‘Cements – and celebrates – Pet Shop Boys’ peerless status in pop design’ – i–D Magazine

‘A portrait of sustained concentration, consistency
and wit’ – Blueprint

‘A doorstopper collection … every image from their existence’– The Sunday Telegraph

Pet Shop Boys – Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe – are the most successful duo in British pop history.

Since the mid-1980s, their records have topped the charts and sold in their millions across the world. Number-one hits such as ‘West End girls’, ‘It’s a sin’ and ‘Always on my mind’ and platinum-selling albums such as 'Please', 'Actually' and 'Very' have helped establish the group as one of the most influential of recent decades.

From the iconic photography and seminal graphic design of their record sleeves to their groundbreaking videos and innovative stage shows, Pet Shop Boys have set the standards for the visual presentation of pop.

Pet Shop Boys Catalogue is a lavish and definitive visual retrospective of Tennant and Lowe’s entire career:

• all the elegantly designed sleeve artwork and packaging
• stills from every video, film and performance
• experimental stage sets and costume designs
• photo shoots, publications and merchandise
• personal creations such as their imaginative and eccentric
    Christmas cards

Alongside long-term collaborators, designer Mark Farrow and photographer Eric Watson, some of the leading lights from the visual and performing arts have played their part in the ongoing Pet Shop Boys project. Artists, designers and architects such as Wolfgang Tillmans, Martin Parr, Sam Taylor-Wood, Pentagram, Visionaire and Zaha Hadid; film directors and photographers such as Derek Jarman, Zbigniew Rybczynski, Robert Mapplethorpe, Pennie Smith and Bruce Weber; and theatre directors and designers such as David Alden, David Fielding, Es Devlin and Ian MacNeil – are just some of those included in the book. Their recollections provide a fascinating view into the collaborative process of creating the successful pop image.

Commentaries by cultural historian Philip Hoare and journalist Chris Heath, both close associates of Pet Shop Boys, accompany the hundreds of full-colour illustrations and give insights into the genesis of each project. An introduction by Hoare puts Tennant and Lowe’s visual presentation into a wider historical and cultural context, while an interview with Heath reveals the group’s thinking behind their constantly evolving aesthetic.

A chronology of Pet Shop Boys’ career to date, a full discography, and biographies of all their key collaborators complete this stunning volume – a feast of art, music and design.

See the Pet Shop Boys website

Philip Hoare is the author of biographies of Stephen Tennant and Noël Coward, as well as Wilde’s Last Stand, Spike Island and England’s Lost Eden. He is currently writing a book about whales, and is presenting a film on the same subject for BBC Television’s Arena.

Chris Heath is a journalist and the author of the books Pet Shop Boys, Literally, Pet Shop Boys versus America and the best-selling Feel: Robbie Williams. He currently writes for GQ magazine in America.

Also of interest
Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album
Laurie Anderson
Gay Life and Culture: A World History