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.
The Pet Shop Boys perform their first full-length live concert in the U.S. at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles.
Neil visits London’s Tate Modern Art Museum, where he takes in (among other things) the Louise Bourgeois exhibition.
At their new recording studio in East London, Chris and Neil work on ‘Inside a Dream,’ during which Neil sings new vocals. They also work on ‘One Night.’
As Chris notes the following day on the PSB website, he and Neil spend ‘a couple hours’ this evening at the Lab LDN (London): ‘A lot of fun and great music from Nic Fanciulli and Lauren Lane.’
The Boys perform tonight in Toronto: the second of two Canadian dates on the Super Tour.
After walking to Hansa Studios on what Neil describes in his journal as ‘a beautiful sunny morning,’ the Boys work with Stuart Price on a new version of ‘Wedding in Berlin,’ featuring Neil’s revised lyrics to remove specific references to the wedding for which it was originally written.