Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys live in Boston, 2006.
Background information
Origin	London, United Kingdom
Genre(s)	Pop Synthpop House Electropop
Years active	1981–present
Label(s)	Parlophone (UK, 1985–present) EMI (US, 1985–1995) Atlantic (US, 1996–1998) Sire (US, 1999–2001) Sanctuary (US, 2002–2003) Rhino (US, 2004–present)
Associated acts	Electronic
Website	Official Site
Members
Neil Tennant Chris Lowe

Pet Shop Boys are a popular English electronic music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasionally guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards and occasionally on vocals. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure Synthpop is a subgenre of New Wave and Pop music in which the Synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument House music is a style of Electronic dance music initially popularized in mid-1980s Discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Parlophone is a Record label, founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company. EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. Atlantic Records ( Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American Record label best known for its many recordings of Rhythm & blues, Rock Sire Records Company is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros Sanctuary Records is a Record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty Record label and production company owned by Warner Music Group. Electronic were an Alternative rock group formed by New Order singer and guitarist Bernard Sumner and ex- Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954 is a English Musician, singer and songwriter who with his colleague Chris Lowe, make up the successful Christopher Sean Lowe (born October 4 1959, Blackpool, Lancashire) is an English Musician, who with colleague England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954 is a English Musician, singer and songwriter who with his colleague Chris Lowe, make up the successful A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a Musical keyboard. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Christopher Sean Lowe (born October 4 1959, Blackpool, Lancashire) is an English Musician, who with colleague

Pet Shop Boys have sold more than 50 million records worldwide. Since 1986, they have had 39 Top 30 singles and 22 Top 10 hits in the UK, including four number ones: "West End Girls", "It's a Sin", "Always on My Mind" and "Heart". " West End Girls " is a song by pop duo Pet Shop Boys. " It's a Sin " is a Song recorded by the Pet Shop Boys which reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in June 1987 " Always on My Mind " is a song originally recorded by Brenda Lee and released on June 12, 1972, with music and lyrics by Johnny Christopher " Heart " is a song recorded by Pet Shop Boys which reached #1 on the UK singles chart for three weeks in April 1988 (see 1988 in music)

As stated on the Pet Shop Boys website, they are working on a new album with Xenomania which will be released early 2009. Xenomania is one of the UK 's leading pop production houses put together by writer and producer Brian Higgins.

Contents 1 Influence 2 Band dynamic 3 Image 4 Live shows 5 Biography 5.1 A chance meeting (August 19, 1981) 5.2 The Bobby 'O' Years (1981–1984) 5.3 Signing with Parlophone (1984–1986) 5.4 "Imperial phase" (1987–1988) 5.5 Introspective, Behaviour and the Performance tour (1988–1992) 5.6 The Very era (1993–1995) 5.7 Bilingual, Nightlife, and the musical (1996–2001) 5.8 Variety: Release and Battleship Potemkin (2002–2005) 5.9 Basically: Fundamental, touring and Disco 4 (2006 onwards) 6 Discography 7 Sexuality 8 Influence 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links

Influence

Pet Shop Boys were successful in the United States in the mid-1980s, with "West End Girls" reaching number one. " West End Girls " is a song by pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Their last Top 40 single, "Domino Dancing", reached number 18 on the US pop chart in 1988. " Domino Dancing " is a Song recorded by UK Synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys which reached #7 on the UK Singles Chart and released Since then, they have continued to enjoy cult and club success in the US and are the fourth-most successful dance artists ever in the US Billboard dance charts, behind Madonna, Donna Summer and Janet Jackson with eight Billboard Dance number ones. See Billboard (Turkish magazine Billboard is a weekly American Magazine devoted to the Music industry Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16 1958 known as Madonna, is an American Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines December 31, 1948) is an American Singer-songwriter and Musician who gained Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16 1966 is an American recording artist and entertainer Pet Shop Boys have undertaken four world tours in 1991, 1999-2000, 2002 and 2006-2007. During each tour, they performed a lengthy series of concerts in the USA.

Pet Shop Boys' most recent studio album, Fundamental, was released on the Parlophone label on 22 May 2006. Fundamental is the sixteenth Album, the ninth of entirely new music by the British band Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone is a Record label, founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company. Events 334 BC - The Greek army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The album peaked at number five in the UK and in the rest of Europe at number two. The album's first single, "I'm with Stupid" was released in the UK on 8 May 2006, reaching number eight in the UK Singles Chart. " I'm with Stupid " is a song by British Synthpop band Pet Shop Boys and is featured on their 2006 Album, Events 589 - Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo 1450 - Jack Cade's Rebellion: Kentishmen Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (OCC on behalf of the British record industry In December 2006, the duo was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Dance Recording ("I'm with Stupid") and Best Electronic/Dance Album (Fundamental). The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences

In July 2007, Pet Shop Boys signed a new deal with Parlophone Records. Parlophone is a Record label, founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company. According to a press release on the band's web site:

"Pet Shop Boys have signed a new deal with Parlophone Records. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe originally signed to the label in March 1985 and renegotiated a new deal with the company in 1990. Pet Shop Boys' most recent album, Fundamental, was their last under that contract. Their next studio album will be the first under the new contract.

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe commented: “It’s over 20 years since we originally signed to EMI and we’re very happy to be continuing our relationship with them”.

Miles Leonard, Parlophone’s MD says: “What Pet Shop Boys are doing is unique. They continue to be at the vanguard of pop culture, constantly surprising and thrilling us with their every move. We are extremely pleased to have them on the label. ” ^[1]

Band dynamic

The dynamic of Pet Shop Boys' image lies in the duo's public personalities — Tennant is perceived as an erudite intellectual, articulate, and verbose in speech; while Lowe, now almost always seen in his trademark attire of hat and sunglasses (since as early as 1985),^[2] appears as guarded and terse but nevertheless behaves as casual, flippant and fun-loving. They have even cultivated a pattern for interviews, in which Tennant is the primary speaker, answering questions at length, while occasionally being interrupted by brief, generally humorous interjections from Lowe^[3][4] (comparable to the concept of a comedic double act). A double act, also known as a Comedy duo, is a comic device in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners usually of the same

They have also been seen as willfully contrary, defying expectations of record labels and the music industry in terms of commercial image, self-promotion, and the nature of their music. In their early years, Pet Shop Boys seemed to be defined by the things they refused to do. A 1986 quotation by Lowe, taken from an Entertainment Tonight clip and subsequently sampled in their song "Paninaro," is often cited as the prime example of this:

“

I don't like country and western. Entertainment Tonight is a daily Television entertainment news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United The capitalization of song titles in this article may be disputed Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. I don't like rock music, I don't like rockabilly or rock and roll particularly. Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of Rock and roll music and emerged in the early 1950s Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African I don't like much, really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately.

”

This also formed the foundation of the band's early reputation as being anti-rock music, and more properly aligned with disco and dance music culture. (See their appropriately titled 1997 B-side, "How I learned to hate rock and roll. ") Eventually, however, these differences were reconciled — a process that symbolically culminated with Pet Shop Boys' performance at the 2000 Glastonbury Festival, which was the surprise highlight of the three day event. For the classical music and theatre festivals co-founded by Rutland Boughton between 1914 and 1926 see Glastonbury Festival (1914-1925 The Tennant expressed his gratitude to the crowd by thanking them for "being kind to us" and that they were "Glastonbury virgins".

Image

This band dynamic has played a role in their public image as well. Early in their career, the duo were frequently accused of lacking stage presence, said to be a deliberate reaction to the hyper-cheerful music of the time demonstrated by bands such as Wham!. "Wham" redirects here For other uses see Wham (disambiguation. A typical early performance featured Lowe in the background hitting the occasional note on a Fairlight synthesiser keyboard and Tennant singing, but otherwise passive, in the foreground. The Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument was the first polyphonic digital sampling Synthesizer. A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a Musical keyboard.

However, when they began touring in 1989, they were heavily influenced by opera and theatre staging. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Derek Jarman staged their first tour, making a series of films to be projected behind the costumed singers and dancers. Derek Jarman ( January 31 1942 – February 19 1994) was an English Film director, Stage designer In 1991 they brought in David Alden and David Fielding from the English National Opera to create the staging and costume design for a show which made no attempt to involve or even acknowledge the audience, and pushed the choreography and staging centre stage. English National Opera (ENO is the national opera company of England, and one of two opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera at Covent Subsequent tours have used artist Sam Taylor-Wood and architect Zaha Hadid for stage design. Sam Taylor-Wood (born 4 March 1967) is a contemporary artist working in Video, Photography, and Film. Zaha Hadid (زها حديد CBE (born October 31 1950 Baghdad, Iraq) is a notable British Iraqi deconstructivist Architect Their latest tour, ongoing in 2006 and 2007, was conceived and designed by theatre designer Es Devlin with choreography by Hakeem Onibudo.

