.gif)
Dead or Alive (band)
Encyclopedia
Dead or Alive were a British New Wave
band from Wirral
, England
, United Kingdom
, Europe
. The band rose to fame in the 1980s with their number one single on the UK Singles Chart
, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)
". They were the first group to have a number one single under the production team Stock Aitken Waterman
. The band, which has variously included Pete Burns
(vocalist), Wayne Hussey
(guitarist and songwriter), Mike Percy (bass guitarist), Steve Coy (drummer), Timothy Lever (various instruments), and Jason Alburey (keyboardist), has released eleven albums, and has become popular in Japan, especially after the release of Rip it Up in 1987.
After the success of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", they never achieved another Top 10 single in the UK until the song's re-release in 2006, after Burns appeared on Celebrity Big Brother. Although considered a one-hit wonder
in the United States, two of their singles reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. "You Spin Me Round" reached number 11 in 1985, and "Brand New Lover
" reached number 15 in 1986. The latter also became the first of two singles to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
(now Hot Dance Club Songs). Androgynous
frontman Burns has appeared in several reality television shows, including Celebrity Big Brother, and has also collaborated with the British band The Dirty Disco
.
) was founded in 1980 in Liverpool
by Pete Burns, who was encouraged by local music promoters to gather a band together based on his outrageous appearance alone. It was only after rehearsing in 1977 with some friends that Burns realized he really did have a powerful singing voice, and his first band was an outfit he formed with friends Julian Cope
, Pete Wylie
, and Phil Hurst. Dubbing themselves The Mystery Girls, they played only one gig (opening for Sham 69
at Eric's in Liverpool in November 1977) before disintegrating. Burns returned in 1979 with a new band, Nightmares in Wax, featuring a gothic post-punk
sound, with backing from Hurst, keyboardist Martin Healy, bassist Walter Ogden, and guitarist Mick Reid. Nightmares in Wax played their first gig at Eric's in February 1979, and were signed to the associated Eric's Records label, although their only recording, a three-track 7" EP entitled Birth of a Nation, was released in 1980 by Inevitable Records (a 12-inch single featuring two of the tracks from the EP, "Black Leather" and "Shangri-La", was released in 1985). The EP featured "Black Leather", which halfway through turned into K.C. & the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way" (a song later revived by Dead or Alive).
In 1980, after several line-up changes since the start of the year, and just before they were to record a radio session for John Peel
, Burns changed the name of the band to the more marketable Dead or Alive. The band went through several different lineup changes over the next three years while recording a series of independent singles. Burns' eccentric and androgynous appearance began attracting attention, often leading to comparisons with Boy George
, lead singer of the band Culture Club
, who hit the music scene just a few years after Dead or Alive.
Dead or Alive's singles started placing high in the UK Indie Chart
, with 1982's "The Stranger" reaching number seven, and Epic Records
took notice and signed the band in 1983. Their first release for Epic was the single "Misty Circles", which appeared at number 100 in the Gallup charts of week ending 4 June 1983. At this point, the band was a five-piece consisting of Burns, Mike Percy (bass), Tim Lever (keyboards/sax), Steve Coy (drums), and Wayne Hussey
(guitar). Two more singles, "What I Want" and "I'd Do Anything", were club hits, but mainstream success continued to elude the band.
DOA's debut album, Sophisticated Boom Boom
, (UK number 29, GER number 82) was released in May 1984 and featured Dead or Alive's first Top 40 UK single, a remake of the 1975 hit by KC and the Sunshine Band
"That's the Way (I Like It)
". Hussey departed Dead or Alive just before the album's release, despite having had a hand in writing much of the material that appears on it. The single peaked at number 22 in the UK and the album at number 29.
, and Pete Waterman
known as Stock Aitken Waterman
(SAW). The single You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)
went to number one on the UK singles chart
after having lingered outside the Top 40 for over two months; the song was SAW's first chart-topping single and remains a club favourite over two decades later. The single also hit number one in Canada. It reached number 11 in the US, number two in Italy, number three in Australia, and achieved Top 10 status in numerous countries. Other album tracks released as singles included "Lover Come Back To Me
", "In Too Deep
", and "My Heart Goes Bang
", all becoming huge dance hits. The music video of "You Spin Me Round", directed by Anthea Benton and Vaughan Arnell, is popular on YouTube
, with more than 14,327,000 views (as of October 2011).
