Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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DEAD OR ALIVE

UK new wave band formed by gender-bender vocalist Pete Burns (b 5 August 1959; d 23 October 2016); lineup '84 was Timothy Lever (b 21 May 1961), keyboards; Michael Percy (b 11 March 1961), bass; Stephen McCoy (b 15 March 1962), drums. After a first taste of fame fronting Mystery Girls (a legendary gig at Eric's Club 4 November 1977 included Phil Hurst, drums; Julian Cope, bass (later of Teardrop Explodes), Pete Wylie, guitar (later Wah!), Burns formed Nightmares in Wax '79: EP Black Leather on Inevitable label had Burns and Hurst with Mick Reid, guitar; Walter Ogden, bass: Burns said, 'We thought we'd form the worst band in history [playing] one note songs for ten minutes.' 

They had a track on Hicks From The Sticks '80, a compilation of provincial new wave. Changed name to Dead or Alive '80; by then Burns had been through 30 musicians; now had Sue James, bass; Joe Musker, drums; Ming, guitar. Further flop singles on Inevitable; EP Nowhere To Nowhere on Rough Trade; then Burns spotted an opening in the 'Hi-NRG' disco circuit, where his striking androgynous looks were an advantage: they were nearly signed by Virgin instead of Culture Club; considered much the same ilk. After false starts with singles they laid cards on the table with synthesizer/sequencer-dominated cover of KC and the Sunshine Band's 'That's The Way (I Like it)', no. 22 UK '84: chanted vocal counterpart 'Keep that body strong' in a bizarre video featuring female body builders, establishing a tacky image which Burns fostered in interviews. LP Sophisticated Boom Boom '84 was made with German producer Zeus B. Held, aimed squarely at the dancefloor: there was a big gay following as Burns aped Sylvester/Electro Soul sound, creating masterpieces of sheer synthetic tack. 'You Spin Me Around (Like A Record)' was a sleeper hit early '85, taking four months to reach no. 1; the sound was cloned to perfection with 'Lover Come Back To Me' and 'In Too Deep' but the shock value had worn off: the music stood or fell by its dancefloor appeal. Youthquake entered UK LP chart at no. 9, then slipped. Burns found like Boy George that image is no substitute for consistent sound. Auxiliary members for live shows '85 incl. Chris Payne, keyboards; Russell Bell, guitar (both ex-Gary Numan).

Burns finally became a reality television personality, and estimated that he had had 300 surgeries over the years, starting with fixing a broken nose, most of them to fix botched procedures. Wearing long wigs he would have been unrecognizeable if it hadn't been for his tattoed upper arms; he said he thought he looked like Frankenstein, but didn't seem to mind.