Dead or Alive

Dead or Alive was a British New Wave band that rose to fame in the 1980s with their number one single on the UK Singles Chart, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)". The band, which has variously included Pete Burns, Wayne Hussey, Mike Percy, Steve Coy, Timothy Lever), and Jason Alburey, 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).

The band went through several different lineup changes over 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. Two more singles, "What I Want" and "I'd Do Anything", were club hits.

Their debut album, Sophisticated Boom Boom, 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)". The single peaked at number 22 in the UK and the album at number 29.

In 1985, they released their second album Youthquake which included the single "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record". The song went to number one on the UK singles chart after having lingered outside the Top 40 for over two months. 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", was directed by Anthea Benton and Vaughan Arnell.

In 1987, Dead or Alive released their third album, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know which included one of the band's best-known songs, "Brand New Lover", which was more successful in the US than in the band's native UK. Three more singles from the album were released, all of them causing some sort of controversy. The most successful in the UK was "Something in My House", tonally very Gothic and with a sleeve depicting Burns in front of what appears to be a Satanic 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. 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.

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". It was followed up by "Come Home with Me Baby", which hit number one on the US dance charts. Fan the Flame (Part 1) was only released in Japan which 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". In 1992, the band had planned to release Fan the Flame (Part 2), which was very similar in style to Part 1, but the album never saw release.

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".

In 1995, they released the album Nukleopatra, which featured 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. It 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 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.

Music Videos

 * Brand New Lover
 * Come Home (With Me Baby)
 * Hit & Run Lover
 * I'd Do Anything
 * I'll Save You All My Kisses
 * In Too Deep
 * Lover Come Back to Me
 * My Heart Goes Bang
 * Rebel Rebel
 * Sex Drive
 * Something in My House
 * That's the Way (I Like It)
 * Turn Around and Count 2 Ten
 * You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)
 * Your Sweetness (Is Your Weakness)