Dead or Alive (band)
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Dead or Alive is an influential New Wave band from Liverpool that rose to popularity during the 1980s. They are best known for the hit singles "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" and "Turn Around & Count 2 Ten".
"Nightmares In Wax"
Before Pete Burns founded "Dead Or Alive" he was involved with a Liverpool based band named "Nightmares In Wax". The band centred around alternative music and released their only notable record, "Black Leather" in 1979/1980.
Members
Upon founding the band, Burns hired friend Steve Coy as drummer. Over the next four years, Burns would hire and fire dozens of musicians including alternative British punk rocker Wayne Hussey. Eventually, Burns settled on a four piece made up of himself, Steve Coy, Mike Percy and Tim Lever.
Pete Burns (1981-Present) Vocalist of the band and songwriter. His voice was once described as "a light which fills the darkness". Burns did not play any instruments but mimed with an electric guitar in some music videos.
Steve Coy (1982-Present) Drummer, birth name Steven McCoy. The youngest member of the band, Coy wrote music for the band but did not delve into the world of lyrics. As of 1996, Coy took over the job of producing Dead Or Alive's videos starting with the David Bowie cover "Rebel Rebel" from the album "Nukleopatra".
Timothy Lever (1983-1990) Keyboards, Saxophone, Guitars. The prematurely bald musician from Liverpool appeared older than he actually was. He and guitarist Mike Percy were responsible for most of the actual songwriting for the band.
Mike Percy (1983-1990) Guitars. Percy was noted for his mullet hairstyle and, along with Lever, wrote most of Dead Or Alive's songs from 1984 until 1990.
History
Dead or Alive (DOA for short, not to be confused with punk band D.O.A.) was founded in 1980 by Pete Burns, one of the most visible genderfuck performers and gay icons of the decade. Steve Coy, the longest standing member of the band, plays drums and percussion as well as sharing songwriting responsibilities. Former members of the band include Tim Lever (keyboards/sax) and Mike Percy (bass).
The debut album, Sophisticated Boom Boom, featured their first Top 40 single, a remake of the 1975 hit by KC and the Sunshine Band "That's the Way (I Like It)".
In 1985 they released the album Youthquake, produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman. The single "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" went to number one on the UK charts after having lingered outside the Top 40 for over two months after release, and twenty years later is still a dance-floor favourite. Several other tracks from the album, including "Lover Come Back to Me" and "In Too Deep", also became dance hits.
In 1986, DOA released their third album, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know, which included the dancefloor smash "Brand New Lover". Two years later they parted ways with SAW, and released the self-produced Nude, which featured the hit "Turn Around and Count 2 Ten", a single that spent seventeen weeks at number one on the Japanese charts.
1990 saw the release of Fan the Flame (Part 1), and 1995 the album Nukleopatra, which featured remakes of David Bowie's "Rebel Rebel" and 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 and every release sported different art covers, tracklistings and song versions; many releases of Nukleopatra also included one or more remixes of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)".
In 2000 DOA released Fragile, a compilation of remixes with several new tracks and remakes of U2's "Even Better Than the Real Thing" and Nick Kamen's "I Promised Myself", and another remix album, Unbreakable, 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 40.
In 2004, Pete Burns enjoyed solo success with the Pet Shop Boys produced track "Jack and Jill Party". Although only released through the Pet Shop Boys website, the track reached number 75 in the single chart and was an underground club hit.
In January 2006 Pete Burns appeared on British TV in Celebrity Big Brother. Following a live performance of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" during the show, Dead Or Alive then went on to re-release the single the same month accompanied with an updated music video featuring original band members. Again the song charted in the UK, this time hitting number five.
Rip It Up! Live
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 Osaka) 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, though this was not entirely true. Whereas Burns mimed 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).
Notable Hits
Contrary to popular belief, the 1984 song You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) was not the band's biggest success. While the song topped the UK charts for 2 weeks, the 1989 track Turn Around and Count 2 Ten topped the Japanese charts for a massive 17 weeks.
The bands other UK hits were the 1986 track Something In My House, 1984's Lover Come Back (To Me) and In Too Deep (of the same year).
Trivia
Due to Pete Burns' slight resemblance to the more well-known gender-bending pop star Boy George during the mid 1980s, many outside of the UK assumed Dead or Alive was an answer of sorts to Culture Club. However as stated in the above article, Dead or Alive was formed in 1980 - a year before the formation of Culture Club.
The album "Youthquake" sold 500,000 copies worldwide. Most were sold in the UK after the success of "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)".
Songwriters Tim Lever and Mike Percy left the band in 1990 and started careers as freelance writers. They both wrote songs for pop bands including S Club 7.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | UK | US | Additional information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Sophisticated Boom Boom | 29 | - | debut album |
| 1985 | Youthquake | 9 | 31 | - |
| 1986 | Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know | 27 | 52 | - |
| 1987 | Rip It Up | - | 195 | singles compilation, songs segued together much like a DJ-mix |
| 1988 | Nude | - | 106 | - |
| 1990 | Fan the Flame (Part 1) | - | - | Japan release only |
| 1995 | Nukleopatra | - | - | released in Japan in 1995 and various other territories throughout 1995-1998, varying tracklists and cover art |
| 2000 | Fragile | - | - | Japan release only, contains remixes and several new songs |
| 2001 | Unbreakable | - | - | Japan release only, remix album |
| 2003 | Evolution: the Hits | - | - | singles compilation, U.S. version is single disc, other territories (including U.K.) versions have two discs |
Singles
| Year | Song | UK | US | US Dance | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | "I'm Falling" | - | - | - | (independent release) |
| 1981 | "Number Eleven" | - | - | - | (independent release) |
| 1982 | "It's Been Hours Now" EP | - | - | - | (independent release) |
| 1982 | "The Stranger" | - | - | - | (independent release) |
| 1983 | "What I Want" | - | - | - | Sophisticated Boom Boom |
| 1983 | "Misty Circles" | - | - | 4 | Sophisticated Boom Boom |
| 1984 | "That's the Way (I Like It)" | 22 | - | 28 | Sophisticated Boom Boom |
| 1985 | "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" | 1 | 11 | 4 | Youthquake |
| 1985 | "Lover Come Back To Me" | 11 | 75 | 13 | Youthquake |
| 1985 | "In Too Deep" | 14 | - | - | Youthquake |
| 1986 | "My Heart Goes Bang" | 23 | - | 15 | Youthquake |
| 1986 | "Brand New Lover" | 31 | 15 | 1 | Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know |
| 1987 | "Something In My House" | 12 | 85 | 3 | Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know |
| 1987 | "I'll Save You All My Kisses" | 78 | - | - | Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know |
| 1987 | "Hooked On Love" | 69 | - | - | Mad, Bad and Dangerous To Know |
| 1989 | "Come Home With Me Baby" | - | 69 | 1 | Nude |
| 1989 | "Turn Around and Count 2 Ten" | 70 | - | - | Nude |
| 1989 | "Baby Don't Say Goodbye" | - | - | 6 | Nude |
| 2001 | "Hit and Run Lover" | - | - | - | Fragile |
| 2003 | "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (remixes) | 23 | - | 21 | Evolution |
| 2006 | "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" | 5 | - | - | - |
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart