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.”
Along with several friends, a young Neil Tennant attends a David Bowie concert at Newcastle City Hall. After the show he and his chums hang around backstage, where Neil gets David’s autograph on a promo poster.
The Boys perform the second of three consecutive nights’ shows in Birmingham, U.K., filmed for the Performance concert video.
They perform in Houston, Texas.
The Boys’ remix of Yoko Ono’s ‘Walking on Thin Ice’ is released in the U.K.
They perform at the Skive Beach Party in Denmark.
The Blackpool Gazette, Chris’s hometown newspaper, reports that Chris has donated a keyboard to the Blackpool Music Academy in support of the paper’s ‘Give Us a Tune’ charity drive for music education. Chris tells the Gazette, ‘I’m happy to help a little with this worthwhile project. Very best wishes for the rest of the campaign.’
This evening ‘An Evening with Pet Shop Boys’ is broadcast on BBC Radio 2, hosted by Jo Whiley. She chats with Neil and Chris, who also select some of the music played on air.
The Boys work in the studio on a song titled ‘He’s Not Coming Home.’
They perform at the Heartland Festival held at Egeskov Castle in Kværndrup, Denmark.