On March 19 two books by Chris Heath – Literally from 1990, and Pet Shop Boys versus America from 1993 – were reissued by the Penguin imprint Cornerstone, completely redesigned by Farrow design, and new introductions and afterwords written by the Pet Shop Boys and Chris Heath.
On April 21, Discovery, the film of the Pet Shop Boys 1994 South American tour – “the tour I enjoyed the most,” Chris notes – is released on DVD, accompanied by the release for the first time of a CD of their performance.
On May 7, a new Pet Shop Boys song, the ten-minute “Cricket wife”, is released on CD (accompanied by “West End girls (New lockdown version)”) with the periodical Annually 2021. “Cricket wife”, written during lockdown, began as an extended piece of music created by Chris. “My mum asked me if I would write a piece of classical music for her,” he explains. “I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got nothing else better to do.’ ‘Classical’ in inverted commas, obviously – I’m no classical composer. In the style of classical music.” When Neil received it, it struck him that it might fit a poem he had written some years before. “It’s really about my parents,” he says. “My father played cricket for many years.”
On December 26, the Pet Shop Boys host a three-hour radio show, Pet Shop Boys, Takeover, on BBC Radio 2 between 9pm and midnight, playing a selection of favourite songs; a broadcast also billed by Radio 2 as “Neil and Chris’s Unpredictable Party Playlist”. (The show has been pre-recorded on the afternoon of December 13.) The Pet Shop Boys have recorded five new jingles for the show, titled “Takeover”, “Strings”, “Beautiful”, “Boxing Day” and “Electric”, and introduce a joyously eclectic selection of music, including records by Matt Monro, Alcazar, Paul Weller (their recent remix of his song “Cosmic Fringes”), Gloria Ann Taylor, Eric Prydz, Françoise Hardy and The 1975. “We’ve only ever done radio when we can play records that we want,” says Chris. “I love doing radio. There’s something very satisfying about broadcasting to the nation.”
The Boys are in Neil’s home studio, where they resume work on an old track that will ultimately evolve into ‘The Night I Fell in Love.’
The Pet Shop Boys are among the artists who have donated items for an online charity auction to raise money for the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti ten days before. Chris and Neil have donated a copy of their highly collectible (and very expensive) special 11-disc vinyl edition of Yes.
The Pet Shop Boys make a surprise appearance performing at the Prada ‘Spring/Summer 2011 Fashion Show and Special Event’ at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.
They’re spending much of the month planning and working on their upcoming Electric Tour. Today they develop a new version of their old song ‘I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)’ for the show.
The limited series It’s a Sin debuts on U.K. television this evening. Not only does it borrow its title from the PSB hit, but it also stars Olly Alexander, whose band Years & Years had collaborated with PSB on the song ‘Dreamland.’ To coincide with the debut of the series, a new remake of ‘It’s a Sin’ by Years & Years is released today.