Neil plays in a group in Newcastle called Dust: Their most popular song is a preposterous affair he has written called “Can you hear the dawn break?”. They are heavily influenced by The Incredible String Band. “We were convinced we would become terribly famous. It was a very kind of stoned seventies but we used to think it was absolutely brilliant at the time”.
BPI awards a U.K. double-platinum album to Actually.
Neil starts a week of working on the remastering of the album reissues, during which time he runs into Johnny Marr, who agrees to play guitar on their next album, Release.
The Pet Shop Boys complete work on the song ‘We’re All Criminals Now,’ slated as a bonus track for their next album’s first single, ‘Love etc.’
Following their New Year’s Eve performace in Sydney and a week’s holiday in Australia, Chris and Neil fly to Los Angeles, where they will rent a house in the hills and remain for about ten weeks working on their next studio album, Elysium.