In 1987, Dead or Alive released their third album, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know
(UK number 27, US number 52), also produced by SAW. The album included one of the band's best-known songs, "Brand New Lover
", which was more successful in the US (number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100
, and number one on the Billboard dance chart
) than in the band's native UK (number 31). Three more singles from the album were released, all of them causing some sort of controversy. The most successful in the UK (a number 12 hit) was "Something in My House", tonally very Gothic and with a sleeve depicting Burns in front of what appears to be a Satan
ic altar, featuring an inverted crucifix. A 12" version of the song, the 'Mortevicar Mix', featured sampling of dialogue from the soundtrack of The Exorcist
and a sampling from the George A. Romero
American movie trailer from his film Day of the Dead (1985
). A third single, "Hooked on Love", suffered from very little promotion due to what the record company felt was a "Gothic" overtone that had been added to the song in a post-production remix, and barely managed to scrape into the UK top 70. The picture sleeve to the fourth single, "I'll Save You All My Kisses", originally featured Burns with a metal "Sex" belt buckle in front of his lips, but Epic covered up the word "Sex" with a sticker that said "Kiss" after retailers objected. The video was banned by MTV
because of its suggestively homosexual content, which depicted Burns in black tights and a leather jacket singing the song from a baseball diamond while a number of men clung to a fence and ogled him, with one tearing off his shirt towards the end. However, despite these setbacks, the band continued to have chart success in US, England, Canada, Australia, and particularly Japan.
In 1988, DOA parted ways with Stock, Aitken and Waterman, and in 1989, Tim Lever and Mike Percy left the band to form careers as mixers and producers. The pair currently own and operate Steelworks Studios in Sheffield
, UK. As recordists, Lever and Percy have had more chart success than they ever did with Dead or Alive, writing and mixing number-one tracks from bands like S Club 7
, Blue
and Robbie Williams
. In 1989, Dead or Alive, pared down to a duo of Burns and Coy, released the self-produced Nude
, which featured the hit "Turn Around and Count 2 Ten". "Turn Around" was the band's biggest hit in Japan. It was followed up by "Come Home with Me Baby", which hit number one in Brazil. The single was a US club hit, including number one on the US dance charts, but it failed to generate significant radio play, partially due to a reactionary attitude toward the song's seemingly casual attitude toward sex at a time when AIDS
awareness was coming into the public consciousness.
; however, the album was only released in Japan. The album was a radical departure in style. Instead of high energy dance beats, the album had more of a 1970s disco
style crossed with lounge
-style vocals. The album had three singles, "Your Sweetness (Is Your Weakness)", "Gone Too Long", and "Unhappy Birthday". Fan the Flame (Part 1) also is notable because it contains the very first ballad
that Dead or Alive ever recorded, a seasonal track called "Blue Christmas" (an original composition and not a cover of the song of the same name
popularized by Elvis Presley
).
In 1992 the band had planned to release Fan the Flame (Part 2), which was very similar in style to Part 1. It would have featured tracks such as "I Don't Care About Your Heart" as well as a cover of Barry White's "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me
". The album also featured tracks which would later be re-recorded for the Nukleopatra
album, including "Sleep With You". Unfortunately, the album never saw release. Burns was reportedly displeased with the album's conservative musical style, which may have contributed to its eventual withdrawal. It is often confused with the acoustic Love Pete album, which was sold in cassette form on the band's 1992 tour (during which tracks from Part 2 were previewed) and has since been bootlegged
with the title Fan the Flame (Part 2): The Acoustic Sessions. This album is another departure in style and featured simply a piano
as instrumentation. The acoustic
album included rerecordings of a few tracks from Part 1
and remakes of "Send in the Clowns
", "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", and "My Funny Valentine
". According to Burns, the album was scrapped before production but has since resurfaced on the internet.
For a few years, Dead or Alive was mostly inactive in the recording studio, until Pete Burns resurfaced in 1994 as vocalist on a single for the Italian techno
outfit Glam. Burns helped write the single, "Sex Drive", which was a major return to the dance floor. Burns and Coy flirted with the idea of recording under the name International Chrysis
, named after the late transsexual nightclub performer, and released a single as such in 1994, a cover version
of David Bowie
's "Rebel Rebel
".
The year 1995 saw a resurrection of the Dead or Alive moniker with keyboardist Jason Alburey joining Burns and Coy for the album Nukleopatra
, which was eagerly anticipated by the band's large fan base. The album featured a smattering of previously released material, including "Rebel Rebel", "Sex Drive", and two tracks that originally appeared on Fan the Flame (Part 1), "Gone Too Long" and "Unhappy Birthday". The album also featured a cover of Blondie
's "Picture This". Initially released in Japan only, Nukleopatra, unlike its predecessor, was also released in Australia, Singapore
, South Africa, France and the US, and each release sported different cover art, tracklistings and song versions; many releases of Nukleopatra also included one or more remixes of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)".
In 2000, Dead or Alive released Fragile
, a compilation of remixes with several new tracks and covers including U2
's "Even Better Than the Real Thing
" and Nick Kamen
's "I Promised Myself". A second remix album, Unbreakable
, was released in 2001. This was followed by a greatest hits album called Evolution: the Hits
, released in 2003 which featured yet another remix of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"; both of them enjoyed, for the first time since Nude, a UK release, with "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" re-entering the top forty.
In 2004, Burns enjoyed solo success with the Pet Shop Boys
-produced track "Jack and Jill Party". Although only released through Pet Shop Boys' website, the track reached number 75 in the UK singles chart, and was an underground club hit.
In April 2009, Dead or Alive announced the release of an album later on in the year and the possibility of a promotional single. It was also announced that Steve Coy
now manages the band. Burns was also said to be recording a song with electro-pop group The Dirty Disco that was scheduled for release during the summer of 2009. The single has yet to be released as of February 2010.
In January 2010, it was announced that Dead or Alive was planning on touring for the 25th anniversary of the release of "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)". This tour never finalized, and during a Q & A session on Pete's official Facebook group on August 21, 2011, he stated Dead Or Alive will never reform, however Pete will still have solo releases.
) were filmed and released on VHS
. For the tour, the band remixed several of their songs including 1984's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" and "My Heart Goes Bang
".
It was widely believed that the concert was entirely mimed; however, parts of the show were live, while others were pre-recorded or mimed. Whereas Burns lip synched to a vocal track, the band (Coy, Lever and Percy) played the backing track live while two dancers mimed the guitar solos.
The tour was re-released in 2003 on the Evolution DVD. It was also released as a Laserdisc and as a CD (though the CD version was not a live recording).
Dead or Alive played all their concerts fully live until 1985 and in 1990, most notably the Youthquake Tour in 1985. The band also went on many other tours, most notably the 1989 Japanese Disco in Dream tour and the 1990 Fan The Flame Tour.
and performing modern dance with socialist politician George Galloway
. Following the end of the show (Burns finished in fifth place), the Youthquake version of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" was re-released and reached the top five in the UK singles chart
. Burns himself expressed distaste for the re-release, he is quoted as saying "it's like wearing a school uniform at the age of 46".
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band from Wirral
Metropolitan Borough of Wirral
The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, in North West England. It has a population of 311,200, and encompasses of the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula. Major settlements include Birkenhead, Wallasey, Bebington, Heswall, Hoylake and West Kirby. The city of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The band rose to fame in the 1980s with their number one single on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)
You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)
"You Spin Me Round " is a song by British band Dead or Alive on their 1985 album Youthquake. The song was the first UK number-one hit by the Stock Aitken Waterman production trio. Released in November 1984, the record reached number one in March 1985, taking seventeen weeks to get there...
". They were the first group to have a number one single under the production team Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman, sometimes known as SAW, were a UK songwriting and record producing trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. They had great success during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s...
. The band, which has variously included Pete Burns
Pete Burns
Pete Burns is an English singer-songwriter, author and television personality who founded the band Dead or Alive in 1980, for which he acted as the vocalist and songwriter, and which rose to mainstream success with their 1985 single "You Spin Me Round "...
(vocalist), Wayne Hussey
Wayne Hussey
Wayne Hussey is a British musician, best known as lead singer of The Mission and guitarist with The Sisters of Mercy....
(guitarist and songwriter), Mike Percy (bass guitarist), Steve Coy (drummer), Timothy Lever (various instruments), and Jason Alburey (keyboardist), has released eleven albums, and has become popular in Japan, especially after the release of Rip it Up in 1987.
After the success of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", they never achieved another Top 10 single in the UK until the song's re-release in 2006, after Burns appeared on Celebrity Big Brother. Although considered a one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
in the United States, two of their singles reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. "You Spin Me Round" reached number 11 in 1985, and "Brand New Lover
Brand New Lover
"Brand New Lover" is the name of a song recorded by the British new wave band Dead or Alive. It was the first single to be released from the band's third album, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know. It achieved international success when released as a single in 1986. The song proved to be more...
