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 ‘It’s a Sin’ on Top of the Pops.
Blur’s ‘Girls & Boys’ single, featuring the Pet Shop Boys’ radio edit remix, debuts on the U.S. singles chart, beginning a 15-week run that peaks at #59.
The Boys perform in Berlin.
Chris and Neil spend the afternoon and evening as attendees at the Glastonbury Festival, where they will perform the following evening. They watch a number of artists’ sets, including Willie Nelson (who sang, among other things, ‘Always On My Mind’), Gorillaz, and Groove Armada.
The official PSB website announces that the first single from the upcoming album Elysium is titled ‘Winner’ and will be premiered on radio July 2. Meanwhile, Neil attends a performance this evening of Blur member Damon Albarn’s new opera Dr Dee at the London Coliseum, after which he goes to an after-party at the Asia de Cuba restaurant at St Martins Lane Hotel.
Neil and Chris resume work on a song titled ‘Will You Love Me?’ that they had started two days before.
The ‘2015 leg’ of the Electric Tour comes to Rome this evening.
They perform this evening in Hannover, the first of five successive Super Tour shows in Germany.
Pet Shop Boys are among the performers at a special fundraising gala at London’s Tate Modern Museum.