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.
On January 12 the Girls Aloud single, “The Loving Kind”, is released and reaches the top ten. It is a song co-written by the Pet Shop Boys and Girls Aloud’s regular producers, Xenomania, the British production team led by Brian Higgins, and was originally written in sessions for the next Pet Shop Boys album. When Chris expressed reservations about the song — “I didn’t think it was breaking new ground for us” — Brian Higgins asked whether he could record it with Girls Aloud, an idea they eagerly encouraged. “Thrilled to pieces by that,” says Chris.
On February 17 Neil appears onstage with the Scissor Sisters at Koko in London at an event in support of the charity Body and Soul. He sings on the Pet Shop Boys’ “Love comes quickly” and the Scissor Sisters’ “It Can’t Come Quickly Enough”.
On February 4 Neil appears on the long-running BBC radio programme, Desert Island Discs, now in its 65th year. His record choices are Rex Harrison’s “Why Can’t The English Teach Their Children How To Speak?”, the Beatles’ “She Loves You”, Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis”, David Bowie’s “Changes”, Shannon’s “Give Me Tonight”, Billie Holiday’s “Good Morning Heartache”, Dusty Springfield’s “I Don’t Want To Hear It Anymore”, and Shostakovich’s “Symphony No 5 in D Minor”. His book choice was Balzac’s The Human Comedy, and his one luxury and DVD projector with a huge box of DVDs.
On February 11 the Grammy awards are held. The Pet Shop Boys are nominated in two categories — as Best Electronic/Dance Album for Fundamental and as Best Electronic/Dance track for “I’m with stupid” — but lose to Madonna and Justin Timberlake respectively. They do not attend.
On February 26 the Killers’ single, “Read My Mind”, is released. It contains a remix, “Read My Mind (Pet Shop Boys Stars Are Blazing Mix)”, on which they replay everything but the guitars and vocals, and on which both Chris and Neil’s voices can be heard. It is their favourite song on the second Killers album. A few months earlier, Neil had publicly queried the wisdom of Brandon Flowers’ newly-grown moustache and what it might signify. “When he was first asked about that in an interview before the album came out he said, ‘Well, I think Neil’s really going to like “Read My Mind” because we’re still writing pop songs’. And as soon as I heard the album I thought, ‘Oh, he’s right … I do like that’.”
On March 6 “She’s Madonna”, credited to Robbie Williams with Pet Shop Boys, is released as a single.
On May 14 Rufus Wainwright’s album Release The Stars is released. Neil is the album’s executive producer and appears on four of the songs.
The Boys perform in Adelaide, Australia.
Neil gives an ‘Internet interview’ via laptop computer from the offices of Parlophone Records in London.
Chris and Neil conclude their Latin American ‘mini-tour’ with a concert in the largest city in the southern hemisphere: São Paulo, Brazil.
The Boys perform at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.
Neil provides some additional lyrics and sings a few lines on the Killers/Elton John upcoming Christmas song, ‘Joseph, Better You Than Me.’
While working on it, the Boys decide to give the track they previously called ‘Electric’ a new title: ‘Axis.’
The German edition of GQ magazine includes Neil and Chris among its ‘Men of the Year’ for 2013. They’re in Berlin this evening to accept the honor in person at the awards show.
Chris and Neil attend the matinee show of their musical Closer to Heaven at London’s Union Theatre. On very short notice, actor Ben Kavanagh crosses gender to step into the role of Billie Trix, filling in for Katie Meller, who had taken ill (but is expected to recover shortly). As the Boys note on their website, they like it so much that they return to see the second half of that evening’s performance.
They work some more on ‘Wedding in Berlin’ and ‘You Are the One.’
The double‑a single ‘New London Boy’/‘All the Young Dudes’ is released digitally along with several bonus tracks.