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Chris Lowe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chris Lowe
Lowe performing at Glastonbury Festival 2022
Lowe performing at Glastonbury Festival 2022
Background information
Born
Christopher Sean Lowe

(1959-10-04) 4 October 1959 (age 66)
Blackpool, Lancashire, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • producer
Instruments
  • Keyboards
  • synthesizers
  • piano
  • vocals
  • trombone
Years active1981–present
Labels
Member ofPet Shop Boys
Websitepetshopboys.co.uk

Christopher Sean Lowe (born 4 October 1959)[1] is an English musician and songwriter who formed the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys with Neil Tennant. He is primarily the keyboardist and occasionally a vocalist, and he is the co-author of the catalogue of Pet Shop Boys songs. Lowe is known for his impassive stage persona, standing still behind a keyboard, wearing a hat and dark glasses.

Growing up in a musical environment in Blackpool with a grandfather who was a professional trombonist, Lowe learned trombone and piano and performed in several orchestras and bands in his youth. At dance clubs in the late 1970s, his taste in music became focused on disco. In 1981, he met Tennant while working in London, and the pair began writing songs together, influenced by Lowe's passion for electronic dance music. Lowe planned to become an architect, and he earned a BA and a BArch at the University of Liverpool before quitting the course to embark on a music career in 1985.

Lowe's ear for music trends has been a factor in the duo's success. Pet Shop Boys had 31 top-10 entries on Billboard magazine's Dance Club Songs chart—the most of any duo or group[2]—and they are the most successful duo in UK music history, with 44 top 40 hits. As a member of Pet Shop Boys, Lowe has been recognised for his outstanding contribution to music by both the Ivor Novello Awards and the Brit Awards.[3]

Early life and education

[edit]

Christopher Sean Lowe was born and raised in Blackpool, Lancashire.[1] He is the oldest of four siblings.[4] His grandfather, Syd Flood, was a trombonist and a member of the comedy jazz troupe The Nitwits.[5] His mother was a dancer, and his father—a sales representative for the gas board—could play piano by ear.[6][7] Lowe learned to play trombone and piano as a child.[8] He attended Thames Primary School[9] and went on to Arnold School, where he played in the school orchestra and dance band and studied music as an A-level subject.[10][8][11]

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",[12] and he joined the Musicians' Union with them.[8] He was also in a local brass band, the Norman Memorial Youth Band,[8] and briefly played keyboards with a school rock band called Stallion.[13]

One of the first records Lowe had as a child was "Baby Love" (1964) by Diana Ross and The Supremes.[14] Entering his teenage years, he preferred listening to artists his grandparents enjoyed, like Dorothy Squires, Frank Sinatra, and Tom Jones, rather than the music that was popular with his peers at the time.[4] Lowe became a fan of disco at the height of its popularity, around the time of Saturday Night Fever (1977). He worked as a glass collector at the Dixieland Showbar on Blackpool's Central Pier, where being part of the crowd during dance floor-fillers like "Oops Up Side Your Head" (1979) by the Gap Band made a strong impression on him.[8][7]

Lowe was encouraged by his family to pursue a career in music, but he was concerned about job security and decided to become an architect instead, starting a course at the University of Liverpool in 1978.[15][16] He had developed an interest in the subject as a child, designing imaginary houses during his family's frequent moves.[17] He played trombone in the university orchestra for a term but did not enjoy it.[18] In 1981, he completed the first part of his course and received a Bachelor of Arts with Honours.[19] During a work placement that year at Michael Aukett Associates architectural practice in London, he designed a staircase for an industrial estate in Milton Keynes.[20] It was at this time that he met Neil Tennant in Chelsea Record Centre, a hi-fi shop on King's Road in London.[16] As their music career developed, Lowe continued his architecture course and earned a Bachelor of Architecture, 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.[21][22][23]

Musical career

[edit]

Pet Shop Boys

[edit]
Lowe (left) with Neil Tennant in a Pet Shop Boys concert, Boston, 2006
Lowe performing at Pori Jazz 2014 in Pori, Finland

Lowe and Tennant began writing music together shortly after their first meeting in August 1981. During their early sessions, Lowe played a Korg MS-10 monophonic synthesizer belonging to Tennant.[24][25] Lowe had musical training and fluency, while Tennant was largely self-taught and had been writing his own songs for a decade.[26] In 1982, Lowe wrote a piece of music on the piano at his family home in Blackpool and gave a cassette recording to Tennant to write lyrics. The song, "Jealousy", was later released on their fourth studio album, Behaviour (1990). Lowe called it "probably the first time I'd ever constructed a song".[27]

Lowe has strong views about his taste in music, as he expressed in a 1986 interview with Entertainment Tonight:

I don't like country and western. I don't like rock music... I don't like rockabilly or rock and roll particularly. I don't like much really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately.[7]

Lowe's affinity for dance music influenced the direction of the duo's songwriting.[24] In London, he discovered new music being played in underground and gay clubs; his reaction at the time was, "Everything I've heard before is redundant now, this is all I like".[28] A particular favourite of his was "Passion" by The Flirts, written and produced by Bobby Orlando in 1982. The following year, Pet Shop Boys started working with Orlando on some of their songs, including an early version of "West End Girls".[29]

Over the years, Lowe kept up with music trends at clubs in the UK as well as places like Ibiza and Berlin.[25] Steve Harnell, editor of Classic Pop magazine, credited Lowe for "the way that he's kept the duo's music sounding fresh and relevant to a new generation of fans".[30] Lowe described his continuing sources of inspiration in a 2013 interview with Stereogum:

I'm always very inspired by sounds. Whether it be Brazilian music or the Spanglish radio stations in LA — or even hearing dubstep for the first time — I'm always intrigued by interesting new sounds and they way they filter through popular music … or by how different cultures do their own take on what is "dance" music or "electronic" music.[31]

Lowe was also the motivating force behind two of Pet Shop Boys' more downbeat albums — the guitar-driven Release (2002)[32] and the moody Elysium (2012).[33] He has a knack for selecting cover versions, according to Tennant, including the Elvis Presley tribute "Always on My Mind" (1987) and the Village People anthem "Go West" (1993).[34][35]

Producer Julian Mendelsohn noticed Lowe's ability to compose keyboard lines in a matter of minutes during the recording of Pet Shop Boys' second album Actually (1987).[36] According to programmer Pete Gleadall: "People often don't realise Chris' input to the whole process. He basically writes the bulk of the backing to most of the songs, and quite often the melody lines as well, which Neil embellishes and develops".[37] The duo's songwriting process involves working on songs together as well as coming up with their parts separately and sharing them with each other, particularly since the COVID-19 lockdown.[31][38] In a 2024 interview with La Nación, Lowe remarked that he enjoys figuring out the right music for Tennant's lyrics, calling it an exercise in finding the chords and sounds that best match the melody.[39]

Instruments and equipment

[edit]

Keyboard setups

[edit]

Since starting out with Tennant's Korg MS-10, Lowe has used other models of the brand, including the Korg M1 and the Korg Triton.[40][41] Early on, Pet Shop Boys made use of samples from an Emulator.[42] Lowe used a Fairlight CMI to compose songs through the early 1990s.[37] He began using a PowerBook with Notator Logic, along with a Roland Sound Canvas SC-88 and a PC-200 keyboard to write at home.[43] In the 2020s, he has used a similar setup of a laptop and keyboard for composing songs.[39]

Lowe's equipment for live performances has varied over the years. On the Performance Tour in 1991, Lowe had a keyboard setup with a Korg M1 synthesizer and an Akai S1000 sampler, and he also used a Lync LN-1000 portable keyboard, although at times during the elaborate production he appeared onstage without any instrument.[40][44] He used a Roland JD-800 on the 2002 Release Tour,[45] a stripped-down production where he played live keyboards more than usual. He told The Washington Post:

I find it a lot more rewarding. Before, I could never actually rationalize the point of playing anything live because I could always put it in the computer and the computer could play it better. But this time I'm playing a lot of piano, which is really enjoyable, and I'm getting a lot more out of it.[32]

On the Fundamental Tour (2006–07), Lowe's keyboard setup included a Korg Triton with a pair of Access Virus rackmount modules.[41] For the Pandemonium Tour (2009–10), he used a master keyboard and a Moog synthesizer, a Kaoss Pad to add effects, and a small set of electronic drums as "a change from playing the keyboards".[46] On Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live (2022–25), Pet Shop Boys' long-time FOH engineer Holger Schwark explained:

A lot of what Neil and Chris play is very similar to the original releases – they sample themselves from the original multitrack records, so we hear audio that sometimes has been programmed and put together 20 to 30 years ago. There's a lot of audio history on this show with a blend of old and new material. […] Keyboard sounds are split between Chris, Clare Uchima and multitrack.[47]

A monitor on Lowe's keyboard setup displays a musical score, lyrics, and cues.[48][47]

Vocals

[edit]

Lowe contributes occasional backing vocals and has taken the lead on a few songs, including "Paninaro", for which he also wrote the lyrics.[49] His vocals are often spoken rather than sung, sometimes in the form of a list, such as reciting days of the week on "Thursday".[50] When he does sing, as on "This Used to Be the Future" (2009), he prefers to have his voice treated with pitch correction software like Melodyne.[51] He has stated that he dislikes the sound of his voice.[50] Lowe has performed "Paninaro" on tours, including Dreamworld: The Greatest Hits Live.[48] On the Performance Tour, another of his lead vocal B-sides, "We All Feel Better in the Dark", was staged with Lowe stripping down to his underwear.[52]

Other instruments

[edit]

Lowe played trombone on the song "I Want a Lover" on the first Pet Shop Boys album, Please (1986),[a] and he appeared with his trombone in the video for the song "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" in 1987.[54] The song "Later Tonight" from Please was recorded live in the studio with Lowe on piano.[53] He played "It's a Sin" on the Wurlitzer organ in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom for the 2006 documentary Pet Shop Boys: A Life in Pop.[55]

Solo appearances

[edit]

In 1993, Lowe wrote and produced the track "Do the Right Thing" for footballer Ian Wright, who played for Lowe's favourite team, Arsenal.[56] The song featured backing vocals by long-time Pet Shop Boys backing singer Sylvia Mason-James, and the single featured remixes by Rollo.[57]

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.[58][59]

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.[60]

Lowe wrote the music for the song "Streets of Berlin", featured in the 2006 revival of Bent at the Trafalgar Studios in Whitehall.[61][62]

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.[63][64]

Public image

[edit]

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.[65] 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."[66]

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."[67][68]

Notes

[edit]
  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".[53]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 "Pet Shop Boys Official Site, History Section 1959". Petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  2. ↑ Murray, Gordon (1 December 2016). "Greatest of All Time: Madonna Is Billboard's No. 1 Dance Club Songs Artist". Billboard. Archived from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2026.
  3. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys Songs and Albums: Full Official Chart History". Official Charts. London. Retrieved 15 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 "The Pet Shop Boys Story". The Smash Hits Yearbook. London. 1989. p. 72.
  5. ↑ Potton, Ed (26 July 2017). "Pet Shop Boys: Modern pop stars have to talk about their love lives — but we don't". The Times. London. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  6. ↑ Heath, Chris (2020a) [1990]. Pet Shop Boys, Literally. London: William Heinemann. p. 292. ISBN 9781473575691.
  7. 1 2 3 Harrison, Andrew (22 March 2016). "Pop Kid – Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys Interviewed". The Quietus. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 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. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  9. ↑ Durkin, Tony (26 May 2023). "Thames school's 120th anniversary celebration a big success". The Gazette. Blackpool, UK. Retrieved 27 July 2026.
  10. ↑ "Distinguished pupils". Arnold School. 1 June 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010.
  11. ↑ Scott, George (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.
  12. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys Official Site, History Section 1976". Petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  13. ↑ Heath 2020a, p. 253.
  14. ↑ Kay, Vernon (9 June 2024). Tracks of My Years (radio programme). BBC Radio 2. Event occurs at 5:00.
  15. ↑ Blair, Iain (29 August 1988). "Pet Shop Boys are hot via video". Chicago Tribune. p. 2. Retrieved 27 July 2026 – via ProQuest.
  16. 1 2 Heath 2020a, p. 15.
  17. ↑ Heath 2020a, p. 250.
  18. ↑ Heath 2020a, p. 256.
  19. ↑ "Notable alumni: Arts, entertainment and media". alumni.liv.ac.uk. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  20. ↑ Heath 2020a, p. 104.
  21. ↑ O'Leary, Dermot (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.
  22. ↑ "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.
  23. ↑ Munchetty, Naga; Stayt, Charlie (27 April 2024). BBC Breakfast (television production). BBC One. I did five years of it; I did the BA and the BArch.
  24. 1 2 Tennant, Neil (2018). One Hundred Lyrics and a Poem: 1979–2016. London: Faber & Faber. p. 12–13. ISBN 9780571348916.
  25. 1 2 Sullivan, Andrew (5 June 2009). "For Hard-Core Petheads: The Lowe Interview In Full". The Atlantic. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  26. ↑ Harrison, Ian (August 2013). "Pet Shop Boys Interviewed: We prefer not to be fake". Mojo. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  27. ↑ Heath, Chris (2018b). Behaviour: Further Listening 1990–1991 (booklet). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone Records. p. 19. 0190295818852.
  28. ↑ O'Leary 2023, 7:10–7:30.
  29. ↑ Kedves, Jan (6 August 2020). "Das lied meines lebens: "Passion" von The Flirts" [The Song of My Life: "Passion" by The Flirts]. Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin (in German). No. 32. Munich. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  30. ↑ Levine, Nick (20 January 2020). "Why Pet Shop Boys are still the cleverest men in pop". BBC. London. Retrieved 7 August 2025.
