Dead or Alive (band)

History

Formation and early career of band

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 from the transgender punk performer Jayne County and Wylie recalled that "his head looked like someone had melted a load of black vinyl down into a kind of space quiff."

Burns continued in early-1979 with a new band, Rainbows Over Nagasaki (subsequently renamed Nightmares In Wax), 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).

The group played their first gig supporting Wire at Eric's Club in July 1979, and recorded demos which included a cover of the Simon Dupree and the Big Sound song "Kites", a feature of their early shows. Their sole release under the name Nightmares In Wax was a 7-inch EP, Birth of a Nation, released in March 1980 on Inevitable Records. The EP featured "Black Leather", which turned halfway into KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)". Two of the tracks from the EP, "Girl Song" and "Shangri-La", were re-released in 1985 as a 12” single, following the band’s later rise to fame.

In 1980, during a line-up change, Burns changed the band's name once more to Dead or Alive. The band went through several line-up changes over the next three years while recording a series of independent singles. Dead or Alive's singles started charting on the UK Indie Chart, beginning with 1982's "The Stranger" reaching No. 7. 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. That song, along with "Misty Circles", were also hits on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. The album was a minor success in the UK where it peaked at No. 29. 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. 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."

Chart success

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). "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" became the band's only song to reach No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart after lingering outside the Top 40 for over two months. The track also hit No. 11 in the US and No. 1 in Canada.

Burns said that the record company was initially unenthusiastic about the single to such an extent that he had to take out a £2,500 loan to record it. Afterward, he recalled, "the record company said it was awful" and the band also had to fund production of the song's video themselves. Additionally, Burns said that 12-inch singles comprised over 70% of the original sales of "You Spin Me Round", and because these were regarded by the record label as promotional tools rather than sales, the band had to threaten legal action against the label before they received the royalties on them.

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. 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." Burns had a fear of success and 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!"

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.

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.

Three more singles from the album were released; the most successful in the UK was "Something in My House" (No. 12). 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. 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. 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.

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.

At the end of 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". In the early phase of the album's production, Tim Lever and Mike Percy were fired from the band. The pair later formed careers as mixers and producers; both owned and operated Steelworks Studios in Sheffield and experienced success writing and mixing songs for acts like S Club 7, Blue, and Robbie Williams. From the information booklet in Sophisticated Boom Box MMXVI, Burns stated:

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 singles "Baby Don't Say Goodbye" which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and "Come Home with Me Baby" which spent thirteen-weeks at No. 1 on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play due to a popular remix by producer Lewis Martineé. However, "Come Home with Me Baby" and the other singles struggled in the UK. This was attributed to the lyrical theme of casual sex being at odds with the AIDs epidemic of the time.

Additionally, despite strong customer demand, the US record company refused to release it as a proper single (claiming they objected to the male dancers in the music video) which prevented the song from becoming a major hit on the Billboard Hot 100. 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

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. An acoustic album Love, Pete was also made available during a US personal appearance tour in 1992 and was since widely bootlegged.

The band returned in 1995 with a new studio album and contemporary sound with 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.

2010s

On 7 September 2010, Burns's solo single "Never Marry an Icon", produced and co-written by the Dirty Disco, was released to the iTunes Store. The single was released by fellow band member Steve Coy's label, Bristar Records. 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. On 21 December 2012, Burns and Coy performed at the Pete Waterman concert Hit Factory Live at London's O2 Arena. Burns died of a cardiac arrest on 23 October 2016, at the age of 57, ending the band.

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 tracks 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." 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 at his Bogliasco home following an eleven-month battle with cancer.

