Dead Or Alive are one pop band synonymous with the '80s, with anthemic tracks such as "Sex Drive" finding their niche in pop history. With the release of their new album "Nukleopatra", which features new material as well as a 1996 remix of "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), many will hail the return of DOA. Pete Burns, vocalist and enigmatic persona extraordinaire staunchly disagrees, maintaining that... "it's not a come back!"

Regardless of what you want to call it, Pete and his band are experiencing somewhat of a revival in interest. They've just completed a tour of the US and are about to venture out to Australian shores for the very first time.
"It's very exciting for me. I've never been there, never seen the place and don't know the ropes... y'know, I never knew I was having hits in Australia..." For this, the blame is put solely on the soulders of the now defunct Epic Records. 'My last words on my death bed will be that they were the worst record company in the whole world! It took us two years to get out of that contract and it was a very ugly two years. It's a mystery to me why we were never informed of our status out there. Now I'll only do separate deals not a worldwide deal, because if they don't want you to work, you don't work."

The tie with Epic was evidently not the only one to be severed before Dead Or Alive could enjoy their full creative freedom. Producers of such acts as Kylie, Bananarama and Rick Astley, the hit machine of Stock, Aitken & Waterman produced four Dead Or Alive albums, and it wasn't until 1989's "Nude" that DOA decided to take production into their own hands. Answering himself, Pete confirms that, "no, they never added anything to our sound. We wrote our own material and we knew what we wanted to sound like, they just made it technically efficient". He continues: "We got to the point after two successful albums that there was no way that I was going to go into the studio to repeat the same formula again. We learnt to do it ourselves and we really enjoyed the experience. There's this pressure that comes with producers, eventually they start to think it's their record not yours because they're actually up at the controls. I long for the day when it lightens up and I can actually meet a producer I respect, so we can hand it over at some point and not be so close to it."

The new album title originated, "in the studio where we play around with a lot of words and make another stupid language". Meaning Nukleo "as in nuclear bomb", and patra "which is slang for Peter", it's obvious that "Nukleopatra" is more techno-orientated than previous albums. Peter says: "It's not premeditated, it's just that technology changes", and maintains that, "first and foremost it's not danc emusic, it's pop music you can dance to. To me now dance music is almost a derogatory term because some of the absolute dribble I hear with no singer and no melody is just a load of farts and bleeps, and if that's what dance music is I don't want any part of it... We're pop music you can dance to."

Admitting that touring is not his favourite pastime and that his recent 8-week tour of the US was fun for 50% and "torturous" for the other half, Pete says: "I have the upmost respect for people like Tina Turner who can go out and do the same fucking songs every night and look like it's the best thing they've ever done and they're having the times of their life." He continues:" My live show is very basic, just a four piece band, a sequencer, two keyboard players, a drummer and me alone singing. There's a lot of new material in there with a few old songs if the mood takes me. But I still have a certain attitude of "I'll do what the fuck I want", if people are screaming "Lover Come Back" and I can't bear to do it, I won't do it. I think a large part of the audience understand that if they go away and think about it. The thing about dance music and using sequencers is you're doing the same thing every night, and unfortunately after about 8 or 10 nights of doing the same thing I get a bit grounchy... but as soon as I'm home a few weeks I want to go off and do it again."

Well what's it gonna be then Pete, Dead Or Alive?

(By Danny Corvini,
Published in Australia, 1996)