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.
Chris and Neil complete their work on ‘Positive Role Model’ as a ‘Pet Shop Boys track.’ All subsequent work they do on the song is as part of Closer to Heaven.
The Boys work in the studio on ‘Luna Park’; they decide to ‘strip it down’ somewhat, making it more ‘electronic’ than it had been previously.
They perform in Atlanta, Georgia.
Neil and Chris had been scheduled to perform in Bucharest today, but that concert has been postponed so that they could attend the North London funeral of their longtime friend and assistant Dainton Connell, killed in a Moscow automobile accident two weeks before.
Jonathan Harvey visits the Boys in the studio to discuss their upcoming Billie Trix stage show, Musik.
Back in London following the conclusion of their Unity Tour, Neil and Chris attend a performance at Wilton’s Music Hall of the stage show Only an Octave Apart starring Justin Vivian Bond and Anthony Ross Costanzo. While there they ‘bump into’ Marc Almond, also in attendance.
Neil attends the opening night of a revival of the famed musical Cabaret at the Playhouse Theatre in London. After the show, he goes backstage to congratulate Jake Shears for what Neil describes as his ‘triumphant opening-night performance’ in the role of the MC.