Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Encyclopedia
Frankie Goes to Hollywood (FGTH) were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson
(vocals), with Paul Rutherford
(vocals, keyboards
), Peter Gill (drums
, percussion
), Mark O'Toole (bass guitar
), and Brian Nash
(guitar
).
The group's debut single "Relax
" was banned by the BBC
in 1984 while at number six in the charts and subsequently topped the UK singles chart for five consecutive weeks, going on to enjoy prolonged chart success throughout that year and ultimately becoming the seventh best-selling UK single of all time (as of May 2006). After the follow-up success of "Two Tribes
" and "The Power of Love
," FGTH became only the second act in the history of the UK charts to reach number one with their first three singles; the first being Gerry & the Pacemakers
in 1964.
On the B-side
to the group's first single, Johnson explained that the group's name derived from a page from The New Yorker
magazine, featuring the headline "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" and a picture of Frank Sinatra
, although the magazine page Johnson referred to was actually a pop art poster by Guy Peellaert
. Allegedly the original group named "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" dates from 1980.
The nucleus of the group emerged from the late 1970s Liverpool punk
scene. Lead singer Johnson had played bass with Big in Japan and had also released two solo singles. Local musicians Peter Gill (drums), Jed O'Toole (bass), and Jed's cousin Brian Nash (guitar) initially joined Johnson, calling themselves Sons of Egypt. This line-up secured a number of small local gigs before disbanding
The group was reprised when Johnson joined Mark O'Toole (bass) and Peter "Ped" Gill to form FGTH. During a particularly fluid period of personnel changes, Jed O'Toole joined FGTH on guitar, and a female vocalist, Sonia Mazumder, was also a band member for the first Frankie gig at the Leeds nightclub "The Warehouse," supporting Hambi & The Dance. Paul Rutherford – a member of the headline act who had also sung in seminal Liverpool punk band The Spitfire Boys
– apparently got so caught up in Frankie's performance that he effectively replaced Mazumder that very night. The new all-male musical line-up subsequently toured locally with a leather-clad female duo known as "The Leatherpets" and managed to fund promotional videos and demos, despite being eventually turned down by both Arista Records
and Phonogram
. In October 1982, the group recorded a John Peel Session for BBC Radio 1
, comprising the originals "Krisco Kisses," "Two Tribes," "Disneyland," and "The World is My Oyster." Around this time Jed O'Toole left the group, to be replaced by the returning Brian Nash.
In February 1983, the group was invited to record a video for "Relax" by the Channel 4
show The Tube
at the Liverpool State Ballroom. After the broadcast, the Peel session was repeated on radio, and a new session recorded for the BBC, comprising "Welcome to the Pleasuredome
," "The Only Star In Heaven," and "Relax." These performances, along with a repeat of the Tube video, convinced Trevor Horn
to sign the group for his new label, ZTT Records
, in May 1983.
" was released by ZTT in October 1983 and got a modicum of airplay, allowing it steady progress into the UK Top 40. Following a debut on the BBC's Top Of The Pops
on 5 January 1984 while at number 35, the single rose to number six in the charts the following week.
On 11 January 1984, BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Mike Read
was playing the record on his show when he noticed the front cover design (by Yvonne Gilbert). Read apparently became outraged by the "overtly sexual" nature of both the record sleeve and the printed lyrics, which prompted him to remove the disc from the turntable live on air, branding it "obscene."
Two days later – almost three months after the single's initial release, and just eight days after the group's Top Of The Pops appearance – the BBC banned the record from all its TV and radio outlets, with the exception of its Top 40 show. "Relax" immediately shot to Number One in the UK charts and stayed there for five weeks, during which time the BBC could not feature the nation's best-selling single on Top Of The Pops.
The original video was directed by Bernard Rose
and depicted a gay
S&M
parlor where the bandmembers were admired by muscular leathermen
, a bleached blonde drag queen
and a large-bodied gentleman dressed as a Roman emperor
. The video featured a scene where one of the bandmembers wrestled a live tiger
, to the admiration of the clubgoers, and ended where the "emperor" was so excited he shimmied out of his toga
. It was (filmed in the unused East London theatre Wilton's Music Hall
), which was promptly banned by both the BBC and MTV
, resulting in the production of a substitute video directed by filmmaker Brian De Palma
to coincide with the release of his film Body Double
.
