Remembering 1989
On this sad anniversary, we’re thinking about our friends in China and Hong Kong. Love, Neil & Chris x
Ryoji Ikeda
Visiting the extraordinary Ryoji Ikeda show in London this morning. Neil x
Go West 1992
And talking of the late, great Derek Jarman… 29 years ago today, PSB performed “Go West” for the first time at a concert in the legendary Haçienda club to celebrate the opening of Derek’s art show at Manchester City Art Gallery. (Original set list pictured.)
It’s a sin 1989
With all this talk of the performance of “It’s a sin” at this year’s Brits, go to the link below for a reminder of Derek Jarman’s extravagant production of it at Wembley Arena in 1989.
It's a sad, sad situation
The Sun newspaper is reporting that Pet Shop Boys “pulled out” of the Brits. This is not true. It is true that Pet Shop Boys had been asked to be part of the performance of their song ‘It’s a sin’ with Years & Years and Elton John and that they co-produced the new version for the Brits with their long-term producer Stuart Price. It is not true that “creative differences” led to them not appearing. The staging and casting ideas were approved by PSB along with Olly Alexander and Elton John. The non-appearance of PSB was ultimately due to a contractual issue that proved unresolvable.
Amazon
Amazon are bizarrely crediting the “Discovery” DVD/CD release to James Taylor and with artwork showing a German singer… We’re still waiting for them to correct it and apologise.
Bigmouth
Neil Tennant is a guest on the fifth anniversary episode of the podcast “Bigmouth”. Link below.
Covers album
A Berlin-based independent label is releasing an album of PSB covers this Friday on digital download and limited-edition cassette. Full details at the link below.
Beyond the hits
Contributors to the online magazine, The Quietus, have chosen their favourite PSB songs that were not released as singles. Link below.
Taxi-driver
Classic question from a taxi-driver in London today! “So are you still making music and is the other one still a vicar?” Neil x
Dust
A recently published book,”The Closest Thing to Heaven”, focuses on the Newcastle music scene in the 70s and 80s and includes this 1971 image of Neil in his first group, Dust. More book details at the links below.
Happy Birthday, Liza!
Happy 75th Birthday, Liza Minnelli! A true star. Love, Neil and Chris xx (Photo: by Terry O'Neill)
Number one
“Opportunities” has this week risen to number one on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart in the USA. “West End girls” is now number 9 on the same chart.
Winner
Congratulations to Frances Barber for winning Best Lead Performance in a Musical at the Off West End Theatre Awards (the “Offies”) tonight for “Musik” at the Leicester Square Theatre!
Opportunities
Following its use in a TV commercial broadcast after the Super Bowl in the USA, “Opportunities” has charted in the Billboard Dance/Electronic chart at number 5. Full story below.
It’s a sin
The ground-breaking TV drama series “It’s a Sin” has apparently led to a big increase in streaming of the PSB classic song it takes its title from. Link to the full story below.
Firebird
Peeter Rebane directed the video for our single “Together” in Estonia in 2010. Now he has directed a feature film called “Firebird”. Read about it at the links below. Neil x
YouTube videos
Two official Pet Shop Boys music videos, the HD version of “Paninaro” and the extended version of “Domino dancing”, including three and a half minutes of additional audio and video, are now available to watch on the PSB YouTube channel. Links below.