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History

March 2018

On March 10, the first American production of the Pet Shop Boys’ ballet The Most Incredible Thing premieres at the Knight Theater, Charlotte, North Carolina, performed by the Charlotte Ballet. This premiere is originally scheduled for one day earlier, but is delayed when a truss snaps during the afternoon dress rehearsal. For this new production, the Pet Shop Boys’ recorded score, mixed live, is used instead of a live orchestra, and the competition at the centre of the story is now staged through shadow-play. Neil attends. “In my opinion it was an improvement on the original,” he says. “I thought it was brilliant.”

November 2018

On November 1, a book by Neil, One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem, is published in Britain by Faber & Faber. (Neil had past history with Faber & Faber: “In the late Seventies and early Eighties I used to do freelance work for them as a copy-editor and sometimes as a proof-reader. Then in the mid-Eighties I sold a book, Like Punk Never Happened by Dave Rimmer, to them, and edited it. That was the last thing I ever did in the world of book-publishing.”) He selected the lyrics during train journeys between London and Durham, choosing those he thought would read best in this form. One reason for also including a poem was “to point out that the lyrics aren’t poems, they’re lyrics”. He also wrote an introduction and added annotations to the lyrics. “It is kind of like an autobiography, really,” he says. “Surprisingly, I think it’s quite revealing. More so than I normally would be.”

On this day

1997

Chris and Neil work on their musical, watch TV, and (according to Neil) ‘probably’ get drunk.

2005

They work on the song ‘One-Way Street’ and write ‘Girls Don’t Cry.’

2009

The Pet Shop Boys’ new single, ‘Love etc.’ has its official debut on BBC Radio 2.

2011

They work on the song ‘Invisible’ and then watch two episodes of the U.S. sitcom Frasier, the entire series of which they have on DVD.

2013

Neil is one of several celebrities in attendance at this evening’s concert by Kraftwerk at the Tate Modern in London, part of the influential German band’s eight-night residency at the famed art gallery. At each show Kraftwerk plays one of their albums in its entirety; tonight’s show focuses on their seventh album, The Man-Machine.

2018

BBC Radio 5 presenter Adrian Chiles discusses the classic silent film Battleship Potemkin on his show this morning. He includes a recorded telephone interview with Neil and a few brief excerpts from the score that the Boys had composed and recorded for the film more than a decade before.