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”, and he’s one of the few people who’s seen the music press from every angle - as a reader in the ‘70s, as a writer and interviewer and as a musician on its front covers. We had so much great material from this wide-ranging conversation that we’ve turned it into a two-part podcast. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in this first half ...

… the NME article he and his brother pinned to their bedroom wall.

… the event at a Sex Pistols show “which stopped me going to gigs for about three years”.

… the first time he saw his name in print.

… interviewing Marc Bolan in his “fat phase”.

… a barbed chat with Morrissey.

… the pop press shift from “super-showbiz to super-counter-culture”.

… Television, the Clash and other music he discovered through the NME.

… meeting John Taylor 35 years after interviewing him.

… the pop decade when “something extraordinary happened every day”.

… his mother’s horrified reaction when he left Smash Hits to start the Pet Shop Boys.

… the Human League in their Imperial Phase.

… Phil Collins showing him round Abba’s studio in Stockholm.

… and why ‘80s pop stars were “the most controlling”.

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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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