Traditionally, Pet Shop Boys have always favoured avant-garde tailored fashions. Tennant has referenced the designers of his suits in certain interviews, and Lowe has often sported outfits and glasses made by Issey Miyake, Stüssy and Yohji Yamamoto's Y-3 for Adidas. is a Japanese Fashion designer He is known for his technology-driven Clothing designs exhibitions and fragrances Stüssy (or Stussy) is an American streetwear Clothing company started by Shawn Stussy in Laguna Beach California in 1980 Yōji Yamamoto （山本 耀司、 Yamamoto Yōji, born 3 October 1943 is an internationally known Japanese Fashion designer based in WikipediaManual of Style (trademarks, which says "Lowercased trademarks with no internal Presentation has always been a major theme for the Pet Shop Boys, and the duo have dramatically "reinvented" their image twice in their career. In 1993, when promoting their Very album, they wore brightly coloured costumes and used state-of-the-art computer technology to place themselves in a modern computer graphic world. Very is the seventh Album, the fifth of previously-unreleased music by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. This concept of reinvention was revisited for the promotion of the Nightlife album, in which they transformed their look wearing wigs and glasses with very futuristic urban wardrobes. Nightlife is the eleventh Album, the seventh of entirely new music by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. In 2006 both Tennant and Lowe were seen on stage and in photographs wearing clothes designed by Hedi Slimane/Dior Homme. Hedi Slimane (born July 5, 1968 in Paris) is a Tunisian French Fashion designer of Tunisian and Italian-Brazilian origins Dior Homme is the menswear division of Christian Dior SA the French clothing retailer

The duo have always been interested in the artwork, design, and photography for their releases. Photographer Eric Watson helped create the original image of Pet Shop Boys, creating many of their photographs and videos from 1984 to 1991. Eric Watson is the name of Eric Watson (clock maker Eric Watson (musician (born 1955 American jazz pianist and composer In design they have primarily worked with Mark Farrow, who designed the cover of their first Parlophone album release in 1986. Mark Farrow is a Graphic designer notable for his designs for the Pet Shop Boys, Liza Minnelli, and others Parlophone is a Record label, founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company. The collaboration between Mark Farrow and Pet Shop Boys is comparable to the designer-band relationship of Peter Saville and New Order, Anton Corbijn and Depeche Mode, or the epic-length collaboration of Simon Halfon and Paul Weller. Peter Saville (born 1955 in Manchester) is an English graphic designer based in London. New Order are an English rock group formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner ( vocals, Guitars Synthesizers, Peter Hook Anton Corbijn ( pronounced) (born May 20, 1955) is a Photographer and director from Strijen, the Netherlands Depeche Mode (dəˌpɛʃˈmoʊd are an English Electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. Simon Halfon is a graphic designer most noted for his work with The Jam, The Style Council, and Paul Weller. Paul Weller (born John William Weller 25 May 1958 in Sheerwater near Woking, Surrey) is an English Singer-songwriter. Their record sleeves are quite often very minimal, and the attention to detail is obvious, down to the font type and style. In typography a font (also fount) is traditionally defined as a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular Typeface. In October 2006, they released a 336-page hardcover book entitled Catalogue, showcasing their accomplishments in artwork, design, and of course, music. This retrospective of work is certainly one of the most comprehensive anthologies any music artist could have.

Live shows

The duo employ a programmer, Pete Gleadall to oversee the computers (which are all actually running live) and play keyboards, as well as backing singers, which include long time singer Sylvia Mason-James. Sylvia Mason-James is a British Singer who has worked extensively as a Backing vocalist and solo artist The boys have used Katie Kissoon in the past for vocal duties, and have used other musicians, Danny Cummings, Jodie Linscott, and Dawne Adams (percussion), Scott Davidson, Dominic Clarke, Mark Refoy and Bic Hayes (guitarists), as well as the late J. Mac and Katie Kissoon is a Male / Female vocal duo consisting of Mac Kissoon (born Gerald Farthing, 11 November Danny Cummings is a Percussionist and Drummer from Sheffield. Scott Davidson is a lacrosse player for the Pittsburgh Mammoth in the National Lacrosse League. Slipstream were formed in 1994 after Mark Refoy left Spiritualized. Christian Hayes (Born 10 June, 1964 in London) also known as Bic Hayes is an English rock guitarist singer and songwriter J. Belle (guitars and percussion). The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles For the 1999 - 2000 Nightlife Tour, the boys employed New York City based Peter Schwartz (keyboards / programming) as their musical director, programmer, and keyboardist. As with previous tours, backing tracks were sequenced on a computer playing sounds from a rig of synthesizers.

On using computers and playing live shows, Neil Tennant commented in 1991 that

“

There is nothing actually on tape, Several synthesiser-based groups use tapes extensively but we don't. The reason we don't use musicians to play it all is that we are a computer based group, That's how we make our music. A computer is a Machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. That is the kind of music we like: electronic music. Electronic music is music that employs Electronic musical instruments and Electronic Music technology in its production That's how we make records; we program computers. There's no sneaky secrecy about anything. Everything is done in an entirely logical way. Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference.

”

Chris Lowe also commented in the same interview, (by Chris Heath for the Performance DVD sleeve notes), that

“

Apart from the guitar and extra keyboards it's all sequenced using MIDI. Chris Heath is a British writer who was a regular contributor to the popular English music magazine Smash Hits in the eighties and early nineties MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface, ˈmɪdi is an industry-standard protocol that enables Electronic musical instruments Computers You set it up and it just plays. The machines are rack mounted and each one plays a different part.

”

Biography

A chance meeting (August 19, 1981)

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in an electronics shop on Kings Road in Chelsea. Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954 is a English Musician, singer and songwriter who with his colleague Chris Lowe, make up the successful Christopher Sean Lowe (born October 4 1959, Blackpool, Lancashire) is an English Musician, who with colleague The Kings Road is a major well-known street in west London, England. Chelsea is an area of south-west London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along Realising they had a common interest in dance music, they began to work on material together in Tennant's flat in Chelsea and from 1982 in a small studio in Camden Town. It was during these early years that several songs that would later appear on future albums were created, including "It's a Sin," "West End girls," "Rent" and "Jealousy".

The Bobby 'O' Years (1981–1984)

Starting out, the two called themselves West End, because of their love of London's West End, but later they came up with the name Pet Shop Boys, a name derived from some friends who worked in a pet shop in Ealing. The West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions businesses headquarters and the commercial A pet store or pet shop is a retail business which sells different kinds of animals Ealing is a Town in the London Borough of Ealing. It is a Suburban development situated 7 They said that Pet Shop Boys "sounded like an English rap group". British hip hop is a genre of music, and a culture that covers a variety of styles of Hip hop music made in the United Kingdom.

Their big break came in August 1983, when Tennant was assigned by Smash Hits to interview The Police in New York. The Police were a three-piece rock band consisting of Sting ( vocals, Bass guitar) Andy Summers ( Guitar, The City of New York The duo were obsessed with a stream of Hi-NRG records made by New York producer Bobby Orlando, known as Bobby 'O'. Hi-NRG (High Energy is a type of high-speed Electronic dance music which was popular in Nightclubs in the late 1970s and 1980s Bobby Orlando ( 1958) also known as Bobby O is a Disco Dance music Artist and Record producer who was most successful According to Tennant: "I thought well, if I've got to go and see The Police play then I'm also going to have lunch with Bobby 'O'. " They shared a cheeseburger and carrot cake at a restaurant called the Apple Jack on August 19 (two years to the day since Tennant and Lowe had met) and Orlando suggested making a record with Pet Shop Boys after hearing a demo tape that Tennant had taken with him. A demo version or demo of a song (shortened from the word "demonstration" is one recorded for reference rather than for release ^[5] In April 1984, the Orlando-produced "West End girls" was released, becoming a club hit in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Though the track did not do well in the UK, it was a minor hit in France and Belgium. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those

Signing with Parlophone (1984–1986)

In March 1985, after long negotiations, Pet Shop Boys cut their contractual ties with Bobby O with a settlement giving Bobby 'O' significant royalties for future sales. Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Royalties (sometimes running royalties) are usage-based payments made by one party (the "licensee" to another (the "licensor" for ongoing use of an Hiring manager Tom Watkins, they signed with the London-based Parlophone label. Parlophone is a Record label, founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company. In April, Tennant left Smash Hits (where he had progressed to the position of deputy editor), and in July a new single, "Opportunities (Let's make lots of money)", was released, reaching number 116 in the UK. The B-side to this single, "In The Night," was used as the theme for the UK television series The Clothes Show. The Clothes Show is a British Television show about fashion that can currently be seen on UKTV Style.

