You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)

Background and composition

Dead or Alive's vocalist Pete Burns states in his autobiography that he composed "You Spin Me Round" by using two existing songs as inspiration for creating something new:

How did I write "Spin Me"? I listened to Luther Vandross's 'I Wanted Your Love'. It's not the same chord structure, but then that's the way I make music – I hear something and I sing another tune over it. I didn't sit and study the Luther Vandross album – I heard the song and it locked. [...] I'm trying to structure the music and I know what I want. [...] It's like do this, do this, do this - and suddenly it hits. I don't want to do Luther Vandross's song, but I can still sing the same pattern over it. And there was another record, by Little Nell, called "See You 'Round Like A Record". [...] So I had those two, Van Dross [sic] and Little Nell and – bingo! – done deal.

According to Burns, the record company was unenthusiastic about "You Spin Me Round", to such an extent that Burns had to take out a £2,500 loan to record it, then once it had been recorded "the record company said it was awful. It was unanimous – it was awful, it was rubbish." Burns states that the band had to fund production of the song's video themselves.

The strings were based on Richard Wagner's classical piece "Ride of the Valkyries".

Interviewed for BBC Radio 4's The Reunion: The Hit Factory, in April 2015, Burns said that the confrontational attitude of the producers was met with an equally confrontational attitude from the band and that this led to "quite a bad vibe" for the entirety of the studio time, describing the experience as "a time of intense friction".

Re-releases

A remix version of "You Spin Me Round" was released in 2003 at the same time Dead or Alive's greatest hits album Evolution was released. The song reached no. 23 in the UK Singles Chart. The original 1984 recording was re-released on 30 January 2006 because of lead singer Pete Burns's controversial time as a contestant on television series Celebrity Big Brother and reached no. 5.

Earlier remixes were in 1996 and 1997 (some are included on the US, European and Australian releases of Nukleopatra). In 1999 these mixes were issued in the US as a 2-CD set. The first disc held seven mixes of "You Spin Me Round" while disc two has five mixes of "Sex Drive". In 2000, new mixes appeared on Fragile and in 2001, on Unbreakable: The Fragile Remixes. No videos were made for these.

Chart performance

The song has been re-released three times since its original release in 1984. Each time of its release, it achieved success, but failed to match the success of the original. However, after lead-singer Pete Burns's appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, the single was re-released and managed a Top 5 peak on the UK Singles Chart in 2006.

Dope version

Nu metal band Dope covered the song on their 1999 album Felons and Revolutionaries. The band's version became their first chart entry on any Billboard chart, reaching no. 37 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Jessica Simpson version

Jessica Simpson's version of the song was released as a promo single from her fifth studio album A Public Affair in 2006. Her version of the song failed to break into the Billboard Hot 100 (though it did reach number 20 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles). Simpson's version has new lyrics and only preserves the chorus of the song.

Other cover versions

Danzel and Gigi D'Agostino have also done remixes. Danzel's version peaked at no. 32 in Belgium.

Flo Rida featuring Kesha's 2009 single "Right Round" interpolates elements of the song.

Track listing

1. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Murder Mix) – 8:00
2. "Misty Circles" (Extended Version) – 9:10

1. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Murder Mix) – 8:00
2. "Brand New Lover" – 9:10

1. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Sugar Pumpers Radio Edit) – 3:38
2. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Cleopatra Radio Edit) – 4:13
3. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Marc Antonine Radio Edit) – 3:21
4. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Sugar Pumpers Extended Mix) – 5:11
5. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Sugar Pumpers Pumpin Mix) – 7:05
6. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Vicious Mix) – 8:10
7. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Marc Antonine Club Mix) – 7:00

1. "Sex Drive" (Radio Edit) – 2:52
2. "Sex Drive" (Scream Driven Edit) – 3:54
3. "Sex Drive" (Dead or Alive Original Mix) – 6:39
4. "Sex Drive" (Scream Driven Mix) – 6:59
5. "Sex Drive" (Pee Wee Remix) – 5:56

1. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Metro 7" Edit) – 3:46
2. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Metro 12" Extended Mix) – 6:55
3. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Punx Soundcheck Vs Princess Julia) – 5:47
4. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Original 7" Mix) – 3:16

1. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Original 7" Mix) – 3:16
2. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Performance Mix) – 7:27
3. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" (Metro 7" Edit) – 3:46
4. Video: "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" – 3:44