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Johnny Marr's guest work on PSB recordings

The Pet Shop Boys first met Johnny Marr by chance in 1987 in an elevator at the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles. Marr had just left the band that had made him famous, The Smiths, ultimately resulting in their dissolution. He mentioned to Neil and Chris that he really liked the song "Hit Music" from the Boys' most recent album at the time, Actually. That brief encounter planted the seed for many future collaborations.

Not counting the three collaborations ("Getting Away with It," "The Patience of a Saint," and "Disappointed") that Neil alone or together with Chris did with Electronic (Marr's subsequent duo with Bernard Sumner), here's a list of Marr's guest shots on PSB recordings, each song followed by a simple indication of the instrument(s) that he plays and/or other roles that he performs:

• On the 1990 album Behaviour:
• "This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave" - guitar
• "My October Symphony" - guitar  
• Bonus tracks on the 1993 single "Can You Forgive Her?":
  • "I Want to Wake Up" (Johnny Marr 1993 Mix and Johnny Marr Groove Mix) - remixes   
• B-side of the 1994 single "Liberation":
  • "Decadence" - guitar  
• On the 1996 album Bilingual:
  • "Up Against It" - guitar and backing vocals  
• On the 2001 album Release:
  • "Home and Dry" - guitar   
  • "I Get Along" - guitar   
  • "Birthday Boy" - guitar   
  • "E-mail" - guitar   
  • "Love Is a Catastrophe" - guitar   
  • "The Night I Fell in Love" - guitar   
  • "You Choose" - guitar  
• B-sides of the 2002 single "I Get Along":
  • "Between Two Islands" - guitar
  • "Searching for the Face of Jesus" - guitar
• B-side of the 2003 single "Flamboyant":
• "I Didn't Get Where I Am Today" - guitar
• On the 2009 album Yes:
  • "All Over the World" - guitar
  • "Beautiful People" - guitar, harmonica, and tambourine   
  • "Did You See Me Coming?" - guitar
  • "More Than a Dream" - guitar
  • "Building a Wall" - guitar
  • "Pandemonium" - guitar and harmonica
  • "Legacy" - guitar

It's also very well worth noting that Marr appeared onstage with the Pet Shop Boys during their December 5, 2012 live concert with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, broadcast the following evening on BBC Radio 2. He played guitar on most if not all of the 15 songs they performed that night. And he joined them once again for their April 2, 2017 orchestral show at London's Royal Albert Hall to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust.

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