Pet shop boys translation of the group name. Biography of Pet Shop Boys

“Pet Shop Boys” - electronic duet with history. They started in the UK in the 1980s and are still going strong. Today, “The Pet Shop Boys” is one of the most successful musical projects in the United Kingdom. And the guys are not going to stop there. On August 19, 1981, Neil Tennat met Chris Lowe in a London music store: This meeting determined the fate of world synth-pop, new wave and all discos combined.

For the first few years of its activity, the group worked hard on its style. New wave, Italo disco and electronic music were taken as the basis. The guys gathered at a good time, when the so-called “Madchester” reigned in England - a new phenomenon that combined a retreat to electronics and the roots of rave culture. In addition, Tennat, who at that time worked as a journalist, managed to visit New York and meet with producer Bobby Orlando. At the same time, the group recorded their first singles, which were later re-released in the UK. In 1985, the single “West End Girls” climbed to the top of the charts in Europe and the USA. The same luck awaited the debut album “Please”.

In 1987, the group’s second album, “Actually,” was released. The guys are blowing up the charts with the songs “It’s a Sin”, “Heart” and the duet with Dusty Springfield “What Have I Done To Deserve This?”. Having released their third album “Introspective”, the group goes on their first tour. In 1996 in documentary film BBC "About Pet Shop Boys" Tennet calls this period the "Imperial Phase".

In the 1990s the group is in search of new musical forms. The result of this is the album “Behaviour” in 1990. Totally conceptual, recorded with chamber orchestra, guitars and synthesizers, it received positive reviews from critics and defined the experimental stage of the group's work.

The 1993 album “Very” is absolutely the opposite of the previous album, which received the status of “eurodance standard”. A number of hits, including “Go West” and “Liberation” entered the top twenty of the British charts. In 1996 the album “Biliguan” was released, in 1999 - “Nightlife”. The group goes on a world tour and performs in Russia for the first time.

Deciding to finally surprise their fans, “Pet Shop Boys” released the acoustic album “Release” in 2002. The beginning of the 2000s for the group - work on remixes, performances and conceptual creativity. The 2006 remix of Madonna’s hit “Sorry” returns the band to the dance format.

In 2009, the group received the Brit Awards for their outstanding contribution to the development of world music. What follows are some outstanding albums. An edition of the musical score of the ballet “The Most Incredible Thing”, which premiered on March 17, 2011, is being published. In 2016, the group released the album “Super”, which took first place in the American “Top Electronic Albums”.

In 1993, during a visit to Moscow on the occasion of filming the “Go West” video, the group drove around the city in M.S.’s limousine. Gorbachev;

The “Go West” motif is used in one of the fan charges of the St. Petersburg football club Zenit;

The first concerts of the 2009 world tour were given in St. Petersburg and Moscow;

Almost all of the band’s albums were designed by artist Mark Farrow, who painted covers for “New Order” and “Happy Mondays”;

Collaborated with a number of famous performers, among which David Bowie, Elton John, Madonna, Ricky Martin and many others;

In the Guinness Book of Records the group is presented as the first music project, possessing the largest number singles that reached the Top 40 of the British charts;

In 1994, Neil and Chris came out, although before that they had not commented on rumors about their homosexuality. For a long time the guys were mistakenly considered a couple.

Genre: Synth-pop, new wave, house, techno, alternative dance

A country: Great Britain

Years of activity 1981-present

Biography:

Pet Shop Boys is a musical group from the UK, performing electronic music mainly in the genres of pop, techno and a new style. Over the entire period of its existence, the band's musicians were able to record four dozen singles, half of which reached the top ten of all kinds of charts in the UK. The group was founded in 1981 by N. Tennant and K. Lowe and was originally called West End after the prestigious London area. Having entered into an agreement with the famous producer B. Orlando in 1983, the musicians recorded several singles, but this did not bring much popularity. It was only after the break with Orlando, when the musicians signed an agreement with the new producer S. Haig, that the band’s affairs took a sharp turn. The musicians re-recorded their famous single West End Girls in 1985, and this composition immediately topped the charts in many countries, including the USA and Great Britain. The following year, Pet Shop Boys released their debut album, entitled Please, which confirmed the group's success, hitting the top ten. best albums British and American charts.

Until the fall of 1981, the life paths of Neil and Chris did not intersect and each of them lived his own own life. Both of them were born into middle class families, but despite this, they were very different families.

Neil Francis Tennant

Born on July 10, 1954 in Great Britain, a suburb of Newcastle - the north of the country. Older sister - Susan. Two younger brothers - Simon and Philip. He studied at the monastery school of St. Cuthbert's Catholic Grammar School in Newcastle, studied history at the Polytechnic in London. Worked as an editor at Marvel Comics and a journalist for Smash Hits.

