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Chris Lowe

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This article is about the English musician. For other people, see Chris Lowe (disambiguation).

Chris Lowe
Lowe performing at Glastonbury Festival 2022
Lowe performing at Glastonbury Festival 2022
Background information
Birth nameChristopher Sean Lowe
Born (1959-10-04) 4 October 1959 (age 65)
Blackpool, Lancashire, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • producer
Instruments
  • Synthesizer
  • piano
  • electronic drums
  • vocals
  • keyboards
  • trombone
  • organ
Years active1981–present
Labels
Member ofPet Shop Boys
Websitewww.petshopboys.co.uk

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]

Biography

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Christopher Sean Lowe was born and raised in Blackpool, Lancashire,[1] and attended Arnold School.[3] His grandfather was a trombonist and a member of the comedy jazz troupe The Nitwits.[2] His mother was a dancer, and his father, a sales representative,[2] could play piano by ear.[4] Lowe learned trombone and piano and was in the school orchestra and dance band.[5] He studied music as an A-level subject.[6]

Lowe played trombone in a semi-professional seven-piece dance band named One Under the Eight that performed favourites like "Hello Dolly", "La Bamba" and "Moon River",[7] and he joined the Musicians' Union with them.[5] He was also in a local brass band, the Norman Memorial Youth Band,[5] and briefly played keyboards with a school rock band called Stallion.[8]

Lowe began studying architecture at the University of Liverpool in 1978[9] and earned a BA (Hons) in 1981.[10] During a work placement in 1981 at a London architectural practice, he designed a staircase for an industrial estate in Milton Keynes.[11] It was at this time that he met Neil Tennant in Chelsea Record Centre, a hi-fi shop on King's Road in London.[9] As their music career developed, Lowe continued his architecture course and got a B.Arch, but did not complete the final work requirement to qualify as an architect before he and Tennant committed full time to the Pet Shop Boys in 1985.[12][13][14]

Musical career

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Pet Shop Boys

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Main article: Pet Shop Boys
Lowe (left) with Neil Tennant in a Pet Shop Boys concert, Boston, 2006
Lowe performing at Pori Jazz 2014 in Pori, Finland

Lowe generally performs as the Pet Shop Boys' keyboardist. He occasionally provides spoken-word or sung vocals and takes the lead on a few songs, including "Paninaro".[15]

Lowe played trombone on the song "I Want a Lover",[a] and he appeared with his trombone in the video for the song "What Have I Done to Deserve This?".[16]

Solo appearances

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In 1993, he wrote and produced the track "Do the Right Thing" for Arsenal footballer Ian Wright.[17] The song featured backing vocals by long-time Pet Shop Boys backing singer Sylvia Mason-James, and the single featured remixes by Rollo.[18]

Two years later, Lowe had a cameo in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. His appearance was filmed while Pet Shop Boys were touring Australia in 1994.[19][20]

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" compilation.[21]

Lowe wrote the music for the song "Streets of Berlin", featured in the 2006 revival of Bent at the Trafalgar Studios in Whitehall.[22][23]

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 a vocalist on a non-Pet Shop Boys project.[24][25]

Public image

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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.[26] 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."[27]

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."[28][29]

Notes

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  1. ^ In the notes to the album Please, Tennant and Lowe commented: "T: Chris brought his trombone into the studio. He wasn't very keen on doing it." L: "[Producer] Blue Weaver insisted. I learned the trombone when I was about ten. My grandfather played the trombone."[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Pet Shop Boys Official Site, History Section 1959". Petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Harrison, Andrew (22 March 2016). "Pop Kid – Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Arnold School website, Distinguished pupils". Arnoldschool.com. 1 June 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  4. ^ Heath, Chris (2020). Pet Shop Boys, Literally. London: William Heinemann. p. 292. ISBN 9781473575691.
  5. ^ a b c Seddon, Aimee (30 August 2024). "Pet Shop Boys' Chris Lowe shares his excitement at performing in Blackpool & Radio 2 in the Park Preston". The Gazette. Blackpool, UK. Archived from the original on 10 October 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  6. ^ Scott, George (director); Tennant, Neil (interviewee) (24 May 2006). Pet Shop Boys: A Life in Pop (documentary). EMI. Event occurs at 41:40. Chris is, you know, a trained musician, whatever, did music A-level and piano lessons and trombone lessons and all the rest of it.
  7. ^ "Pet Shop Boys Official Site, History Section 1976". Petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  8. ^ Heath 2020, p. 253.
  9. ^ a b Heath 2020, p. 15.
  10. ^ "Notable alumni: Arts, entertainment and media". alumni.liv.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  11. ^ Heath 2020, p. 104.
  12. ^ O'Leary, Dermot (interviewer); Lowe, Chris (interviewee) (20 May 2023). Reel Stories: Pet Shop Boys (television production). BBC Two. Event occurs at 11:20. Things had started to take off in the middle of my course and so when I went back, my heart wasn't really in it, because we'd been jetting off to New York, recording in Times Square, and all of a sudden that seemed a lot more exciting. I still managed to pass.
  13. ^ "Eight things we learned from Pet Shop Boys". BBC Radio 4. BBC. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024. Well, not quite qualified. Almost. I'd done the first two parts and for the third part you had to work for a year in a practice, and during that time the Pet Shop Boys were taking off, so I never got part three.
  14. ^ Munchetty, Naga and Stayt, Charlie (interviewers); Lowe, Chris (interviewee) (27 April 2024). BBC Breakfast (television production). BBC One. I did five years of it; I did the BA and the BArch.
  15. ^ a b Heath, Chris (2018). Please: Further Listening 1984-1986 (booklet). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone. 0190295831745.
  16. ^ Pet Shop Boys (performers) (26 February 2009). What Have I Done To Deserve This (Official Video) (music video). Parlophone.
  17. ^ Wyman, Ed (27 October 2011). "Footballers Trying to Be Pop Stars". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  18. ^ "Ian Wright – Do the Right Thing". Discogs. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  19. ^ "Neighbours (TV Series) Episode #1.2320 (1995)". IMDB. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  20. ^ Taunton, Sam (interviewer); Lowe, Chris (interviewee) (25 April 2024). The Project (television production). Australia: Network 10. Event occurs at 3:40. I had this mad idea when we were going to Australia, I thought, d'you know, wouldn't it be great to have a cameo role in Neighbours.
  21. ^ "Chris Lowe: 'Blockhead' – Pet Shop Boys – News". Petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  22. ^ "Bent – Pet Shop Boys – Theatre & Film". Petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  23. ^ Nathan, John (11 August 2006). "Full Cast Announced for London's Bent Revival". Playbill. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  24. ^ "Stop Modernists Official Facebook Page". Facebook.com. 12 May 2011. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  25. ^ "Subculture released". petshopboys.co.uk. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  26. ^ Harrison, Andrew (April 2006), "The Pet Shop Boys talk for Britain", The Word, no. 38, pp. 98–106
  27. ^ Bracewell, Michael (15 July 1995), "Pop perfection", The Guardian, pp. T012
  28. ^ Perrone, Pierre (6 April 2012). "Eric Watson: Photographer who worked with the Pet Shop Boys and for pop bible Smash Hits". The Independent. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  29. ^ Hoare, Philip (23 March 2012). "Eric Watson obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
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