The BBC lifted its ban on "Relax
" at the end of 1984 to allow the band to perform it on the Christmas edition of Top of the Pops (it had been, aside from Band Aid, the biggest-selling single of the year).
"Relax" remained in the charts when the follow-up, "Two Tribes
," was released in May 1984. The anti-conflict song was given an aggressively topical nuclear war
slant. Featuring sirens, the unmistakable voice of Patrick Allen
(who had voiced the British Government's actual nuclear warning ads, Protect and Survive
, two years earlier) and another innovative electronic backing, it went straight into the UK charts at Number One and stayed there for nine weeks (the first single to do so since Wings'
"Mull of Kintyre
" during 1977–78), with total sales exceeding 1.5 million copies and becoming one of the top 30 best-selling records in the UK ever.
Directed by Kevin Godley
and Lol Creme
, the video featured lookalikes of Cold War leaders Ronald Reagan
and Konstantin Chernenko
wrestling in a marquee while band members and others laid bets on the outcome. Ultimately, the audience — consisting of other world leaders — were brought into the fight, and eventually Earth was seen to explode.
Additionally, during the fight, the Reagan lookalike can be seen biting the ear of the Chernenko look alike a full 14 years before Mike Tyson accidentally emulated the video bite in real life, as an interesting turn of life imitating art.
"Two Tribes" was a successful single in its own right, but its reign at the top of the charts was made even more notable by the continuing success of its predecessor. "Relax" had made a natural decline down the charts by May 1984, but on the release of "Two Tribes" its sales began to increase again, to the extent that FGTH held the top two spots in the UK charts during July 1984, the first active group to do so since the early 1960s.
The release of "Two Tribes" also coincided with an extensive and iconic T-shirt marketing campaign during the British summer of 1984, featuring such slogans as "Frankie Say War! Hide Yourself" and "Frankie Say Relax Don't Do It!"
," at the end of 1984. Unlike the earlier singles, this song was a slower-paced ballad, but it also went to Number One in December and making the band the first act for two decades (since Gerry & the Pacemakers
, a fellow Liverpool band, in 1963) to achieve chart-toppers with its first three releases. The video was not banned on this occasion but still caused trouble for the group — because it depicted a nativity scene (and on its first showing did not feature any members of the band, who were subsequently added as picture framing), it was incorrectly grouped in the category of Christmas-only records. As a result, to this day radio stations seem to give it airplay only during the festive period.
The song's release was preceded by an advertising campaign that, cheekily, declared it to be the band's third number one single, as if this was a fait accompli. The Band Aid
project, for which Johnson recorded a message for the B-side, meant that FGTH managed only one week at the top this time before it was replaced by "Do They Know It's Christmas?
."
," was released as a fourth single in March 1985. Early promotional posters for the single cockily proclaimed it as "their fourth number one," even prior to the single's release. Embarrassingly, the single peaked at Number 2, leading to preemptive claims that the band was now on the decline. The snipers would eventually prove correct, but not for the alleged 'failure' of a Number 2 hit. The band's demise was, in the final analysis, attributable to increasing internal tensions and general disillusionment, suspected by some during 1985, but only becoming truly apparent during the group's 1986 public and much-heralded "return." The twelve inches were noted for their long Greek mythology
/Samuel Taylor Coleridge
spoken introduction by Geoffrey Palmer
.
Only one sole new track appeared in the next eighteen months; "Disneyland," was released on the ZTT Records "Zang Tuum Tumb Sampled" album in late 1985.