Unperturbed by the low chart position, the band returned to the studio in August to re-record "West End Girls" with producer Stephen Hague. Stephen Hague is an American Music producer most active with various British acts in the 1980s Released in October 1985, this new version initially entered the charts at a similarly low position, but began a slow rise so that by January 1986 it achieved number one. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) It was subsequently number one in the USA, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Lebanon, Israel, New Zealand and Norway, and sold an estimated 1. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Lebanon (ˈlɛbənɒn Arabic: ar لبنان Lubnān) officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic (ar الجمهورية اللبنانية For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional 5 million copies worldwide. It remains the most-heard Pet Shop Boys song to date.

After the success of "West End Girls", Pet Shop Boys released a follow-up single, "Love Comes Quickly", on February 24, 1986. Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) The single reached number 19 in the UK singles chart and was followed by their debut album, Please on March 24. Please is the first Album by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys, released in 1986 Events 1401 - Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus. 1603 - James VI of Scotland In June 1986, the band announced a European tour; however, their plans for a theatrical extravaganza proved to be too expensive and the tour was cancelled.

Please started Pet Shop Boys' penchant for choosing one-word album titles.

New versions of "Opportunities (Let's make lot's of money)" and album track "Suburbia" were also released in 1986, followed by a remix album, Disco, in November. A remix album is an Album consisting mostly of Remixes or re-recorded versions of a music artists' earlier released material Disco is the second Album by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys.

"Imperial phase" (1987–1988)

1987 started with Pet Shop Boys receiving both BRIT Awards and Ivor Novello Awards for "West End Girls". The BRIT Awards, often simply called The BRITs, are the British Phonographic Industry 's annual pop music awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Cardiff born entertainer Ivor Novello, are Awards for Songwriting and Composing. Later, on June 15, they released what became their second number one single, "It's A Sin". Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history The single caused some controversy: Neil's school, St. Cuthbert's Grammar School in Newcastle Upon Tyne, chastised him in the press, while Jonathan King accused them of plagiarising the Cat Stevens song Wild World. A grammar school is one of several different types of School in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King, 6 December 1944 London, England) is a British Singer, Songwriter, TV personality Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou on 21 July 1948 best known by his former Stage name Cat Stevens, is a British Musician " Wild World " is a song written and recorded by Cat Stevens. Pet Shop Boys later sued King and won damages which were donated to charity. The video to "It's A Sin" also saw their first collaboration with director Derek Jarman. Derek Jarman ( January 31 1942 – February 19 1994) was an English Film director, Stage designer

The continued success of "It's A Sin" was followed by the release of "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" on August 10. Events 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire Co-written with Allee Willis and also featuring Dusty Springfield on vocals, the single reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, and the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Alta Sherral Willis better known as Allee Willis is an American Songwriter, Artist, Set designer, Multimedia artist, Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien OBE ( 16 April, 1939 &ndash 2 March, 1999) professionally known as Dusty Springfield Although the duo had wanted to release this track on their debut album, they had been unable to track down Springfield and were reluctant to record it with any other female singer, despite their record company's suggestions. Springfield's manager finally contacted them in 1986, following the release of Please and towards the end of that year she travelled to London to record "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" with them. Please is the first Album by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys, released in 1986 It was the first track to be recorded for the duo's second album. Pet Shop Boys had been told that Springfield was "difficult" to work with and even that she could no longer sing; however her performance on the track put any such concerns to rest and they began a collaboration with her which lasted until the end of the decade. Included on their album Actually, the song became a massive worldwide hit and resurrected Springfield's career, leading to her 1990 album Reputation, on which Pet Shops Boys were major contributing producers. Actually is the third Album, the second of entirely new music by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. This duet was also the start of a series of collaborations with high profile musicians throughout the band's career.

Also in August 1987, Pet Shop Boys appeared on Love Me Tender, a UK television programme on ITV commemorating the tenth anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent They were asked to perform one of their favourite Elvis tracks, and they narrowed it down to two options, "Baby Let's Play House" and "Always On My Mind", eventually settling on the latter. " Always on My Mind " is a song originally recorded by Brenda Lee and released on June 12, 1972, with music and lyrics by Johnny Christopher September 7, 1987 saw the release of the duo's second studio album, Actually, followed by the single "Rent" in October, which reached number 8 in the UK. Events 1251 BC - A Solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes Greece. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Actually is the third Album, the second of entirely new music by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. The final song on the album, "King's Cross", was revealed to have a strange prescience when there was a fatal fire at the London underground section of the station in November of that year (part of the lyrics read: "Dead and wounded on either side/You know it's only a matter of time"). " King's Cross " is a Pet Shop Boys song taken from their 1987 album Actually. The Sun newspaper in the UK subsequently tried to get the track released as a charity single but Pet Shop Boys would not allow this. The Sun is a Tabloid daily newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland with the highest circulation of any daily English-language

Towards the end of 1987, Pet Shop Boys started work on an hour-long film that would incorporate the songs from Actually. Working with director Jack Bond, the short film grew into a full-scale movie, It Couldn't Happen Here, starring Barbara Windsor, Joss Ackland and Gareth Hunt. It Couldn't Happen Here is a Pet Shop Boys film released in 1988. Barbara Ann Windsor, MBE (born Barbara Ann Deeks on 6 August 1937) is an English actress. Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland CBE (born February 29 1928) known as Joss Ackland, is an English Actor who has appeared Alan Leonard Hunt (7 February 1942 &ndash 14 March 2007 was an English Actor, known as Gareth Hunt, best remembered for playing the footman The film was eventually released in 1988 to mixed reviews. Footage from the film was also used for the music video to "Always On My Mind", now released as a single on November 30; it became both the duo's third number one single in the UK and the Christmas number one single for 1987, infamously beating out "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues. A music video is a Short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music most commonly a Song with lyrics Each year record companies compete for the Christmas number one single spot on the British charts. " Fairytale of New York " is a popular Christmas song by Irish Folk-rock group The Pogues, and featuring the English The Pogues are a band of mixed Irish and English background playing Traditional Irish music with influences from Punk rock, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane

1988 started with another collaboration. Patsy Kensit's band, Eighth Wonder, had the song "I'm Not Scared" written and produced for them by Pet Shop Boys. Patricia Jude Francis Kensit (born March 4, 1968) is an English actress and former Singer, well-known for her three celebrity Eighth Wonder was a British pop band in the 1980s They formed in 1983 and enjoyed major success in Japan and Italy between The song became her biggest hit single and Pet Shop Boys included their own version of the track on their Introspective later that year. Introspective is the fourth Album, the third of entirely new music by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. March 1988 saw the duo achieve their fourth UK number one single (and their last to date) with a remixed edit of "Heart", different from the album version (NB: The single version is included in their Discography collection, whereas the album version is used in their "Pop Art" retrospective). " Heart " is a song recorded by Pet Shop Boys which reached #1 on the UK singles chart for three weeks in April 1988 (see 1988 in music) The video to the single, directed by Jack Bond, was a retelling of the Dracula story, starring Ian McKellen as the vampire who steals Neil Tennant's "wife". Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary Antagonist the vampire Count Dracula. Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE (born 25 May 1939 is an English stage and screen actor the It was seen to be ironic since McKellen was a well-known gay figure at the time (he came out in the 1970s). Closeted Coming out (that is " coming out of the closet " describes the voluntary public announcement of one's Sexual orientation and/or Gender identity

In the 1996 BBC Radio 1 documentary About Pet Shop Boys, Neil Tennant noted that their "Imperial Phase" ended in 1988. On September 12, 1988, Pet Shop Boys released a brand new single, "Domino Dancing", and in the documentary Neil recounts his disappointment when hearing the news that the single had reached number 7 in the UK single chart. Events 1213 - Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) He felt that their major success was now over and that it was going to be a challenge to remain successful going forward.

Introspective, Behaviour and the Performance tour (1988–1992)

The duo's third studio album, Introspective, was released on October 10, 1988 and was followed by the Trevor Horn-produced single "Left to my own devices", and a cover version of the Sterling Void single "It's alright" in 1989. Introspective is the fourth Album, the third of entirely new music by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English Pop music Record producer, songwriter and musician 1989 also saw the start of Pet Shop Boys' first tour, in which they performed in Hong Kong, Japan and Britain. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The tour followed the ideas of the extravaganza that could not have been afforded earlier in their career. Derek Jarman returned to direct the performance, and he provided several films that were projected during the shows.

