Album of the Day

On this day in 1988, The Pet Shop Boys made their live debut at a benefit concert at London's Piccadilly Theatre; by that time singer Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe had mastered danceable synthpop in the studio. The U.K. duo's second longplayer, ACTUALLY, was a smash hit, launching four British Top 10 singles: “It's A Sin,” “Rent,” “Heart” and the Dusty Springfield duet “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” The album has been cited by Q and Slant magazines as one of the best of the 1980s, and its melody, irony and cheeky humor are even more abundant on ACTUALLY: FURTHER LISTENING 1987-1988, which adds a bonus disc of B-sides, remixes and previously unreleased material to the classic original.