Personnel

Members

• Pete Burns – vocals, tambourine(1979–2016; his death)
• Martin Healy – keyboards (1979–1983; died 2025)
• Joe Musker – drums (1980–1982)
• Sue James – bass (1980–1981)
• Adrian Mitchley – guitars (1980–1981)
• Mike Percy – bass, guitars, keyboards (1981–1988)
• Wayne Hussey – guitars (1981–1984)
• Steve Coy – drums, percussion, keyboards, guitars, bass (1982–2016; died 2018)
• Timothy Lever – keyboards, saxophone, guitars, sequencers (1983–1988)
• Peter Oxendale – keyboards (1989–1995)
• Jason Alburey – keyboards, guitars (1995–2003)
• Dean Bright – keyboards, keytar (1995–2003)

Nightmares in Wax Members

• Mick Reid – guitars (1979–1980)
• Walter Ogden – bass (1979)
• Rob Jones – bass (1979)
• Paul Hornby – drums (1979; died 2015)
• Phil Hurst – drums (1979–1980)
• Pete Lloyd – bass (1980; died 2024)

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

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:85 bottom:60 top:10 right:0 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:1979 till:10/23/2016 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors = id:Vocal value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitars id:Keyboard value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Sax value:tan2 legend:Saxophone id:Keytar value:lavender legend:Keytar id:Album value:black legend:Album

Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1979 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1979

LineData = layer:back color:Album at:04/01/1984 at:05/01/1985 at:02/01/1987 at:07/01/1989 at:12/13/1990 at:10/01/1995 at:09/19/2000

BarData = bar:PB text:"Pete Burns" bar:MR text:"Mick Reid" bar:AM text:"Adrian Mitchley" bar:WH text:"Wayne Hussey" bar:MH text:"Martin Healy" bar:TL text:"Timothy Lever" bar:PO text:"Peter Oxendale" bar:JA text:"Jason Alburey" bar:DB text:"Dean Bright" bar:WO text:"Walter Ogden" bar:PL text:"Pete Lloyd" bar:SJ text:"Sue James" bar:MP text:"Mike Percy" bar:PA text:"Paul Hornby" bar:PH text:"Phil Hurst" bar:JM text:"Joe Musker" bar:SC text:"Steve Coy"

PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:PB from:01/01/1979 till:end color:Vocal bar:SC from:01/01/1982 till:end color:Drums bar:SC from:01/01/1989 till:end color:Guitar width:3 bar:SC from:01/01/1989 till:end color:Bass width:5 bar:SC from:01/01/1989 till:end color:Keyboard width:7 bar:MP from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/1989 color:Guitar width:3 bar:MP from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/1989 color:Bass bar:MP from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1989 color:Keyboard width:7 bar:TL from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1989 color:Keyboard bar:TL from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1989 color:Guitar width:3 bar:TL from:01/01/1983 till:01/01/1989 color:Sax width:7 bar:MH from:01/01/1979 till:01/01/1983 color:Keyboard bar:MR from:01/01/1979 till:03/31/1980 color:Guitar bar:PA from:01/01/1979 till:07/31/1979 color:Drums bar:PH from:08/01/1979 till:08/31/1980 color:Drums bar:JM from:09/01/1980 till:01/01/1983 color:Drums bar:AM from:04/01/1980 till:01/01/1981 color:Guitar bar:PL from:01/01/1980 till:03/31/1980 color:Bass bar:SJ from:04/01/1980 till:01/01/1981 color:Bass bar:WO from:01/01/1979 till:10/31/1979 color:Bass bar:WH from:01/01/1981 till:01/01/1984 color:Guitar bar:PO from:01/01/1990 till:12/31/1994 color:Keyboard bar:JA from:01/01/1995 till:12/31/2003 color:Keyboard bar:DB from:01/01/1995 till:12/31/2003 color:Keyboard bar:DB from:01/01/1995 till:12/31/2003 color:Keytar width:3 bar:JA from:01/01/2000 till:12/31/2003 color:Guitar width:3

Discography

Main article: Dead or Alive discography

• Sophisticated Boom Boom (1984)
• Youthquake (1985)
• Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know (1986)
• Nude (1988)
• Fan the Flame (Part 1) (1990)
• Nukleopatra (1995)
• Fragile (2000)
• Fan the Flame (Part 2): The Resurrection (2021)

