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.
‘Always on My Mind’ is released as a single.
The Boys perform in Santiago, Chile.
They begin remixing Madonna’s ‘Sorry.’
David Almond’s play My Dad’s a Birdman, featuring original music and songs composed by ‘Tennant/Lowe,’ formally opens (though there had already been a few previews) at London’s Young Vic Theatre.
Neil again discusses plans for their next album over the phone with prospective producer Andrew Dawson.
The Pet Shop Boys appear in concert this evening in Hamburg, Germany.