Dead or Alive | |
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 Dead or Alive, 1984. From left to right: Mike Percy, Steve Coy, Pete Burns, and Tim Lever. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Liverpool, England |
| Genres | |
| Works | Dead or Alive discography |
| Years active | 1980–2016 |
| Labels | |
| Past members |
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Dead or Alive were an Englishpop band who released seven studio albums from 1984 to 2000. The band formed in 1979 inLiverpool and found success in the mid-1980s, releasing seven singles that made theUK Top 40 and three albums in the UK Top 30. At the peak of their success, the line-up consisted ofPete 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 1988. In 2010, the moniker of the band was definitely archived, and Burns issued a solo single. Following Burns' death on October 23, 2016, the band ended.
In 2021,Fan the Flame (Part 2): The Resurrection, a "lost" album recorded in the nineties, was completed and issued for the very first time.
Two of the band's singles reached the US Top 20 on theBillboard Hot 100: "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (No. 11 in August 1985),[7] 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's appearance on the television reality showCelebrity Big Brother and onseason 4 ofStranger Things.[8] It also became the first of two singles to top theBillboardHot Dance Club Play chart. In December 2016,Billboard ranked them as the 96th most successful dance artist of all time.[9]
In 1977, Burns formed a punk band with contemporariesJulian Cope,Pete Wylie, and Phil Hurst, calling themselvesthe Mystery Girls. They only had one performance (opening forSham 69 atEric's Club in Liverpool in November 1977) before disintegrating. Cope stated that Burns's performing style drew from the transgender punk performerJayne County and Wylie recalled that "his head looked like someone had melted a load of black vinyl down into a kind of space quiff."[10][11]
Burns continued in early-1979 with a new band,Rainbows Over Nagasaki (subsequently renamedNightmares In Wax), featuring agothic 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).[12]
The group played their first gig supportingWire atEric's Club in July 1979,[13] and recorded demos which included a cover of theSimon 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 intoKC and the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)".[12] 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.[14]
In 1980, during a line-up change, Burns changed the band's name once more to Dead or Alive.[12] The band went through several line-up changes over the next three years while recording a series of independent singles.[15] Dead or Alive's singles started charting on theUK Indie Chart, beginning with 1982's "The Stranger" reaching No. 7.[16] This prompted major labelEpic 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 byZeus 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 byKC and the Sunshine Band.[15] That song, along with "Misty Circles", were also hits on the USHot Dance Music/Club Play chart.[17] The album was a minor success in the UK where it peaked at No. 29.[18] As Burns and his band achieved greater media exposure, his eccentric andandrogynous appearance often led to comparisons withCulture Club and its lead singerBoy George as well as "Calling Your Name" singerMarilyn.[15] 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."[19]
The band released its second albumYouthquake (US No. 31, UK No. 9) in May 1985, produced by the then-fledgling production team ofMike Stock,Matt Aitken, andPete Waterman, known asStock Aitken Waterman (SAW). "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" became the band's only song to reach No. 1 on theUK Singles Chart after lingering outside the Top 40 for over two months.[20] The track also hit No. 11 in the US and No. 1 in Canada.[21]
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.[22] Additionally, Burns said that12-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.[23]
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 ofYouthquake 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 whenSpin Me reached No. 1 – and I mean really unhappy. Because I knew it would be downhill all the way after that."[19] Burns had afear 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!"[19]
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.[24]
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 USBillboard dance chart.[21]
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.[25] 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.[25] A 12-inch version of the song, the 'Mortevicar Mix', featured scenes from Nosferatu and sampling of dialogue from the soundtrack ofThe Exorcist and a sampling from theGeorge A. Romero American movie trailer from his filmDay of the Dead.
