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Dead or Alive (band)

Summary

Dead or Alive were an English pop band that released six studio albums from 1984 to 1995. The band formed in 1980 in Liverpool and found success in the mid-1980s, releasing seven singles that made the UK Top 40 and three albums in the UK Top 30. At the peak of their success, the lineup consisted of Pete Burns (vocals), Steve Coy (drums), Mike Percy (bass) and Tim Lever (keyboards), with the core pair of Burns and Coy writing and producing for the remainder of the band's career due to Percy and Lever exiting the group in 1989. Burns died in 2016; with the death of Coy in 2018, the band ended.

Dead or Alive
The band posing for a black-and-white photo
Dead or Alive, 1984. From left to right: Mike Percy, Steve Coy, Pete Burns, and Tim Lever.
Background information
OriginLiverpool, England
Genres
Years active1980–2018
Labels
Past members

Two of the band's singles reached the US Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100: "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (No. 11 in August 1985)[5] and "Brand New Lover" (No. 15 in March 1987). "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" peaked at No. 1 for two weeks in 1985 in the UK, then charted again in 2006 following Burns' appearance on the television reality show Celebrity Big Brother and on season 4 of Stranger Things.[6] It also became the first of two singles to top the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. In December 2016, Billboard ranked them as the 96th most successful "dance artist" of all time.[7]

History edit

Formation and early career of band edit

 
Nightmares in Wax (March 1980)

In 1977, Burns formed a punk band with contemporaries Julian Cope, Pete Wylie, and Phil Hurst, calling themselves The Mystery Girls. They only had one performance (opening for Sham 69 at Eric's Club in Liverpool in November 1977) before disintegrating. Cope stated that Burns's performing style drew on that of the transgender punk performer Wayne County and Wylie recalled that "his head looked like someone had melted a load of black vinyl down into a kind of space quiff."[8][9]

Burns continued in early-1979 with a new band, Nightmares in Wax (originally called Rainbows Over Nagasaki), featuring a gothic post-punk sound, with backing from keyboardist Martin Healy, guitarist Mick Reid, bassist Rob Jones (who left to be replaced by Walter Ogden), and drummer Paul Hornby (who also exited after the band's formation to be replaced by Phil Hurst).[10]

The group played their first gig supporting Wire at Eric's Club in July 1979,[11] and recorded demos which included a cover of the Simon Dupree and the Big Sound song "Kites", a feature of their early shows. Although signed to the Eric's Records label, their only release, a three-track 7-inch EP entitled Birth of a Nation, appeared in March 1980 on Inevitable Records. A 12-inch single featuring two of the tracks from the EP, "Black Leather" and "Shangri-La", was released in 1985.[12] The EP featured "Black Leather", which turned halfway into KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)".[10]

The band went through several line-up changes over the next three years while recording a series of independent singles.[13] In 1980, after replacing several members, Burns changed the band's name to Dead or Alive.[10] Dead or Alive's singles started charting on the UK Indie Chart, beginning with 1982's "The Stranger" reaching No. 7.[14] This prompted major label Epic Records to sign the band in 1983. Their first release for Epic was the single "Misty Circles", which appeared at No. 100 on the major UK Singles Chart in 1983. Two more singles co-produced by Zeus B. Held ("What I Want" and "I'd Do Anything") were released but mainstream success continued to elude the band.

The band's debut album, Sophisticated Boom Boom, was released in May 1984 and featured their first Top 40 UK single, "That's the Way (I Like It)", a cover of the 1975 hit by KC and the Sunshine Band.[13] That song, along with "Misty Circles", were also hits on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.[15] The album was a minor success in the UK where it peaked at No. 29.[16] As Burns and his band achieved greater media exposure, his eccentric and androgynous appearance often led to comparisons with Culture Club and its lead singer Boy George as well as "Calling Your Name" singer Marilyn.[13] Burns would describe producing his first album as "the most joyous experience of my life, full of happy memories, because there was no commercial pressure on us."[17]

Chart success edit

The band released its second album Youthquake (US No. 31, UK No. 9) in May 1985, produced by the then-fledgling production team of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman, known as Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW). Recording of the first single "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" was plagued by arguments between the band and producers,[18] but became the band's only song to reach No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart[19] after lingering outside the Top 40 for over two months. The song proved to be SAW's first chart-topping single.[18] The track also hit No. 11 in the US and No. 1 in Canada.[20]

