Neil’s an old friend from our days back at Smash Hits in the early ‘80s. The first Pet Shop Boys demos were played on the office tape machine, though he was a bit self-conscious about “the one with the rap on it”. He’s always had a journalistic capacity for story-telling, remembering everything in famously entertaining detail, and we had so much material from this reunion we turned it into a two-part podcast. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in this second half ...
… “every group has to have an angle”.
… pop’s current obsession with identity.
… why Bronski Beat were so significant.
… David Bowie’s scathing one-word reviews of Michael Jackson and Oasis at the Brits.
… “the whole world of pop songs is a giant ever-expanding artwork”.
… meeting Frida from Abba, “a song waiting to happen”.
… the ‘Pits & Perverts’ gay benefit for the miners in 1984.
… London clubs in the early ‘80s - “we had a competition to see who could wear the highest heels”.
… how everyone at Smash Hits thought Michael Jackson’s Thriller was “a damp squib”.
… recording West End Girls.
… first hearing a 12-inch single.
… appearing on Soul Train with Don Cornelius – “like being on a different planet”.
… why Dusty Springfield gave Jerry Wexler a nervous breakdown.
… seeing the last Ziggy Stardust show.
… meeting Steven Spielberg, Micky Dolenz and Joni Mitchell.
… and Boy George's gag about George Michael.
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PSB tour dates: https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/pet-shop-boys-tickets/artist/735852
Order the new Pet Shop Boys album ‘Nonetheless’ here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/nonetheless-Deluxe-2CD-Shop-Boys/dp/B0CTKKBBVF
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Nick Drake - and what Richard Morton Jack learnt from 200 people who knew him
Cathi Unsworth was a teenage goth. Think “Robert Smith’s tarantula hair” and “cider like turps”
Wham!, Rock Follies and lost ‘70s prog foot-soldiers Renia – we will remember them!
Cocteau Twins song or Farrow & Ball paint colour? plus the day Beatlemania began
Grotesque/brilliant sleeves plus does upping the price make a ticket more desirable?
Harvey Lisberg – managing 10cc, meeting Elvis and “Peter Noone’s extra tooth”
Record shops in movies and what Glenda Jackson did that no other actor ever dared try
Revenge songs, Nick Drake and that sorry tale about Primal Scream
Word In The Park 2023 #4 – Clare Grogan's adventures in TV, film and music
Word In The Park 2023: How the Beatles and James Bond shaped us all
Word In The Park 2023 #2 – 60 years of the Bee Gees with Bob Stanley
Word In The Park 2023: 60 years of the Stones with Lesley-Ann Jones
What bands are becoming unfashionable?
Which is the most two-faced world - movies, music or daytime TV?
Farewell Tina Turner – “all you needed was Nutbush City Limits and a Watneys Party 7”
Robert Johnson, Shakespeare and the rock star image of Martin Amis
Is there a more annoying rhyme than “arms” and “charms”?
How a nine-year-old boy kick-started Rock’n’Roll (and other stories)
Groups that look like a check-out line at B&Q? We have a winner!
“Well I walked up to her and I asked her if she wanted to dance.”
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