On February 28 the Pet Shop Boys begin a short, four-concert Russian tour, visiting Moscow and St. Petersburg, inspired by their visit to St. Petersburg to see Brian Eno the previous summer. In Moscow they perform twice in one night, once in a large arena then later in the middle of an over-crowded nightclub. The local media ask them whether they speak Russian, “We’re very good at saying ‘nyet’,” they explain.
On April 13, Twentieth Century Blues: The Songs of Noel Coward is released. It is an album of Noel Coward songs covered by contemporary musicians, co-compiled by Neil, who has been working on it for the past eighteen months. He has loved Noel Coward’s music since he first heard it in about 1970. “I think as a songwriter he’s slightly underrated,” Neil says, “simply because his plays are so famous, and people forget.” The Pet Shop Boys do a version of “Sail Away”, and amongst the other interpreters are Elton John, Paul McCartney, Suede, Robbie Williams and the Divine Comedy. “We tried to choose artists,” Neil explains, “who somehow seem to be in the Noel Coward tradition of wit, theatrically and style.” To promote the album, Neil appeared along on TFI Friday where he sang along with a busker playing Pet Shop Boys songs on an acoustic guitar.
At the request of their former American record company, the Pet Shop Boys agreed to the release of ‘Essential Pet Shop Boys’, a compilation of early Pet Shop Boys songs recorded between 1985 — 1990, including a number of rare remixes, as part of a series of limited edition CDs by other artists.
At the behest of director Gus Van Sant, the Pet Shop Boys wrote a new song, with Tom Stephan, at extremely short notice for the soundtrack of Van Sant’s remake of ‘Psycho’. It is called “Screaming”. “It’s about an obsessive fan, written from the obsessive fan’s point of view,” Neil says. “Or actually just by someone obsessed with someone who doesn’t love them.”
A various-artists book-with-CD compilation titled We Love You is released. The CD consists mostly of somewhat techno-oriented collaborations, including the first appearance of the Pet Shop Boys’ pairing with Sam Taylor-Wood on ‘Je T’Aime… Moi Non Plus.’
Neil records vocals for the song ‘Motoring,’ after which the Boys go out to celebrate Neil’s sister’s birthday.
They play their newly completed album Fundamental to their management and various friends, including Janet Street-Porter and Mark Farrow. The initial order of tracks, however, will later be scrapped for a new running order.
The Pet Shop Boys conclude their North American Fundamental Tour with a show in Monterrey, Mexico.
This evening Chris attends a performance of the one-woman show An Audience with Princess Julia at the London bar/cabaret/theatre The Glory. On the Boys’ official website, Chris writes, ‘So many great memories. An absolute legend of the London fashion and club scene!’
Tonight the Pet Shop Boys end the U.S. leg of their Super Tour with a show at the Jackie Gleason Center in Miami Beach.
They work with Stuart Price on the tracks ‘Monkey Business’ and ‘Collector’s Item.’ Mid-day they walk to the Christmas market at Potsdamer Platz for lunch.
Neil and Chris attend the Soft Cell concert this evening at London’s Hammersmith Apollo (now formally the Eventim Apollo, but still popularly referred to by its older name). Afterward they post on their website how much they loved the show and note that Chris and Soft Cell’s David Ball had attended the same school in Blackpool.
Neil’s performance singing ‘Cricket Wife’ and ‘Legacy’ with orchestral accompaniment, recorded six days earlier in Berlin, is broadcast this evening on Sven Helbig’s radio show.
The Boys are in Chris’s hometown of Blackpool, where they perform on this evening’s edition of the TV show Strictly Come Dancing.