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.
Neil records the vocals for ‘Screaming.’
An early-morning automobile accident in Moscow takes the life of PSB bodyguard, personal assistant, and good friend Dainton Connell. Known among friends as ‘The Bear,’ Connell had accompanied Chris to Moscow for a DJ’ing gig. (Chris was not involved in the accident.) Neil and Chris are, in their own words, ‘devastated’ by the news.
Still in Chile enjoying a brief break from the South American leg of their Pandemonium Tour, the Boys take an afternoon drive up into the Andes.
Continuing from the previous day, the Boys resume work on their demo of the song ‘Winner,’ changing its rhythm track to (as Neil states in his diary) ‘make it more electro.’
For the fourth day in a row, they work on ‘Natural Wonders Every Child Should Know’ for A Man from the Future.
The Pet Shop Boys perform the first of two shows at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California.
Neil appears onstage ‘in conversation’ with poet Andrew McMillan at RNCM Theatre, an event that’s part of this year’s Manchester Literature Festival.