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Chris Lowe | |
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 Lowe performing in Hyde Park in 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christopher Sean Lowe |
| Born | 4 October 1959 Blackpool, Lancashire, England |
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| Years active | 1981–present |
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| Member of | Pet Shop Boys |
| Website | www |
Christopher Sean Lowe (born 4 October 1959) [1] is an English musician, singer and songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Neil Tennant in 1981. [2]
Lowe attended Arnold School, [3] an independent school in his home town of Blackpool, Lancashire. While at school, he played trombone in a seven-piece dance band named One Under the Eight that played favourites like "Hello Dolly", "La Bamba" and "Moon River". [4] Lowe's grandfather had been a trombonist and was a member of comedy jazz troupe The Nitwits. [5] Lowe also learned to play the piano. [6]
Lowe studied architecture at the University of Liverpool in 1978 but, as he stated on television appearances and in the Life in Pop documentary, never graduated, due to the formation of Pet Shop Boys. During a work placement in 1981 at a London architectural practice, he designed a staircase for an industrial estate in Milton Keynes. It was at this time that he met Neil Tennant in Chelsea Record Centre, a hi-fi shop on King's Road in London.
Lowe generally performs as the Pet Shop Boys' keyboardist; he occasionally provides spoken-word vocals.
On the songs "I Want a Lover" and "What Have I Done to Deserve This?," Lowe played trombone, which he studied at school. [2] [lower-alpha 1]
In 1993, he wrote and produced the track "Do the Right Thing" for the footballer Ian Wright (Lowe is a passionate Arsenal F.C. fan). [8] The song featured backing vocals by long-time Pet Shop Boys backing singer Sylvia Mason-James, and the single featured remixes by Rollo.
Two years later, Lowe had a cameo in the Australian soap opera Neighbours . [9] His appearance was filmed while Pet Shop Boys were touring Australia in 1994.
In 2004, he was commissioned to do music for an advertisement for the sunscreen brand Blockhead. The song ended up in a remixed version on a "Café Mambo" chill-out compilation. [10]
Two years later, he wrote the music for the song "Streets of Berlin", featured in the revival of Bent at the Trafalgar Studios in Whitehall. [11]
In 2011, Lowe appeared as featured vocalist on Stop Modernists' cover version of the New Order song "Subculture". It was the first time he had appeared as vocals on a non-Pet Shop Boys project. [12]
Lowe adopts an understated public presence, often wearing sportswear and with his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, and usually wearing headwear of some sort (a baseball cap inscribed with the word "BOY" being his most iconic) – although in the duo's early years his face was shown fully unobscured. In Pet Shop Boys videos and photoshoots, he is often seen as a spectator standing slightly behind Tennant. For the duo's 1988 musical film It Couldn't Happen Here , he spoke very little dialogue compared to Tennant. In live performances he rarely interacts with the audience and often stands still while playing keyboards. [13] In 1995, The Guardian wrote that he was "possibly more famous for not doing anything than almost anyone else in the history of popular entertainment." [14]
A Guardian profile of the group from 1993 noted that Lowe's image of "silent Chris walking two steps behind singing Neil" was an intentional choice, developed in discussion with photographer and music video director Eric Watson; Watson has said that "Chris didn't want to be seen playing keyboards or anything. We realised there was something about somebody singing and somebody else doing nothing – just looking, then looking away – that adds a hideous tension." [15] [16]
Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music history in the 1999 edition of The Guinness Book of Records.
Neil Francis Tennant is an English singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for Smash Hits, and assistant editor for the magazine in the mid-1980s.
Please is the debut studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 24 March 1986 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and by EMI America Records in the United States. According to the duo, the album's title was chosen so that people had to go into a record shop and say "Can I have the Pet Shop Boys album, 'Please'?". Please spawned four singles: "West End Girls", "Opportunities ", "Suburbia", and "Love Comes Quickly"; "West End Girls" reached number one in both the UK and the US.
Actually is the second studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 7 September 1987 by Parlophone in the United Kingdom and by EMI Manhattan in North America. According to Neil Tennant and music historian Wayne Studer, Actually loosely critiques Thatcherism, the political zeitgeist of the 1980s, and was recorded in anticipation of Margaret Thatcher's re-election.
