Dead Or Alive

Formed in Liverpool during 1980, the British dance-pop outfit Dead or Alive rose to prominence chiefly through the flamboyant exploits of its androgynous frontman Pete Burns. Three years earlier Burns had first appeared in the Mystery Girls before fronting the proto-goth rockers Nightmares in Wax. He assembled Dead or Alive alongside keyboardist Marty Healey, guitarist Mitch, bassist Sue James, and drummer Joe Musker, and the band issued its debut single “I’m Falling” in 1980—an Ian Broudie-produced track reminiscent of the Doors. “Number Eleven” appeared next, yet the group’s growing momentum was abruptly halted by the arrival of the new-romantic movement; Burns later accused fellow androgyne Boy George of Culture Club of simply appropriating his own outrageous image.

Refusing to be deterred, Burns rebuilt the lineup with future Mission U.K. guitarist Wayne Hussey and bassist Mike Percy. Across the 1982 EP It’s Been Hours Now and the subsequent single “The Stranger,” the ensemble shifted decisively toward dance music and eventually signed with the major label Epic. Several 1983 singles followed, among them “Misty Circles” and “What I Want.” After Hussey departed, the configuration of Burns, Percy, keyboardist Tim Lever, and drummer Steve Coy delivered the band’s first significant success: a 1984 cover of KC & the Sunshine Band’s disco classic “That’s the Way (I Like It),” which narrowly missed the British Top 20.

Their debut album Sophisticated Boom Boom also found a receptive audience, but genuine stardom arrived in early 1985 with the Hi-NRG hit “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record),” the first chart-topper for the production team Stock, Aitken & Waterman. The follow-up LP Youthquake matched that success, spawning additional hits such as “Lover Come Back to Me,” “In Too Deep,” and “My Heart Goes Bang.” “Brand New Lover” sustained their visibility in 1986, yet the 1987 album Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know fared poorly both domestically and in the United States, although a devoted following developed in Japan.

Following the 1989 release Nude, both Lever and Percy exited; Burns and Coy remained the core, assuming production and management responsibilities as well. Later Dead or Alive albums included Fan the Flame, Part One and Nukleopatra. Burns died from a heart attack on October 23, 2016, and Steve Coy, the member with the second-longest tenure, passed away on May 4, 2018.