" and "Warriors of the Wasteland
." Both versions were different from the versions eventually released. In August 1986, the long-awaited new Frankie Goes to Hollywood single, "Rage Hard," was released, reaching number 4 in the UK. Initially showcased promotionally with songs like "Warriors of the Wasteland," the group's sound had developed a significantly harder edge with a less flamboyant, more nitty-gritty lyrical side. Whilst the single was inevitably promoted as a flagship ZTT product, Frankie's self-importance seemed somewhat forced and verging almost on self-parody by 1986. The corresponding album, Liverpool (originally rumoured to be titled "Liverpool ... let's make it a double"), released in October and reaching UK No. 5 was generally panned by the music press, and chart returns declined rapidly with the follow-up singles "Warriors of the Wasteland" (#19) and "Watching the Wildlife
" (#28). The group meanwhile threatened to implode of its own accord, in the course of a sometimes poorly attended tour promoting the new album. Johnson kept himself markedly separate from the rest of the band when offstage at this period, tensions becoming exacerbated during a backstage altercation between Johnson and O'Toole at Wembley Arena
in January 1987, reflecting the generally collapsing relationship between lead singer and the rest of the band. Things were so bad that fellow Liverpudlian singer Pete Wylie
was approached to replace Johnson but declined the offer. FGTH would complete the tour, but Johnson ultimately left the group thereafter, citing musical estrangement.
Records. However, ZTT, which maintained they had invested heavily in Liverpool (to the extent that the digital recording
system used to record the album was very nearly treated as a sixth member of the band on the sleeve of the "Warriors of the Wasteland" single), had other ideas, and promptly sued Johnson in an attempt to hold him to his original contract with the label. Among other things, ZTT believed that as a departing member of FGTH, Johnson was required to release all solo material through the label until the band's original multiple-album agreement was fulfilled. The suit was bitterly fought, exposing the inner workings of the ZTT/Frankie machine to a giddy UK music press.
After two years, the High Court found in Johnson's favour, holding that the highly restrictive terms of the contract constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade
. The result of the court case, which also effectively freed the remaining members of FGTH from their ZTT contract, became famous as an unprecedented victory for the artist over their corporate paymasters.
, Dreams That Money Can't Buy. However, Johnson's relations with MCA cooled with this release, and he would ultimately become a reclusive but successful painter, after announcing in 1993 that he was infected with HIV
. The following year, Johnson recounted his version of Frankie's history in his autobiography A Bone in My Flute. His self-issued 1999 album Soulstream included a re-recording of "The Power of Love," which was also released as a single.
Paul Rutherford, the other openly gay member of the band, released the partially ABC
produced album Oh World and a handful of singles before retiring with his New Zealander partner to Waiheke Island
.
The "other three," as Smash Hits
labelled them, continued to work together in what turned out to be a vain attempt to resurrect "Frankie" with various singers including Dee Harris from Fashion and Grant Boult(Jeckyl Ice) from The Premise, who had opened the shows on the band's UK and European tours. Under the name Boss Dog, with Boult on vocals, the band were offered a major deal with Virgin Records
but on condition they work as Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Johnson challenged the use of the name and the deal soured. Boult and Brian Nash continued with the material written by Balding Brothers and under the name Low they released "Tearing My Rsoul Apart" in 1992 on Swanyard Records. As "Nasher," Nash released a 2002 solo album
entitled Rope. Pedro worked behind the scenes and scored a top ten hit with the group "Lovestation." Mark O'Toole moved to Florida and played with Punk outfit "Trapped By Mormons."
The band's name lived on to the extent that re-issues of "Relax" and "The Power of Love" both returned to the UK Top 10 in 1993. Remixes of "The Power of Love" (which became a dance anthem from its original ballad format) and "Two Tribes" were Top 20 hits again in 2000, while "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" also got commercially successful remix treatment, to the extent of a Top 20 placing four years earlier. ZTT continues in its endeavours to keep the FGTH back-catalogue alive into the new century, with periodic reconfigurations, remasters, and further remixes by an ever-growing pool of dance producers, in an attempt to maintain a perceived tradition that began with the multiple variations of the "Relax" 12-inch issued in 1983. ZTT has tended to date (May 2006) to keep all images of the band absent from their remix artwork, and this absence has tended on the whole to extend to the content and spirit of their reissued product.
The group's first two singles appeared sixth and 22nd respectively in the official all-time UK best-selling singles list issued in 2002.