Christopher Sean Lowe

Born on October 4, 1959 in the UK, Blackpool. He attended the Arnold School and studied architecture at Liverpool University. He is a licensed architect, but has not worked by profession.

Until the fall of 1981, the life paths of Neil and Chris did not intersect and each of them lived their own lives. Both of them were born into middle class families, but despite this, they were very different families. Neil started writing songs at a very early age and organized his first group - Dust, when he was still 16 years old, after which he entered the North London Polytechnic, where he studied history and socialism. Then he changed several jobs - he was a book editor, worked at Marvel Comics, until he became a journalist at Smash Hits. Chris followed in the footsteps of his family, which had musical roots. He learned to play the trombone and performed in a group called "One Under The Eight", which emulated the styles of artists such as Hello Dolly and Moon River. At 18, he went to study architecture at the University of Liverpool. But one day, on August 19, 1981, in one of the music stores in London, namely on King Road, they noticed each other...

Neil went into the store to buy some supplies for his synthesizer and noticed a guy there who was "laughing a lot," his name was Chris Lowe. Chris himself ended up in this store also by chance - at that time he was doing an internship and was building a staircase not far from this store.

Chris recalls: "We were talking about emerging American pop music, and we had these different views about music, that we spontaneously decided to unite and invent something new!" But then, due to Chris's fault, everything suddenly burst! "Pet Shop Boys" almost did not happen! Out of guilt towards his parents, who saved money on their food for Chris's expensive education, he returned to Liverpool to continue his studies. But Neil did not leave him behind: for 2 years both sent each other draft songs by mail and made demo recordings during the holidays. They called themselves "Pet Shop Boys". how the London friends with whom Chris spent the night during his visits ran a pet store. Finally, big chance dropped out due to Neil's work on Smash Hits. In August 1983 he was scheduled to fly to New York for an interview with Sting. The famous dance producer Bobby Orlando ("Divine", "Lisa Lisa", "Cult Jam"), a big idol of both "Pet Shop Boys", also lived there. Neil arranged a meeting with Bobby and talked him into it for so long until Bobby agreed to release the single. In April 1984 Chris and Neil recorded "West End Girls" in New York, which became a club hit in America. Impulsive Neil immediately quit his magazine, Chris still successfully passed the exam.

In 1985 Chris moved to London. "That's when I finally decided to become a professional musician," says Chris, "Neil and I decided to rewrite our American hit 'West End Girls' and release it in the UK." The idea turned out to be very successful, the song became number one on both sides of the Atlantic, and the Pet Shop Boys were named the best composers Britain. After the success of the first single, Pet Shop Boys began to be invited to perform concerts all over the world, but the guys were in no hurry to go on tour. “What kind of stupidity is this for a dance group to perform at a stadium?” say Pets, “We play disco music, not rock and roll.” This may explain why the band has only toured the UK three times in the band's history. Neil joked about this: "We would tour, we just have trouble finding a good drummer."

Albums:

INTROSPECTIVE (1988)

BEHAVIOR (1990)

DISCOGRAPHY [compilation] (1991)

RELENTLESS (1993)

ALTERNATIVE (1995)

BILINGUAL (1996)

ORIGINALS (1998)

The Pet Shop Boys team has a bright, characteristic image that has been cultivated throughout the existence of the project. The group's tracks tell about love and hate. And thanks to the paradoxical twists in the plots of the songs, the duo’s work is often called intellectual dance music. In life participants Special attention pay attention to fashion trends - they are reflected in everyday looks, being an integral element of the stage image.

History of creation and composition

By chance, in 1981, the paths of two young people, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, crossed in a music store in London. This became the beginning of the biography and the starting point of the Pet Shop Boys project.

A historian by profession, Neil Tennant, who works as an assistant editor at Smash Hits magazine, came into the store for advice on connecting a synthesizer. Christopher Lowe, a native of musical family, who had learned to play the keyboard and was then studying architecture at university, agreed to help by taking Neil's phone number.

After 3 weeks, the young people met. Finding similar aspirations and a shared appreciation for dance music, Neil and Chris decided to join forces. At first the team was called West End in honor of one of the elite areas of the British capital. But this name did not catch on, so it became necessary to come up with a new one. Pet Shop Boys appeared in honor of the musicians' friends who ran a pet store, with whom Chris spent the night when moving.

Music

The guys devoted the first few years to writing music. From the beginning of the project, they decided that they would engage electronic music, drawing on Italo-disco and electro. But the dramatic meaning of the songs goes back to the style of traditional pop music. The musicians were particularly influenced by Giorgio Moroder, Bobby Orlando, Kraftwerk and New York club music.