Other album tracks released as singles included "Lover Come Back To Me" (No. 11), "In Too Deep" (No. 14), and "My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me to the Doctor)" (No. 23) which all reached the UK Top 30. Burns would later criticise SAW for their methods, describing that "they took our sound and just basically wheeled it off with a load of other imbeciles, and that makes me a bit sour."[21] Burns stated in his autobiography that he composed "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by using two existing songs:

How did I write "Spin Me"? I listened to Luther Vandross's 'I Wanted Your Love'. It's not the same chord structure, but then that's the way I make music – I hear something and I sing another tune over it. I didn't sit and study the Luther Vandross album – I heard the song and it locked. [...] I'm trying to structure the music and I know what I want. [...] It's like do this, do this, do this – and suddenly it hits. I don't want to do Luther Vandross's song, but I can still sing the same pattern over it. And there was another record, by Little Nell, called "See You 'Round Like a Record". [...] So I had those two, Van Dross [sic] and Little Nell and – bingo! – done deal.

— Pete Burns, Freak Unique (2007)

According to Burns, the record company was unenthusiastic about the single to such an extent that Burns had to take out a £2,500 loan to record it. Afterward, he recalled, "the record company said it was awful" and the band had to fund production of the song's video themselves.[22] Despite the international chart-topping success of Youthquake and its lead single, Burns said it was the album that he was "most dissatisfied with" and recalled that "one of the unhappiest days of my life was when Spin Me reached No. 1 – and I mean really unhappy. Because I knew it would be downhill all the way after that."[17] Burns had a fear of success and often hoped that his singles would not chart highly. "I didn't want too high positions because I didn't want to lose my life," he recalled. "I thought, if it happens it happens, but if it doesn't – phew!"[17]

In late 1986, Dead or Alive released their third album, Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know (US No. 52, UK No. 27). Production of the album was marred by more fights between the band and SAW, with the latter frustrated by the band's refusal to branch into house music,[23] and Burns being unwilling to hand over songwriting duties to the producers.[24] SAW's recording engineer Karen Hewitt recalled the singer appeared to thrive on his often explosive and confrontational dynamic with Mike Stock and Matt Aitken during the album sessions.[23] Matt Aitken confessed to struggling with Burns' vocal experimentation on the second SAW-produced album, including what he described as the introduction of a displeasing yodel.[25]

The lead single "Brand New Lover" became a modest UK hit, peaking at No. 31, but was more successful in the US where it reached No. 15 on the US Hot 100, and No. 1 on the US Billboard dance chart.[20] Following a fraught six-month recording session with producers Stock Aitken Waterman, which was marked by fights and disagreements between the band, record company and producers over the sound of their new material, Burns claimed he struggled to get Epic to commit to a release schedule for the single.[23]

He said this changed when Bananarama had major success with their Dead or Alive-inspired cover of "Venus", which Burns claimed encouraged the label to schedule "Brand New Lover" for release.[23] Later, Burns blamed the song's disappointing chart run in his home country on his then-ongoing war with his UK label, alleging that the company had failed to press and distribute enough copies of the single to make it a hit, and claiming the band had lost out on 67,000 UK sales as a result.[23]

Three more singles from the album were released, the most successful in the UK was "Something in My House" (No. 12), tonally Gothic and with a sleeve depicting Burns in front of what appears to be a Satanic altar, featuring an inverted cross. Originally conceived by Burns as a Halloween release, the horror-themed "Something in My House" was delayed until late December in the UK, amid wrangling between the band and their record company, with the latter feeling the track was "too brutal" to be a single.[23]

Clashes between the band and the label continued over the song's music video, with Epic Records reportedly objecting to a "mildly suggestive" sequence involving Burns and a banana.[26] "By the time we got to 'Something in My House', I felt I wanted to express myself on film, as well as record, amuse myself, show my sense of humour," Burns wrote on the liner notes to his Evolution: The Videos compilation DVD. "Well apparently the manner in which I 'peeled a banana' seemed to work against me/us! And, it was downhill all the way after that."[27][28]