" reached number 15 in 1986. The latter also became the first of two singles to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
(now Hot Dance Club Songs). Androgynous
Androgyny
Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ, stem ανδρ- and γυνή , referring to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics...
frontman Burns has appeared in several reality television shows, including Celebrity Big Brother, and has also collaborated with the British band The Dirty Disco
The Dirty Disco
The Dirty Disco are a London based Electro-Rock /Synth-Pop Musical group. The group is composed of Adam Boy , Kyle Mackenzie , Olly Dexter , Andrew Ignatius , Kyle Langley and The Retrosexuals .Several of the band's tracks including debut single "Sista", "White Room" and "Storyteller" have been...
.
Band members
The band members have included the following musicians:- Pete BurnsPete BurnsPete Burns is an English singer-songwriter, author and television personality who founded the band Dead or Alive in 1980, for which he acted as the vocalist and songwriter, and which rose to mainstream success with their 1985 single "You Spin Me Round "...
(1980–): Vocalist of the band and chief songwriter. Burns did not play any instruments, but mimed with an electric guitar in some music videos. - Wayne Hussey (1981–1984): An early member of the band who wrote most songs in 1982-1983, plus the Epic RecordsEpic RecordsEpic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
singles "Misty Circles" and "What I Want". Hussey departed in early 1984 to join The Sisters of MercyThe Sisters of MercyThe Sisters of Mercy are an English rock band that formed in 1980. After achieving early underground fame in UK, the band had their commercial breakthrough in mid-1980s and sustained it until the early 1990s, when they stopped releasing new recorded output in protest against their record company...
for one year, and then formed The Mission in late 1985. - Mike Percy (1981–1989): Bass player. Percy was noted for his mullet hairstyleMullet (haircut)The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back. . The mullet began to appear in popular media in the 1960s and 1970s but did not become generally well-known until the early 1980s...
and, along with Lever, wrote most of Dead or Alive's songs from 1984 until 1990. Percy wrote and performed the backing track for the hit song "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)". - Steve Coy (1982–): Formerly a roadie, and then the drummer, he was the only member to be a good friend of Burns prior to the band's creation in 1980. He was also the youngest member of the band, who wrote music for the band, but not lyrics. As of 1996, Coy took over the job of producing Dead or Alive's videos, starting with the David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
cover, "Rebel RebelRebel Rebel"Rebel Rebel" is a song by David Bowie, released in 1974 as a single and on the album Diamond Dogs. Cited as his most-covered track, it was effectively Bowie's farewell to the glam movement that had made him a star.-Music and lyrics:...
", from the album, NukleopatraNukleopatraNukleopatra is the sixth studio album from British dance music band Dead or Alive. Still a massive success in Japan, Epic Records released Nukleopatra there in 1995. Left without a record contract in the UK and the US, this album did not get released in other territories until years later...
. - Timothy Lever (1983–1989): Keyboards, saxophone, and guitars, Lever and bassist Mike Percy were responsible for most of the songwriting for the band.
- Jason Alburey (1995–2003): Keyboardist for the band, he modernized the band's musical sound. Alburey appears in the 2003 video for the re-release of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", despite having nothing to do with the song itself.
Earlier members
- Sue James (1980–1981): bass guitarist
- Adrian Mitchley (1980–1981): guitarist
- Joe Musker (1980–1982): drummer
- Martin Healy (1980–1983): keyboardist
History
Early career of band
Dead or Alive (DOA for short, not to be confused with punk band D.O.A.D.O.A. (band)
D.O.A. is a hardcore punk band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They are often referred to as the "founders" of hardcore punk, along with Black Flag, Bad Brains, Teen Idles, and Minor Threat. Their second album Hardcore '81 was thought by many to have been the first actual reference to...
) was founded in 1980 in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
by Pete Burns, who was encouraged by local music promoters to gather a band together based on his outrageous appearance alone. It was only after rehearsing in 1977 with some friends that Burns realized he really did have a powerful singing voice, and his first band was an outfit he formed with friends Julian Cope
Julian Cope
Julian Cope is a British rock musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator...
, Pete Wylie
Pete Wylie
-Studio albums:- Extended Plays :-Singles:-External links:***...