On September 24, 1990, a new single, "So Hard", was released, and Pet Shop Boys' fourth studio album followed on October 22, 1990. Events 622 - Prophet Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) Events 202 BC - Hannibal Barca, leader of the Carthaginians, is defeated by the Roman legions under Scipio Africanus Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) Behaviour was recorded in Munich with producer Harold Faltermeyer. Behaviour ( Behavior in the original US pressing is the fifth Album, the fourth of entirely new music by the UK Harold Faltermeyer (born October 5, 1952 in Munich) is a German Musician, Keyboardist, Composer and Record The album was never intended to be a dramatic change in mood to their earlier albums, but it is noticeably subdued. It included the fan-favourite "Being Boring," the second single from the album, which only reached number 20 in the UK singles chart, their lowest placing at the time. The song was inspired by a quote by Zelda Fitzgerald: ". Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (July 24 1900 – March 10 1948 born Zelda Sayre in Montgomery Alabama, was a novelist and the wife of writer F . . she refused to be bored chiefly because she wasn’t boring" and was widely thought to be a commentary on the AIDS epidemic. The music video was directed by film-maker Bruce Weber. Bruce Weber (born March 29, 1946 in Greensburg Pennsylvania) is an American Fashion photographer and occasional Filmmaker By this time, the duo had also parted ways with manager Tom Watkins, replacing him with Jill Carrington. Jill Carrington (born 1956 in Virginia Water, Surrey) is an English businesswoman working in the music industry during the '80s and '90s ^[6]

In March 1991, a cover of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" as a medley with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", the 1960s pop song by Frankie Valli/The Four Seasons, was released as a non-album single, followed by the duo's first world tour. " Where the Streets Have No Name " is a song by Irish rock band U2, from their 1987 album The Joshua Tree. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, was a 1967 single by Frankie Valli. Frankie Valli (born May 3, 1934 as Francis Stephen Castelluccio) is an American musician most famous as frontman of The 4 Seasons. The Four Seasons (known off and on since 1967 as Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons - although not shown that way on any of their hit records is an American Named "Performance", the tour kicked off in Tokyo on March 11, 1990. officially, is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan and located on the eastern side of the main island Honshū. Events 1425 BC - Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) The tour also visited: the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic See also Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The shows were designed by David Alden and David Fielding, who had designed several sets for the London Opera.

Before taking a break in 1992, Pet Shop Boys released an 18 track compilation, Discography in 1991, which included two new singles: "DJ Culture" and "Was It Worth It?". Discography The Complete Singles Collection is an 18 track compilation by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys.

However, during this period, Pet Shop Boys continued to collaborate with many high-profile musicians. They worked again with Dusty Springfield on the singles "Nothing Has Been Proved" (which was a song written for their soundtrack for the film Scandal about the Profumo political scandal in Britain), and "In Private". The Profumo Affair was a political scandal from 1963 in the United Kingdom that is named after the then Secretary of State for War, John Profumo The duo later went on to produce half of the tracks on her 1990 solo Reputation album. Pet Shop Boys were also asked to write and produce an album for Liza Minnelli in 1989. Liza May Minnelli (born March 12, 1946) is a legendary American actress and singer The album, Results, included the hit single "Losing My Mind", a cover version of the Stephen Sondheim song. Results is the 1989 Liza Minnelli Album produced by the Pet Shop Boys and Julian Mendelsohn Stephen Joshua Sondheim (born March 22 1930 is an American musical and film composer and lyricist winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards (seven The duo's own version of this appeared on the "Jealousy" single as a B-side. Neil Tennant also worked with Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr on their first album as Electronic, whose first single, "Getting Away With It", co-written and co-produced by Neil Tennant, was released on December 4, 1989. Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956 in Lower Broughton, Salford, Lancashire, England) is a British singer Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher on 31 October 1963 in Ardwick, Manchester) is an English Guitarist, Electronic were an Alternative rock group formed by New Order singer and guitarist Bernard Sumner and ex- Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Later, in 1991, Lowe also contributed to the Electronic project by working on the track "The Patience of a Saint" for their 1991 album; finally, in 1992, Tennant sang lead vocals on their non-album single "Disappointed", which was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Cool World. Cool World is a 1992 Live-action/animated film directed by Ralph Bakshi, and starring Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne, In addition, a remix of "So Hard" by notorious electronic music duo The KLF, released as a separate single, led to Tennant re-recording his vocals for the song entirely.

Pet Shop Boys set up the Spaghetti Records label in 1991. Spaghetti Records is a Record label launched in September 1991 by Pet Shop Boys. In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Their most successful release was the soundtrack to the 1992 film The Crying Game which featured Boy George performing the title song The Crying Game. The Crying Game is a 1992 film written and directed by Neil Jordan. Boy George (born George Alan O'Dowd 14 June 1961 in Eltham London) is an English Singer-songwriter, who was part of the English New " The Crying Game " is a Song written by Geoff Stephens, and first released by Dave Berry in July 1964 The song was produced by Pet Shop Boys and featured Tennant on backing vocals. Other artists on the label included Scottish singer Cicero, The Ignorants, and Masterboy. Masterboy is a German Eurodance group formed in early 1990s with notable success in Europe, Asia, Oceania and South America

The Very era (1993–1995)

In June 1993, Pet Shop Boys made a strong return to the UK Singles Chart with "Can You Forgive Her?". Taking its title from the Anthony Trollope novel of the same name, the single reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart, and the iconic music video features the duo in orange body suits and tall dunce caps in a world of computer-generated imagery. Anthony Trollope (April 24 1815 – December 6 1882 became one of the most successful prolific and respected English Novelists of the Victorian era. Can You Forgive Her? is a Novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in serial form in 1864 and 1865 A music video is a Short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music most commonly a Song with lyrics A dunce cap, also variously known as a dunce hat, dunce's cap, or dunce's hat, is a Pointy hat. Computer animation Computer-generated imagery (also known as CGI) is the application of the field of Computer graphics or more specifically 3D computer graphics The theme was continued with the follow-up single, a cover of the Village People single "Go West", which reached number 2 in the UK, with another computer-generated music video, this time inspired by the Soviet Union. Village People are a concept Disco group formed in the late 1970s " Go West " is a song by the 1970s Disco group Village People. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The duo's fifth studio album, Very followed on September 27 and is the only Pet Shop Boys album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart. Very is the seventh Album, the fifth of previously-unreleased music by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. Events 489 - Odoacer attacks Theodoric at the Battle of Verona and is defeated again The UK Albums Chart is a list of Albums ranked by sales in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Pet Shop Boys and mixed with additional production by Stephen Hague who had produced their first album and subsequently produced records by New Order and Erasure. The other singles from Very, "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing", "Liberation", and "Yesterday, When I Was Mad", continued the theme of computer-generated videos, peaking with the "Liberation" video, which contained almost no real-life elements at all. All these videos were directed by Howard Greenhalgh who continued to work with Pet Shop Boys well into the next decade.

Very was also released in a limited edition to include an entirely new album "Relentless. Very is the seventh Album, the fifth of previously-unreleased music by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. " It was comprised of six all new dance heavy tracks with a darker tone to the perky Very.

In 1994, Pet Shop Boys offered to remix fellow Parlophone artist Blur's single "Girls & Boys"; it was a club hit throughout Europe and started a sporadic trend for Pet Shop Boys to remix other artists' music. Blur are an English Alternative rock band that formed in London in 1989 " Girls & Boys " is a song by the English Alternative rock band Blur.

In 1994, Pet Shop Boys released the 1994 Comic Relief single, "Absolutely Fabulous". Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character or scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work often to relieve tension The song started when Tennant and Lowe were playing around with samples from the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous in the studio. A British sitcom is a Situation comedy (sitcom produced in the United Kingdom. Absolutely Fabulous (also known as Ab Fab) was a BAFTA and Emmy Award -winning British sitcom written by and starring They wanted to release a single, so approached lead actors Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, and suggested releasing it as a charity single. Jennifer Jane Saunders (born 6 July 1958 is a BAFTA and Emmy Award -winning English Comedian, Screenwriter and actress For the sixteenth century translator see Jane Lumley. Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE (born 1 May 1946) is an English A charity record (also known as a charity single) is a release of a song for a specific charitable cause. The single was released under the artist name of "Absolutely Fabulous". Tennant and Lowe do not consider it a Pet Shop Boys' single release and it was not included on their last compilation CD of singles, "PopArt". The video to the single featured clips from the sitcom along with newly recorded footage of Tennant and Lowe with the characters of Edina (Saunders) and Patsy (Lumley).

On September 12, Pet Shop Boys released the follow-up to their 1986 remix album Disco in the form of Disco 2. Disco 2 is the eighth Album by UK Electronic music duo Pet Shop Boys. The album featured club remixes of the singles released from Very in a continuous megamix by Danny Rampling. A megamix is a medley Remix containing multiple Songs in rapid succession Danny Rampling is a former British House Music DJ and is widely credited as one of the original founders of the UK's Rave /club scene Then, in October, Pet Shop Boys began their "Discovery" tour which would see them visit countries that they had never performed in before: Singapore, Australia, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Singapore For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. Chile, officially the Republic of Chile ( Spanish:) is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow Coastal strip wedged between the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld The following year, a new version of the 1986 B-side to "Suburbia", "Paninaro", was released to promoted a B-side collection album, Alternative. Alternative is the ninth Album by UK Electronic music duo Pet Shop Boys. The single, called "Paninaro '95", is based on the live version from the "Discovery" tour.

