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’ second live concert appearance occurs in Brussels. They mime to three songs (‘One More Chance,’ ‘Opportunities,’ and ‘West End Girls’) to what Neil later describes as ‘an audience of complete indifference.’
The Boys tape An Audience with Elton John, where they duet with him on ‘Believe’ and ‘A Song for Guy.’
They perform in Chicago—their third show at the Chicago Theatre, the previous two having been in April 1991 and October 2006.
At Chris’s home in London, he and Neil work on a cover version of ‘Last to Die,’ a song written by Bruce Springsteen.
The Electric Tour comes to Atlanta, Georgia.
With very little advance notice, the Boys perform a ‘warm-up show’ this evening at 229 The Venue in London in preparation for their headlining concert the following evening in Hyde Park.