Dead Or Alive - Evolution: The Hits
Biography:
A British dance-pop group which found fame thanks to the antics of androgynous frontman Pete Burns, Dead or Alive formed in Liverpool in 1980. Burns first surfaced three years prior in the Mystery Girls, later heading the proto-Goth rockers Nightmares in Wax; he founded Dead or Alive with keyboardist Marty Healey, guitarist Mitch, bassist Sue James and drummer Joe Musker, debuting in 1980 with the Ian Broudie-produced Doors soundalike “I’m Falling.” “Number Eleven” followed, but just as the group was gaining momentum they were swept aside by the emergence of the New Romantic movement, with Burns subsequently charging that fellow androgyne Boy George of Culture Club had merely stolen his outrageous image.
A British dance-pop group which found fame thanks to the antics of androgynous frontman Pete Burns, Dead or Alive formed in Liverpool in 1980. Burns first surfaced three years prior in the Mystery Girls, later heading the proto-Goth rockers Nightmares in Wax; he founded Dead or Alive with keyboardist Marty Healey, guitarist Mitch, bassist Sue James and drummer Joe Musker, debuting in 1980 with the Ian Broudie-produced Doors soundalike “I’m Falling.” “Number Eleven” followed, but just as the group was gaining momentum they were swept aside by the emergence of the New Romantic movement, with Burns subsequently charging that fellow androgyne Boy George of Culture Club had merely stolen his outrageous image.
Undaunted, Burns forged on with a
retooled Dead or Alive roster including future Mission U.K. guitarist
Wayne Hussey and bassist Mike Percy; over the course of records
including the 1982 It’s Been Hours Now EP and the follow-up single “The
Stranger,” the group evolved into a true dance band, and ultimately
landed with major label Epic. A series of singles appeared over the
course of 1983, including “Misty Circles” and “What I Want; ” Hussey
soon exited, and it was a line-up comprising Burns, Percy, keyboardist
Tim Lever and drummer Steve Coy which scored Dead or Alive’s first major
hit, a 1984 cover of KC and the Sunshine Band’s disco classic “That’s
the Way (I Like It)” which fell just shy of reaching the British Top 20.
Dead or Alive’s full-length debut
Sophisticated Boom Boom also fared well with audiences, but they
achieved true stardom in early 1985 with the Hi-NRG smash “You Spin Me
Round (Like a Record),” the first Number One hit for the production team
of Stock Aitken and Waterman. The succeeding LP Youthquake was also a
smash, yielding further hits in the form of the singles “Lover Come Back
to Me,” “In Too Deep” and “My Heart Goes Bang.” 1986’s “Brand New
Lover” kept the group in the limelight, but the 1987 LP Mad, Bad and
Dangerous to Know proved disastrous at home and in the U.S., although a
fervent following emerged in Japan. In the wake of 1989’s Nude, both
Lever and Percy left the group; the nucleus of Burns and Coy remained,
additionally taking over production and managerial duties. Subsequent
Dead or Alive LPs included Fan the Flame, Part One and Nukleopatra. ~
Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Album Review
Evolution: The Hits is a good summary of Dead or Alive’s most popular material, concentrating on their chart hits. And there were more of those than you might remember — eight are included that made the U.K. listings, along with four that made the U.S. charts (all of which charted in the U.K., too), including “You Spin Me Around (Like a Record),” “My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me to the Doctor),” “That’s the Way (I Like It),” “In Too Deep,” and “Something in My House.” Popular as some of this stuff might have been, it really epitomizes some of the silliest and most histrionic aspects of those strange days when new wave and the new romantics were being diluted yet further into synth-heavy dance-pop. Three tracks here make their U.S. debut, although these are all from post-’80s releases: “Sex Drive” was released on 1995’s Nukleopatra and “Hit & Run Lover” and “Isn’t It a Pity” on 1991’s Fragile (the latter was only issued in Japan). Also on board are a 2003 remix of “Turn Around Count 2 Ten” and a “metro 7″ edit” “You Spin Me Around (Like a Record),” neither of which was strictly necessary unless Epic/Legacy was desperate to pad the running length. Pete Burns contributes the sleeve note.
Evolution: The Hits is a good summary of Dead or Alive’s most popular material, concentrating on their chart hits. And there were more of those than you might remember — eight are included that made the U.K. listings, along with four that made the U.S. charts (all of which charted in the U.K., too), including “You Spin Me Around (Like a Record),” “My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me to the Doctor),” “That’s the Way (I Like It),” “In Too Deep,” and “Something in My House.” Popular as some of this stuff might have been, it really epitomizes some of the silliest and most histrionic aspects of those strange days when new wave and the new romantics were being diluted yet further into synth-heavy dance-pop. Three tracks here make their U.S. debut, although these are all from post-’80s releases: “Sex Drive” was released on 1995’s Nukleopatra and “Hit & Run Lover” and “Isn’t It a Pity” on 1991’s Fragile (the latter was only issued in Japan). Also on board are a 2003 remix of “Turn Around Count 2 Ten” and a “metro 7″ edit” “You Spin Me Around (Like a Record),” neither of which was strictly necessary unless Epic/Legacy was desperate to pad the running length. Pete Burns contributes the sleeve note.