Recording of the song was also fraught, with Burns alleging that producer Mike Stock erased his original vocal take after objecting to the singer's use of the phrase "wicked queen"; a lyrical double entendre implying reference to a gay relationship.[29] "We would butt heads so fucking badly; it was unbelievable," Burns told journalist James Arena in his book Europe's Stars of 80s Dance Pop. "That's why we eventually walked away from them. For instance, there was a lyric from 'Something in My House' where I make reference to a wicked queen. "The actual producer, Mike Stock stopped me and said I couldn't use that term because it would mean the record is about gay people. I was like, 'Fuck this, it's going on!' They actually wiped the original vocal, but then Pete Waterman came back and said, 'Let him do it the way he wants to.'"[29]

Despite the reservations of the label and producers, the track proved to be Dead or Alive's biggest hit in the UK since "Lover Come Back to Me" and was the only single from their third album to earn a UK Top 20 placement.[30] The song also proved to be the act's final Top 40 hit with an original release in the UK, and their last Top 20 hit in Australia.[30] A 12-inch version of the song, the 'Mortevicar Mix', featured scenes from Nosferatu and 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.

Another highly controversial 12-inch white label mix, known as "Naughty XXX",[31][32] was released to club DJs, featuring a series of stronger dialogue clips from The Exorcist – with the track described as "unique" in its capacity as the only known example of a "filthy, obscene [and] sexually explicit" Stock Aitken Waterman record.[33] A third single, "Hooked on Love", failed to make the UK Top 40 amid Burns' battle with the label over their refusal to prioritise his preferred mix, which featured a "Gothic" overtone.[34]

After the release of the album, Tim Lever and Mike Percy left the band to form careers as mixers and producers. The pair owned and operated Steelworks Studios in Sheffield[35] and experienced success writing and mixing songs for acts like S Club 7, Blue, and Robbie Williams.[36] In 1987, Dead or Alive released their greatest hits album Rip It Up, and a concert tour of the same name with dates in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Film footage was recorded at two shows at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan on 9 October and at Osaka's Osaka-jō Hall on 11 October, and released on video cassette (VHS) and Laserdisc that same year under the title Rip It Up Live. The concert was eventually issued as bonus material for the first time on DVD as part of the 2003 compilation release.[37]

External videos
  Dead or Alive - Rip It Up 1987
  Dead or Alive - Disco In Dream 1989
  Dead or Alive - Full Evolution 2003[38]

In mid-1988, Dead or Alive, now pared down to a duo of Burns and Coy, released the self-produced Nude (US No. 106, UK No. 82). In 2021, RetroPop Magazine retrospectively described Nude as the "perfect Dead or Alive album" and "their strongest offering overall".[39] The album featured the single "Turn Around and Count 2 Ten" which reached No. 2 in the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart and No. 1 for a record-breaking seventeen-weeks in Japan. It was followed by the single "Come Home with Me Baby" which reached No. 1 in Brazil and spent nine-weeks at No. 1 on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart along with the single "Baby Don't Say Goodbye" which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart for ten-weeks.[20]

In 1989, to support his Nude album and the release of its companion remix album Nude – Remade Remodelled, Burns toured with fellow Stock Aitken Waterman acts Sinitta and Kylie Minogue in Asia and Europe on the ensemble Disco in Dream concert tour. On 6 October, Burns gave a performance at the Tokyo Dome, the largest concert venue in Japan (with a seating capacity of 55,000 people), which was broadcast on the NHK television network.

1990s and 2000s edit

In 1990, the band produced their next studio album, Fan the Flame (Part 1), although their only successful record deal was in Japan where the album peaked at No. 27 on the Japanese Albums Chart. The band had begun to produce Fan the Flame (Part 2), however the album was shelved until it was finished in 2021.[40] An acoustic album Love, Pete was also made available during a US personal appearance tour in 1992 and was since widely bootlegged with the title Fan the Flame (Part 2): The Acoustic Sessions.[41][42][43][44] Pete strongly criticized its subsequent distribution.[45]

In the early-1990s, Burns and Coy signed with Pete Waterman's PWL Records and recording was started on new tracks co-written and produced by Mike Stock, but the sessions were aborted when Stock abruptly quit over his dissatisfaction with his share of publishing royalties on the new material.[46] Work on new material recommenced with PWL staffer Barry Stone taking over co-production duties.[46] The band released a new single in 1994, a cover version of David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel", under the name International Chrysis, named after the late transsexual nightclub performer. An initial demo of the track, which featured new lyrics written by Burns, was blocked by Bowie – who legally denied permission to use new lyrics, and also unsuccessfully requested the track not be covered by Burns at all.[46]