Bilingual, Nightlife, and the musical (1996–2001)

In November 1995, Neil Tennant saw David Bowie live at Wembley Stadium and met him backstage. David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. original Wembley Stadium was a football Stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the Whilst discussing Bowie's recent album Outside, Tennant mentioned that his favourite track was "Hallo Spaceboy". Outside is a Concept album first released September 26 1995 by David Bowie on Virgin Records. " Hallo Spaceboy " is a song by David Bowie and Brian Eno from his 1995 album Outside, and was issued as a single in 1995 Jokingly, Bowie said that Pet Shop Boys should remix the track, and, a week later, phoned Tennant asking for this to happen. The new version was completely re-recorded and featured Tennant on backing vocals, using additional lyrics from Bowie's first hit song, "Space Oddity". This article is about the song For the album which includes this song see Space Oddity (album. The single was released on February 19, 1996 with Pet Shop Boys joining Bowie to perform the song on the BRIT Awards and Top of the Pops. Events 197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) The BRIT Awards, often simply called The BRITs, are the British Phonographic Industry 's annual pop music awards Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, was a long-running British music chart Television programme, made and broadcast

In April, Pet Shop Boys released a new single, "Before", leading up to their forthcoming album; the single reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. That same month, Tina Turner also released her Wildest Dreams album, which featured Pet Shop Boys-produced track "Confidential". Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an eight time Grammy Award -winning American Wildest Dreams is the ninth solo album by Tina Turner, released on Parlophone / Virgin in 1996, which went double Platinum In August, Pet Shop Boys released a follow-up single, "Se a Vida é (That's The Way Life Is)", a Latin American music-inspired track featuring a drum sample from a track called "Estrada Da Paixão" by Brazilian act Olodum. Latin music, includes the music of all countries in Latin America (and the Caribbean) and comes in many varieties Olodum is a cultural group based in the black community of Salvador, the capital city of the state of Bahia, Brazil. This preceded the sixth Pet Shop Boys album Bilingual which was released in September. Bilingual is the tenth Album, the sixth of entirely new music by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys.

In December 1996, Neil appeared live with Suede singing the Suede song "Saturday Night" as a duet with Brett Anderson, and Pet Shop Boys track "Rent". Suede (or The London Suede in the United States) were an English rock band of the 1990s and the early 2000s that helped start the Britpop musical " Saturday Night " is the third single off the album Coming Up by Suede, released on January 13 1997 on Nude Records Brett Lewis Anderson (born September 29, 1967) is an English Singer-songwriter, best-known as the former lead vocalist of Britpop Both live tracks were released with the Suede single "Filmstar" in July 1997. " Filmstar " is the fifth and final single off the album Coming Up by Suede, released on April 7 1996 on Nude Records.

Pet Shop Boys kicked off Summer 1997 with a sold-out three-week residency at the Savoy Theatre in London in June. The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre located in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London England Entitled "Somewhere" and being promoted by a cover version of the song "Somewhere" from the musical West Side Story, the shows used projections filmed by the artist Sam Taylor-Wood. West Side Story is a musical by Arthur Laurents (book Leonard Bernstein (music and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics Sam Taylor-Wood (born 4 March 1967) is a contemporary artist working in Video, Photography, and Film. Pet Shop Boys would later work with Sam Taylor-Wood again: in 1998, they recorded a version of "Je t'aime... moi non plus", originally by Serge Gainsbourg, with her, and in 2003 they covered the Donna Summer track "Love to Love You Baby" and gave it a limited edition release credited to Kiki Kokova, a pseudonym used by Taylor-Wood for this project. For the film see Je t'aime moi non plus (film. For the album see Jane Birkin Serge Gainsbourg. Serge Gainsbourg ɡɛ̃'zbuʁ (2 April 1928 &ndash 2 March 1991 was a French Poet, Singer-songwriter, Actor and Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines December 31, 1948) is an American Singer-songwriter and Musician who gained Love to Love You Baby is the second album by Donna Summer, and her first to be released internationally

The majority of 1998 was spent with a series of live dates and minor releases, including a charity album of Noel Coward songs called Twentieth Century Blues. Sir Noël Peirce Coward ( 16 December 1899 26 March 1973) was an English Actor, Playwright Twentieth-Century Blues The Songs of Noel Coward is a 1998 Noel Coward Tribute album curated by Neil Tennant, who invited prominent artists The album included Pet Shop Boys' version of "Sail Away" along with songs performed by Elton John, Texas, Marianne Faithfull, The Divine Comedy, Suede, Damon Albarn, Vic Reeves and Robbie Williams. Sir Elton Hercules John CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 is an English pop / rock Singer, Composer Texas are a rock band from Glasgow Scotland. They were founded by Johnny McElhone (formerly of the bands Altered Images and Marianne Faithfull (born December 29 1946) is an English Singer, Songwriter, actress and Diarist whose The Divine Comedy are a British pop band from Northern Ireland fronted by Neil Hannon. Damon Albarn, ˈdɛɪmən ˈɔːɫbɑːn (b March 23 1968 in Leytonstone, London) is an English Singer-songwriter who gained fame as the lead Vic Reeves (b 24 January 1959 as James "Jim" Roderick Moir) is an English Comedian, best known for his Double act with Bob Mortimer Robert Peter Maximilian Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer Tennant also co-produced the Williams track and provided backing vocals for Elton John. Tennant also provided backing vocals on Robbie Williams' "No Regrets" single along with Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy. Neil Hannon (born 7 November 1970) is a Singer and Songwriter, best known as the creator (in 1989 and Frontman of the orchestral Meanwhile, the band switched managers again as Carrington resigned and was succeeded by Mitch Clark who had previously worked for EMI International as Head of Promotion. Mitchell Clark (born 19 October 1987 is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. ^[7]

During this time, Pet Shop Boys also began to work with playwright Jonathan Harvey on a stage musical project. Jonathan Harvey (born 1968 is a British Playwright whose work has earned multiple awards In 1999, many of the tracks recorded ended up on the duo's seventh studio album Nightlife which also included the singles "I don't know what you want but I can't give it any more", "New York City boy" and "You only tell me you love me when you're drunk" — as well a duet with Kylie Minogue, "In denial", about a father (Tennant) coming out to his daughter (Minogue). Nightlife is the eleventh Album, the seventh of entirely new music by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE, born 28 May 1968 is an Australian pop Singer - Songwriter and occasional Actress. Minogue later performed the track live during her 2005 "Showgirl" tour, singing to a pre-recorded Neil Tennant. This is not the first time that Pet Shop Boys have worked with Minogue. In 1994, Pet Shop Boys wrote a song for inclusion on her Kylie Minogue album. See Impossible Princess for the 1998 album released in the UK as Kylie Minogue Kylie Minogue is the title of a 1994 album by "Falling" was based around an unreleased remix of "Go West" with new lyrics by Tennant. However, Minogue and her record company did not like the production sound of Pet Shop Boys' demo, and asked Farley & Heller to produce the track. Pete Heller is an electronic and House music producer from England. 1999 ended with a world tour which continued into 2000, this time with the stage sets designed by architect Zaha Hadid. Zaha Hadid (زها حديد CBE (born October 31 1950 Baghdad, Iraq) is a notable British Iraqi deconstructivist Architect The tour took them to the USA and Canada, Japan, Europe and the UK. In the summer of 2000 they also played a series of festival dates in Europe, including a performance at the Glastonbury Festival where they performed on the main stage on Saturday night at 9. For the classical music and theatre festivals co-founded by Rutland Boughton between 1914 and 1926 see Glastonbury Festival (1914-1925 The 30 pm to a triumphant reception. In 2000 they won their third Ivor Novello Award honouring their "Outstanding Contribution" to music. David Ivor Davies (15 January 1893 &ndash 6 March 1951 better known as Ivor Novello, was a Welsh Composer, Singer and Actor, who

Throughout 2000, they continued to work on their musical and in May they started workshopping the project and finalising the plot and songs to be used. The musical, Closer to Heaven, opened at the Arts Theatre in London in 2001 with financial backing from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group. Closer to Heaven is a musical by Jonathan Harvey and Pet Shop Boys. The Arts Theatre was a small club theatre in Great Newport Street Central London which seats 347 in a two-tier basement auditorium Andrew Lloyd Webber Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948 is a British Composer of Musical theatre, the elder son of William Lloyd Webber The Really Useful Group (RUG is an international company set up in 1977 by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Reviews were mixed and, although the run was initially extended, it closed earlier than expected, due to poor ticket sales, in October 2001. Around the time of the London closure, Tennant said that they were in talks to take the musical to various locations in Europe (particularly Germany which is a big market for Pet Shop Boys) and to take it to New York. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Nothing further has been issued by Pet Shop Boys or Really Useful Group regarding these performances; in 2005, a series of performances were done in the Brisbane Powerhouse, Australia, though they were independent to Pet Shop Boys and Really Useful Group. Brisbane Powerhouse is an arts and cultural hub located in the popular Brisbane suburb of New Farm, Queensland, Australia offering an array For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics.

