PETE BURNS:
STILL ALIVE... AND KICKING
Exhumed for a whirlwind promo tour, an edgy and exhausted Pete Burns, front man of Dead Or Alive, talks to Diane Godley about CDs, super-stardom and shaving lather...
Grooming and applying a full
face of make-up before leaving the house each morning is as much a part of Pete Burns'
routine as most men's in shaving.
However, Pete refuses to answer questions about cross-dressing or transvestites. The Dead Or Alive star considers himself, well, how else would you say it, something of a "serious artiste". In fact, before I even had the chance to put any question to the '80s disco diva, Burns' manager-cum-drummer and long-time collaborator, Steve Coy bailed me up and went through a long list of topics I wasn't to ask about.
With adrenalin pumping through my veins, I ventured into the lounge where the Burns' bloke was waiting, pertly perched on the seat and decked out in "fashionable" regulation camouflage shorts, matching singlet and heavy black boots. But before I'd even seated myself, the tattooed torso was hurling commands my way.
"We've been doing this for 17 years and we're now past the sausage factory", he snearls. "We don't do the usual things everyone else does, as hard as that makes your job... I've been asked to moo like a cow and sing a Spice Girls song and we've found it very hard going. I've had some really bad experiences this time in Australia. Really bad."
After swallowing all these instructions in such a short space of time, I set about trying to break down the barrier Burns had so evidently erected. To appease the disgruntled star, I started by throwing a few questions about music his way before getting down to the more interesting subjects.
Dead Or Alive's biggest hit "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" was remixed and re-released to coincide with the group's appearance at last year's Sleaze Ball. But since the song was first brought out 10 years ago, the world has undergone dramatic technological changes - one of them being the CD! What I wanted to know is, whether Pete Burns thinks the song is a little passé now. Unfortunately, he didn't see the humorous side of the question.
"Well, it's a source of paradox really. How can I say it's passé? I'm not about to criticise it and shoot myself in the foot. If people still want it, it's optional that they buy it - and they obviously did still want it, they didn't go to a collectors' record store and buy it on vinyl. They actually wanted in on CD so it's not down to me whether it's passé."
But did he consider changing the lyrics to "You spin me round like a CD"?
"No, because I don't really do rewrites. It's a song that I'm pretty well bored with and every so often new life gets injected into it - like with this remix... (With a slight change of attitude.) Yes, I do feel to some degree it's passé that I'm still doing that song."
Last time Burns arrived in Australia he was stopped by customs and searched. Surely he gets sick of being singled out for a "special" treatment because of the way he chooses to dress?
"Do you know what I think
it is? I think it's curiosity. We got stopped at the airport and they were taking my
jackets out of my suitcase because they were feather jackets and they were looking for
pests, but I've developped a tolerance to people's ignorance. If I was working all day at
an airport and I only saw little old ladies with crimplene trouser suits, I'd desperately
want to look into my suitcase."
"I mean, sometimes I want to look in my own suitcase just to see what's in there.
It's like a magical mystery tour syndrome. People with jobs like that, one - they want to
appear important; and two - they're bored shitless and have a natural curiosity. If I
worked at an airport and Madonna came through, I'd be the first in her suitcase! I'd just
have to have a look and a sniff."
"I don't think there's going to be too many musicians and artists who are stupid
enough to bring in illegal substances into countries - especially when they're as rife as
they are here in Australia - I walk up to the corner at Kings Cross and there are fucking
junkies falling out of the doorways. I mean you don't need to bring that in!"
Pete has very carefully applied dark brown make-up to his eyes and lips over a thick layer of foundation, and black nail varnish to his nails. The years of practise has made him somewhat an expert. So, what make-up applying tips can he give us?
"I
don't have an, actually. The one thing I think with cosmetics and paints and anything you
do to yourself - be it tattoos or piercing - is That the youth movement now feels the need
of experiment with their appearance. I see the most ordinary people with pierced tongues,
and that shocks me! I wouldn't do something like that!"