In 1987,Dead or Alive released their greatest hits albumRip 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'sNippon Budokan on 9 October and at Osaka'sOsaka-jō Hall on 11 October, and released on video cassette (VHS) andLaserdisc that same year under the titleRip It Up Live. The concert was eventually issued as bonus material for the first time on DVD as part of the 2003 compilation release.[26]
| External videos | |
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 Dead or Alive - Rip It Up 1987 | |
| Dead or Alive - Disco In Dream 1989 | |
| Dead or Alive - Full Evolution 2003[27] |
At the end of 1988,Dead or Alive, now pared down to a duo of Burns and Coy, released the self-producedNude (US No. 106, UK No. 82). In 2021,RetroPop Magazine retrospectively describedNude as the "perfectDead or Alive album" and "their strongest offering overall".[28] 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 operatedSteelworks Studios inSheffield and experienced success writing and mixing songs for acts likeS Club 7,Blue, andRobbie Williams.[29][30] From the information booklet inSophisticated Boom Box MMXVI, Burns stated:
During the first couple of months of writing and recording, Mike and Tim seemed to be acting a little distant and insular, and after a bit of investigation, we discovered that they were building their own professional recording studio where they lived. When we asked why, they said they wanted to move into concentrating on record production work on their own, didn't want to be in a band and touring and away from their families all of the time and say they were leaving the band at the end of theNude album recording! Well, excuse me boys, but I don't tolerate disloyalty and people making plans behind my back. I discussed it with Steve, and he and I decided that we didn't want them working half-heartedly on an album that we knew had to be the very best we could make, so we fired them on the spot, and told them to go concentrate on giving 100% to their new career as producers. It was a tough decision to make, but they made the decision for us.[31]
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 theBillboard Dance Club Songs chart and "Come Home with Me Baby" which spent thirteen-weeks at No. 1 on the USHot Dance Music/Club Play due to a popular remix by producerLewis Martineé.[32][33][34] However, "Come Home with Me Baby" and the other singles struggled in the UK. This was attributed to the lyrical theme ofcasual sex being at odds with theAIDs epidemic of the time.[34]
Additionally, despite strong customer demand, the US record company refused to release it as a proper single (claiming they objected to themale dancers in the music video) which prevented the song from becoming a major hit on theBillboard Hot 100.[34] In 1989, to support hisNude album and the release of its companion remix albumNude – Remade Remodelled, Burns toured with fellowStock Aitken Waterman actsSinitta andKylie Minogue in Asia and Europe on the ensembleDisco in Dreamconcert tour. On 6 October, Burns gave a performance at theTokyo Dome, the largest concert venue in Japan (with a seating capacity of 55,000 people), which was broadcast on theNHK television network.
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 theJapanese Albums Chart. The band had begun to produceFan the Flame (Part 2), however the album was shelved until it was finished in 2021.[35] Anacoustic albumLove, Pete was also made available during a US personal appearance tour in 1992 and was since widelybootlegged.[36][37][38][39]
The band returned in 1995 with a new studio album and contemporary sound withNukleopatra.
In 2000,Dead or Alive releasedFragile, a collection of remakes with several new tracks and covers includingU2's "Even Better Than the Real Thing" andNick Kamen's "I Promised Myself". The first song on the album, "Hit and Run Lover", was ahit 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 entitledEvolution: 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 theUK Singles Chart.[40]
On 7 September 2010, Burns's solo single "Never Marry an Icon", produced and co-written by the Dirty Disco, was released to theiTunes Store. The single was released by fellow band member Steve Coy's label,Bristar Records.[41] 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.[42] On 21 December 2012, Burns and Coy performed at thePete Waterman concert Hit Factory Live at London'sO2 Arena.[43][44] Burns died of a cardiac arrest on 23 October 2016, at the age of 57, ending the band.[45]
On 28 October 2016, a 19-disc box set titledSophisticated Boom Box MMXVI was released by Edsel Records. The release was announced on September 8, viaDemon 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."[46] Coy died on 4 May 2018 at the age of 56. Coy was inItaly to work on a new studio album before he died at hisBogliasco home following an eleven-month battle with cancer.[47][48]
Members
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Nightmares in Wax members
Touring members
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