Reproduced from Music Week, 11 December, 1995

It's not because the glamorous Eighties pop icon has been involved in any unseemly rock'n'roll behaviour, it's just that, every time he goes into Music Mania, the feverish response from fans has resulted in the shop having to close its doors.

The same shop has sold nearly 100 copies of the latest import-only Dead Or Alive CD at £25.99 each.

Music Mania's manager Pat Geary is a big fan of the band and is even helping them out as a tour manager on their 10-date US tour, which started last weekend.

"They've just had great reactions to their gigs here and it's hard to believe that they haven't got a UK record deal," he says.

All of which makes you wonder, how come the UK music industry isn't involved in this success?

Burns, the outspoken Liverpudlian best known for the 1984 number one hi-NRG track You Spin Me Round (Like A Record), has a million and one reasons why and plenty of stories to tell. He's also convinced this latest resurgence in his popularity is no flash in the pan - and not a cheap nostalgia trip.

"I played at the Astoria in London recently. The promoter Jeremy Joseph offered me lots of money to do it and I thought he was mad. I expected 20 people and a mongrel dog to turn up," he says.

In fact, it sold out. "It surprised me that so many people were listening to the music now. Fans come up to me with bootleg mixes of old tracks, which is strange, and we're having a revival in a lot of trendy London clubs," he says.

But it's in Japan that Dead Or Alive are currently experiencing their biggest popularity boom. Their latest album Nukleopatra, which is a Japan-only release on the Epic/Sony label, has sold 500,000 copies since its release in October.

The band, which emerged from its indie roots in 1984 and went on to score seven Top 40 hits and three Top 30 albums, has always had a strong following in Japan and, although the group's deal with Epic in the UK collapsed in 1991, Burns was able to retain the company's services in the Far East.

So, for the past four years, Burns and drummer/co-writer/producer and manager Steve Coy - the only other original member still in the group - have been quietly making a living from royalties and regularly touring around the world.

The late Eighties and early Nineties were a particularly difficult period for the singer. Coping with the initial success of Dead Or Alive took its toll.

"Nothing prepares an artist for a number one. One minute you are expected to be like the Pope and healing children, the next you are Gary Glitter. But from then on, it's all downhill. I had to let it all go," he says.

"A lot of bands disappear completely and end up down Portobello Road selling bruised fruit but that wasn't going to be me."

The end of his UK record deal didn't help, however. "It took two years to get out of the contract," he says. "A lot of things had changed at Sony and we decided to leave. I felt like we had been relegated to what I call the fridge department - they store you there until you get as old as Barbra Streisand, then they wheel you out again."

The group secured an ill-fated deal with Pete Waterman and PWL, having had an earlier, very successful, relationship with the production team, which had worked on the group's big hits of the Eighties.

The latest album Nukleopatra was recorded but, as soon as Mike Stock and Matt Aitken left the company, Burns once again felt disorientated.

"It wasn't the same company and I felt a lot of the creativity had gone," he says. This time, the group managed to walk out of the deal with a completed album which Sony Japan later released.

Two years ago, Epic approached Burns again, offering a deal for a Greatest Hits and a new album. He says, "Initially, I was happy about the Greatest Hits but dubious about how we would be marketed. Since then, I haven't felt confident enough with a label to settle on a deal."

The modern record company approach to marketing is something Burns has trouble comprehending. "Their idea of a relaunch seems to be Mariah Carey buying a Wonderbra," says the singer.

That's not to say he isn't keen to talk to record companies and he claims to have a wealth of new material waiting in the wings. "I'll just wait and see. Father Christmas often comes down the chimney so you never know when an A&R man might come down mine. The difference is the fire will be alight at the bottom of mine," he laughs.

For now, he's happy to continue gigging - even though it's a struggle sometimes getting gigs without a new album in the shops. "In the old days, you used to gig, build up a fanbase and then release a record, but these days the concert circuit is entirely driven by whether you've got an album out or not. Surely it should be the agent's job to get the gigs whatever," he says.

While he waits for the Greatest Hits to finally get a release, Burns aims to be back in the charts soon with a re-working of You Spin Me Round. Earlier this year, he stepped in to prevent an act called the Mad Lads releasing a new version of the track on the Sound Of Ministry label.

"I thought it was a bit rude to do it without asking but, in the end, I went in and recorded some new vocals for them and it should be out in the New Year," he says.

There's also a rumoured George Michael version of the track, under the name Infamy, lurking somewhere and, what with a tacky Italian Euro house version appearing earlier this year, it seems the DOA classic is in for something of a revival itself.

"I now know why Judy Garland killed herself. You do grow out of certain songs and sometimes it is a pain having to play them all the time but I suppose you do have an obligation to your audience."

And as long as that audience is there, a pouting Pete won't be far away, camping it up to the max.