Editing Chris Lowe (section)

==Biography==
Christopher Sean Lowe was born and raised in [[Blackpool]], Lancashire,<ref name="PSB1959"/> and attended [[Arnold School]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.arnoldschool.com/html/History_5203.html |title=Arnold School website, Distinguished pupils |publisher=Arnoldschool.com |date=1 June 2008 |access-date=28 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101004130910/http://www.arnoldschool.com/html/History_5203.html |archive-date=4 October 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His grandfather was a trombonist and a member of the comedy jazz troupe The Nitwits.<ref name="Quietus 2016"/> His mother was a dancer, and his father, a sales representative,<ref name="Quietus 2016"/> could play piano by ear.<ref>{{cite book |last=Heath|first=Chris|year=2020|title=Pet Shop Boys, Literally|location=London|publisher=William Heinemann|page=292|isbn=9781473575691}}</ref> Lowe learned trombone and piano and was in the school orchestra and dance band.<ref name="gazette">{{cite news |last=Seddon|first=Aimee|date=30 August 2024|title=Pet Shop Boys' Chris Lowe shares his excitement at performing in Blackpool & Radio 2 in the Park Preston |url=https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/people/pet-shop-boys-chris-lowe-shares-his-excitement-at-performing-in-blackpool-preston-next-week-4762885 |url-status=live|work=The Gazette|location=Blackpool, UK|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241010013446/https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/people/pet-shop-boys-chris-lowe-shares-his-excitement-at-performing-in-blackpool-preston-next-week-4762885 |archive-date=10 October 2024|access-date=10 October 2024}}</ref> He studied music as an [[A-level]] subject.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Scott, George (director); Tennant, Neil (interviewee)|date=24 May 2006|title=Pet Shop Boys: A Life in Pop|type=documentary|time=41:40|publisher=EMI|quote=Chris is, you know, a trained musician, whatever, did music A-level and piano lessons and trombone lessons and all the rest of it.}}</ref>

Lowe played trombone in a semi-professional seven-piece dance band named One Under the Eight that performed favourites like "[[Hello, Dolly! (song)|Hello Dolly]]", "[[La Bamba (song)|La Bamba]]" and "[[Moon River]]",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.petshopboys.co.uk/history/1976 |title=Pet Shop Boys Official Site, History Section 1976|publisher=Petshopboys.co.uk |access-date=7 October 2024}}</ref> and he joined the [[Musicians' Union (United Kingdom)|Musicians' Union]] with them.<ref name="gazette"/> He was also in a local brass band, the Norman Memorial Youth Band,<ref name="gazette"/> and briefly played keyboards with a school rock band called Stallion.{{sfn|Heath|2020|p=253}}

Lowe began studying architecture at the [[University of Liverpool]] in 1978{{sfn|Heath|2020|p=15}} and earned a [[BA (Hons)]] in 1981.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://alumni.liv.ac.uk/meet-our-alumni/notable-alumni/arts-media/ |title=Notable alumni: Arts, entertainment and media |website=alumni.liv.ac.uk |access-date=7 October 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20241007174716/https://alumni.liv.ac.uk/meet-our-alumni/notable-alumni/arts-media/|archive-date=7 October 2024}}</ref> During a work placement in 1981 at a London architectural practice, he designed a staircase for an industrial estate in [[Milton Keynes]].{{sfn|Heath|2020|p=104}} It was at this time that he met Neil Tennant in Chelsea Record Centre, a [[High fidelity|hi-fi]] shop on [[King's Road]] in London.{{sfn|Heath|2020|p=15}} 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.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=O'Leary, Dermot (interviewer); Lowe, Chris (interviewee)|date=20 May 2023|title=Reel Stories: Pet Shop Boys|type=television production|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001m85t|time=11:20|publisher=BBC Two|quote=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.|ref=reelstories}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1j78F49pJ4Kzv4kXWpvb92p/eight-things-we-learned-from-pet-shop-boys |title=Eight things we learned from Pet Shop Boys |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=25 April 2024 |website=BBC Radio 4 |publisher=BBC |access-date=7 November 2024 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |people=Munchetty, Naga and Stayt, Charlie (interviewers); Lowe, Chris (interviewee) |date=27 April 2024 |title=BBC Breakfast |type=television production |publisher=BBC One|quote=I did five years of it; I did the BA and the BArch.}}</ref>