Brand New Lover - Rip It Up Version

"Brand New Lover" is the only other US Billboard hit for Dead or Alive (their other one being "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)"). "Brand New Lover," like "You Spin Me," is a product of the legendary British music writing and production team of Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW). The "hit factory," as they're commonly referred to, is a frequent song producer for Dead or Alive, and has Rickroll immunity, as they wrote Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." Dead or Alive has had a lot more hits on the UK's side of the pond, also written by the SAW team. In the US, "You Spin Me" has gotten so much airplay that the group is most likely typecast by it.

The title of the album Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know comes from a phrase originally used by aristocrat and novelist Lady Caroline Lamb to describe Lord Byron. We presume - tee-hee - it was uttered upon emerging from the sack, given the usual score for a Byron relationship in the gothic period. In fact the two shared a passionate affair, publicly fighting while privately smooching and in later years they even shared each other's writing styles. Since then the phrase has been nicked for the title to albums, books, and other creative works.

You don't need us to tell you that this was released in 1985 - it is as steeped in the '80s as a Rubik's Cube in a bed of Pac-Man Pogs. Androgynous front-man (Pete Burns), heavy synthesizer and drum machine, and a perfect dance-club song! Pete Burns has spent the 2000s so far moping over his face being out of shape from his extensive plastic surgery, and appearing in the UK's TV show Celebrity Big Brother - he didn't win.