Song "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys

The turning point in the band’s fate came in 1983, when Tennant went as a correspondent to cover The Police’s tour in New York. On this trip, Neil met with producer Bobby Orlando, who agreed to record the young group. The band's first singles - "West End Girls", "One More Chance" and "Opportunities" - were released soon, but they did not achieve success. Then the band members broke the contract with the producer, and Stephen Hague was invited to take his place.

In the summer of 1985, the single “West End Girls” was re-released with a new producer, released on the EMI Records label. What the appeal to Stephen was the right decision, was confirmed by the success of the single, released in November of the same year. “West End Girls” took 1st place not only in the UK and the USA. A year later, the debut album “Please” was released, making it into the TOP 10 of the album chart.

Song "Always on My Mind" by Pet Shop Boys

A year later, the second album entitled “Actually” was released. The next album, Introspective, released in 1988, was designed in the style of remixes, although all but one of the songs were new. The exception was the track "Always on My Mind", which appeared in August 1987 on the MTV television program.

The song is dedicated by the band members to the 10th anniversary of his death. This period is characterized by theatrical costume videos, the apotheosis of which is considered to be participation in the filming of the film “It Couldn’t Happen Here”. The members of the group cultivated remixes in their creativity, which they made independently and gave to DJs.

In the summer of 1989, the band went on tour for the first time. The group prepared meticulously and for a long time for the concerts, involving avant-garde director and screenwriter Derek Jarman. Thanks to this, the Pet Shop Boys' performances, which were previously standard performances for the plus, were transformed into a theatrical event with decorations, disguises and dancers.

From 1987 to 1989, the group released 7 singles, 3 of which took first place in the UK and European countries. In an interview from 1996, Tennant referred to this period as the "Pet Shop Boys Empire". Two years earlier in personal life musician happened an important event. Tennant, giving an interview to the gay magazine Attitude, came out.

Song "It's a Sin" by Pet Shop Boys

Due to Neil's sexuality, he and Chris were often considered a couple, but in reality they were only close friends.

In the 90s, the band members thought that their days of success were numbered, as their songs no longer occupied the top positions. Therefore, Pet Shop Boys attempted to record their first concept album. Conceptualism was not about the idea or essence, but about existing sentiments. The result of the work was the material Behavior, which became an unexpected combination of synthesizers, chamber orchestra and guitar rhythms, framed by light acid house motifs. The work earned positive reviews and reached number 2 on the British charts.

At this time, the team was at the peak of creative activity: singles were released one after another, creative connections with the performers developed. Pet Shop Boys embarked on a world tour from March to June 1991. On tour, the band visited about 13 countries, not counting the UK. This period was marked by the release of an anthology of all singles, called “Discography”. Then the group's popularity began to decline due to the explosion of grunge, which shifted the emphasis of the music world.

Despite this, in 1993 the album “Very” was released, created as an antipode to the fourth work. Thanks to its fiery dance motifs, many consider this work a masterpiece of Eurodance of that period. The album became a worldwide success, and the tracks were accompanied by innovative videos. Filming of the global hit “Go West” partly took place in Moscow, where the musicians were photographed on Red Square.

Song "Go West" by Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys has stopped frequently delighting fans with new records. After touring in Australia and Latin America the team did not appear on stage for 3 years. Afterwards, “Bilingual” was released, permeated with Latin rhythms, and 3 years later the musicians delighted the fans with “Nightlife”. The records were popular, but did not contain anything fundamentally new.

In 1998, Pet Shop Boys performed in Russia for the first time: in the capital with one concert and two in St. Petersburg. Then, at the turn of two centuries, the band toured the world with short breaks.

The next record by Pet Shop Boys surprised fans with its electronic-acoustic genre of music. Release broke with the typical synth-pop sound and inspired a parallel with Behavior: both featured Johnny Marr on guitar.

The subsequent albums “Disco”, “PopArt” and “Fundamental” were successful among the band’s fans. The last of them marked a return to the former dance format. Next came the next collection of remixes, Disco 4, where mixes were recorded on tracks of other artists: among them, and others. The disc caused discontent among fans because, in their opinion, there was nothing new on it.

Show "The Most Incredible Thing" by the Pet Shop Boys

Apparently, taking into account the opinions of fans, in 2008 Tennant and Lowe began writing tracks for the future album. The following year, at the Brit Awards, the duo was awarded for their outstanding contribution to the development of world music.

In March 2009, the 10th anniversary album “Yes” was released, in the recording of which the Xenomania project took part. The work reached number 4 in the UK and was a success throughout Europe. The musicians went on another world tour, the setlist of which was called the Pandemonium Tour.

