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.
PSB protegé Cicero returns to his home town of Livingston, Scotland, for a performance to celebrate the release of his first single, ‘Heaven Must Have Sent You Back to Me,’ co-produced by the Pet Shop Boys. Neil attends the show this evening, accompanied by their handler/assistant Dainton Connell.
Chris makes a brief cameo appearance on the popular Australian TV soap opera Neighbours.
The Trades Union Congress lists Neil among 250 entertainers who endorse a hotline to help reduce racism in U.K. workplaces.
The Boys appear on Top of the Pops, performing ‘I Get Along.’
The second of four consecutive nights of PSB shows at London’s Royal Opera House. Earlier this same day, it was announced on the Boys’ website that the book One Hundred Lyrics and One Poem by Neil Tennant would be published November 1.
Neil, together with Frances Barber and Jonathan Harvey, films interview segments to promote the upcoming production of Musik. Later Neil works with Frances on some of the spoken segments of its songs ‘to get the timings right.’