''Sophisticated Boom Boom'' is the debut studio album by the English pop band

Dead or Alive A wanted poster (or wanted sign) is a poster distributed to let the public know of a person whom authorities wish to apprehend. They generally include a picture of the person, either a photograph when one is available or of a facial composite ...

, released on 20 April 1984 by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

. Featuring mostly

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

elements, the album contains the band's first UK top 40 single, a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

KC and the Sunshine Band KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits " Get Down Tonight", " That's the Way (I Like It)", "⁠ (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", ...

's "

That's the Way (I Like It) "That's the Way (I Like It)" is a song by American disco and funk band KC and the Sunshine Band from their self-titled second studio album (1975). The single became the band's second No. 1 hit in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and it is one of the ...

". That song, along with " Misty Circles", were hits on the US

Hot Dance Music/Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart. The album was a minor success in the UK where it peaked at No. 29. The original cassette version of the album was released with three bonus tracks. In 2007, the album was re-released on CD by

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...

with seven bonus tracks. The cover photograph was taken by

Peter Ashworth Peter Ashworth (born 1953) is an English photographer. Ashworth initially specialized in music photography, between 1979 and 2000. In the 1980s, he worked with many UK and international music artists including The Smiths, Tina Turner, Depeche M ...

and was inspired by the cover of

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

's second studio album '' Lionheart'' (1978). The original title for the album was ''Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know'', but it was rejected by the label. It would later become the title of the band's third studio album. The title matches that of the song made famous by

the Shangri-Las The Shangri-Las were an American girl group of the 1960s, consisting of Mary Weiss, her sister Elizabeth "Betty" Weiss and twin sisters Marguerite "Marge" Ganser and Mary Ann Ganser. Between 1964 and 1966 several hit pop songs of theirs docu ...

, "Sophisticated Boom Boom", first released on their second album, '' Shangri-Las-65!'' (1965).

Track listing

Personnel

Dead or Alive *

Pete Burns Peter Jozzeppi Burns (5 August 1959 – 23 October 2016) was an English singer, songwriter and television personality who formed the band Dead or Alive (band), Dead or Alive in 1980 during the New wave music, new wave era and was the band's lea ...

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Mike Percy –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

* Tim Lever – keyboards * Steve Coy –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Wayne Hussey 250px, Hussey performing at the Hildesheim.html" ;"title="M'era Luna Festival in Hildesheim">M'era Luna Festival in Hildesheim, Germany, 2004 Jerry Wayne Hussey (born 26 May 1958) is an English musician who was born in Bristol, England. He is ...

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(uncredited on album artwork) Additional musicians * Jackie Challenor –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

* Lorenza Johnson – backing vocals * Mae McKenna – backing vocals * Kick Horns – horns * Caroline's Quartet – strings Production and artwork * Zeus B. Held – producer; mixer *

– producer * Tim Palmer –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

; mixer *

Chris Sheldon Chris Sheldon (born 25 September 1962) is an English record producer, particularly of rock music based in London, England. He has produced or mixed records for the Foo Fighters, Garbage, Big Country, Feeder, Therapy?, Biffy Clyro, Oceansize, Pi ...

– engineer *

–

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

Chart performance

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sophisticated Boom Boom 1984 debut albums Dead or Alive (band) albums Epic Records albums