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History

January 1988

‘I’m Not Scared’, a song the Pet Shop Boys have written and produced for Patsy Kensit, is released as a single by her group Eighth Wonder, and is their first hit.

February 1988

At the BPI Awards, the Pet Shop Boys win the Best Group award. They also mime to ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ on stage with Dusty Springfield. Afterwards Neil comments, “It’s kind of macho nowadays to prove you can cut it live, I quite like proving that we can’t cut it live. We’re a pop group, not a rock ’n’ roll group”.

March 1988

A different mix of ‘Heart’ is released as a single on March 21st and reaches #1 in the UK. “It’s a real disco song — the idea of ‘heartbeat’ the beat of the record and the beat of your heart. It’s actually pretty corny, to be honest, but I think the words are quite sweet and sincere”. The video, shot in Yugoslavia, is a resetting of the Dracula story with Ian McKellen in the title role.

1988 March

May 1988

For the second year running, the Pet Shop Boys win the Best International Hit award at the Ivor Novello Awards, this time for ‘It’s a sin’.

June 1988

Ian McKellen persuades the Pet Shop Boys to play live at an anti-Clause 28 benefit, Before The Act, at London’s Piccadilly Theatre, performing ‘It’s a sin’ and ‘One more chance’. “A brilliant event”, they say afterwards.

July 1988

‘It couldn’t happen here’ is released on July 8th to mixed reviews: it wins an award at the Houston film festival.

August 1988

The Pet Shop Boys win the Berolina award in Germany for ‘Group of the Year’. The award is presented to them by Miss Venezuela.

September 1988

On September 12th, ‘Domino dancing’ is released, a song they recorded that February in Miami with Expose producer, Lewis Martinee. They shoot a video in Puerto Rico and appeared with a full Latin band on Wogan and Top Of The Pops.

1988 September

October 1988

On October 10th, their new album ‘Introspective’ is released. It is so called because “all the songs, although it’s a dance album, are introspective”. The title was chosen after considering and dismissing ‘f’, ‘Dogmatic’, ‘Bounce’ and ‘Hello’. They explain that ‘Introspective’ sounds serious, like an art exhibition: “Nick Rhodes”, says Chris at the time, “will be so jealous”.

1988 October

November 1988

On November 14th, ‘Left to my own devices’ is released: “an exaggerated autobiography”. The second verse refers to a time when Neil’s mother would worry about him because he’d wait in a corner of the back garden pretending to be a Roundhead soldier.

1988 November

On this day

1988

‘Always on My Mind’ peaks at #4 on the U.S. charts.

1994

The Pet Shop Boys appear on the cover of NME.

2002

Friends star David Schwimmer gets a nasty gash on his forehead at a party thrown for the Boys in New York City.

2007

They perform at the Grand Rex Theatre in Paris. The concert starts late, however, because one of the trucks carrying their equipment had crashed en route from their previous venue in Stuttgart. Fortunately the driver wasn’t hurt, but the accident causes a major delay in construction of the staging and setup for the concert. Aside from the late start, the show goes well.

2012

Chris and Neil work on ‘A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi’ in Pete Gleadall’s studio.

2021

My Beautiful Laundrette and ‘Cricket Wife,’ both previously available as special bonus CDs accompanying editions of Annually, are officially released today in downloadable digital format.