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Pete
Burns is an enduring oasis of originality and wit in the
increasingly dull world of pop music. As the outrageous
driving force behind Dead Or Alive, Pete is one of the
very few gay pop stars to represent the queer community
with any sense of flair or authenticity. If Boy George
would put down that bowl of ice cream and do something
apart from making bad house records under a seemingly
endless stream of aliases, he might actually provide Pete
with some competition. I’ve also become increasingly
fond of George Michael as he has transformed into a fat
drug addict with a beat fetish. However, the boring nature
of his music negates his fabulous image. That leaves us
with a pack of pathetic cunts like Will Young, Mika, Rufus
Wainwright, Elton John and Anthony Callea. They should all
be locked away in a soon to be demolished building as a
public service to the gay community. In a gay pop star
battle royale, Pete Burns would be the only queen left
standing.
Pete’s
detractors usually refer to the fact that he was married
to a woman for 25 years before coming out, ridicule his
supposed plastic surgery addiction and claim that he has
been milking one song ("You Spin Me Round") for
almost a quarter of a century. I would reply by pointing
out that Pete has had the same gender-bending image since
day one. The videos for early Dear Or Alive songs are so
overtly gay that I can hardly believe they were ever shown
on prime time television. Pete is far from the only gay
man to have been married before coming out and he has been
incredibly open about his sexuality since meeting his long
term boyfriend. As far as the plastic surgery comments are
concerned, any ageing diva worth their gay fanbase has
been under the knife. If anything, Pete's changing visage
only adds to his fabulous allure. The final criticism is
interesting because it appears to be quite valid. That is,
if you are unaware of the fourteen #1 hits Dead Or Alive
have scored in Japan since “You Spin Me Round”.
Pete
Joins The Hit Factory
Pete
Burns was encouraged by a promoter to form a band based
solely on his outrageous image. Dead Or Alive came
together in 1980 and surprised everyone by actually being
rather good. After releasing several independent singles,
the group were signed to a major label in 1983 and
released their debut album, “Sophisticated Boom Boom”,
a year later. That album is best known for its incredibly
glamorous cover and the band’s interpretation of
“That’s The Way (I Like It)”. However, it was Dead
Or Alive’s second album, “Youthquake” that shot Pete
Burns to stardom. “Youthquake” was the band’s first
album with SAW and remains one of the hit factory’s best
productions. The tracks are uniformly excellent and the
ubiquitous “You Spin Me Round” is just as glorious
today as it was in 1985.
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The
band’s next album, “Mad, Bad And Dangerous To Know”,
was also produced by SAW but represented a shift towards
an even more extreme image. It was around this time that
Pete Burns’ outrageous behaviour transformed him into a
legitimate pop culture icon. Some highlights from the
album include Pete worshipping at satanic altar on the
single cover of “Something In My House”, the
gothtastic “Hooked On Love” and the jaw dropping video
for “I’ll Save You All My Kisses”, which redefines
camp. Dead Or Alive sadly parted ways with SAW in 1988 due
conflicts over creative control but Pete and the boys
returned to the pop scene a year later with “Nude”,
which contained the singles “Turn Around And Count 2
Ten” and “Come Home With Me Baby”. The album was a
relative failure in the UK , US and Australia but was
astonishingly successful in Japan and paved the way for a
string of Japan only releases.
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