"Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know" is the third studio album by the English pop band Dead or Alive, released in December 1986 on Epic Records. The album continues the band's collaboration with the Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) production team, and it yielded several hit singles, including "Brand New Lover" and "Something in My House." The cover of the album features an image of lead singer Pete Burns, along with a shot of one of the game walls at the Château de Raray, a location where some scenes from La Belle et la Bête were filmed. The photographer for the cover was Bob Carlos Clarke. The phrase "Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know" is a reference to a description made by Lady Caroline Lamb of the controversial English writer Lord Byron.
The production of the album was marked by tension between the band and the SAW team. SAW, known for their expertise in house music and dance pop, was frustrated by the band's refusal to embrace the house genre. Additionally, singer Pete Burns was adamant about maintaining control over the songwriting, and he was reluctant to hand over any writing duties to the producers. Burns was also frustrated by his record company's attitude towards his single choices. He claimed that the label only agreed to release "Brand New Lover" after Bananarama had a hit with their cover of "Venus," which was inspired by Dead or Alive. Burns also alleged that the label refused to release "Something in My House" on a Halloween release date, despite the song's eerie tone.
Burns described the recording sessions as being full of vicious arguments, which he said contributed to his illness during the production period. However, recording engineer Karen Hewitt recalled that Burns seemed to thrive in the combative environment, often engaging in explosive confrontations with producers Mike Stock and Matt Aitken. Another engineer, Yoyo, described the tensions as being primarily artistic rather than personal, with disagreements focused on the direction of the album rather than any real animosity between the band and the producers.