Introspective is the third studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 10 October 1988 by Parlophone. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Behaviour is the fourth studio album by the English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 22 October 1990 by Parlophone. A Japanese special edition included a bonus mini CD, exclusive artwork and printed lyrics in a white velvet-like box.
"West End Girls" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, the song was released twice as a single. The song's lyrics are concerned with class and the pressures of inner-city life in London which were inspired partly by T. S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land. It was generally well received by contemporary music critics and has been frequently cited as a highlight in the duo's career.
It Couldn't Happen Here is a 1988 musical film starring the British synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys and based on the music from their first two studio albums Please and Actually. It was originally conceived as an hour-long video based on Actually, but it evolved into a surreal, full-scale feature film directed by Jack Bond and co-starring Barbara Windsor, Joss Ackland, Neil Dickson, and Gareth Hunt.
"Love Comes Quickly" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released as the second single from their debut studio album, Please (1986). It peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart in March 1986.
"Suburbia" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was remixed and released as the fourth single from the duo's debut studio album, Please (1986), and became the band's second UK top-10 entry, peaking at number 8. "Suburbia" has drawn comparisons to the theme from ALF, which coincidentally premiered the day that the song was released. The (uncredited) saxophone part on this track was played by Gary Barnacle.
Eric Watson was an English photographer.
"Was it Worth it?" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their first greatest hits album, Discography: The Complete Singles Collection (1991). It was released on 9 December 1991 as the album's second and final single, peaking at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's first single to not reach the top 20 since they signed to Parlophone in 1984. This was the main reason why the song was not included on their later hits compilation PopArt: The Hits, however it was featured on the DVD edition and Moby’s remix of the single’s b-side "Miserablism" was included on the three disc special edition.
"DJ Culture" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their first greatest hits album, Discography: The Complete Singles Collection (1991). It was released on 14 October 1991 as the album's lead single, peaking at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. Another version of the song, remixed by the Grid and entitled "Dj culturemix", was also released as a single and reached number 40 on the UK Singles Chart. The B-side was "Music for Boys".
"Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes Off You)" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. The song is a medley of U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", a 1967 song by Frankie Valli, though in an arrangement informed by the 1982 disco version of the song by the Boys Town Gang rather than the original. The song accompanied "How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?", the third single from their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990), as a double A-side in the United Kingdom (both singles were released separately in the United States). Released in March 1991 by Parlophone, the song became the duo's 15th consecutive top-20 entry in the UK, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart.
The Most Incredible Thing is the score for the 2011 ballet of the same name, based on the eponymous 1870 fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It contains music written and performed by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. The album was released on 14 March 2011 by Parlophone.
Elysium is the eleventh studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Released on 5 September 2012, it was the duo's final album with Parlophone for 12 years. The album was recorded in 2012 in Los Angeles and produced by Andrew Dawson and Pet Shop Boys.
Electric is the twelfth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 14 July 2013 on the duo's own label, x2, through Kobalt Label Services. It was the duo's first album since their departure from Parlophone.
The Electric Tour was synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys' 2013–15 world tour in support of their two albums Elysium and Electric. The first leg started on 22 March and ended in October in Mexico. The second leg of the tour was announced in January 2014, starting at the Coachella festival in California in April. A third leg of the tour was announced in February 2015, starting at the Festival Contempopranea in Badajoz, Spain. Notably, the tour was announced on 5 December 2012 even before the announcement of Electric, the album bearing the same name with the tour.
Super is the thirteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 1 April 2016 on the band's own label, x2, through Kobalt Label Services. It was released digitally and on physical formats including vinyl and compact disc. The album debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Lead single "The Pop Kids" reached number one on the UK Physical Singles Chart and narrowly missed out on the top 100 of the main chart.
Hotspot is the fourteenth studio album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, released on 24 January 2020 by the band's own label x2, through Kobalt Label Services. It was supported by the singles "Dreamland" featuring Years & Years, which was released on 25 October 2019, and "Burning the Heather", which was released alongside the album announcement on 13 December 2019. The duo planned to tour the UK and Europe in support of the album in mid-2020. The album charted in numerous countries, reaching number three on the album charts in the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain.
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