Chris Lowe

Christopher Sean Lowe (born 4 October 1959) 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.

Biography

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

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

Lowe began studying architecture at the University of Liverpool in 1978 and earned a BA (Hons) in 1981. During a work placement in 1981 at a London architectural practice, he designed a staircase for an industrial estate in Milton Keynes. It was at this time that he met Neil Tennant in Chelsea Record Centre, a hi-fi shop on King's Road in London. 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.

Musical career

Pet Shop Boys

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".

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

Solo appearances

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Public image

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. 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."

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."

Notes

References

External links

Official Pet Shop Boys site

Chris Lowe
discography at Discogs
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Chris
1959 births
Living people
British disco musicians
British synth-pop musicians
Electronic (band) members
English dance musicians
English electronic musicians
English male songwriters
English pop keyboardists
English pop musicians
English record producers
Ivor Novello Award winners
Musicians from Blackpool
People educated at Arnold School
Alumni of the University of Liverpool
Pet Shop Boys members