, and Phil Hurst. Dubbing themselves The Mystery Girls, they played only one gig (opening for Sham 69
Sham 69
Sham 69 is an English punk band that formed in Hersham in 1976.Although not as commercially successful as many of their contemporaries, albeit with a greater number of chart entries, Sham 69 has been a huge musical and lyrical influence on the Oi! and streetpunk genres. The band allegedly derived...
at Eric's in Liverpool in November 1977) before disintegrating. Burns returned in 1979 with a new band, Nightmares in Wax, featuring a gothic post-punk
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
sound, with backing from Hurst, keyboardist Martin Healy, bassist Walter Ogden, and guitarist Mick Reid. Nightmares in Wax played their first gig at Eric's in February 1979, and were signed to the associated Eric's Records label, although their only recording, a three-track 7" EP entitled Birth of a Nation, was released in 1980 by Inevitable Records (a 12-inch single featuring two of the tracks from the EP, "Black Leather" and "Shangri-La", was released in 1985). The EP featured "Black Leather", which halfway through turned into K.C. & the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way" (a song later revived by Dead or Alive).
In 1980, after several line-up changes since the start of the year, and just before they were to record a radio session for John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, Burns changed the name of the band to the more marketable Dead or Alive. The band went through several different lineup changes over the next three years while recording a series of independent singles. Burns' eccentric and androgynous appearance began attracting attention, often leading to comparisons with Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...
, lead singer of the band Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
, who hit the music scene just a few years after Dead or Alive.
Dead or Alive's singles started placing high in the UK Indie Chart
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
, with 1982's "The Stranger" reaching number seven, and Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
took notice and signed the band in 1983. Their first release for Epic was the single "Misty Circles", which appeared at number 100 in the Gallup charts of week ending 4 June 1983. At this point, the band was a five-piece consisting of Burns, Mike Percy (bass), Tim Lever (keyboards/sax), Steve Coy (drums), and Wayne Hussey
Wayne Hussey
Wayne Hussey is a British musician, best known as lead singer of The Mission and guitarist with The Sisters of Mercy....
(guitar). Two more singles, "What I Want" and "I'd Do Anything", were club hits, but mainstream success continued to elude the band.
DOA's debut album, Sophisticated Boom Boom
Sophisticated Boom Boom
Sophisticated Boom Boom is the debut album by the British pop group Dead or Alive, released in 1984. Containing mostly synth pop and dance elements, the record was a minor success in the UK where it peaked at #29 and contained the band's first UK Top 40 single, a remake of KC & the Sunshine Band's...
, (UK number 29, GER number 82) was released in May 1984 and featured Dead or Alive's first Top 40 UK single, a remake of the 1975 hit by KC and the Sunshine Band
KC and the Sunshine Band
KC and the Sunshine Band is an American musical group. Founded in 1973 in Miami, Florida, their style has included funk, R&B, and disco. Their most well known songs include the disco hits "That's the Way ", " Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love", "Get Down Tonight", "Give...
"That's the Way (I Like It)
That's the Way (I Like It)
"That's the Way " is a song written by H.W. Casey and Richard Finch, and recorded and released in 1975 by KC and the Sunshine Band for their eponymous second album...
". Hussey departed Dead or Alive just before the album's release, despite having had a hand in writing much of the material that appears on it. The single peaked at number 22 in the UK and the album at number 29.
Chart success
Now a stable four-piece, in 1985 DOA released their second album Youthquake (UK number 9, US number 31), produced by the then-fledgling songwriting/production team formed of Mike Stock, Matt AitkenMatt Aitken
Matthew James Aitken , is a British songwriter and record producer, brought up in Astley, Greater Manchester, best known as the creative force behind the 1980s songwriting/production trio Stock Aitken Waterman....
, and Pete Waterman
Pete Waterman
Peter Alan Waterman OBE is an English record producer, occasional songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman songwriting team he wrote and produced many hit singles...
known as Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman, sometimes known as SAW, were a UK songwriting and record producing trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. They had great success during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s...
(SAW). The single You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)
You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)
"You Spin Me Round " is a song by British band Dead or Alive on their 1985 album Youthquake. The song was the first UK number-one hit by the Stock Aitken Waterman production trio. Released in November 1984, the record reached number one in March 1985, taking seventeen weeks to get there...
went to number one on the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
after having lingered outside the Top 40 for over two months; the song was SAW's first chart-topping single and remains a club favourite over two decades later. The single also hit number one in Canada. It reached number 11 in the US, number two in Italy, number three in Australia, and achieved Top 10 status in numerous countries. Other album tracks released as singles included "Lover Come Back To Me
Lover Come Back to Me (Dead or Alive song)
"Lover Come Back to Me" is a 1985 single by Dead or Alive and was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. The single mix features slightly different instrumentation to the version featured on Youthquake, but is otherwise identical. The 7" single charted at #11 in the UK, #3 in South Africa, #21 in...
