What Did We Do to Deserve Them?

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe met in a hi-fi shop on King's Road in Chelsea, London on this day in 1981. Tennant had just purchased a Korg MS-10 synthesizer which sparked a conversation with Lowe. Discovering that they had a mutual interest in disco and electronic music, they became friends.

The Pet Shop Boys arrived at a clever pairing of ironic, coolly delivered lyrics and catchy synthesizer-based dance music. Listed in The Guinness Book of Records as the most successful duo in UK music history, Tennant and Lowe have racked up a staggering 44 UK top-40 hits.

Tennant was in New York City in 1983 to interview pop singer Sting for Smash Hits Magazine when he met Bobby Orlando, a well-known disco music producer whom Tennant and Lowe admired. Orlando liked what he heard of the Pet Shop Boys—their name was coined by a pet shop employee friend—and soon both Tennant and Lowe were in New York recording a version of “West End Girls” for Orlando; the single would initially achieve only minor success in Europe. After a contract dispute with Orlando, the Boys signed with EMI in 1985 and began recording songs for Please. Their first release, “(Opportunities) Let’s Make Lots of Money” flopped in England, thought it would later become a hit there. Undaunted, the duo decided to release “West End Girls” in the U.S.

The recording took off this time; the Pet Shop Boys soon found they had a Number-One single on their hands and were famous on both sides of the Atlantic. “(Opportunities)” also reached Number One upon its re-release and the Pet Shop Boys have since produced a number of chart-topping dance records.

Years and years of danceable, beautifully produced songs followed and they never stopped and they never truly tired of each other. For nearly 40 years, the duo have served up social commentary and infectious electro-pop.

Tennant and Lowe have displayed a masterly ability to weave both social commentary and political satire into their infectious electro-pop songs. As one music expert puts it, they've managed to achieve a “rare combination of huge commercial success with an intelligent approach to creating pop music which has consistently commented on the cultural moment”.