Further Investigation into Pete Burns's Thievery... (FTF2 Review Extra)

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT SOMEWHERE BELOW LIES A RATHER UNPLEASANT IMAGE. SCROLLING DOWN IS NOT RECOMMENDED IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE A SMALL GLIMPSE OF A MAN'S PUBES. THIS IS YOUR FIRST AND ONLY WARNING.

Reader, remember when I brought up how suspiciously similar FTF2's cover art is to Blood On The Dance Floor's? Yeah, I know, it could be a complete coincidence, but really, after several 'complete coincidences', should I really let this one slide?

If you don't know what I mean, allow me to present you with two pieces of incredibly damning evidence of plagiarism, as well as other instances of wrongdoing from Pete Burns. Oh alright, maybe it's not 'damning', per se, but let me be hyperbolic in order to prove my point, you bellend.

Let's begin by looking at the cover for their first album, Sophisticated Boom Boom.

I hate to admit it, but Pete looked quite good in some pics from this era.

For others pics, though, well...

Of course, his pubes are far from the point of this post. What does SBB's cover rip off?

Lionheart by Kate Bush.

This is no obscure album cover he ripped off, either. Kate Bush is an artist held in high regard, and this album was certified platinum. I wouldn't be surprised if such choices were made to boost SBB's profile, cause that is a very Pete Burns-ish thing to do.

Not convinced yet? Here's another one, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know. (Nothing about Youthquake is on here because that one as far as I know is original. Naturally, with it being the best post-Hussey DOA album, I'm glad I don't have to rip it a new one over this issue. Unfortunately though, there's also nothing that points toward Nude's cover being ripped off, so I won't have the joy of verbally sodomizing it.)

It was at this point in their history that they were starting to fall off, and Pete's near-constant game of verbal bloodsports with Stock Aitken Waterman (who were trying to save him from his ineptitude as a songwriter might I add) during its recording wasn't helping. MBADTK isn't that bad of an album, mind you, but it has a lot of weak spots. It'd only get worse with Nude, though.

"Omg just get to the point, ur just a hater!", you Burns fans might be saying as you show your haughty friends on the DOA Facebook group how terrible of a person I am for daring to mock your #1 crush or something. Ask and I shall deliver!

Phantasmagoria by The Damned

If you have eyes, you can quite clearly see. Not just this suspicious resemblance, but in general.

I actually gave this one a quick listen, and I love it a lot. Thousands of times better than anything DOA has ever released, honestly, which is why MBADTK's cover art sickens me. Ripping off stuff from better artists to look cooler instead of displaying some actual dignity and originality is as dickless as one can get (I swear to god, what I'm saying now is probably going to be turned around and used against me when I get my Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark-inspired band going... oh well!).

With all that over and done with, I'd like to talk about something else that has irritated me about DOA.

I'm sure you're familiar with the song Sex Drive, right? No? Unsurprising. The track was written by a group of producers collectively known as Glam, along with Burns himself, who sang on the track. However, we're at a point in time where it's viewed almost entirely as a DOA song, and Glam has received less acknowledgement. I don't like that one bit, and on top of everything I just talked about, it's troubling in my opinion.

I'm gonna leave everything at that because that's all I've got for right now. I have tons of other gripes when it comes to Pete, but I'd rather not make that the primary focus of this blog.