Category: One-Hit Wonder Status Rejected

May I Have Another?: Dead or Alive

Ever watch one of those VH1, “one-hit wonders” specials, where the random D level commentators start talking about these artists that had one hit, where half of them actually had multiple songs that charted? Random commentator probably has no idea but then somewhere in there Matt Pinfield comes in with his “I’m smarter than you and probably no fun at all” persona and makes sure you know they had another song that charted exactly at #98 for one week in 1984. Well, I’m the everyman’s Pinfield but funnier and better looking. This series will go back to the 80s and spotlight one-hit wonders (in the US), real (truly only one charting hit) or perceived (other songs charted low but they are known for just one song) and come to a definitive verdict if we should accept or reject their status as that one-hit wonder.

I tend to like bands that are unique. Usually this means they are musically different than their peers, which is iffy here but leader Pete Burns and his bandmates certainly were one of the more outrageous sights of the 80s, which is why I will always have an affinity for their music.

Dead or Alive are considered one-hit wonders in some circles thanks to the #11 hit, “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” from 1984. But I think they are known just as much for the over-the-top nature of lead singer Pete Burns.

Dead or Alive formed in 1980 with Burns in a group called Nightmares in Wax which released a EP in 1980. After a bunch of changes in the band and before they were to go back into the studio, Burns changed the name to Dead or Alive. At this point, the band didn’t remotely resemble the Hi-NRG dance pop they would later put out. They released four singles without an album, with at least the first two being squarely in the gothic post-punk genre.

“Number Eleven”

Even back then there was a bit of an androgynous side to Pete Burns but no more than say someone like Boy George was. That would change quickly though once they got a record deal and recorded their first true album, Sophisticated Boom Boom. Funny that the original title of the record was supposed to be Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know, which would end up being the title of their third album. But Epic records rejected the title and yet somehow went through with Sophisticated Boom Boom.

I want to state for the record that I have no issues with anyone being whomever they want to be but for a kid in the 80s seeing the album cover for this, with a dude looking like lady, sprawled out in a tiger coat was a bit startling and I have to think wasn’t exactly the easiest thing for Epic to promote either.

The album was mostly dance-pop/synth-pop with some disco and Hi-NRG touches throughout the record but also had a goth element to it, which was actually pretty unique at the time. This is where Burns really turned up the campy over-the-top self indulgence to 11. Most tracks were pretty simple and fun, either all about himself or some element of sex. “What I Want” “Do It” and “You Make Me Wanna” are prime examples of this. But I have a soft spot for “I’d Do Anything” and the funny first verse; “Well I used to have what I would call / A very limited vocabulary / And the only two words / I could wrap my tongue around / Were I and me / But now I feel so clever /
That you would swear I ate a dictionary / And the new word that I’ve added / Brings up my words to three / What am I gonna do / Word number three is You.” But the highlight of the record is the dance remake of KC & the Sunshine Band’s “That’s the Way (I Like It)” which is one of my favorite songs of the decade.

“That’s the Way (I Like It)”

When the band went in to record their second record Youthquake, they were hooked up with the relatively new production team of Stock Aitken Waterman. Over the course of the decade those guys would be known of course for Rick Astley and Kylie Minogue singles but “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” was actually their very first hit song. What their production on the album did, was give it almost a pure Hi-NRG feeling and a boom boom that was clearly more sophisticated and crisp than the debut. Epic records apparently hated the first single and Burns and the band had to fund the recording of the song and the video on their own. It would of course go on to hit #11 in the US and by SAW’s first #1 tune in the UK. Imagine how big it might have been if the labeled had believed in it to begin with.