Remixed versions of tracks from Fan the Flame (Part 1) were later re-recorded for the band's 1995 Nukleopatra album which was their sixth studio album. While the album was released as scheduled in Japan, the planned European release was pulled when Burns left PWL Records after Pete Waterman refused his request to use Paul Oakenfold and other remixers to work on further singles, and instead insisted he wanted to write and produce for the band himself.[46] In 1997, Burns claimed that some of the song covers were included as "album fillers" after studio time to write new material was cut short when "the record label started to fall to bits".[47]

In the mid-1990s, Burns collaborated with the Italian Eurodance-duo Glam to produce the single "Sex Drive", which was later re-recorded for Nukleopatra. In 2000, Dead or Alive released Fragile, a collection of remakes with several new tracks and covers including U2's "Even Better Than the Real Thing" and Nick Kamen's "I Promised Myself". The first song on the album, "Hit and Run Lover", was a hit single peaking at No. 2 on the Japanese charts. A new remix album, Unbreakable: The Fragile Remixes, was released in 2001. This was followed in 2003 with a greatest hits album entitled Evolution: the Hits along with a video compilation that was also released on DVD. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" was re-released as a single to promote the album with it reaching No. 23 on the UK Singles Chart.[48]

2010s edit

In September 2010, Burns released a new single, "Never Marry an Icon". Even though Burns stated Dead or Alive had ceased to exist in 2011, Coy later declared the moniker was still active and the band was not over.[49] On 21 December 2012, Burns and Coy (as Dead or Alive) performed at the Pete Waterman concert Hit Factory Live at London's O2 Arena.[50][51] Burns died of cardiac arrest on 23 October 2016, at the age of 57, effectively ending the band.[52] Coy died on 4 May 2018 at the age of 56. Coy was in Italy to work on a new studio album before he died in a Bogliasco hospital following a period of severe illness.[53] On 28 October 2016, a 19-disc box set titled Sophisticated Boom Box MMXVI was released by Edsel Records. The release was announced on September 8, via Demon Music Group as a "personally curated [by Burns and Coy] 19 disc set, featuring the original album tracklistings plus a plethora of rarities, live recordings, alternate mixes, instrumental versions and more than 12 previously unreleased remixes and tracks from their vaults, bringing a unique collection together from the band’s internationally successful career for the very first time."[54]

Personnel – Nightmares in Wax/Dead or Alive edit

Members

Touring members

  • Sonia Mazumder – dancer, backing vocals (1982–1984)
  • James Hyde – dancer (1987–1990)
  • Adam Perry – dancer (1987)
  • Simon Gogerly – keytar, keyboards (1989)
  • B.J. Smouth – keyboards (1989)
  • Gary Hughes – dancer (1989)
  • Matt Selby – dancer (1989)
  • Tony Griffiths – dancer (1989)
  • Steve Agyei – dancer (1989)
  • Zeb Jamenson – keyboards (1990)
  • Tracy Ackerman – backing vocals (1990)
  • Tony Griffith – dancer (1990)
  • Philip Hurst – dancer (1990)
  • Mark Scott – dancer (1990)
  • Cliff Slapher – keyboards (2001)
  • Micki Dee – keyboards (2001)