| EC1091 | Dead Or Alive – Evolution: The Hits |
| Label: | Epic |
| Catalog#: | 511026 2 | 5110262000 |
| Format: | CD [Compilation] |
| Made in: | UK & Europe |
| Released: | 24 June 2003 |
| Barcode: | 5 099751 102625 |
| Style: | Hi NRG, Synth-pop |
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Dead Or Alive – Evolution: The Hits
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01. You Spin Me ‘Round (Like A Record)
02. That’s The Way (I Like It)
03. In Too Deep
04. What I Want
05. Misty Circles
06. I’d Do Anything
07. Lover Come Back (To Me) [2003 Remix]
08. I’ll Save You All My Kisses
09. Hooked On Love
10. Come Home (With Me Baby)
11. My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me To The Doctor)
12. Sex Drive
13. Turn Around And Count 2 Ten [2003 Remix]
14. Hit And Run Lover
15. Isn’t It A Pity
16. Brand New Lover
17. Something In My House
18. You Spin Me ‘Round (Like A Record) [Metro 7’ Edit]
Total Time: 01:19:00
The band members have included the following musicians▼
* Pete Burns (1980–): Vocalist of the band and chief songwriter. Burns did not play any instruments, but mimed with an electric guitar in some music videos.
* Wayne Hussey (1982–1984): An early member of the band who wrote most songs in 1982-1983, plus the Epic Records singles “Misty Circles” and “What I Want”. Hussey departed in early 1984 to join The Sisters of Mercy for one year, and then formed The Mission in late 1985.
* Mike Percy (1980–1989): Bass player. Percy was noted for his mullet hairstyle and, along with Lever, wrote most of Dead or Alive’s songs from 1984 until 1990. Percy wrote and performed the backing track for the hit song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”.
* Steve Coy (1980–): Was the only member to be a good friend of Burns’ prior to the band’s creation in 1980. Drummer for the band. The youngest member of the band, Coy wrote music for the band but not 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 (1983–1989): keyboards, saxophone, guitars. Lever and bassist Mike Percy were responsible for most of the songwriting for the band.
* Jason Alburey (1995–): Keyboardist for the band and modernized the band’s musical sound. Alburey appears in the 2003 video for the re-release of “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” despite having nothing to do with the song itself.
* Pete Burns (1980–): Vocalist of the band and chief songwriter. Burns did not play any instruments, but mimed with an electric guitar in some music videos.
* Wayne Hussey (1982–1984): An early member of the band who wrote most songs in 1982-1983, plus the Epic Records singles “Misty Circles” and “What I Want”. Hussey departed in early 1984 to join The Sisters of Mercy for one year, and then formed The Mission in late 1985.
* Mike Percy (1980–1989): Bass player. Percy was noted for his mullet hairstyle and, along with Lever, wrote most of Dead or Alive’s songs from 1984 until 1990. Percy wrote and performed the backing track for the hit song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”.
* Steve Coy (1980–): Was the only member to be a good friend of Burns’ prior to the band’s creation in 1980. Drummer for the band. The youngest member of the band, Coy wrote music for the band but not 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 (1983–1989): keyboards, saxophone, guitars. Lever and bassist Mike Percy were responsible for most of the songwriting for the band.
* Jason Alburey (1995–): Keyboardist for the band and modernized the band’s musical sound. Alburey appears in the 2003 video for the re-release of “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” despite having nothing to do with the song itself.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.
Copyright (c) – Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.
Remastered At – Whitfield Street Studios
Distributed By – Sony Music
Pressed By – Sony Music
Credits▼
Art Direction, Artwork By [Digital Manipulation] – Julian Gozra Lozano
Design – Simon Cantwell
Photography – James & James
Remastered By – Ray Staff
Notes▼
Digitally remastered at Whitfield Street Studios.
This compilation ℗ 2003 Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.
© 2003 Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.
Distribution Sony Music.
Tracks 1 to 4, 6, 10, 17 are the original 7″ versions
Tracks 7, 13 to 15 are the “Fragile” versions
Track 8 is the album version
Tracks 5 and 9 are special versions present in both Evolution and Evolution Ltd
Tracks 11, 12 and 16 are special versions but different between Evolution and Evolution Ltd
Barcode and Other Identifiers▼
Barcode (String): 5099751102625
Barcode (Text): 5 099751 102625
Matrix / Runout: Sony Music S5110262000-0101 11 A3
Mastering SID Code: IFPI L551
Mould SID Code: IFPI 94V3
Label Code: LC 0199
Rights Society (in booklet): MCPS/BIEM/SDRM
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