I hate the term ‘guilty pleasure’. I hate it with a passion. Why is it deemed to be the norm to use that phrase when describing something we ultimately like? Why can’t we just admit to loving something without having to resort to wheeling out that tired old cliché, which basically means ‘yes, I love this, though I’m quite embarrassed to say so’. What utter nonsense.
I mention all this here as I love this song, and yes – it’s a Stock, Aitken and Waterman tune, which usually leads people to use that hideous term. But more of that controversial production trio later…
The artist
Dead Or Alive formed in Liverpool in 1980. Lead singer Pete Burns began singing in local punk bands in the mid-late 70’s, before forming the band Nightmares In Wax in 1979. After a number of line-up changes, Burns changed the band’s name to Dead Or Alive in 1980. A few early singles charted on the UK Indie Chart, which led to Epic Records signing them in 1983. Initial singles, such as Misty Circles, What I Want, and I’d Do Anything, didn’t set the world alight, and mainstream success was proving hard to come by.
Despite that, the band released their debut album, Sophisticated Boom Boom, in May 1984 and achieved their first UK Top 40 single with an interesting(!) cover of the KC and the Sunshine Band classic That’s The Way (I Like It). Their second album, Youthquake, was released a year later; a release which saw them work with the production team of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman for the first time. The trio weren’t hugely successful at that time, though Burns saw something he liked in them and asked them to produce a song he’d been working on which he envisaged as having a “glittery disco feel” to it. According to Burns, the record company hated the song, forcing him to take out a £2500 loan to record it. Upon completion, the record company apparently said it was “awful”, and the band therefore had to fund the video themselves. The song originally hovered outside the Top 40 for a couple of months, before increased airplay and strong word-of-mouth on the club scene saw its popularity, and subsequent sales, soar. That song was You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)…
Why I’ve chosen to write about this song
Quite simply, it is one of the finest pop songs of the 80s. Pete Waterman summed it up beautifully when he called it a “techno-disco” song – it certainly takes the finest elements of the very best 70s disco tunes and melds them perfectly with 80s-pop sensibilities. Even today, 40 years after its initial release, the track still fizzes with an energy and power which is impossible to ignore. The song is infectious – I used to DJ, and it never failed to fill a dancefloor. It is one of the most recognisable songs of the decade, from any genre, and people adore it. I’d have loved to have been old enough to see how it landed in discos and nightclubs around the land when it first became a hit (I was 11 back then…) – I can imagine the atmosphere being electric when those opening bars of Burns singing “Rock It” filled the room.
There is nothing complex about the song. The chord structure isn’t difficult for musicians to master. The lyrics are typical of so many 80s pop classics – it’s a mating call, in essence. I can picture mulleted 80s lotharios taking to the dancefloor like peacocks, focusing on their quarry and trying their best to be as cool as Burns (and no doubt failing miserably…) in a desperate attempt to make the night a successful one. But the production on this track is the key element for me – it sounds huge and expansive. Stock, Aitken, and Waterman were much maligned (which really annoys me, but more on that in future posts), though they were brilliant at what they did, and I firmly believe they were never better than on this track. They created a wall of sound which resembled the classic Phil Spector productions, and I’m certain that’s one of the main reasons this song stood out from the crowd so much.
The video
The opening scene of Pete Burns with a glitterball sets the scene perfectly! Whilst the other band members also feature, it’s no surprise that Burns is the centre of attention here. He was a mesmerising presence. Flamboyant, provocative, and incredibly striking, he commands attention throughout. The video isn’t groundbreaking, certainly not in the way that, for example, Peter Gabriel’s Sledgehammer was, though it still works perfectly. It puts Burns front and centre, and that basically sums up what Dead or Alive were all about at that time. A great video for a fantastic song.
The stats
The song first charted in the UK on the 17th November 1984, at number 79. It remained on the charts for 25-weeks – to say it had a slow climb is one significant understatement. During the first 6 weeks of release, its chart positions were 79, 87, 55, 49, 51 and 58. In the 9th Feb 1985 charts, it reached a peak position (at that time) of 40, and it seemed the track was going nowhere. Then, its popularity suddenly soared. It hit the top-10 at the end of February and secured the top slot during the 9th March 1985 chart, where it stayed for a fortnight, cementing its status as one of the biggest tracks of the year. It dislodged Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson’s I Know Him So Well from the top slot, and was ultimately knocked off the top slot itself by Easy Lover, by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins. What a time to be alive! This proved to be the only number 1 song for Dead Or Alive, whilst it was the first chart topper for the Stock, Aitken and Waterman team. For the stats fans, the number one album at the time when this topped the chart was Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required,
The cover version
It could only be the Adam Sandler version from the film The Wedding Singer! A brilliant film and a version of the song which always makes me smile. It’s a clear sign of how amazing the song is when even an (intentionally) bad version still sounds so good!
The wrap-up
If I continue with this blog for another 10-years, I doubt I’ll find a song which represents the 1980s as well as this one. It’s camp. It’s provocative. It’s in your face. It’s sonically huge. And it’s utterly bloody brilliant. It hasn’t lost an ounce of its power or energy over the past 40 years, and I doubt it will during the next 40. It features in my ‘Night Out Prep’ playlist (and many other playlists) for good reason. It puts a spring in my step, a smile on my face, and gets me singing like a loon every single time. It is one of my favourite songs of all time, from any genre, and I just had to write about it as one of my initial Songs Of The 80’s posts. A true classic. Take some time out of your weekend to crank up the volume and dance around your kitchen with gay abandon. You know you want to…
Best wishes.
Mick
