris are interviewed on stage by Max Headroom. They re-record ‘West End girls’ with producer Stephen Hague the same month.
October 1985
‘West End girls’ is released on October 28th and goes to #1 in the UK in January. It is subsequently #1 in USA, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand and Norway, selling 1.5 million copies. “People endlessly ask us what it’s like having a #1” says Neil at the time. “But what it feels like is vaguely nothing. It feels like having a cup of tea”.
On this day
1987
‘West End Girls’ is named the ‘International Hit of the Year’ at the Ivor Novello Awards.
1991
The Pet Shop Boys perform in Montreal, Canada, the final gig on the North American leg of their Performance tour.
2011
They begin working on a demo of a song drafted by Neil two years before, ‘Breathing Space.’
2013
Starting with a backing track composed by Chris, they work on what quickly becomes ‘Entschuldigung!’ and essentially complete it in a single day.
2014
The Boys appear in concert this evening at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas, Texas. Earlier in the day they did some ‘touristing’ in Dallas. Neil visited the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum to see what he subsequently describes on their website as the former president’s ‘strangely fascinating paintings of world leaders.’
2015
In London, Neil attends the special live 20th anniversary celebration of the BBC Radio 3 classical music program Private Passions with his friend Janet Street-Porter.
- Facts collated by geowayne.com