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.”
Working with Peter Rauhofer in New York City, Neil records the vocal for ‘Break 4 Love.’
Neil is the guest on today’s edition of the BBC Radio 3 show Private Passions, where he talks about Dmitri Shostakovich, Noël Coward, Eva Cassidy, Francis Poulenc, Olivier Messiaen, and other favorites.
It’s Election Day in Britain. Chris and Neil vote, after which they go to the studio to work on ‘After the Event.’
Still on the European leg of their Fundamental Tour, the Boys travel to Berlin, where they will perform two nights later. They have dinner with Rufus Wainwright, who also happens to be in town.
Neil is interviewed in a podcast for Word magazine. This same evening, a Dusty Springfield tribute concert takes place at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The Pet Shop Boys are unable to attend in person, but they contribute a videotaped message that’s played for the audience in which they recount several ‘Dusty anecdotes.’
Once again Neil and Chris attend a performance of the revival of Closer to Heaven at London’s Union Theatre, accompanied by their friend and former manager Jill Carrington. Also in attendance this evening is their collaborator on the show, playwright Jonathan Harvey.