One of this UK band’s principal assets is the androgynous persona of Pete Burns (b. 5 August 1959, Port Sunlight, England; vocals) who had fronted Liverpool’s Mystery Girls in 1977, then Nightmares In Wax, in which he was accompanied by Mick Reid (guitar), Martin Healey (keyboards), Walter Ogden (bass), and ex-Mystery Girl Phil Hurst (drums). This line-up recorded an EP for a local label and a track for a 1980 compilation Hicks From The Sticks, before Burns and Healey formed Dead Or Alive with Sue James (bass), Joe Musker (drums) and a flux of guitarists including Wayne Hussey, who later found fame with the Mission. The line-up stabilized when the act was signed to Inevitable for some flop singles before soliciting the attentions of Epic, who saw their singer as an ‘answer’ to Boy George. With Burns now joined by Mike Percy (bass), Steve Coy (drums), and Tim Lever (keyboards), the band’s television plugs sent a revival of KC And The Sunshine Band’s ‘That’s The Way (I Like It)’ into the UK Top 30 in 1984. Slowly but surely, ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’, from Youthquake, arrived at number 1 in the New Year and was the first UK chart topper for Stock, Aitken And Waterman. Soundalike follow-ups fared less well but, after the UK chart-topper entered the US Top 20, the band enjoyed further major record success in the late 80s with Youthquake featuring in Billboard’s album list, and its title track returning them to the UK Top 10. Lever and Percy left following the release of 1989’s Nude.
In the 90s, after a brief period known as International Chrysis, Burns and Coy found greater success abroad, especially in Japan where Nukleopatra was a major hit. The duo has worked hard to maintain their overseas following, with the flamboyant Burns (who has had extensive cosmetic surgery) remaining a particular favourite. ‘You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)’ was re-released in February 2006 after Burns appeared on the UK reality television series Celebrity Big Brother.