Variety: Release and Battleship Potemkin (2002–2005)

After the mixed fortunes of Closer to Heaven, Pet Shop Boys returned to the studio to start work on their eighth album. After toying with genres including hip-hop, they went for a stripped back acoustic sound as a complete change to the over-the-top dance music of the musical. Acoustic music refers to music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means as opposed to Electronic means In 2002, they released Release. Release is the twelfth Album, the eighth of entirely new music by the UK Electronic music duo Pet Shop Boys. Most of the tracks were produced by the duo themselves and many of the tracks featured Johnny Marr on guitar. The first single, "Home and dry" featured a video directed by Wolfgang Tillmans, mostly consisting of footage of mice filmed in the London Underground. The London Underground is a Metro system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire The follow-up single, "I get along", had a video filmed by Bruce Weber and following this they embarked on another world tour, although this time it was a stripped back affair with no dancers, backing singers, costumes or lavish sets. Bruce Weber (born March 29, 1946 in Greensburg Pennsylvania) is an American Fashion photographer and occasional Filmmaker They used two extra guitarists, (Bic Hayes and Mark Refoy), a percussionist (Dawne Adams) and regular programmer Pete Gleadall.

The Release tour took them first to several universities around the UK, not officially the Release tour but entitled "The University Tour", these dates saw them perform at Bristol University, Keele University, University of East Anglia in Norwich, University of Teesside, Middlesborough, and De Montfort University, Leicester. the University (or derivatives but lower-case when referring to many universitiesor universities Keele University is a research-intensive Campus university located near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The University of East Anglia is a campus-based University located in Norwich, England, and founded in 1963 History Roman The Romans had their regional capital at Venta Icenorum on the river to the south which is near modern-day Caistor St Edmund The University of Teesside, based in Middlesbrough, UK, has a student body of 22387 students as of 2007 Middlesbrough ( IPA ( Received pronunciation) is a Town in the Tees Valley sub-region of the North East of England De Montfort University ( DMU) is a British university situated in Leicester, England. Leicester (ˈlɛstə is the largest city and Unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and is the traditional The Release tour then took them to Germany, USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, then another series of dates in the UK again, Switzerland, and onto Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and then a first ever date in Thailand as the final show, at the large Bangkok Impact Arena, in front of 9,000 fans. The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj Bangkok, known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (krūŋtʰêːp máhǎːnákʰɔn) or Krung Thep ( for short is the Capital, largest IMPACT Muang Thong Thani (อิมแพ็ค เมืองทองธานี is a complex consisting of an Arena, Convention center and exhibition hall in The Bangkok concert was considered a "Triumphant success" Neil Tennant later commented on the official website.

A third single, "London", was only released in Germany, at the request of EMI Germany. It was never planned for release in the UK, although a promotional video was shot by the distinguished photographer Martin Parr and it was serviced to some UK radio stations. Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952 in Epsom, Surrey) is a British documentary Photographer, Photojournalist Following a live stint on the John Peel show on Radio 1, Pet Shop Boys released Disco 3 in February 2003. John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004 known professionally as John Peel, was an English Disc jockey, radio Disco 3 is the thirteenth Album by the UK Electronic music duo Pet Shop Boys. The album followed their previous Disco albums, but this one also included new songs as well as remixes.

In 2003, Pet Shop Boys launched two new labels, Olde English Vinyl and Lucky Kunst, their Spaghetti label being defunct. Spaghetti is a long thin cylindrical Pasta of Italian origin A variety of pasta dishes are based on it from spaghetti with cheese and pepper or garlic and The first release on Olde English Vinyl was Atomizer's "Hooked on Radiation", followed by Pete Burns' "Jack and Jill Party" in 2004. Atomizer is a Synthpop duo featuring Nag Nag Nag founder and veteran musician and DJ Jonny Slut with fellow Nag Nag Nag DJ Fil OK. Peter "Pete" Burns (b August 5 1959, Port Sunlight, Wirral, England and now living in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire The only Lucky Kunst release to date is Kiki Kokova's version of "Love to love you baby". They also remixed Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice" in 2003 and Rammstein's "Mein Teil" in 2004. born in Tokyo on February 18 1933 is a Japanese Artist and Musician. " Walking on Thin Ice " is a New Wave / dance song by Yoko Ono, released in 1981 Rammstein (ˈʀamʃtaɪ̯n is a German Industrial metal band founded in Berlin, and consisting of Till Lindemann ( lead vocals " Mein Teil " is the first single by the German Industrial metal band Rammstein from their fourth album Reise Reise Another new manager, David Dorrell, was brought on board to replace Clark. ^[8]

In November 2003, Pet Shop Boys released a second greatest hits album PopArt with two new singles "Miracles" and "Flamboyant". PopArt Pet Shop Boys - The Hits is the fourteenth Album by the UK Electronic music duo Pet Shop Boys.

In September 2004, Pet Shop Boys appeared at a free concert in Trafalgar Square in London where they performed with the Dresdner Sinfoniker orchestra a new soundtrack to accompany the seminal 1925 silent film Battleship Potemkin. Trafalgar Square is a square in central London, England. With its position in the heart of London it is a tourist attraction its trademark is Nelson's The Uprising Origins In 1905 The Central Committee of the Social Democratic Organization of the Black Sea Fleet started preparations for a simultaneous crew There were four further live performances of the work with the Dresdner Sinfoniker in Germany in September 2005, and the Battleship Potemkin soundtrack was released on September 5, 2005. Battleship Potemkin is a 2005 album of electronic and orchestral music written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe from Pet Shop Boys. Events 1590 - Alexander Farnese 's army forces Henry IV of France to raise the siege of Paris. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

In November 2004, Pet Shop Boys played at the Prince's Trust concert called "Produced by Trevor Horn", a festival with artists who worked with famous British producer Trevor Horn. November 2004: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English Pop music Record producer, songwriter and musician Other artists included Grace Jones, ABC, Seal and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Grace Jones (born May 19, 1948) is a Jamaican �� American Singer, model and actress ABC are an English pop band that charted ten UK and five US Top 40 singles between 1981 and 1990 Sealhenry Olusegun Olumide Adelo Samuel (born February 19, 1963 in Paddington, London) is a British soul Singer and Frankie Goes to Hollywood ( FGTH) was a UK dance-pop band that were extremely popular in the mid 1980s

In 2005, Pet Shop Boys was selected as the headline act for the Moscow Live 8 concert in Red Square. On 2 July, 2005, a Live 8 concert was held in Red Square, Moscow, Russia. Red Square ( Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad) is the most famous City square in Moscow, and arguably one of the most They were received extremely well by the crowd in Moscow. Also in 2005, Pet Shop Boys was asked to put together the twentieth release to the Back to Mine series, an ongoing anthology showcasing artists' favourite music selections, with an emphasis on afterhours chill out music. Back to Mine is a series of Mix albums usually (though not always mixed by renowned DJs or composers of Electronic music. As a condition, Tennant and Lowe were given one disc each, whereas all previous and releases in the series consisted of only a single disc per group. (See Back to Mine: Pet Shop Boys. Back to Mine Pet Shop Boys, compiled by Synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys, is the twentieth Compilation album in the Back To Mine )

Basically: Fundamental, touring and Disco 4 (2006 onwards)

Pet Shop Boys began 2006 remixing Madonna's single, "Sorry", for release in February. Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16 1958 known as Madonna, is an American " Sorry " is a pop&ndash[[Dance music|dance]] Song written and produced by Madonna and Stuart Price for Madonna's tenth album The single reached number one in the UK and Pet Shop Boys' remix included new back-up vocals performed by Tennant. Madonna subsequently used the Pet Shop Boys' remix, including Tennant's vocals, in her 2006 world tour production.

In April, Pet Shop Boys released a new single, "I'm with Stupid", a commentary on the relationship between George W. Bush and Tony Blair. " I'm with Stupid " is a song by British Synthpop band Pet Shop Boys and is featured on their 2006 Album, George Walker Bush ( born July 6 1946 is the forty-third and current President of the United States. Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair (born 6 May 1953 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to The promo video featured Matt Lucas and David Walliams, better known as the team behind Little Britain. Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English Comedian and Actor. David Walliams (born David Williams, August 20, 1971) is an English Comedian and Actor, best known for his partnership Little Britain is a character-based comedy Sketch show first appearing on BBC radio and then television Lucas and Walliams portray Tennant and Lowe, parodying two of the duo's previous videos, "Go West" and "Can you forgive her?". The ninth Pet Shop Boys studio album, Fundamental, followed in May. Fundamental is the sixteenth Album, the ninth of entirely new music by the British band Pet Shop Boys. The album was produced by Trevor Horn, who Pet Shop Boys had previously worked with on "Left to my own devices" in 1988. The album was also released with a limited edition remix album called Fundamentalism, which included a version of "In private", a song originally written and produced by Pet Shop Boys for Dusty Springfield, as a duet with Elton John and "Fugitive", a new track produced by Richard X. Sir Elton Hercules John CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 is an English pop / rock Singer, Composer Richard Philips is a Record producer, best known by his Stage name Richard X.