", "In Too Deep
In Too Deep (Dead or Alive song)
"In Too Deep" is a song by the British New Wave band Dead or Alive. It was included on their 1985 studio album Youthquake, and was remixed for release as the third single to be taken from the album in June 1985....
", and "My Heart Goes Bang
My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me to the Doctor)
"My Heart Goes Bang" is the fourth and final single from Dead or Alive's second studio album Youthquake. It charted at #23 in the United Kingdom, #41 in Australia and became a huge dance hit in the U.S.-Remixes:...
", all becoming huge dance hits. The music video of "You Spin Me Round", directed by Anthea Benton and Vaughan Arnell, is popular on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, with more than 14,327,000 views (as of October 2011).
In 1987, Dead or Alive released their third album, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know
Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know (Dead or Alive album)
Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know is the third album by British dance band Dead or Alive and was released in February 1987 on Epic Records. Continuing their association with the Stock Aitken Waterman production team, Dead or Alive scored several hit singles from this album, including "Brand New...
(UK number 27, US number 52), also produced by SAW. The album included one of the band's best-known songs, "Brand New Lover
Brand New Lover
"Brand New Lover" is the name of a song recorded by the British new wave band Dead or Alive. It was the first single to be released from the band's third album, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know. It achieved international success when released as a single in 1986. The song proved to be more...
", which was more successful in the US (number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, and number one on the Billboard dance chart
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
) than in the band's native UK (number 31). Three more singles from the album were released, all of them causing some sort of controversy. The most successful in the UK (a number 12 hit) was "Something in My House", tonally very Gothic and with a sleeve depicting Burns in front of what appears to be a Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
ic altar, featuring an inverted crucifix. A 12" version of the song, the 'Mortevicar Mix', featured sampling of dialogue from the soundtrack of The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
and a sampling from the George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
American movie trailer from his film Day of the Dead (1985
1985 in film
-Events:* 3 December - Roger Moore steps down from the role of James Bond after twelve years and seven films. He is replaced by Timothy Dalton.* The Academy Award for Best Picture was won by Out Of Africa, while the highest grossing film was Back to the Future.* Bliss wins AFI Award for best Movie...
). A third single, "Hooked on Love", suffered from very little promotion due to what the record company felt was a "Gothic" overtone that had been added to the song in a post-production remix, and barely managed to scrape into the UK top 70. The picture sleeve to the fourth single, "I'll Save You All My Kisses", originally featured Burns with a metal "Sex" belt buckle in front of his lips, but Epic covered up the word "Sex" with a sticker that said "Kiss" after retailers objected. The video was banned by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
because of its suggestively homosexual content, which depicted Burns in black tights and a leather jacket singing the song from a baseball diamond while a number of men clung to a fence and ogled him, with one tearing off his shirt towards the end. However, despite these setbacks, the band continued to have chart success in US, England, Canada, Australia, and particularly Japan.
In 1988, DOA parted ways with Stock, Aitken and Waterman, and in 1989, Tim Lever and Mike Percy left the band to form careers as mixers and producers. The pair currently own and operate Steelworks Studios in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, UK. As recordists, Lever and Percy have had more chart success than they ever did with Dead or Alive, writing and mixing number-one tracks from bands like S Club 7
S Club 7
S Club, formerly known as S Club 7, were a pop group created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller, consisting of members Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, de facto lead singer Jo O'Meara, Hannah Spearritt and Rachel Stevens. The group rose to fame by starring in their...
, Blue
Blue (boy band)
Blue are an English pop vocal group, whose members are Simon Webbe, Lee Ryan, Duncan James and Antony Costa. Blue originally formed in 2001 before splitting in 2005. In 2009, it was confirmed that the band would reform. In April 2009, the group reunited and a Best of Blue Tour was announced...
and Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
. In 1989, Dead or Alive, pared down to a duo of Burns and Coy, released the self-produced Nude
Nude (Dead or Alive album)
Nude is the fourth studio album released by Dead or Alive in 1989 on Epic Records. The band lost their foothold in the UK and U.S. charts with this album, although it proved to be a massive success in Japan, where "Turn Around and Count 2 Ten" spent seventeen weeks at number one. "Come Home "...
, which featured the hit "Turn Around and Count 2 Ten". "Turn Around" was the band's biggest hit in Japan. It was followed up by "Come Home with Me Baby", which hit number one in Brazil. The single was a US club hit, including number one on the US dance charts, but it failed to generate significant radio play, partially due to a reactionary attitude toward the song's seemingly casual attitude toward sex at a time when AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
awareness was coming into the public consciousness.
