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.
Working in London with Rollo, Neil and Chris finish mixing ‘Boy Strange.’
In their second appearance on Graham Norton’s U.K. television show, the Boys not only perform but, unlike their previous appearance, spend some time talking with the host. Incidentally, Norton introduces them while dressed as a giant hamster.
Neil and Chris attend the premiere in London of the film Nowhere Boy, which dramatizes the pre-fame years of John Lennon, focusing on his relationships with his mother Julia and Aunt Mimi. It’s the directorial debut of the Boys’ friend and occasional collaborator Sam Taylor-Wood.
The Boys kick off the European leg of their Super Tour with a concert in the German city of Leipzig.
: They perform at the Primavera Sound Festival in Buenos Aires.