“You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”

Interestingly enough, there was also an extended mix of the tune on the CD and cassette versions as well, which probably should have been relegated to a remix record or just the 12″ release. The same actually goes for the second single “Lover Come Back To Me,” which appears in two versions as well. To me, that song was actually a poor choice for the follow up single as it doesn’t have the same danceable quality as the hit and I’m not a fan of the layers vocals that SAW used in the chorus. Two more singles were released from the album and didn’t chart in the US and frankly at least “My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me To the Doctor)” was a pretty stupid song. I’ve convinced myself over the years that if Epic had released “DJ Hit that Button” as the second single, I wouldn’t be writing this post right now. It has the same infectious Hi-NRG dance style of “You Spin Me Round” and feels very radio friendly.

“DJ Hit that Button”

Over the years I’ve read that SAW and Pete Burns butted heads a bit in the studio but the pairing worked well, so they reunited again for their third record in ’86. And I guess once you have a worldwide smash hit if you want to name your album Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know, no one will stop you now.

Mad… really wasn’t a great record, in fact Dead or Alive has no really great albums, just great tunes, of which first single and lead track “Brand New Lover” is one of them. What SAW was able to do on the best tunes is reel in the campiness of the songs and tone Burns down a bit while still allowing some of his quirkiness to shine through. However, in album form this is also the downfall of the record. I get derailed right away as the next track in sequence is a 60s pop meets 80s dance tune, “I’ll Save You All My Kisses” which seems very out of place on the disc. The rest of the disc seems almost dull in nature compared to earlier material. The band took almost no chances on this, going so far as to even writing “Something in My House” with a very similar keyboard rhythm as “You Spin Me Round.”

“Something in My House”

By this juncture though the band had lost almost all of its steam in the US and their 4th album, Nude, didn’t have any impact on the charts. However, it make them huge stars in Japan, which is where the band focused their efforts with their future albums only getting Japanese releases. I had no idea those three albums even existed until 2000, when they released a cover of U2’s “Even Better Than the Real Thing” which was at least pretty interesting.

“Even Better Than the Real Thing”

But even without knowing the band was still making music, the Pete Burns story was fascinating and one that I was always interested in over the years. Although he says he never had any intention of transitioning from male to female, over the years he spent tons of money on plastic surgery and tattoos on his face that surely made him look like a woman. And then he had a lip procedure that went horribly wrong, which then forced him to spend all his money on reconstructive surgery which in the end and to declare bankruptcy. All of these procedures almost killed him but he survived until a heart attack took him in 2016. By the time of his death, unless you had been following along with his career, Burns was completely unrecognizable.

Verdict: As I said above, Dead or Alive never really had that undisputed great album. “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” was a great tune that hit #11 on the US charts. But it’s “Brand New Lover” charting at #15 in 1986 that forces me to reject their status as a one-hit wonder. And although they didn’t have that much success on the Billboard Hot 100 which is the chart this one-hit wonder status is based off of, ask anyone that was in the clubs in the mid-to-late 80s and they’ll certainly be able to recognize multiple tracks by the band.

May I Have Another?: Information Society

Ever watch one of those VH1, “one-hit wonders” specials, where the random D level commentators start talking about these artists that had one hit, where half of them actually had multiple songs that charted? Random commentator probably has no idea but then somewhere in there Matt Pinfield comes in with his “I’m smarter than you and probably no fun at all” persona and makes sure you know they had another song that charted exactly at #98 for one week in 1984. Well, I’m the everyman’s Pinfield but funnier and better looking. This series will go back to the 80s and spotlight one-hit wonders (in the US), real (truly only one charting hit) or perceived (other songs charted low but they are known for just one song) and come to a definitive verdict if we should accept or reject their status as that one-hit wonder.

Even choosing Information Society for this series was tough in my mind because they had multiple hit songs but my criteria is that multiple reputable outlets have called them a one-hit wonder and that’s happened here for one reason or another.

The core of the band (Paul Robb, Kurt Harland and James Cassidy) came together in the early 80s with Robb really being the mastermind behind the project. Robb was really into hip-hop and house music at the time and while there’s a hip-hop influence on a lot of songs, the house music influence is felt the greatest. Interestingly enough, Information Society were one of the rare non hip-hop artists on Tommy Boy Records as well. InSoc themselves though were a snyth-pop band though normally on the more freestyle / Hi-NRG end of the genre.

