February 1986

On February 24th, 'Love comes quickly', which will remain one of their favourite songs, is released, reaching a disappointing #19 in the UK.

February 1986

March 1986

On March 24th, their first LP 'Please' is released. "It's so people can go into the record shop and say can I have the Pet Shop Boys album, please?".

March 1986

April 1986

'West End girls' reaches #1 in USA.

May 1986

On May 19th a new version of 'Opportunities' is released. "The point of that song is that the humour is black, it's like a joke. The impression is that the people in it are not going to make any money".

May 1986

June 1986

The Pet Shop Boys announce, then cancel, a tour of Europe and America; the cost of using a theatre designer and playing fairly small venues proves prohibitive.

September 1986

On September 22nd, a re-recorded version of 'Suburbia', a song inspired by the Penelope Spheeris film of the same name about a group of disenchanted rebellious youths in suburban Los Angeles, is released. "It's about a riot happening in some decaying suburb. It's just the description of the riot happening and then the aftermath". On the B-side is the first version of 'Paninaro', named after an Italian youth cult and featuring a quote they both liked that Chris had said on a TV show: "I don't like country and western, I don't like rock music, I don't like rockabilly… I don't like much really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately".

September 1986

November 1986

On November 17th 'Disco', an LP of disco remixes, is released.

November 1986

On This Day

1991

The Pet Shop Boys perform the second of two consecutive nights' shows at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco.

1997

They perform 'A Red Letter Day' on Top of the Pops.

2007

The jet carrying the Pet Shop Boys to Auckland, New Zealand, early this morning comes within about 40 seconds of being struck by fiery debris—initially reported as a disintegrating Russian satellite, but more likely a meteor—plunging through the atmosphere. Neil, Chris, and their entourage sleep through the near-catastrophe.

2016

The Boys are interviewed this evening on John Wilson's Front Row program on BBC Radio 4 about their upcoming shows at London's Royal Opera House.

2019

They perform this evening at the AsiaWorld Expo Convention Centre in Hong Kong.

Next (1987)