On May 2 the Pet Shop Boys appear at Heaven nightclub in London, playing a four song set as part of Can You Bear It?, a benefit for Dainton Connell’s family. For the final song they are joined by Suggs and Carl from Madness, in rambunctious high spirits, to perform a dance version of Madness’s “My Girl”: “It was a very emotional night”.
On October 27 a Pet Shop Boys-produced single by the British artist Sam Taylor-Wood, “I’m in love with a German film star”, is released on the cult German dance label Kompakt. It is the Pet Shop Boys’ third collaboration with Sam Taylor-Wood though the previous one was released under the pseudonym Kiki Kokova. The song is an electronic reinterpretation of the 1981 single by the Passions, a suggestion of Neil’s.
This year’s annual Christmas single from the Killers — “Joseph (Better You Than Me)” — is originally planned as a collaboration between The Killers and Elton John. Neil gets involved after Brandon Flowers asks for help with the lyric; in the end Neil’s short section of guide vocal for the lyric he contributes will remain in the final song when it is made available for download.
Neil and Chris begin working in New York City with Peter Rauhofer on ‘Kitsch,’ an old song from the sixties. Nothing ever comes of it.
The Boys perform their Battleship Potemkin score in a free concert in Neil’s hometown of Newcastle. It’s probably no coincidence that this event occurs on May Day—an international socialist holiday.
They rehearse for their upcoming charity performance at the Heaven nightclub in honor of their late friend and associate Dainton Connell.
Though it’s dated ‘June/July,’ it’s on the newsstands in this month of May: the Pet Shop Boys appear on the cover of the U.S. gay magazine Out for the second time. Included is a lengthy interview with them by Andrew Sullivan.
Neil appears as a guest on the fifth-anniversary episode of the Bigmouth podcast.