written by Pete Burns, Steve Coy, Wayne Hussey,

Tim Lever and Mike Percy

produced by Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman

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Sooner or later... varying between either of course depending upon

the individual... you happen upon the song, undoubtably the very

one, where somehow or other, you simply just know that it’s going

to serve as the unbreakable backbone of your life’s soundtrack. The one that’s going to stay with you forever, no matter how many disparate songs and groups you discover in the future. A song that’s beyond merely special to you. A song that’s... defining of you, in a way. Not necessarily in that its lyrics are particularly applicable to your life. But more so in that the song’s blueprint, its skeletal system, if you will, affixes and embeds itself in you in such a way that it “fits” you identically. Like it was made just for you. As if the deities and the cosmos chose you and this song to assign one another. It doesn’t mean others can’t have their soundtracks embodied by the same song. It just means that you’ve found yours. For me, it took till the age of 15 to unearth, embrace and adhere myself to that song.

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This song. Settle in and get comfy.

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If you’ve made yourself familiar with this site, then you know that it’s partially about getting to know me, personally, and my tastes. Which is not to solely toot my own proverbial horn, or make it all about moi moi moi; it’s simply the way I know best to express myself and write about these selections. If this one stands out so extraordinarily for me, why then did it take me till #58 (in the site’s numbering system) to finally get to “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” by Dead Or Alive? Well... that’s just the way it happened in the sequence of songs that struck me to give this unique audio “treatment” and compile The List thereof. Besides, by this time, Roxette had dethroned Dead Or Alive as my favorite band, and I was focusing (still am) disproportionately on them. But... not even any Roxette song can quite lay claim to this. At least at this time, “Spin Me” here will hold the record for most different versions displayed on my site. Not one, not two, not five, but TEN versions of the song will be sampled and listed below. (Ten minutes’ worth of samples... that’s the equivalent of a couple versions of the song put together right there.) Though anything could change at any time, and visitors can always make requests.

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Dead Or Alive originally came from The Beatles’ base of Liverpool. The core of the band from day one, and one of England’s most notorious and androgynous stars was Peter Jozzeppi Burns. With different members, his first band at the age of 18 was the extremely short-lived The Mystery Girls. Still more different musicians joined Pete to form Nightmares In Wax (which was originally called Rainbows Over Nagasaki) in ’79. They dropped a 7” extended play to open the ’80s. 1981, ’82 and ’83 brought the name change to Dead Or Alive, a few more lineup alterations, UK Indie charting singles, and their major label deal with Epic. DOA’s debut Epic release was the ’83 single “Misty Circles,” one of the early singles that appeared on the band’s first full album, 1984’s Sophisticated Boom Boom.

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Now, here’s where I could say that in the late fall of ’84, DOA first dropped the “Spin Me” single, it became a worldwide smash hit and ruled the Youthquake album the year after, and the rest is history. But I do feel it important to note, while I enjoy the Boom Boom album and love Youthquake, my favorite Dead Or Alive record is actually number three, the autumn 1986 9-tracker Mad, Bad And Dangerous To Know. None of its songs can compare to “Spin Me” in that monumental way, of course, but this album, Mad/Dangerous, is full of songs that just speak to me in that truly intimate way that means so much to you but is hard to define. As if if they didn’t exist, you’d have to invent them. Three songs on that record (“Brand New Lover,” “Come Inside” and “Special Star”) also hold prominent spots in my list of all-time favorites.

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Chronologically, before I got any DOA albums, I saw Adam Sandler’s movie The Wedding Singer shortly after its release date, during the month of my 15th birthday. They did a nice, if sometimes desperately trying too hard, job of recreating the time period and celebrating its pop culture. Later that year, in the spring and summer of 1998, I collected its two soundtracks. They included the original artists’ versions of the songs Adam and his fellow warblers sang in the film. Soundtrack two had “Spin Me” in the middle. I knew there was something uniquely (heck, almost cosmically) special and Earth-shaking about that song Adam and the band cranked out to kick off the movie, but I couldn’t remember it. Suffice it to say, when I found it, I listened to it probably—literally—half a dozen times in succession. The first Dead Or Alive CD I got was the 1987 compilation Rip It Up, with which I did the same. (Fun fact: the second Wedding Singer soundtrack actually, for whatever reason, contains the 1987 Rip It Up version of “Spin Me,” not the original ’84-’85 Youthquake version. Go figure.)

