''Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know'' is the third studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by British pop band Dead or Alive, released on 21 November 1986 on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. Continuing their association with the

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considered ...

(SAW) production team, Dead or Alive scored several hit singles from this album, including " Brand New Lover", " Something in My House", "Hooked on Love" and "I'll Save You All My Kisses". Production of the album was marked by arguments between the band and SAW, with the latter frustrated by the band's refusal to branch into

House music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

, and singer Pete Burns unwilling to hand over songwriting duties to the producers. Burns expressed frustration with his record company's attitude to his single choices, complaining the label only relented on scheduling "Brand New Lover" for release after

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Thei ...

had a hit with their Dead or Alive-inspired cover of "

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

", and alleging they also refused to give "Something In My House" a

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

release date. While Burns claimed vicious studio arguments during production of the album made him ill, recording engineer Karen Hewitt stated the singer appeared to thrive on his often explosive and confrontational dynamic with Mike Stock and

Matt Aitken Matthew James Aitken (born 25 August 1956) is an English songwriter and record producer, brought up in Astley, Greater Manchester, best known as the creative force behind the 1980s and early 1990s songwriting/production trio Stock Aitken Waterman ...

during the album sessions. Aitken confessed to clashing with Burns over his experimentation with new vocal techniques, including what he described as

yodelling Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from th ...

. The video for "Something in My House" was an homage in part to

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

's film '' La Belle et la Bête'' (''Beauty and the Beast''). In addition to an image of singer Pete Burns, the cover features one of the game walls at the Château de Raray, where some of the scenes for ''La Belle et la Bête'' were filmed. The cover photographer is

Bob Carlos Clarke Robert Carlos Clarke (24 June 1950 – 25 March 2006) was a British-Irish photographer who made erotic images of women as well as documentary, portrait and commercial photography. Carlos Clarke produced six books during his career: ''The ...

. The phrase "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know" itself comes from a statement by

Lady Caroline Lamb Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby; 13 November 1785 – 25 January 1828) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist, best known for ''Glenarvon'', a Gothic novel. In 1812 she had an affair with Lord Byron, whom she described as "mad, bad, and ...

describing controversial English literary figure

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

Track listing

All tracks written by Dead or Alive. Side one #" Brand New Lover" – 5:18 #"I'll Save You All My Kisses" – 3:35 #"Son of a Gun" – 4:15 #"Then There Was You" – 3:45 #"Come Inside" – 4:28 Side two #" Something in My House" – 7:20 #"Hooked on Love" – 3:55 #"I Want You" – 4:12 #"Special Star" – 4:10

Personnel

Dead or Alive * Pete Burns – vocals *Mike Percy – bass guitar, guitars *Tim Lever – keyboards *Steve Coy – drums Additional personnel * Mike Stock – producer *

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...

– producer *

– producer *Mark McGuire – engineer *Burni Adams – tape operator

Chart performance

References

External links

* 1986 albums Dead or Alive (band) albums Albums produced by Stock Aitken Waterman Epic Records albums {{1980s-pop-album-stub