The week that 'Fundamental' was a released, a documentary Pet Shop Boys - A Life In Pop was broadcast on Channel 4 and directed by George Scott and produced by Nick de Grunwald. George Scott can refer to George Scott (author, who wrote a 1683 book extolling the virtues of Scottish settlement in East Jersey. The original broadcast was an hour long. In October 2006, a significantly expanded version lasting 140 minutes was released on DVD. The liner notes explain, 'From their trailblazing first single 'West End girls' to their current position as Britains foremost pop duo, A Life In Pop traces every ground-breaking step in the 20-year career of the Pet Shop Boys. Starting in the respective home towns in the north of England, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe retrace their remarkable journey in their own words. The film features some previously unseen live performances, rare television appearances (including their first ever from Belgium in 1984), and interviews with famous fans, collaborators and colleagues including Robbie Williams, Brandon Flowers, Tim Rice-Oxley, Jake Shears and Bruce Weber. Robert Peter Maximilian Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21 1981 is the American Vocalist, Keyboardist and occasional Bassist of the Las Vegas -based rock Timothy "Tim" James Rice-Oxley is the co-founder Pianist, Bassist, main composer and Lyricist of English Piano rock Jake Shears (born Jason Sellards, 3 October 1978, Arizona) is the male lead Vocalist for the American music group Bruce Weber (born March 29, 1946 in Greensburg Pennsylvania) is an American Fashion photographer and occasional Filmmaker A Life In Pop is a fascinating in-depth documentary film chronicling the Pet Shop Boys' enduring success. '

The second single to be taken from the album was "Minimal". " Minimal " is a song by British Synthpop band Pet Shop Boys and is featured on their 2006 Album Fundamental The duo filmed the video to the single in Paris with Dan Cameron. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city The single was the first of theirs to be playlisted by London's biggest radio station Capital Radio in a decade.

Pet Shop Boys began a world tour in June 2006 in Norway. The show was designed and directed by Es Devlin the award-winning British theatre designer and choreographed by Hakeem Onibudo. Between June 15 and September 10, 2006, Pet Shop Boys played a series of concert dates across Europe mainly at assorted festivals and outdoor venues. These included two dates at The Tower of London on 28 and 29 June and a single show at Thetford Forest, supported by Lorraine. Thetford Forest is the largest lowland pine forest in Britain, located in a region straddling the north of Suffolk and the south of Norfolk in Lorraine are a 3-piece band from Bergen in Norway consisting of Ole Gunnar Gundersen (vocals Anders Winsents (guitar and Paal Myran Haaland (keyboards programming These dates also included performances of Battleship Potemkin in Germany and Spain. The Uprising Origins In 1905 The Central Committee of the Social Democratic Organization of the Black Sea Fleet started preparations for a simultaneous crew On May 1, 2006, "Potemkin" was also performed at the Swan Hunter shipyard in Newcastle-upon-Tyne with Pet Shop Boys accompanied by the Northern Sinfonia orchestra. Northern Sinfonia is a leading Chamber orchestra based at The Sage Gateshead and was formed by Michael Hall in 1958 as the first permanent chamber orchestra in Britain

On October 3, 2006, the long-delayed U. S. release of their PopArt hits package was issued by Capitol Records. Capitol Records is a major United States -based Record label owned by EMI and located in Hollywood California and New York City as

During 2006, Pet Shop Boys worked with Robbie Williams on his new album Rudebox, producing two tracks: a cover version of "We're the Pet Shop Boys" written by My Robot Friend (which they have also recorded themselves, and released as a B-side to "Miracles" in 2003) and "She's Madonna", a duet with Tennant allegedly about Guy Ritchie's affair with Tania Strecker prior to his relationship with Madonna. Rudebox is the name of Robbie Williams 's seventh studio album (10th overall released on October 23, 2006 in the UK ' My Robot Friend' is an electronic dance music producer/performer from New York. " She's Madonna " is the third and final international single released from Robbie Williams 's album Rudebox. Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire) is an English Screenwriter and Film director. Tania Strecker is a Danish model and Television presenter in the UK, daughter of Maren Enthoven and David Strecker

On October 10, 2006, Pet Shop Boys embarked in Montreal on the North and Central American leg of their world tour which took them through Canada, the USA and Mexico concluding on November 16th. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Montreal, or Montréal in French ( pronounced in French, in English) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec A DVD of the show in Mexico City was released on May 21st, 2007, entitled "Cubism". It was recorded on November 14th 2006 in the Auditorio Nacional, Mexico City and the film was directed by David Barnard (who has in the past directed similar films for Björk and Gorillaz).

On October 16, Catalogue from Thames & Hudson, a 336-page hardcover book written by Philip Hoare and Chris Heath, detailing their entire visual output (photography, as well as the design of record, video, tour, book and fan club magazine) from 1984 to 2004 was released. Events 456 - Magister militum Ricimer defeats the Emperor Avitus at Piacenza and becomes master of the western Thames & Hudson (also Thames and Hudson and sometimes T&H for brevity are a Publisher, especially of Art and Illustrated Books Neil Tennant comments in the book, "In the beginning we made a decision - and it was in our EMI contract - that that we would have control over how everything worked; that obviously the songs mattered hugely, but the way they were presented was going to matter hugely as well; and that we were never going to give up on that. " Pet Shop Boys supported the publication of the book with signings in London, New York City and Berlin.

Also on October 16, the third single from Fundamental, "Numb", was released. " Numb " is a song recorded by Pet Shop Boys and is featured on their Album Fundamental. It was written by Diane Warren, and is the only song on the album not written by Tennant and Lowe. Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956 in Van Nuys California) is an American Songwriter.

On October 23, 2006, Concrete (originally titled "Concert" but changed at the last minute to the originally-planned title) was released. Events 4004 BC - Creation of the world begins according to the calculations of Archbishop James Ussher 42 BC - Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Concrete is the seventeenth Album by the British band Pet Shop Boys. It is a double-CD of the complete Mermaid Theatre concert with the BBC Concert Orchestra, featuring guests Rufus Wainwright, Frances Barber and Robbie Williams. The Mermaid Theatre is a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare Frances Barber (born on 13 May 1958 in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England) is an English actress with a long and distinguished Robert Peter Maximilian Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer A 90 minute "director's cut" of the concert aired on BBC 6 Music on August 28, 2006. Events 475 - The Roman General Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his Capital Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

A small exhibition of portraits of Pet Shop Boys opened in the Bookshop Gallery of London's National Portrait Gallery on October 30, 2006 and ran to February 28, 2007. Events 637 - Antioch surrenders to the Muslim forces under Rashidun Caliphate after the Battle of Iron bridge. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

On December 7, 2006, Pet Shop Boys were nominated for two 2007 Grammy Awards. The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards)—or Grammys —are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences These were Best Dance Recording for "I'm with Stupid" and Best Electronic/Dance Album for Fundamental.

Pet Shop Boys were supposed to conclude 2006 and commence 2007 by performing at the Concert in the Gardens at Edinburgh's Hogmanay party but the event was cancelled at short notice due to bad weather conditions. Hogmanay ( pronounced &mdash with the main stress on the last syllable is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the

In February 2007, their 'Stars Are Blazing' remix of The Killers' "Read My Mind" was released. The Killers are an American rock band from Las Vegas Nevada. Formed in 2002 the group consists of Brandon Flowers ( vocals, keyboards During this period, the Pet Shop Boys said that they were in the studio writing and recording new material.

During the latter part of 2006 and early 2007, Neil Tennant served as executive producer on Rufus Wainwright's new album Release the Stars, recorded in Berlin. Release the Stars is the fifth Studio album by Rufus Wainwright, released on May 15 2007 He also sang backing vocals on a number of tracks, most notably on "Do I Disappoint You" and "Tiergarten".

Pet Shop Boys continued their world tour, albeit with a slightly different production and set-list, on March 14th 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and then played concerts in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand and Australia (as co-headliners of the V Festival 2007), Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Switzerland, France, Holland, Great Britain, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Singapore.

