BONO IS A SPLASH
HIT AT ELTON'S PAD

It was the battle of the bands as rock and pop went to war. The scene was EIton John's villa in the south of France and the protagonists were U2 heavyweight Bono versus the Pet Shop Boys.

The private dinner with EIton at his plush Nice pad had provoked some lively debate among the illustrious guests as to the merits of pop and rock.

Full of the joys of his host's hospitality, Bono stepped out on to the balcony of chez EIton after dinner and peered down into the pool.
It obviously seemed like a golden opportunity for the U2 singer to give the boys of pop a demonstration of some macho rock 'n' roll antics.

Splash

Bono took a dare-devil dive from the balcony, landing with a loud splash in the water below.
However, Neil Tennant of the Pet ShopBoys decided to fly the pop flag by quickly following the rock god over the balcony and into the pool.
Bono seemed 'suitably impressed. "Rock l, Pop 1", he declared, as the pair emerged unscathed.
Tennant laughs as he relates the story to the Suri-day World when we meet in the German city of Cologne.

It's the night after a major party hosted by the Pet Shop Boys, who had unveiled new tracks off their next album, Nightlife, and announced their live show which plays Dublin's Point Depot on December 12.
Despite the fact that he left the local Club Lulu venue at 3.30am, Neil is looking remarkably fresh
as we chat over coffee. "Appearances can be deceptive," he points out.
The multi-millionaire who found fame and fortune after teaming up with Chris Lowe, following a chance meeting in a London electronics shop, is still remarkably unaffected by the enormous success of his group.
Neil and Chris have been one of the most creative forces in pop and have earned the respect of some of the legends in the business.
They have lived their dream, working with some of their own idols, including the late Dusty Springfield, a formidable lady with a reputation for being "difficult".
Neil admits: "The prospect of working with her was daunting. When she came into the studio we were petrified. We were hiding in a little office, giggling with nerves. But she turned out to be quite shy as well. She said to me, 'You make me feel calm."'

Party
U2 issued a wry statement declaring "What have we done to deserve this?" when asked to comment on the Pet Shop Boys' cover version of their song, Where The Streets Have No Name, which they segued with the Frankie Valli standard Can't Take Me Eyes Off You.
Neil says: "I like Bono. He was really good fun the evening we met him at EIton John's villa. He was really lovely and boy can he drink!"
The Pet Shop Boys are looking forward to returning with a new live show. "We don't tour very often, so we enjoy it all the more," Neil says. "As people we still get on well together. We enjoy it as much as when we started
"When we're writing songs together in each other's home it's like a parly. There's always a lot of laughter in the studio, so the fun is still there."

Big thanks to to Erika Araki (Aracatuba, Brazil) for original article.

Unofficial Pet Shop Boys Partnership fan club site
http://www.thepetshopboys.ru