The English electronic pop duo first met at an electronics store in London and quickly began working together under the moniker West End. The name Pet Shop Boys was inspired by friends who worked at - you guessed it - a pet shop.
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 (the number would climb to 70 million in the next decade).
Tennant was working for the UK music magazine Smash Hits when he took a trip to New York to interview The Police. He used the opportunity to finagle a lunch meeting with American producer Bobby Orlando and pass along a Pet Shop Boys demo. After hearing what would become the hits "It's A Sin" and "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)," the producer agreed to work with the duo. They recorded "West End Girls" with Orlando and released it in 1984 on Epic Records, but then had a falling out with the producer. Moving on to EMI, they re-recorded the song with a different producer, Stephen Hague. This time it was a massive hit, getting the group off and running.
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