Dead or Alive - The Youthquake Tour [2LP Translucent Purple UK Import]
Pete Burns and Dead or Alive at their high-energy peak: The Youthquake Tour captures the band live in London in 1985, now on translucent purple double vinyl as a limited UK import.
Youthquake, produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, had just made the Liverpool band pop royalty when they took the stage at the Hammersmith Odeon. Recorded across two summer nights during a short UK tour, this set first surfaced on CD inside a later box set and now makes its long-awaited vinyl debut.
The crowd roars from the opening of "Cake and Eat It", and the band rips through "My Heart Goes Bang" and "In Too Deep" with real muscle, the Hi-NRG pulse of the studio versions given a rougher, sweatier live edge. "Misty Circles" reaches back to their earlier days, and "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" lands exactly as it should, an absolute floor-filler that sends the room into orbit.
Burns was one of pop's most fearless frontmen, all cheekbones, attitude and a booming baritone, and this recording catches him commanding a stage at the moment the world was finally paying attention.
The purple pressing suits the glam perfectly, and for fans of 1980s dance-pop it is a thrilling document of a band in full, flamboyant flight.