References

References

1. {{AllMusic. Alex. Henderson
2. Du Noyer, Paul. (2007). "Liverpool – Wondrous Place: From the Cavern to the Capital of Culture". [[Virgin Books]].
3. Kreisler, Lauren. (4 July 2012). "Inside The Hit Factory: Dead Or Alive – You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)". [[Official Charts Company]].
4. Slotnik, Daniel E.. (27 October 2016). "Pete Burns, Frontman for the Band Dead or Alive, Dies at 57". The New York Times.
5. (2005). "Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the People in Music". [[Gale (publisher).
6. "You Spin Me Round".
7. "The 'Stranger Things' Season 4 Soundtrack Is the Ultimate Love Letter to the 1980s".
8. (December 2016). "Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists : Page 1".
9. Petridis, Alexis. (24 October 2016). "Pete Burns – provocateur with a pop brain and a sensitive side". The Guardian.
10. (24 October 2016). "Pete Burns: 1959-2016".
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. Greene, Jo-Ann [{{AllMusic
14. (1992). "[[The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]". [[Guinness Publishing]].
15. Lazell, Barry (1997) ''Indie Hits 1980–1989'', Cherry Red Books, {{ISBN. 0-9517206-9-4, p.61
16. {{AllMusic
17. "Sophisticated Boom Boom". [[Official Charts Company]].
18. (19 August 2021). "Dead Or Alive: Pete Burns – his final interview".
19. "Official UK Singles Top 100 – 23 March 2013 | Official UK Top 40". Theofficialcharts.com.
20. [http://www.allmusic.com/artist/dead-or-alive-mn0000226556%7Cawards] {{webarchive. link. (16 March 2013)
21. Burns, Pete. (2007). "Freak Unique: My Autobiography". [[John Blake Publishing]].
22. Arena, James. (2017). "Europe's Stars of '80s Dance Pop: 32 International Music Legends Discuss Their Careers". [[McFarland & Company]].
23. Arena, James. (2017-07-07). "Europe's Stars of '80s Dance Pop: 32 International Music Legends Discuss Their Careers". McFarland.
24. "Official Charts > Dead or Alive". [[Official Charts Company]].
25. "Dead Or Alive – Evolution: The Videos (DVD) at Discogs". Discogs.com.
26. "Dead Or Alive – Evolution: The Videos (DVD) at Discogs". Discogs.
27. Gotto, Connor. (2 August 2021). "Dead or Alive's seven studio albums ranked from great to greatest".
28. [http://home.btconnect.com/freedom-manageme/steelworks-studios/index.html] {{webarchive. link. (29 June 2007)
29. "Lever Guitars: About".
30. (28 October 2016). "Dead or Alive - Sophisticated Boom Box MMXVI".
31. [{{Allmusic
32. ''Freak Unique'' (paperback), pp 66–67
33. (2 September 2019). "Pop education: Pete Burns' band Dead or Alive were NOT a one hit wonder".
34. (10 August 2021). "Dead or Alive's 'Fan the Flame (Part 2)' artwork and tracklist unveiled". Retro Pop.
35. (1992). "Dead Or Alive – Fan The Flame (Part II) "Love Pete" (The Acoustic Session)". [[Discogs]].
36. "Images for Dead Or Alive - Fan The Flame (Part II) "Love Pete" (The Acoustic Session)". [[Discogs]].
37. "Career Timeline". deadoralive.net.
38. "Bootlegs". katch.ne.jp.
39. (2004-06-19). "Official Charts Company – Pete Burns". [[Official Charts Company]].
40. (8 September 2010). "Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive Releases Solo Single". Your-Story.org.
41. "Transcript of Facebook Chat with Pete held on 21 August 2011". Deadoralive.net.
42. "Hit Factory Live Tickets, Tour & Concert Information | Live Nation UK". Livenation.co.uk.
43. (2012-10-22). "Hit Factory Live Christmas Cracker To Take Place at London's 02 | News | Music News". Noise11.
44. (24 October 2016). "Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns dies".
45. "Dead or Alive – Sophisticated Boom Box MMXVI | Demon Music Group".
46. (7 May 2018). "Dead Or Alive's Steve Coy has passed away". Post Punk.
47. ""Rock e solidarietà, all'asta la collezione del 'mito' Steve Coy"". GEDI News Network S.p.A..
48. In some music videos he was pretending to play guitar, but actually never played any instrument