1- Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo, formed in London in 1981
2- Prior to the formation of the Pet Shop Boys, Tennant worked in the London office of Marvel Comics, as a book editor at MacDonald Educational Publishing, and as a music editor at Smash Hits. Lowe studied architecture at Liverpool University. A collection of Pet Shop Boys videos titled Television was released in 1986. Coproducers of singer-actress Liza Minnelli’s album Results, Epic, 1989.
3- After the initial release of “West End Girls,” Tennant thought his voice sounded weak and took singing lessons at the record label’s suggestion.
4- Pet Shop Boys received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Music at the 2009 Brit Awards in London
5- Since 1985 Pet Shop Boys have achieved 42 Top 30 singles
6- Pet Shop Boys have sold more than 50 million records worldwide
7- Pet Shop Boys won Three-time Brit Award
8- Pet Shop Boys nominated six-time to Grammy
9- In 2016, Billboard magazine named Pet Shop Boys the number one dance duo/group over the 40 years since the chart’s inception in 1976
10- In 2017 the duo received NME’s Godlike Genius Award.
11- With more than 50 million records sold worldwide, they were included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most successful duo in UK music history in 1999
12- The band were asked to change their name to Rescue Shelter Boys in 2009 by animal rights group PETA to raise awareness of cruelty to animals in pet shops. While the band said it “raises an issue worth thinking about” they refused to change their name.
13- In 1992, Pet Shop Boys were the subjects of a South Bank Show documentary on ITV.
14- Chris appeared in Australian TV soap Neighbours in 1995
15- The Pet Shop Boys have become well established due to their collaboration with famous musicians such as Dusty Springfield, David Bowie, Blur, Lady Gaga and Brandon Flowers whom they performed live with at the Brit Awards 2009.
16- Their first single, “West End Girls,” recorded with American producer Bobby Orlando, became a hit in France and Belgium in 1984, but it was not until two years later that a rerecorded version of the song shot to number one in Britain, the United States, and several other countries
17- Chris worked with former football player Ian Wright for track ‘Do The Right Thing’. It was released as a single in 1994.
18- West End Girls was featured in the 2013 video game, Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack
19- 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.
20- Doctor Who actor David Tennant, real name David McDonald, chose his stage name based on Neil Tennant.
21- Their cover of the Village People’s song, “Go West” is commonly sung by Arsenal F.C fans at live matches and away games
22- in the early morning hours of March 28, 2007, while crossing the Pacific Ocean on an overnight flight from Santiago, Chile to Auckland, New Zealand, a LAN Chile Airbus A340 jet carrying the Pet Shop Boys and scores of other passengers came within about 40 seconds of being struck by flaming debris from outer space. It came close enough that the pilot could hear the sound made as the fiery fragments hurtled past, descending at supersonic speed. At first it was thought that they were the remains of a disintegrating Russian satellite, but subsequent investigations revealed that the far more likely culprit was a meteor breaking up in the atmosphere. If the jet had been struck, it would surely have meant the deaths of everyone on board.
23- Former England footballer Paul Gascoigne’s sister Anna-Marie starred in the band’s ‘So Hard’ video.
24- 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. 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 30 November; it became both the duo’s third number one single in the UK and the Christmas number one single for 1987, beating “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues. In November 2004, The Daily Telegraph newspaper placed Pet Shop Boys’ version of “Always on My Mind” at number two in a list of the fifty greatest cover versions of all time.
25- Lowe stated in a 1986 Entertainment Tonight interview:
I don’t like country and western. I don’t like rock music, I don’t like rockabilly or rock and roll particularly. I don’t like much, really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately
26 – The video for “Heart” features a vampire played by none other than Sir Ian McKellen.
Sources
http://www.songfacts.com/facts-pet_shop_boys.php
https://www.clashmusic.com/features/12-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-pet-shop-boys
http://www.geowayne.com/newDesign/extras/strangebuttrue.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_Shop_Boys
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