Later releases
1990 saw the release of Fan the Flame (Part 1)Fan the Flame (Part 1)
Fan the Flame is the fifth studio album from dance music band Dead or Alive and was released in 1990. Epic Records released Fan the Flame in Japan only. To this day it is still available only as a Japanese import....
; however, the album was only released in Japan. The album was a radical departure in style. Instead of high energy dance beats, the album had more of a 1970s disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
style crossed with lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
-style vocals. The album had three singles, "Your Sweetness (Is Your Weakness)", "Gone Too Long", and "Unhappy Birthday". Fan the Flame (Part 1) also is notable because it contains the very first ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
that Dead or Alive ever recorded, a seasonal track called "Blue Christmas" (an original composition and not a cover of the song of the same name
Blue Christmas
"Blue Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. The heart-broken tale of unrequited love during the holidays had long been considered a Christmas staple of country music, having been recorded first by Doye O'Dell in 1948 and popularised by Ernest Tubb the next year...
popularized by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
).
In 1992 the band had planned to release Fan the Flame (Part 2), which was very similar in style to Part 1. It would have featured tracks such as "I Don't Care About Your Heart" as well as a cover of Barry White's "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me
It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me
"It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me" was a hit song by Barry White. The song was written by Ekundayo Paris and Nelson Pigford. Similar to the initial reaction after first hearing his earlier hit "You're the First, the Last, My Everything", when those close to White heard the demo of "It's...
". The album also featured tracks which would later be re-recorded for the Nukleopatra
Nukleopatra
Nukleopatra is the sixth studio album from British dance music band Dead or Alive. Still a massive success in Japan, Epic Records released Nukleopatra there in 1995. Left without a record contract in the UK and the US, this album did not get released in other territories until years later...
album, including "Sleep With You". Unfortunately, the album never saw release. Burns was reportedly displeased with the album's conservative musical style, which may have contributed to its eventual withdrawal. It is often confused with the acoustic Love Pete album, which was sold in cassette form on the band's 1992 tour (during which tracks from Part 2 were previewed) and has since been bootlegged
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
with the title Fan the Flame (Part 2): The Acoustic Sessions. This album is another departure in style and featured simply a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
as instrumentation. The acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
album included rerecordings of a few tracks from Part 1
Fan the Flame (Part 1)
Fan the Flame is the fifth studio album from dance music band Dead or Alive and was released in 1990. Epic Records released Fan the Flame in Japan only. To this day it is still available only as a Japanese import....
and remakes of "Send in the Clowns
Send in the Clowns
"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she...
", "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", and "My Funny Valentine
My Funny Valentine
"My Funny Valentine" is a show tune from the 1937 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart musical Babes in Arms in which it was introduced by former child star Mitzi Green...
". According to Burns, the album was scrapped before production but has since resurfaced on the internet.
For a few years, Dead or Alive was mostly inactive in the recording studio, until Pete Burns resurfaced in 1994 as vocalist on a single for the Italian techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
outfit Glam. Burns helped write the single, "Sex Drive", which was a major return to the dance floor. Burns and Coy flirted with the idea of recording under the name International Chrysis
International Chrysis
International Chrysis was an American transgender entertainer and protégé to Salvador Dali.-Life and career:Chrysis was a member of the Hot Peaches troupe and appeared briefly in the 1968 documentary The Queen...
, named after the late transsexual nightclub performer, and released a single as such in 1994, a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's "Rebel Rebel
Rebel Rebel
"Rebel Rebel" is a song by David Bowie, released in 1974 as a single and on the album Diamond Dogs. Cited as his most-covered track, it was effectively Bowie's farewell to the glam movement that had made him a star.-Music and lyrics:...
".
The year 1995 saw a resurrection of the Dead or Alive moniker with keyboardist Jason Alburey joining Burns and Coy for the album Nukleopatra
Nukleopatra
Nukleopatra is the sixth studio album from British dance music band Dead or Alive. Still a massive success in Japan, Epic Records released Nukleopatra there in 1995. Left without a record contract in the UK and the US, this album did not get released in other territories until years later...
, which was eagerly anticipated by the band's large fan base. The album featured a smattering of previously released material, including "Rebel Rebel", "Sex Drive", and two tracks that originally appeared on Fan the Flame (Part 1), "Gone Too Long" and "Unhappy Birthday". The album also featured a cover of Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
's "Picture This". Initially released in Japan only, Nukleopatra, unlike its predecessor, was also released in Australia, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, South Africa, France and the US, and each release sported different cover art, tracklistings and song versions; many releases of Nukleopatra also included one or more remixes of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)".
