Nude (Dead or Alive album)
Nude is the fourth studio album by British pop group Dead or Alive, released in Japan on December 18, 1988, and in Europe and America in July 1989 on Epic Records. Nude marked the band's first entirely self-produced album. Tim Lever and Mike Percy left the band during the album's production, leaving remaining members Pete Burns and Steve Coy. While the album was not as commercially successful in the band's native United Kingdom as their previous offerings, the album peaked within the top 10 in Japan, charted for 18 weeks, and produced the band's biggest hit single in the territory, Turn Around and Count 2 Ten, which peaked atop the Oricon Singles Chart. The album was re-released in the UK in 2016 as a part of the comprehensive box set Sophisticated Boom Box MMXVI.
Promotion
Three singles were released to promote the release of Nude, the Japanese number-one Turn Around and Count 2 Ten, and US Dance hits Come Home with Me Baby and Baby Don't Say Goodbye ''. I Cannot Carry On was lifted from the album as an airplay single in Japan in 1988, but did not receive a commercial release. In the UK, Baby Don't Say Goodbye was to be released as the third and final single from the album in 1989, however the release was quickly withdrawn. The mixes from this planned release would later feature on the box set Still Spinnin': The Singles Collection 1983-2021 in February 2024. Furthermore, Give It Back appeared on various Epic sampler releases in both Japan and the US in 1989, but no official single release ever materialised.In support of the album, the band embarked on the Disco in Dream Tour alongside fellow Stock Aitken Waterman-produced acts Kylie Minogue and Sinitta in Japan, which opened in Nagoya at the Nagoya Rainbow Hall on October 2, 1989, and concluded in Osaka at the Osaka-jō Hall on October 8, 1989. The performance at the Tokyo Dome, recorded on October 6, 1989, was broadcast on NHK, wherein the band performed multiple tracks from Nude.''
Critical reception
Reviewing the album for Melody Maker, Steve Sutherland concluded the album's lyrical content was "rife with confrontations, accusations, proclamations, anything that keeps Burns centre-stage, preening himself through roles like a camp Olivier," whilst noting that, "stylistically, Nude moved much anywhere from the exhilarating hi-NRG of Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know." Retrospectively reviewing the album in 2021, Connor Grotto for RetroPop Magazine described Nude as the "perfect Dead or Alive album" and "their strongest offering overall".Personnel
Dead or Alive- Pete Burns – vocals
- Steve Coy – drums
- Mike Percy - bass
- Tim Lever - keyboards
- Andy Stennet – additional keyboards
- Tracy Ackerman, Laura Pallas, Jackie Raw – backing vocals
Production
- All tracks produced, arranged and mixed by Pete Burns and Steve Coy
- Tracks 1, 3 and 5 engineered and mixed by Bruce Robins, re-recorded and mixed by Phil Bodger
- House engineers: Paul Cartledge, Simon Clay
- Assistant engineers: Benjamin Hallowell, Garrison III
- Recorded and mixed at Good Earth Studios, London
- Digitally edited by Simon Everett at Mayfair
- Photography: Paul Cox, Peter Brown, Marti and Pierre Chan