Timeline edit

Discography edit

Studio albums edit

Remix albums edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Du Noyer, Paul (2007). Liverpool – Wondrous Place: From the Cavern to the Capital of Culture. Virgin Books. pp. 184, 198. ISBN 978-0-75351-269-2.
  2. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Dead or Alive – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Dead or Alive: Rip It Up > Review" at AllMusic. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  4. ^ Pilchak, Angela, ed. (2005). Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the People in Music. Gale. p. 20.
  5. ^ "You Spin Me Round". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  6. ^ "The 'Stranger Things' Season 4 Soundtrack Is the Ultimate Love Letter to the 1980s". Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists : Page 1". Billboard.com. December 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  8. ^ Petridis, Alexis (24 October 2016). "Pete Burns – provocateur with a pop brain and a sensitive side". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  9. ^ "Pete Burns: 1959-2016". Sound of the Crowd. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  10. ^ a b c Greene, Jo-Ann "Nightmares in Wax Biography", Allmusic.com. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  11. ^ Jonathan Buckley, Mark Ellingham, Justin Lewis, and Jill Furmanovsky (1996) The Rough Guide to Rock, Rough Guides, ISBN 978-1-85828-201-5
  12. ^ Gimarc, George (2005) Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock 1970–1982, Backbeat Books, ISBN 0-87930-848-6, p.312
  13. ^ a b c Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 657. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
  14. ^ Lazell, Barry (1997) Indie Hits 1980–1989, Cherry Red Books, ISBN 0-9517206-9-4, p.61
  15. ^ "Sophisticated Boom Boom > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles" at AllMusic. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  16. ^ "Sophisticated Boom Boom". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  17. ^ a b c "Dead Or Alive: Pete Burns – his final interview". Classic Pop. 19 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  18. ^ a b "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 3: You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Official UK Singles Top 100 – 23 March 2013 | Official UK Top 40". Theofficialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  20. ^ a b c [1] Archived 16 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ Pete Burns Interview by Sveta Breakfast Radio Show 1997. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  22. ^ Burns, Pete (2007). Freak Unique: My Autobiography. John Blake Publishing. pp. 95–97. ISBN 978-1-8445-4438-7.
  23. ^ a b c d e f "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 17: Ain't Nothing But a House Party to Something in My House on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  24. ^ Arena, James (7 July 2017). Europe's Stars of '80s Dance Pop: 32 International Music Legends Discuss Their Careers. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-7142-0.
  25. ^ "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 41: Looking Back with Matt Aitken on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Pop education: Pete Burns' band Dead or Alive were NOT a one hit wonder". New Idea. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  27. ^ Dead Or Alive – Evolution: The Videos (2003, DVD), retrieved 6 December 2021
  28. ^ Burns, Pete. "Evolution: The Hits DVD".
  29. ^ a b Arena, James (7 July 2017). Europe's Stars of '80s Dance Pop: 32 International Music Legends Discuss Their Careers. McFarland. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4766-7142-0.
  30. ^ a b "Official Charts > Dead or Alive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  31. ^ Dead Or Alive – Something In My House (XXX Clean And Dirty) (1986, Vinyl), 26 October 1986, retrieved 5 December 2021
  32. ^ Dead or Alive – Something In My House (Naughty XXX Mix), archived from the original on 12 December 2021, retrieved 5 December 2021
  33. ^ "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 17: Ain't Nothing But A House Party to Something In My House on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  34. ^ "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 23: Hooked On Love to Get Ready on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  35. ^ [2] Archived 29 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  36. ^ "Lever Guitars: About". Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  37. ^ "Dead Or Alive – Evolution: The Videos (DVD) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  38. ^ "Dead Or Alive – Evolution: The Videos (DVD) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  39. ^ Gotto, Connor (2 August 2021). "Dead or Alive's seven studio albums ranked from great to greatest".
  40. ^ "Dead or Alive's 'Fan the Flame (Part 2)' artwork and tracklist unveiled". Retro Pop. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  41. ^ "Dead Or Alive – Fan The Flame (Part II) "Love Pete" (The Acoustic Session)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  42. ^ "Images for Dead Or Alive - Fan The Flame (Part II) "Love Pete" (The Acoustic Session)". Discogs. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  43. ^ "Career Timeline". The Right Stuff - The Official Dead Or Alive Web Site. deadoralive.net. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  44. ^ "Bootlegs". Dead or Alive Discography. katch.ne.jp. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
  45. ^ Burns, Pete; Cranna, Ian (2007). Freak unique : my autobiography. London: John Blake. pp. 129–130. ISBN 978-1-84454-438-7.
  46. ^ a b c d "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 28: A Walk In The Park to Whatever Makes Our Love Grow on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  47. ^ Pete Burns Interview by Sveta Breakfast Radio Show 1997. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  48. ^ "Official Charts Company – Pete Burns". Official Charts Company. 19 June 2004. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  49. ^ "Transcript of Facebook Chat with Pete held on 21 August 2011" (PDF). Deadoralive.net. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  50. ^ "Hit Factory Live Tickets, Tour & Concert Information | Live Nation UK". Livenation.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  51. ^ "Hit Factory Live Christmas Cracker To Take Place at London's 02 | News | Music News". Noise11. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  52. ^ "Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns dies". BBC News. 24 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  53. ^ "Dead Or Alive's Steve Coy has passed away". Post Punk. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  54. ^ "Dead or Alive – Sophisticated Boom Box MMXVI | Demon Music Group".

External links edit

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