"Make-up was for me just a progression from painting - I'm covered in tattoos. It's
not self-abuse syndrome, it's just an every day part of my life. I don't put on make-up to
appeal to other people, putting make-up on in the mornings for me is as natural as other
people shaving. I could say for the novice, scrap the blending, just go heavy. That way it
looks nice in any light."
Pete burns' face is not the only part of his torso that he likes to "paint". A red rose pops out of the top of his singlet. Down the length of both his arms are black Egyptian-type animals. There is something on his leg resembling... well, a blob really. Having three tattoos myself, I was curious to find out whether his body art was at one time going to finish at one...
"They are very
addictive", he admits. "When I started getting tattoos I did have only the one.
Then I saw other ones I liked - obviously it spreads. Every so often I'll have a tattooing
binge. Now I've got nine tattoos and sometimes I think: "Oh God, what did you do for
that?" They're not very easy to get removed."
"Then again I like jewellery, but jewellery is something that can come off. Sometimes
I like the idea of tattoos because it's like permanent jewellery. It's not like someone
can come along and steal it. I think it's a healthy thing to be tattooed. Choose carefully
- that's my advice - because it's going to be there forever. Don't just go and get a
transfer off the wall, because you are going to get bored with it if you see 50,000 other
people with the same tattoo."
"I like tattoos and I like piercing. Actually, I like any form of adornment - it's a
bit like you're born a basic cake, and no-one is every harmed by a bit of icing."
And which is the current favourite of his many tattoos?
"These are my favourites", he says, leaning over and stretching his arms out to show the black animals on his forearms. "These Egyptian ones because they're the newest. I started one off on my leg which was going to be the most beautiful tattoo you ever saw, but the tattooist, unfortunately, was a bit the worse for wear. He was a bit wobbly - actually he was quite pissed and he drew it on upside down. It hurt so much too, so I stopped him half way through - I mean none of the others have hurt at all. Now I'm looking for a good tattooist somewhere in the world."
As it happens, this is something where I can actually help Pete out. Lifting my shirt and dropping my pants I show him a couple of my own creations. He immediately jots down the address.
"Maybe I'll pop in and see her. I want to get the one on my leg completed because it's such an amateur job." He's not lying!
Of course, not everyone has such liberal attitudes towards tattooing. I wonder aloud, if Pete has ever had any problems in the pasr because of his body art?
"Tattooing is almost
accepted now, but I'll tell you, in the '80s when we were working a lot in Japan, tattoos
weren't approved of. You couldn't go into the swimming pool with your tattoos - which left
me pretty well isolated in a hotel room. Well, it's not all that acceptable even now,
although it's much better. I go swimming where and when I want to now."
"To me, tattooing is a sign of pure commitment to who you are - because there's no
hiding it. I mean, you can hide them under a T-shirt, but they are there. If you get run
over by a truck, they're going to know that you're some kind of an individual when they
take your clothes off."
Pete's face is fringed by dark, straight hair that tumbles half way down his back. But it's no easy feat keeping it looking good, especially in Australia, he tells me.
"I dye my hair to absolute death - there are a lot of extensions in it too. I find the Sydney water a bit hard on the old hair dye, and finding a tin of black hair dye out here is pretty hard. I went to the pharmacy the other day and the guy behind the counter said: (in a cranky, old voice) "No! We don't get a call for black hair dye there, mate. They go for the colours, y'know?"!"
Once again, Pete's trustee interviewer could give him the information he needed.
"Oh, it is fantastic! When you arrive at a place you don't know where anything is!", he exclaims.
There is one last thing I want to find out before he goes. I want to know whether he had to relearn to walk during that eye-patch-wearing era.
"Well I didn't wear it all the time. It's something I did for a photo shoot and the video. And you could see through my eye-patches, you see, 'cause he made 'em (pointing to Steve who is sitting at the end of the lounge). They were very deverly crafted so I had 20:20 vision in them."
(Campaign, June 1997)
A special thank to Christine Horton who sent me this magazine from Australia