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.
‘Love Comes Quickly’ is released as a single.
The Boys continue work on ‘The Out Crowd’ (which is later transformed into ‘Hell’).
After working in the studio on ‘Breathing Space,’ they watch the Oscars on television. Later they go out to dinner and then to L.A.‘s famous Troubadour club for a performance by the band Archers of Loaf.
They perform at Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham, U.K.
It’s announced that the Pet Shop Boys and New Order have scheduled a co-headlining concert tour, dubbed ‘The Unity Tour,’ in the United States and Canada for late summer and early fall 2020. (Unfortunately, this tour will later be postponed on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.) On this same day, Tom Watkins, the Pet Shop Boys’ first manager, passes away of undisclosed causes following a long series of serious health issues, although his death won’t be announced to the general public for another two weeks.
In the wake of its recent use in an Allstate Insurance commercial during the Super Bowl broadcast, the roughly 35-year-old ‘Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)’ hits #1 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Song Sales chart, where it will remain for four weeks.