Dead Or Alive - Misty Circles

Pete Burns was famous before he was famous: a waspish Wirral weirdo who gave five times as good as he got to hapless hecklers on the streets of Liverpool and a sharp-tongued shop assistant at Probe record shop, legendary for viciously vetting the choices of customers. Stories abound of Burns refusing to sell people Secret Affair singles “because they’re shit”, or contemptuously hurling OMD records at customers across the counter. Underneath it was a battleship-strength belief that he could do better. Sophisticated Boom Boom, the debut Dead Or Alive album, is the sort of record one typically finds in second hand bargain bins and charity shops, on vinyl for a quid. And rarely will a quid be better spent, because it stands up fantastically well. Having signed to Epic, the band hooked up with rising German producer Zeus B Held, who had made his name with Gina X Performance and worked with British synth artists such as Fàshiön and John Foxx. Held gave DOA’s sound the crisp snap and thwack it needed. The album’s lead single Misty Circles was a disco-noir cracker, still popular with clubbers decades later. Despite the major label behind it, Misty Circles only made it to No 100, though it would later find its way into millions of homes on the B-side of the band’s biggest hit. It did, however, take Burns on to national television via ITV’s Razzmatazz, startling pre-teen viewers with his Vivienne Westwood get-up, heavy make-up, oversized top hat and ribboned dreads, looking for the entire world like Boy George’s evil stepsister. Which, in so many ways, he was.

Ripped To MP3

Dead Or Alive; Misty Circles 7” And 12”

7” Single

A.     Misty Circles (7” Version)

B.     Misty Circles (Instrumental)

12” Single

A.     Misty Circles (Dance Mix)

B1.  Misty Circles (Dub Mix)

B2.  Selfish Side

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