Dead Or Alive - It's Been Hours Now (Black Eyes)

With his long, straggly multi-coloured hair, thick eye make-up and flowing clothes, Pete Burns, the lead singer of this Liverpool five-piece, has always looked a bit silly to me - like a would-be Steve Strange type who didn't quite make it. It came as some surprise, then, to find this tale of a gloomy sexual encounter eerily effective and genuinely disturbing. Two of the other songs on this four-track EP don't do much, but the fourth, another version of "Hours", is even more spine-chilling than the main one. Recommended. (Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, April 1, 1982)

Dead Or Alive - In Too Deep (CBS)

Pete Burns and Dead Or Alive drop the incessant beat and concentrate on their melody here and the result is most pleasant. Instant pop like this is a hard act to master but Burns keeps the song simple and the harmonies tight, even adding a shade of The Beach Boys to his measured vocals. Bound to go hurtling into the charts. DOA's best yet. (Max Bell, No 1, June 22, 1985)

Without a doubt this is DOA's best so far - but that's not saying much. It's identikit pop, like most of the other success stories of the past two years; it takes a lot of Motown devices and tricks, throws them into a Human League/disco blender, adds a dash of sparkle and Robert's your father's brother. I'd be more enthusiastic if I didn't have the nagging feeling that I've heard the chorus before. (Mike Gardner, Record Mirror, June 22, 1985)

The Editor said I'd be sacked if I was nasty about this one. Luckily it's quite good. Slightly slower and a bit more sensitive than the excellent "You Spin Me Round" and the terrible "Lover Come Back To Me", it finds Pete Burns complaining about being too involved with a lover who's never satisfied. Maybe another nose job would do the trick? (Report to my office. - Ed) (Chris Heath, Smash Hits, June 19, 1985)

R.I.P. Pete Burns August 5, 1959 - October 23, 2016

Dead Or Alive - Misty Circles (Epic)

Dead or alive? On the evidence of this, a pretty close thing. Despite the bejewelled conk, Pete Burns could be the next Boy George (very pretty, spaghetti hair-do, lashings of lipstick) if only he'd learn to sing rather than how..ow..owl. Electro disco from a real Diamond Dog. (Mark Steels, Smash Hits, June 9, 1983)

Trivia note: an unsuccessful single in its own right, "Misty Circles" later turned up a couple of years later as the B-Side to the No 1 hit "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)".