Their “debut” self-titled album in 1988 was their first full length but early on in their career they released two synth-pop EPs including one called Creature of Influence in 1984. They even had a single back then releasing “Running” which was good enough to be rerecorded in a slightly more polished version than the original.

“Running” (original version)

They toiled away for four years after that EP though and it wasn’t until June of 1988 that the debut was released and was a smash right away thanks to the first single, “What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)” which hit #3 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the dance charts in the US.

“What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)”

By the end of ’88, the album had went gold thanks to being one of the most infectious discs of the era. What InSoc did so well was make house music for pop lovers. House certainly was a large part of the 80s but a bunch of the better house tracks were relegated to the dance charts due to bands focusing mostly on getting asses moving. Information Society took that and added tremendous pop hooks and sing-along choruses to really open up their potential fan base. Throughout their career they have maintained the same level of infectiousness without really repeating themselves, however the music world obviously changed around them in the early 90s and so their heyday was limited to a 2-3 year period.

The debut record had four total singles – the aforementioned hit, “Walking Away,” a ballad called “Repetition” and a great cover of the Abba hit, “Lay All Your Love On Me.”

“Lay All Your Love On Me”

InSoc’s second album (Hack) wasn’t as great as the first but was still extremely enjoyable. However, it got bad reviews and marked a departure from the sound of the first album. Harland pushed the band towards a darker synth-pop sound on a few tracks, while the rest of the band really wanted to continue on the path of the debut. It makes for a bit of a jolting listen at first with “Seek 200” beginning the album with more of an industrial vibe, followed by almost a pure pop song called “How Long” and then the single from the record, “Think” which sounded very much like the proper follow up to the debut. Growing up, I listened to both of these records like crazy, moreso the first since it was the most consistent of the two records. And although in retrospect it wasn’t much of tune at all, I was obsessed with the sample heavy electronic song, “A Knife and a Fork.” What the album lacked was a true identity. It ranges from industrial, to pop, to house and synth-pop without any barriers being put in place. I do like the album track-by-track but it can be a tough listen due to the constant style changes.

“A Knife and a Fork”
“Seek 200”

The final album of their original period was Peace & Love, Inc. in 1992. This was a more consistent record than Hack, though it upped the freestyle tenfold. Paul Robb wrote most of the tracks on the album, which meant a much better flow throughout. However, by this point, the entire music scene had changed and though the title track was a decent enough tune, InSoc lost any momentum it might have still had. There is also nothing stranger than the final track of the album, “300bps N, 8, 1 (Terminal Mode or Ascii Download)” which is supposedly a text file, encoded as modem tones, which when decoded tells the story of something that happen to the band while on tour. It’s three minutes of modem noise. Not kidding.

“Peace & Love, Inc.”

The band had released three more albums since that point with a highlight being “Beautiful World” from the Hello World record in 2014. The track is a cover of a Devo song and features Gerald Casale on this version. Overall it simply sounds like a remastered version of the original. (Editor’s Note: Thanks to Keith C. for pointing out that this was indeed a cover tune, so this is edited from the initial version).

“Beautiful World”

All three records are decent and at least the last two really reflect the sound that the band had back in the late 80s with some technology advances. I applaud you if you even knew these existed though.

Verdict: The one-hit wonder status of Information Society is firmly rejected. It’s amazing to me that they are even considered that but once they hit a VH1 special, game over. “What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)” is the song that supposedly makes them a one-hit wonder but “Walking Away” hit #9(!) for heaven’s sake and “Think” went to #28, so they had not one but two top 40 hits after their first. Both of those tracks are awesome, so there’s no way InSoc should ever be labeled as a one-hit wonder.