{"id":32843,"date":"2023-05-16T16:15:51","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T14:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1830989"},"modified":"2023-05-17T04:47:27","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T02:47:27","slug":"the-pet-shop-boys-star-on-this-weeks-radio-times-cover","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/the-pet-shop-boys-star-on-this-weeks-radio-times-cover\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pet Shop Boys star on this week\u2019s Radio Times cover"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe look back on 40 years of hits ahead of the BBC Two documentary Pet Shop Boys: Reel Stories. <\/p>

By Laura Rutkowski\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 16 May 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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It was 1985 when the Pet Shop Boys released their first hit single, West End Girls. From that moment they have occupied a unique space in the pop landscape, writing unashamedly catchy songs, working with legends of the music business and packaging it all up in an aesthetic that wouldn\u2019t look out of place in a modern art gallery.<\/p>\n

Who better, then, to send to meet Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe to talk about their 40-year career at the top of pop than Radio Times<\/strong>\u2018 David Hepworth, who was Tennant\u2019s boss at Smash Hits at the point when Tennant decided to swap writing about music to making it. In the latest issue of Radio Times magazine<\/strong>, read about the key to the duo\u2019s success \u2013 and discover what happened the day they met Frank Sinatra.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, we talk to Suranne Jones about her latest drama Maryland<\/a>, and hear from Rachel de Thame, who is preparing for a week among the flowers and gardens of the Chelsea Flower Show by rediscovering the horticultural claims of the humble weed.<\/p>

We also hear from Whoopi Goldberg, who dropped by to talk to Radio 4\u2019s John Wilson about her astonishingly varied and at times controversial career. But, she explains, one message unites everything she has done: \u201cAll of my work has been, \u2018This could be you, so pay attention!\u2019\u201d Certainly she has never been short of the critics\u2019 attention \u2013 she\u2019s one of a handful of stars to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award.<\/p>\n

And with awards in mind, we caught up backstage with the winners of the Arias \u2013 the broadcast industry\u2019s annual awards show that now includes the world of audio. With Radio 4 winning Station of the Year, it would appear that intelligent speech radio is going from strength to strength \u2013 which is music to our ears\u2026<\/p>\n

\""1-SE-21-1-Cover"\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n

Also in this week\u2019s Radio Times:<\/strong><\/h2>\n