In 2000, Dead or Alive released Fragile
Fragile (Dead or Alive album)
Fragile is the seventh album released by British band Dead or Alive in 2000. Like their album Fan the Flame , this album has only seen a release in Japan from japanese big independent Record Company Avex Trax, where the band is very popular. Containing a total of thirteen tracks, the album...
, a compilation of remixes with several new tracks and covers including U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
's "Even Better Than the Real Thing
Even Better Than the Real Thing
"Even Better Than the Real Thing" is the second song on U2's 1991 album Achtung Baby. It was released as the album's fourth single on 7 June 1992.-Writing and recording:...
" and Nick Kamen
Nick Kamen
Nick Kamen is an English male model, songwriter and musician, and brother of session guitarist Chester Kamen and artist Barry Kamen.-Career:...
's "I Promised Myself". A second remix album, Unbreakable
Unbreakable (Dead or Alive album)
Unbreakable: The Fragile Remixes is an album released by British band Dead or Alive in 2001 which served as a companion piece to their 2000 album Fragile. Unbreakable contains ten tracks which are remixes of Fragile songs...
, was released in 2001. This was followed by a greatest hits album called Evolution: the Hits
Evolution: the Hits
Evolution: The Hits is a compilation album from the British dance/pop band Dead or Alive, in 2003.Evolution: The Hits is the band's second "greatest hits" collection, after 1987's Rip It Up...
, released in 2003 which featured yet another remix of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"; both of them enjoyed, for the first time since Nude, a UK release, with "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" re-entering the top forty.
In 2004, Burns enjoyed solo success with the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
-produced track "Jack and Jill Party". Although only released through Pet Shop Boys' website, the track reached number 75 in the UK singles chart, and was an underground club hit.
In April 2009, Dead or Alive announced the release of an album later on in the year and the possibility of a promotional single. It was also announced that Steve Coy
Steve Coy
Steve Coy is an English singer-songwriter, percussionist and composer. In 1982 he joined the band Dead or Alive, which was fronted by his friend Pete Burns. Currently Burns and Coy are the only remaining members of the band...
now manages the band. Burns was also said to be recording a song with electro-pop group The Dirty Disco that was scheduled for release during the summer of 2009. The single has yet to be released as of February 2010.
In January 2010, it was announced that Dead or Alive was planning on touring for the 25th anniversary of the release of "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)". This tour never finalized, and during a Q & A session on Pete's official Facebook group on August 21, 2011, he stated Dead Or Alive will never reform, however Pete will still have solo releases.
Concerts
In 1987, the band embarked on their world tour which consisted of dates in Europe, Japan and the USA. The dates in Japan (Tokyo and OsakaOsaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
) were filmed and released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
. For the tour, the band remixed several of their songs including 1984's "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" and "My Heart Goes Bang
My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me to the Doctor)
"My Heart Goes Bang" is the fourth and final single from Dead or Alive's second studio album Youthquake. It charted at #23 in the United Kingdom, #41 in Australia and became a huge dance hit in the U.S.-Remixes:...
".
It was widely believed that the concert was entirely mimed; however, parts of the show were live, while others were pre-recorded or mimed. Whereas Burns lip synched to a vocal track, the band (Coy, Lever and Percy) played the backing track live while two dancers mimed the guitar solos.
The tour was re-released in 2003 on the Evolution DVD. It was also released as a Laserdisc and as a CD (though the CD version was not a live recording).
Dead or Alive played all their concerts fully live until 1985 and in 1990, most notably the Youthquake Tour in 1985. The band also went on many other tours, most notably the 1989 Japanese Disco in Dream tour and the 1990 Fan The Flame Tour.
Celebrity Big Brother
In 2006, Pete Burns took part in the TV show Celebrity Big Brother in the UK. His eccentric appearance, surprising behaviour, and explosive attitude made him a staple character in the show, which received huge audiences. Burns became known for openly insulting actress Traci BinghamTraci Bingham
Traci Bingham is an American actress, model and television personality who is best known for playing Jordan Tate on the television series Baywatch between 1996 and 1998.-Personal life:...
and performing modern dance with socialist politician George Galloway
George Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
. Following the end of the show (Burns finished in fifth place), the Youthquake version of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" was re-released and reached the top five in the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. Burns himself expressed distaste for the re-release, he is quoted as saying "it's like wearing a school uniform at the age of 46".
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart