Monday, October 24, 2016

Pete Burns Dead At 57

I was a very lucky kid. I grew up in a house full of music. All kinds of music. From country and western (that's what they called it back day) which my Dad loved to Abba and the Beatles which my Mom loved. We always had those Disney music albums and it was all about guaranteed that any trip to a KMart ended with each of us getting a record. I remember when I was twelve I traded my sister for her record choice one week. I got Queen's Night At The Opera AND Day At The Races and I thought my head was going to explode. My Dad also taught me how to sing harmony and basically adjust my voice to sing most any song. I sing along in the car and never does someone tell me to shut up.

So then comes the 80s and video did truly kill the radio star. Anyone with a good look was given the chance to make music over those with more talent but who weren't as 'video friendly'. Dead or Alive was such a group. They might have drifted into obscurity if not for one massive hit that they had. You Spin Me Round is so good that I made it my mission to sing it not just well but very well. I can hit all the notes like this maniac did. It's near perfect 80s synth pop.

It's too bad I have this memory because the lead singer died today. He did little after this song but it was enough to be immortal in the song book of the eighties.



And he wore a patch before that became all the rage. HE was the first pirate.

3 comments:

DrGoat said...

We were both lucky that way. My parents loved all kinds of music too. My Mom played violin in the Tucson symphony orchestra, and we too usually picked up a new album of something every week or so. We were big Disney fans (didn't miss one episode of The Wonderful World of Color, Walt Disney Presents and Walt Disney's Disneyland) etc. My Aunt & Uncle were folk singers and there were pretty regular folk singing sessions out at their house. Pete Seeger even showed up there once. Good times.

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

I wonder how parents today raise their kids without music and just let the TV or the computer entertain the kid. I grew up in a blessed time I believe. Before the Internet everything was just more real.

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

And seriously. Having Pete Seeger over to the house is very cool. The most famous person I ever met was Prince Charles but I lied to him and pretended to be GERMAN but he spoke German so he figured us out pretty quick. World Scout Jamboree He visited a few Canadian camps and all the foreign ones. We were Canadians but from Germany so they thought we were germans.