Having been ‘discovered’ working in Liverpool’s Probe Records during the punk rock explosion, Pete Burns found himself fronting his own band, Nightmares In Wax who mutated into the more familiar Dead Or Alive, eventually bringing Pete into the UK pop mainstream, and a star was born.

Bringing together early singles by both Nightmares In Wax and Dead Or Alive, Peel sessions and previously unheard demos and live recordings, Let Them Drag My Soul Away shines a light on the pre-fame Burns and a revolving cast of band mates and collaborators, many of whom were mainstays of both the Liverpool and broader British post-punk scene.

From the disco punk funk of ‘Black Leather’ through proto-Gothic singles ‘It’s Been Hours Now’ and ‘The Stranger’, and into early versions of hi-NRG tracks which would eventually find their way onto the band’s debut album, this is both an invigorating exploration of an emerging talent and a valuable time capsule of an important figure in both the 80s pop and gay club scenes.

While so many pop stars hid their homosexuality for the sake of record sales and middle America, Burns stuck up two fingers and sang loudly about both his own inner world and his desire for large, leather clad boys!

Featuring sleeve notes by Electronic Sound magazine’s Mat Smith (with new interview contributions from Wayne Hussey, Joe Musker and Francesco Mellina), and a plethora of previously unheard recordings, this is a must for fans of Pete Burns, post-punk and pop enthusiasts and those with an interest in British pop culture in the aftermath of punk’s liberation.

CD 1: THE SINGLES
Nightmares In Wax
1. Black Leather
2. Girl Song
3. Shangri-La
4. Girl Song (1985 Mix)
5. Shangri-La (1985 Mix)

Dead Or Alive
6. I’m Falling
7. Flowers
8. Number Eleven
9. Namegame (Live version)
10. It’s Been Hours Now
11. Whirlpool
12. Nowhere To Nowhere
13. It’s Been Hours Now 2
14. The Stranger
15. Some Of That

This very much long overdue showcase for the formative years of one of the post-punk and 80s pop scene’s most memorable figures, opens on a quintet from Nightmares In Wax - the post punk/spooky disco of Black Leather, the more forward, rhythmically jaunty Girl Song, the beautiful goth spiral of Shangri-La, and then adds on two of the same again, but these both 1985 mixes.

Then come a beautiful slew of Dead Or Alive early doors singles, where his unique, raw, yet instantly-recognizable voice shines through at all times, such as the bass-led I’m Falling, the powerfully expressive Flowers, the dark atmosphere imbibed within Number Eleven, a live version of the haunting Namegame, and then we get the darkly intriguing, veritably punk in nature It’s Been Hours Now, the Post Punk heaven of Whirlpool, the vibrantly amazing Nowhere To Nowhere, the disc rounding out on the atmospherically-charged, drum-led It’s Been Hours Now 2, the beautifully haunting The Stranger and the rousing Some Of That.

CD 2: THE DEMOS
Nightmares In Wax
1. Black Leather (4-Track Demo)*
2. Girl Song (4-Track Demo)*
3. I’ll Turn Away (4-Track Demo)*
4. Shangri-La (4-Track Demo)*

Dead Or Alive
5. Selfish Side (Demo)*
6. Far Too Hard (Demo 2nd Mix)*
7. Misty Circles (Demo)*
8. What I Want (Demo)*
9. Give It To Me (Demo)*
10. Selfish Side (Alternate Early Mix) *
11. Untitled Instrumental #1*
12. Untitled Instrumental #2*
13. Untitled Instrumental #3*
(*previously unreleased)

This magnificent 3CD set that explores the early years of legendary pet Burns’ fronted Dead Or Alive, continues onward with a quartet of Nightmares In Wax demos. Inclusive of all the same aforementioned tracks from the first disc, they represent the one and only 4-Track Demo that was put out back then by Burns, and which have, until now, been previously unreleased).

Then we get a load more of previously unreleased demo tracks, this time from Dead Or Alive, and which kick off with the gently pounding Selfish Side (which there is not a great difference between this and the original), the hypnotizing Far Too Hard, and then come the hip swinging Misty Circles, the typical 80s, and yet cluttered song What I Want, the underrated Give It To Me and an alternate early mix of Selfish Side, the disc rounding out on three untitled instrumentals.

CD 3: THE PEEL SESSIONS & LIVE RECORDINGS
1. Nowhere To Nowhere (Peel Session)
2. Running Wild (Peel Session)
3. Number Eleven (Peel Session)
4. Flowers (Peel Session)
5. Number Twelve (Peel Session)
6. The Stranger (Peel Session)
7. Misty Circles (Peel Session)
8. Misty Circles Pt 2 (Peel Session)
9. Gilded Splinters (Live In Manchester)*
10. Don’t Tell Me (Live In Manchester)*
11. Flowers (TV Version)*
(*previously unreleased)

Out proud, and very, very loud, the recordings continue onward on the third disc with a series of Peel Session’s and live performances also now lovingly captured. The octet of Peel Session’s opens with the raw, more vocal than loud instruments Nowhere To Nowhere and then lead us into the Echo & The Bunnymen-esque Running Wild, the (early) Adam & The Antz-esque Number Eleven, the ravishing Flowers (which begins with a short cover of Melanie’s Candles In The Rain, as well as the other lyrical references in the song; Bacharach and David, Pete Seeger and the Stones, all of which had parts lyric sewn into the track), the slap bass-fed goth beauty Number Twelve, and then we get the haunting The Stranger, and the book-end duo of Misty Circles and Misty Circles Pt 2; before the disc comes to a close on brilliant two live tracks from Manchester - Gilded Splinters and Don’t Tell Me - and a TV version of Flowers (all three previously unreleased before now).

Official 3CD Purchase Link