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 appear in Yokohama, Japan, as part of the Japanese leg of their Performance world tour.
The Boys finish ‘Indefinite Leave to Remain.’ That evening—after first meeting and having dinner with him—they attend a Sondre Lerche concert at Naples’ Theatro Nuevo.
After an extended break, they launch the South American leg of their Fundamental Tour with a concert in Rio de Janeiro.
Chris and Neil are interviewed on Jonathan Ross’s BBC Radio 2 show.
The two-CD score of the Tennant/Lowe ballet The Most Incredible Thing is released today in the U.K.
Big announcements today on the official PSB website: that the Boys have left their longtime record label Parlophone and that their next album, titled Electric, would be released in June on Kobalt Label Services.
The Pet Shop Boys are among the artists who perform this evening with Trevor Horn’s band at a charity gala for disadvantaged youth at the Roundhouse in London.