Line #12 Music/DeadOrAlive


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dead_or_alive_pic.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The band's mid-80s lineup. Left to right: Tim Lever, Pete Burns, Mike Percy, Steve Coy.]]
3	->''You spin me right 'round, baby\
4	Right 'round like a record, baby\
5	Right 'round, 'round, 'round''
6	-->"You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)"
7
8	Dead or Alive was an English [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]]-NewRomantic-SynthPop band popular in the [[The80s 1980's]] and the very early [[The90s '90s]]. Their popularity mostly stemmed from their [[DudeLooksLikeALady androgynous frontman]] Pete Burns.[[note]]Amusingly, Pete would later accuse Boy George of stealing his androgyne look, as he used it in 1980 before Music/CultureClub released their first album in 1982.[[/note]]
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10	Hailing from UsefulNotes/{{Liverpool}}, the band started in 1980 with keyboardist Marty Healey, guitarist Mitch, bassist Sue James, and drummer Joe Musker. The band had a few hits like "I'm Falling" & "Number Eleven", but the rising recognition of other acts like Music/DuranDuran meant the public quickly forgot about them. In response, the line-up was {{retool}}ed, with [[Music/TheMission Wayne Hussey]] and Mike Percy becoming the new guitarist and bassist, respectively. After signing on with Creator/EpicRecords, the singles started rocking the charts around 1984, with music videos on Creator/{{MTV}} giving the band a much needed boost. Their big hit that year, "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)", has gone one to become one of the most beloved 80s songs and was the first in a string of hits by the production team of Music/StockAitkenWaterman.
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12	Their albums [[CriticalDissonance were popular, if not well-reviewed]], until the release of ''Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know'', which was considered [[AudienceAlienatingEra very bad]] by critics and fans alike ([[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff though the Japanese fanbase liked it]]). After 1988's ''Nude'', the band lost several principal members, essentially making them [[{{Pun}} dead, yet still alive]], with three more albums being released from 1995 onward.
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14	In the late 90s and early 2000s, Pete Burns was a regular on the UK reality show, ''[[Series/BigBrother Celebrity Big Brother]]'', where he became well known for his [[LoveToHate entertaining cattiness]] and [[UnnecessaryMakeover increasingly insane facial reconstruction surgeries]]. This helped the band maintain a fanbase as they continued to tour for the next two decades.
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16	The band officially broke up in 2016 when Pete Burns suffered a fatal heart attack. Steve Coy died two years later.
17
18	!!Discography:
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20	* ''Sophisticated Boom Boom'' (1984)
21	* ''Youthquake'' (1985)
22	* ''Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know'' (1986)
23	* ''Nude'' (1988)
24	** ''Nude - Remade Remodelled -'' (1989) (A [[NoExportForYou Japanese-only]] remix of ''Nude'')
25	* ''Fan the Flame (Part 1)'' (1990)
26	* ''Nukleopatra'' (1995)
27	* ''Fragile'' (2000) (Another Japanese-only album combining new songs with re-recordings and remixes of existing material)
28	** ''Unbreakable_The Fragile Remixes'' (2000) (Different remixes of the ''Fragile'' songs--unreleased outside Japan until 2017)
29	* ''Fan the Flame (Part 2) - The Resurrection'' (2021)
30	----
31	!!Dead or Alive provides examples of:
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33	* AbortedArc: There was no ''Fan the Flame (Part 2)'', at least until its 2021 release.
34	* BlackEyesOfEvil: Inexplicably happens to Pete in the music video for "I Would Do Anything", which is a fairly typical song about wanting to get with the object of his affection.
35	* BreakupSong: "Brand New Lover" is a surprisingly [[{{Jerkass}} mean-spirited]] one, with the speaker leaving his partner because he was bored of their "[[TheIngenue sweet nature]]", searching for a new lover because he's a "[[TheHedonist pleasure seeker]]"
36	* CoverVersion: A few, including KC and the Sunshine Band's "That's the Way (I Like It)", Music/{{Blondie\|Band}}'s "Picture This", Music/DavidBowie's "[[Music/DiamondDogs Rebel Rebel]]", and {{Music/U2}}'s "[[Music/AchtungBaby Even Better than the Real Thing]]".
37	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their early work as Nightmares in Wax is a lot closer to post-punk, or even early gothic rock than the glitzy synthpop they would become famous for, with distorted guitars and far less prominent synths, as well as ''extremely'' explicit lyrics, not that Dead or Alive was particularly subtle in that department.
38	%%PCE - Where's the "power" part? * EyepatchOfPower: Burns wears one in some photos and music videos, like the one for "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)".
39	* GenderInclusiveWriting: Similar to Music/CultureClub, most of the songs dealing with romance use the word "lover" instead of "she" or "her".
40	* IntercourseWithYou: About 90% of their catalogue was about love and sex, up to and including one song that was straight-up called "Sleep With You."
41	* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: In the 90's, around the time they faded from the spotlight, and Pete began his radical physical transformation, Dead or Alive adopted a more current Eurodance sound, as seen in the mid-90's remix for ''You Spin Me Round'', and ultimately stopped making new music entirely, as Pete became a reality star.
42	* LesserStar: Mike Percy and Tim Lever. While they were full-time members and appeared in all the videos, they were both fairly regular looking guys which made it hard to stand up when in a band with both Pete Burns and Steve Coy. Not helping things is that both of them had left by the end of the 80's, officially making Dead or Alive Pete and Steve's band ''only''.
43	* {{Jerkass}}: Intentionally or not, the speaker of "Brand New Lover" comes across as one. Could be a recurring theme with the amount of songs admitting that the speaker was sleeping around, sometimes behind the partner's back.
44	* OneWordTitle: The albums ''Youthquake'', ''Nude'', ''Nukleopatra'' and ''Fragile'', along with ''Nukleopatra'''s TitleTrack and the early [[BSide B-Sides]] "Flowers", "Namegame" and "Whirlpool".
45	* VocalDissonance: Despite his very androgynous appearance, Burns sang in a masculine baritone voice.

Context Music / DeadOrAlive