2 years later, an album called “The Most Incredible Thing” was released, dedicated to the premiere ballet performance, which is based work of the same name. To work on musical arrangement Neil and Chris started ballet in 2008.

The group "Pet Shop Boys" in the show " Evening Urgant»

Next material – 11th studio album"Elisium", which received positive reviews from critics who highlighted the soft sound and lyrical elements. In contrast to this work, the 12th album was released, representing a dance recording.

In 2016, Pet Shop Boys went on a world tour with new material called "Super". At the end of the same year, the duo attended a television program where they guessed the names of Russian musical groups.

Pet Shop Boys now

Now the composition of the team has not changed, and Pet Shop Boys continues to delight fans with their creativity. In the group's special image, the role of the dandy is played by Tennant, while Lowe is a supporter of the sporty style. Chris performs in an aloof manner, which is enhanced by sunglasses that have practically not been removed since the 90s.

The duo announced a concert in Hungary on August 24, 2018. That same summer, the band performed in the UK, Finland, Spain, Sweden and Estonia.

U Pet group Shop Boys official account V social network "Instagram", where participants post photos and videos of events happening in their lives.

Discography

1986 – “Please”
1987 – “Actually”
1988 – “Introspective”
1990 – “Behaviour”
1993 – “Very”
1996 – “Bilingual”
1999 – “Nightlife”
2002 – “Release”
2006 – “Fundamental”
2009 – “Yes”
2012 – “Elysium”
2013 – “Electric”
2016 – “Super”

Clips

Heart
It's a Sin
Domino Dancing
So Hard
Paninaro '95
It's alright
Go West
West End Girls
Always on my mind
Opportunities
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Being Boring

Pet Shop Boys, English pop duo. Formed in 1981 in London by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.

Neil Francis Tennant (b. July 10, 1954), a historian by profession, worked as an assistant editor at the popular Smash Hits magazine, and Christopher Sean Lowe (b. October 4, 1959), who came from a musical family and learned to play keyboardist in the band One Under The Eight, studied architecture at the University of Liverpool, when, by chance, in 1981 their paths crossed in one of the music stores in London. This significant event and served as the starting point for a project called Pet Shop Boys. At first, while Chris was completing his education in Liverpool, the musicians rarely saw each other - mainly during the holidays, recording the first demo videos. When Chris came to London on vacation, he stayed with his friends who ran a pet store. Thanks to this circumstance, the group got its name. In 1983, Neil flew to New York to interview Sting for his magazine. This was an opportunity to meet the famous dance music producer Bobby Orlando, with whom the band members had dreamed of working with. As a result, Neil managed to convince Bobby to produce the duo's first recordings. This is how the single West End Girls (1984) appeared, which by the end of 1985 brought the group to the first positions in the British and American charts. During the same period, the duo recorded their second single, Opportunities (1985), which turned out to be no less successful. Inspired by success, musicians give up their previous activities in order to concentrate on their musical career.

The debut album "Please", which was dominated by synth dance music, appeared in 1986 and, like previous works, became very successful. For the rest of the 1980s. the duo recorded several more very popular discs: “Disco” (1986), “Actually” (1987), “Introspective” (1988), “Results” (1989), “Behaviour” (1990). In those years, Pet Shop Boys emerged as one of best groups, performing high-quality dance music. In their work, the duo always tried to go one step ahead of their contemporaries, easily moving from disco to house and techno music, experimenting with Latin American rhythms, while not forgetting about melodic arrangements and romantic-ironic couplets.

These trends can be traced on the group’s subsequent albums: “Very” (1993; famous hit Go West, the video for which was filmed on Red Square in Moscow, became super popular and even entered the repertoire of fans in football arenas around the world) and “Bilingual” (1996). In 1999, the duo released another album, Nightlife.

In February 1998, the group visited Russia, giving four concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Despite the apparent “ease” and commercial nature of its musical material, the duo is recognized by many serious musicians: John Marr (guitarist of SMITHS), Brian Eno, David Bowie, the band BLUR, Tina Turner, Ennio Morricone and others have collaborated and continue to collaborate with them.

Discography:

1986 Disco - remix collection

1988 Introspective

1991 Discography - full meeting singles

1994 Disco 2 - remix collection

1995 Alternative - collection of b-sides (1984-1995), 2 CD

2003 Disco 3 - remix collection

2003 PopArt - The Hits - collection of the best songs

2005 Battleship Potemkin - soundtrack to the film "Battleship Potemkin", performed by the Pet Shop Boys and the Dresden Symphony Orchestra

2006 Fundamental

2006 Concrete - performance at the Mermaid Theater

2007 Disco 4 - remix collection