Pet Shop Boys released a live DVD, Cubism, in May 2007 via Warner Vision. The DVD features a live show recorded at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City in November 2006. Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México DF, México or simply Méjico) is the Capital city of Mexico ^[9]. Pet Shop Boys "played" at a free festival in the online virtual world Second Life on June 30. Second Life ( abbreviated as SL) and its sister site Teen Second Life are Internet-based 3D Virtual Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper ^[10]

On October 8th, 2007, Pet Shop Boys released Disco 4, the latest in their series of remix albums. Disco 4 also known as Disco Four is the eighteenth Album by the UK Electronic music duo Pet Shop Boys and the Previous sets have focussed on remixes of recent tracks (or including new songs, in the case of "Disco 3"), but the fourth in the set differed in that it was largely made up of remixes completed by Pet Shop Boys of other artists' work, over the past decade. These include The Killers, David Bowie, Yoko Ono, Madonna, Atomizer and Rammstein. The Killers are an American rock band from Las Vegas Nevada. Formed in 2002 the group consists of Brandon Flowers ( vocals, keyboards David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. born in Tokyo on February 18 1933 is a Japanese Artist and Musician. Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16 1958 known as Madonna, is an American Rammstein (ˈʀamʃtaɪ̯n is a German Industrial metal band founded in Berlin, and consisting of Till Lindemann ( lead vocals Only two tracks by the Boys, remixed versions of "Fundamental" tracks "Integral" and "I'm with Stupid", were included. The official Parlophone press release stated "Integral will have a limited service to club and selected radio DJ’s, whilst a politically-inspired video for the track will be made available through You Tube and the Pet Shop Boys’ website".

Although Pet Shop Boys' "Fundamental" tour was declared on their website to be officially ended, they have recently announced further concerts in Zaragoza, Barcelona, Valencia, Bucharest and Dublin. Zaragoza, also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza province and of the autonomous community and former Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia Bucharest ( Romanian: Bucureşti) is the Capital city, industrial and commercial centre of Romania. Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland.

Discography

Main article: Pet Shop Boys discography

Pet Shop Boys have released nine "proper albums", twenty-two compilations and remix EPs, and fifty-five singles. This Pet Shop Boys discography describes the release history of the English electronic / Pop music duo Pet Shop Boys, consisting of vocalist

Sexuality

Neil Tennant had neither confirmed nor denied rumours about his sexuality during the 1980s. Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954 is a English Musician, singer and songwriter who with his colleague Chris Lowe, make up the successful Tennant "came out", as it were, in a 1994 interview for Attitude, a UK gay lifestyle magazine. attitude is an award winning British Gay lifestyle magazine distributed worldwide Lowe, meanwhile, has remained tight-lipped about his own preferences, although he has opined (in a 1996 BBC radio documentary) that there is, basically, but one sexuality, which suggests that he may consider the terms "gay" or "straight" to be constricting labels. The duo are sometimes incorrectly assumed to be a couple (in the 1990 biography Pet Shop Boys, Literally, Tennant recalls that even their ex-manager, Tom Watkins, was under this impression for a time, which inadvertently fueled up even more rumours about their preferences).

Pet Shop Boys are seen as significant figures in gay culture for such songs as "Can you forgive her?", "It's a sin" (for which gay director Derek Jarman produced the video), "New York City Boy" and their cover of Village People's "Go West". Poliamory pride in San Francisco 2004jpg|thumb|Representatives of the Polyamory community at a San Francisco parade " Can You Forgive Her? " is a song by the Pet Shop Boys, recorded for their 1993 album ''Very''. Derek Jarman ( January 31 1942 – February 19 1994) was an English Film director, Stage designer " New York City Boy " is the second single off the album Nightlife by British music group Pet Shop Boys. Village People are a concept Disco group formed in the late 1970s " Go West " is a song by the 1970s Disco group Village People. They have written a song about a young male fan spending a night with a rapper, based on Eminem, called "The night I fell in love" and a song about coming out, "Metamorphosis". Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17 1972 known as Slim Shady and his primary Stage name Eminem, is an Academy Award -winning " The Night I Fell in Love " is the penultimate song on the Pet Shop Boys ' 2002 album Release. Closeted Coming out (that is " coming out of the closet " describes the voluntary public announcement of one's Sexual orientation and/or Gender identity Their 1990s single "Being boring" dealt with the gay experience and the devastation wrought by the AIDS crisis; the song (and its supporting video, filmed by Bruce Weber), remains one of their most popular. The capitalization of song titles in this article may be disputed In the English language, gay is an Adjective that in modern usage refers to Homosexuality. Bruce Weber (born March 29, 1946 in Greensburg Pennsylvania) is an American Fashion photographer and occasional Filmmaker However, Neil Tennant has stated many times that his lyrics are not specifically gay. Many of their songs are written from an ambiguous view point that can be taken any way the listener perceives it, and this goes some way to explain why a large segment of their die-hard fans are heterosexual.

Pet Shop Boys have performed and worked with many artists considered to be gay and bisexual icons such as David Bowie, Elton John, Liza Minnelli, Dusty Springfield, Boy George, Kylie Minogue and Madonna. David Bowie (ˈboʊiː born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 is an English Musician, actor producer, and arranger. Sir Elton Hercules John CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 is an English pop / rock Singer, Composer Liza May Minnelli (born March 12, 1946) is a legendary American actress and singer Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien OBE ( 16 April, 1939 &ndash 2 March, 1999) professionally known as Dusty Springfield Boy George (born George Alan O'Dowd 14 June 1961 in Eltham London) is an English Singer-songwriter, who was part of the English New Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE, born 28 May 1968 is an Australian pop Singer - Songwriter and occasional Actress. Madonna Louise Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16 1958 known as Madonna, is an American Pet Shop Boys attempted to organise and perform in a planned 2001 tour of out gay musicians, entitled 'Wotapalava'. However, the plans were later put on hold and the idea seems to have been discarded.

Influence

As of 2003, Pet Shop Boys were ranked by Billboard's Joel Whitburn (in his book Billboard's Hot Dance/Disco 1974-2003) as the fourth most successful act on the U. See Billboard (Turkish magazine Billboard is a weekly American Magazine devoted to the Music industry Joel Carver Whitburn (born November 29, 1939 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin) is an American Author and music historian S. Dance/Club Play charts, behind only Madonna, Janet Jackson and Donna Summer. Billboard 's Hot Dance Club Play chart (also known as Club Play Singles, and formerly known as Hot Dance Music/Club Play and Hot Dance/Disco Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16 1966 is an American recording artist and entertainer Donna Summer (born LaDonna Adrian Gaines December 31, 1948) is an American Singer-songwriter and Musician who gained

In October 2005, a Swedish tribute band called West End Girls had a number-three hit single in their home country with a cover version of "Domino dancing". "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. A tribute act is a Music group, Singer, or Musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act often one which has disbanded or ceased West End Girls are a Swedish tribute Synthpop band performing In Popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition ( Performance or Recording) of a previously recorded commercially released " Domino Dancing " is a Song recorded by UK Synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys which reached #7 on the UK Singles Chart and released In January 2006 they released their version of "West End Girls", and an album was released in June. Pet Shop Boys also have several tribute bands in the form of Birmingham-based Pet Shop Noise who have been performing locally for many years, and Seattle-based West End Boys. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um

Madonna's album Confessions on a Dance Floor, released November 2005, includes a track called "Jump" which has close similarities to "West End Girls". Confessions on a Dance Floor is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on November 15 2005 by Warner Bros " Jump " is the fourth and final single from Madonna 's album Confessions on a Dance Floor. An interview at Popjustice with Stuart Price, who produced Madonna's album, revealed the track "Jump" was a complete Chris Lowe inspiration. Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 and is the work of UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for NME, Stuart David Price (born in Paris, 9 September 1977) is a British Electronic musician songwriter and producer whose Remixing Apparently, while recording the album, Madonna blurted out at one point, "Pet Shop Boys! I fucking love them!" Pet Shop Boys remixed "Sorry", the second single from the album. Their mix has proven to be a favourite, as even Madonna has used their version in her 2006 Confessions tour. The history between Madonna and Pet Shop Boys goes back to 1988 with the song "Heart". " Heart " is a song recorded by Pet Shop Boys which reached #1 on the UK singles chart for three weeks in April 1988 (see 1988 in music) In the liner notes to their greatest hits album Discography, the band states that, "When we wrote this song we wanted to submit it to Madonna but didn't dare risk disappointment. Discography The Complete Singles Collection is an 18 track compilation by the UK Electronic music group Pet Shop Boys. " The Pet Shop Boys kept the song for themselves, and it ended up going to number one in the UK. Later, in 1991, Madonna was referenced in a tongue-in-cheek lyric in the song "DJ Culture," soon after Madonna and Sean Penn had divorced. Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe -winning American Film Actor Tennant writes, "Like Liz before Betty / She after Sean / suddenly you're missing / then you're reborn". Tennant refers to the 'reinvention' Madonna was going through at the time.

Actor David Tennant, currently the star of Doctor Who, took his stage name from Neil Tennant. David Tennant (born David John McDonald; 18 April 1971 is a Scottish Actor. Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. ^[11] The actor's real surname is MacDonald, but he needed a stage name for Equity as there was already an actor registered with the name David MacDonald. Equity (formerly British Actors' Equity Association) is the Actors Trade union in the United Kingdom

Notes

References

• Harrison, Andrew (April 2006), "The Pet Shop Boys talk for Britain", The Word (no. 38): 98-106

External links

• Pet Shop Boys Official Website
• Detailed Pet Shop Boys discography

---

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic