A dad has told of the moment he found a letter from Pet Shop Boys star Neil Tennant thanking DJ Janice Long for playing his debut single. David Prior, 45, a local journalist, uncovered the 'bona fide piece of pop memorabilia' when he went to the opening of a new music shop in Altrincham to interview its owner.
The lifelong Pet Shop Boys fan was just leaving when he was passed a 12-inch record of their first-ever single, 'West End Girls', and noticed a note under its sleeve. When he looked closer, he saw a letter written by Neil Tennant thanking famed DJ Janice Long for playing his song on her Radio 1 show in April 1984.
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In the message, the singer discussed recording the track with producer Bobby O, before its re-release in 1985 when it went on to become a global smash hit. David said he couldn’t get his credit card out 'quick enough' when he saw the star's signature inked on the bottom of the letter and realised it was genuine.
He said: "To me, it was an amazing artefact, and I hope that others could recognise its significance as well. Because of my knowledge of the band – and I loved Janice Long as well – I instantly got it.
"I was just so pleased to have got this real bona fide piece of pop memorabilia that I will be framing and putting on my wall."
David, who edits magazine Altrincham Today, said he had gone to Dead Cloud Records, in the town's centre at the end of January where owner Trevor Morris had shown him the vinyl. He said: "I had gone along to interview the owner of this new record shop in Altrincham.
"He'd just named the actual shop, so he'd technically been opened but nobody knew. Literally, just as we were getting ready to go, he fairly casually said, 'We’ve got this in' and pulled this record off the shelf. It was an original copy of the first version of West End Girls.
"I've been a fan for literally decades, so I thought it was interesting from that perspective. Inside the sleeve, there was this letter, which looked original, indisputably original, because you could literally see the ink from the signature and there was no chance it was a photocopy.
"It was a typewritten letter, and I could instantly see it was a letter from Neil Tennant to Janice Long."
The letter offered insights into the Pet Shop Boys' early days, when Tennant was a music journalist at Smash Hits magazine, before becoming a household name. And in the message, he tells Janice he's recorded the new single with Bobby Orlando, known as Bobby O, and christens her a 'Pet Shop Girl' for playing his song on her show.
He wrote: "I met the disco producer Bobby O in New York last summer when I was over there doing a feature on The Police. I played Bobby a cassette of the songs myself and Chris Lowe had written and he immediately suggested we record with him.
"We've now recorded over half an album and are due to go back to New York quite soon to finish it. Anyway, hope you like the 12” I've enclosed and thanks for playing West End Girls on Thursday. As far as I'm concerned, you’re now an honorary Pet Shop Girl!"
Dad-of-five David said he didn't plan to sell the record despite being offered hundreds of pounds by collectors for it. He added: "I know that there's already been a couple of offers for it, and they were several hundred pounds, and I'm not interested in selling it at all.
"I always wanted a proper bit of pop memorabilia and this is where my collection ends and I’m quite happy."
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