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Coincidentally, that same year, 1998, after taking much of the ’90s off without new material—DOA’d released a 1990 album in Japan, where they were enormously successful and where the next album, Nukleopatra, was first released in ’95—along with their other international releases, they signed an American deal with gothic/industrial and tribute label Cleopatra Records—which seemed appropriate—who put out a 15-track North American edition of Nukleopatra. It included two remixes—by which time the song’s title was shortened to “You Spin Me Round.” Not to be outdone, Cleo Records also gave us a ’99 extended play with seven mixes of the song, along with five mixes of another Nukleopatra staple, “Sex Drive.” Cleo Records made themselves briefly known with their goth tribute volumes of lots of acts, and DOA also at the time contributed cover songs for the tributes to Madonna, U2 and Prince.

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The downside to an eternally insurmountable, evergreen hit whose success will never be matched again is that you know you’d better love performing it, because you’re going to be doing so every... single... show you ever play, for the rest of your life. As the years wore on into the ’90s, Pete began to utterly HATE “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record).” Playing it endlessly started to feel like torture. And yet, the remixes kept coming, year after year. DOA’s final studio album was Fragile, from the year 2000 (spawning a new hit called “Hit And Run Lover”), followed by the 2003 Epic compilation Evolution: The Hits. Both these volumes gave us one more “Spin Me” mix.

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Aside from the in-your-face voice and sound in their work, Pete’s androgynous and gay/bisexual image was complemented with an array of eye-popping fashionable statements inspired by the edgy new wave realm, and the part of it all he had in common with Michael Jackson: plastic surgery, mostly in the form of rhinoplasties. Note the eye patch he wears in the “Spin Me” video. It was worn as a technique to distract us from what he considered a botched nose job. But oh well, cosmetic surgeries aside... after leaving this much of a searing impact on your fans and community, your legacy won’t just be forgotten... not even after you reach your 57th birthday and are then gripped by a fatal heart attack in the fall 0f 2016, rendering your band from then on... yep, I’m gonna say it... Dead Or Dead.

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RIP Pete, 8/5/59 to 10/23/16. I told you to settle in and get comfy.

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The scattered versions of the song I’ve chosen here are those I feel best exemplify the real nucleus of the song, and how its elements can best be branched out—hopefully without going too far. The lyrics and arrangements thereof will of course waver from version to version, but never including anything more than the original’s full lyrics, which I’ll have below.

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Have notes to add? Let me know!

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YT:

full original version

full Performance Mix

full Murder Mix

full Rip It Up version

full Sugar Pumpers Radio Remix

full Jail House Mix

full Cleopatra Radio Edit

full Marc Antoine Radio Edit

full Vicious Mix

full Metro 7” Edit

music video

Lyrics

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If I, I get to know your name / Well, I, could trace your private number, baby / All I know is that to me, you look like you’re lots of fun / Open up your lovin’ arms, I want some (want some) / Well, I, I set my sights on you (and no one else will do) / And I, I’ve got to have my way now, baby / All I know is that to me, you look like you’re havin’ fun / Open up your lovin’ arms, watch out, here I come / You spin me right round, baby, right round / Like a record, baby, right round round round / You spin me right round, baby, right round / Like a record, baby, right round round round / I, (I, I, I) I got to be your friend now, baby / And I, (I, I, I) would like to move in just a little bit closer (would like to move in just a little bit closer) / All I know is that to me, you look like you’re lots of fun / Open up your lovin’ arms, watch out, here I come / x1 / I want your lo-o-o-o-o-o-ove / I want your lo-o-o-o-o-o-ove / x1 / x1 / You spin me right (you spin me round, round) round, baby, right round / Like a record, (baby, round) baby, right round round round / I want your lo-o-o-o-o-o-ove / (Right round round) You spin me right (you spin me round, round) round, baby, right round / Like a record, (baby, round) baby, right round round round / I want your lo-o-o-o-o-o-ove / (Right round round) You spin me right round, baby, right round / Like a record, baby, right round round round / I need your lo-o-o-o-o-o-ove / You spin me right round, baby, right round / Like a record, baby, right round round round / I need your lo-o-o-o-o-o-ove / You spin me right round, baby, right round / Like a record, baby, right round round round / I want your lo-o-o-o-o-o-ove/[fade]