Classic pop songs of all time .  . . .  and no I didn't buy this when it came out and thought perhaps it was too camp or something. It is of course a simply brilliant and catchy pop song. It is alas also serving here as a cautionary tale of the 21st C as look at Pete Burns here and check out how handsome he is! This extraordinary man went on to have more and more facial and plastic surgery [Burns had extensive polyacrylamide injections into his lips, cheek implants, several rhinoplasties and many tattoos] that he became unrecognisable and did himself untold damage in the pursuit of something no-one thought he needed, to so radically change his once handsome good looks for reasons we now will never really understand is body dysmorphia at its worst and he clearly needed help. Suffice to say it is my belief it contributed to his early death* of a heart attack at 57

On this day in music history: November 26, 1984 - “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” by Dead Or Alive is released in the UK (US release is on May 6, 1985). Written by Pete Burns, Steve Coy, Tim Lever and Mike Percy, it is the biggest hit for the synth-pop Hi-NRG band from Liverpool, UK. Originally formed as a five piece post punk/goth rock band in 1980 by lead singer Pete Burns, Dead Or Alive is reduced to four members in 1984, when guitarist Wayne Hussey departs to focus on his other band Sisters Of Mercy. While writing material for their second album, Pete Burns comes up the initial idea for “You Spin Me Round” after hearing Luther Vandross’ song “I Wanted Your Love”, and singer and actress Little Nell’s (“Rocky Horror Picture Show”)“See You ‘Round Like A Record”. Burns finishes working on the song with the rest of the band. When Dead Or Alive plays the demo for their record company Epic Records, they are unimpressed with it, and refuse to fund sessions to record it. The band take out a loan for £2,500 ($3927.11 in US currency today), hiring then up and coming British producers Pete Waterman, Mike Stock and Matt Aitken (aka Stock Aitken & Waterman). When Dead Or Alive takes the finished recording back to Epic, the label tells them unconditionally that they hate it, and will not provide any funds to make a music video to promote it. Again, the band have to dig into their own pockets to shoot a low budget accompanying video with then fledging directors Vaughan Arnell and Anthea Benton (The Spice Girls, George Michael). Epic releases “You Spin Me Round” as a single, but puts little to no promotional effort behind it. In spite of this, the  record manages to enter the UK singles chart when it begins receiving play in dance clubs, but remains in a holding pattern for over two months outside the UK top 40. The turning point comes when the band appears on Top Of The Pops on February 14, 1985. Their performance gives the record the boost necessary to put it over the top, rocketing to number one on the UK singles chart on March 9, 1985, spending two weeks at the top. It is finally released in the US in May on the heels of its UK success (in tandem with their second album “Youthquake”), due to the early stateside buzz created by club DJ’s playing the record, and by brisk sales of the import 12". “You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)” peaks at #4 on the Billboard Club Play chart on July 13, 1985, and #11 on the Hot 100 on August 17, 1985. Regarded as one of the quintessential 80’s songs, “You Spin Me Round” is featured in the Adam Sandler comedy “The Wedding Singer” in 1998, and charts three separate times in the UK through various remixes made of the track. In 2009, rapper Flo Rida samples and interpolates the hook from “You Spin Me Round” for his number one single “Right Round”.

* Surgery-related health problems experienced by Burns included pulmonary embolisms and near-fatal blood clots.