  31. 1 2 Rachel, T. Cole (30 April 2013). "Q&A: Pet Shop Boys Announce Electric, Debut "Axis," And Discuss The State Of Dance Music". Stereogum. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  32. 1 2 Harrington, Richard (16 May 2002). "Pet Shop Boys Rock Out?". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  33. ↑ James, Matt (9 September 2012). "Ego Music: An Interview with the Pet Shop Boys". Pop Matters. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  34. ↑ "Pet Shop Boys interview". This Is Not Retro. March 2004. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  35. ↑ Elliott, Mark (13 July 2021). "Go West: How Pet Shop Boys led the way to a new utopia". Dig!. Warner Music Group. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  36. ↑ Hurley, Oliver (12 April 2025). "Making Pet Shop Boys – Actually". Classic Pop. Retrieved 8 August 2025.
  37. 1 2 Masterson, Ian (December 1993). "Pet Sounds". Music Technology. UK: Music Maker Publications. pp. 46–50. Retrieved 16 August 2025 – via mu:zines.
  38. ↑ Laing, Olivia (2021). "Neil Tennant – Nobody writes lyrics like Neil Tennant". Fantastic Man. No. 34. Amsterdam. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  39. 1 2 Chaves, Sebastián (2 April 2024). "Pet Shop Boys: su nuevo disco, por qué ven a la escena actual 'poco interesante' y el balance que buscan para su música" [Pet Shop Boys: Their new album, why they find the current scene 'uninteresting', and the balance they seek in their music.]. La Nación (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  40. 1 2 Lethby, Mike (August 1991). "Pet Shop Boys on Tour" (PDF). Studio Sound and Broadcast Engineering. London. pp. 25–29. Retrieved 16 August 2025 – via World Radio History.
  41. 1 2 Jennings, Steve (January 2007). "Live Sound: Pet Shop Boys". Mix. New York. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  42. ↑ Betteridge, Jim (March 1986). "Track Record: West End Girls". International Musician & Recording World. UK. pp. 114–15. Retrieved 16 August 2025 – via mu:zines.
  43. ↑ Bell, Matt (December 1996). "Pete Gleadall: Programming & Recording Pet Shop Boys' Bilingual". Sound on Sound. Cambridge, UK. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  44. ↑ Wyman, Bill (11 April 1991). "Switched-on rock: subversive activities of the Pet Shop Boys". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 15 August 2026.
  45. ↑ "Keyboard auction for Comic Relief". petshopboys.co.uk. London. 14 March 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  46. ↑ Heath, Chris (2009). Pet Shop Boys Pandemonium On Tour 2009/2010 (concert programme).
  47. 1 2 Waite, Jacob (4 July 2023). "Pet Shop Boys: Dream World Tour". TPi Magazine. No. 276. Stockport, UK: Mondiale Media. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  48. 1 2 Munchetty & Stayt 2024, 11:45.
  49. ↑ Heath, Chris (2018a). Please: Further Listening 1984–1986 (booklet). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone Records. p. 31. 0190295831745.
  50. 1 2 Barlow, Jason (15 July 2013). "Pet Shop Boy Chris Lowe on Killers karaoke and what he learned from Nile Rodgers". GQ. London. Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  51. ↑ Heath, Chris (2017). Yes: Further Listening 2008–2010 (booklet). Pet Shop Boys. Parlophone Records. p. 30. 0190295852818.
  52. ↑ Heath, Chris (2020b) [1993]. Pet Shop Boys versus America. London: William Heinemann. pp. 44–45. ISBN 9781473575684.
  53. 1 2 Heath 2018a, p. 21.
  54. ↑ Pet Shop Boys (performers) (26 February 2009). What Have I Done To Deserve This (Official Video) (music video). Parlophone.
  55. ↑ Riley, Chris (24 May 2006). "Today's TV & radio choice". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  56. ↑ Lynskey, Dorian (3 July 2006). "Culture Vulture Blog: When It's All Over". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 5 July 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2026.
  57. ↑ "Ian Wright – Do the Right Thing". Discogs. 1993. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  58. ↑ "Neighbours (TV Series) Episode #1.2320 (1995)". IMDB. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  59. ↑ 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.
  60. ↑ "Chris Lowe: 'Blockhead' – Pet Shop Boys – News". Petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  61. ↑ "Bent – Pet Shop Boys – Theatre & Film". Petshopboys.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  62. ↑ Nathan, John (11 August 2006). "Full Cast Announced for London's Bent Revival". Playbill. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  63. ↑ "Stop Modernists Official Facebook Page". Facebook.com. 12 May 2011. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  64. ↑ "Subculture released". petshopboys.co.uk. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  65. ↑ Harrison, Andrew (April 2006), "The Pet Shop Boys talk for Britain", The Word, no. 38, pp. 98–106
  66. ↑ Bracewell, Michael (15 July 1995), "Pop perfection", The Guardian, pp. T012
  67. ↑ 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.
  68. ↑ Hoare, Philip (23 March 2012). "Eric Watson obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
[edit]
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