A band called "The New Frankie Goes to Hollywood" appeared, fronted by Davey Johnson, who claimed to be Holly Johnson's brother. The band plays a few Frankie tracks, but actually has nothing to do with FGTH. Likewise, "Davey Johnson" is no relative of Holly's. The band is also not to be confused with the FGTH conventions related to The Rocky Horror Picture Show
.
brought Johnson, Rutherford, Gill, Nash, and Mark O'Toole together from the far corners of the world, in the hope of their agreeing to perform impromptu on the show. By all appearances, the bandmates got on well enough and enjoyed seeing each other again, but a reunion performance did not eventually transpire. Both Johnson and Nash had reservations about performing at short notice in the contrived manner dictated by the TV show format.
Nevertheless, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Trevor Horn
's involvement in the music industry, in 2004 a special concert took place at Wembley Arena in November, featuring three of the original FGTH line-up, Mark O'Toole, Peter (Ped) Gill and Paul Rutherford and another former member, Jed O'Toole. Original vocalist Johnson, who announced via the Internet that he would not be appearing, and guitarist Nash, who declined to appear for his own reasons, did not take part. Jed O'Toole took over guitar duties for the event, whilst an open audition was held for a new singer for the concert. Ryan Molloy
was recruited as a result.
The same lineup (with Molloy and Jed O'Toole, but without Johnson or Nash) reunited for a tour in 2005 playing festivals in Europe. They headlined at Faceparty
's Big Gay Out
festival at Hyde Park in London.
After some confusion with ensuing tour dates, the band posted a warning on their website that many of the tour dates listed by ticket promoters were inaccurate. The band became increasingly focused on the release of a new album during 2007. However, in early April 2007 came the news that Gill, Rutherford, J. O'Toole and Molloy had formed Forbidden Hollywood to play their new songs alongside old FGTH material. This was to avoid legal issues with Holly Johnson over use of the Frankie Goes to Hollywood name. Live dates were announced, but in June 2007, these were cancelled and the band collapsed with the departure of Molloy.
" (1993) and "Two Tribes
" (1994) were re-released in the UK as singles in remixed form. The tracks "Relax
" (1994) and "The Power of Love
" (1993) were also re-released, but this time in their original form (the CD singles both featured at least one of the original 1984 12 inch remixes).
To coincide with the release of Maximum Joy
in 2000, new remixes of "The Power of Love," "Two Tribes," and "Welcome to the Pleasuredome
" all entered the UK charts.
entitled Frankie Goes to Hollywood was developed by Denton Designs
and published by Ocean Software
. Based on the band's music, imagery and slogans, the objective of the game was to explore the town of Mundanesville to find the Pleasuredome.
Holly Johnson
Holly Johnson is an English artist, writer and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and former bassist for Big in Japan.- Big in Japan :...
(vocals), with Paul Rutherford
Paul Rutherford
Paul Rutherford is the former backing vocalist, dancer and occasional keyboardist with 1980s pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood , one of the group's two openly gay singers....
(vocals, keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
), Peter Gill (drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
), Mark O'Toole (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), and Brian Nash
Brian Nash
Brian Nash was the guitarist for 1980s pop band, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. He was otherwise known as Nasher....
(guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
).
The group's debut single "Relax
Relax (song)
"Relax" is the debut single by British dance group Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome ....
" was banned by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1984 while at number six in the charts and subsequently topped the UK singles chart for five consecutive weeks, going on to enjoy prolonged chart success throughout that year and ultimately becoming the seventh best-selling UK single of all time (as of May 2006). After the follow-up success of "Two Tribes
Two Tribes
"Two Tribes" is the second single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in May 1984 . The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome....
" and "The Power of Love
The Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)
Holly Johnson, former singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, recorded his own version of "The Power of Love" which was released on his 1999 album Soulstream and was released as a single which made #56 in the UK. The single stayed in the charts for 2 weeks...
," FGTH became only the second act in the history of the UK charts to reach number one with their first three singles; the first being Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat music group prominent during the 1960s. In common with The Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. They are most remembered for being the first act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with...
in 1964.
Formation
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
to the group's first single, Johnson explained that the group's name derived from a page from The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine, featuring the headline "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" and a picture of Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, although the magazine page Johnson referred to was actually a pop art poster by Guy Peellaert
Guy Peellaert
Guy Peellaert was a Belgian artist, painter, illustrator, comic artist and photographer, most famous for the book Rock Dreams, and his album covers for rock artists like David Bowie and The Rolling Stones ...
. Allegedly the original group named "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" dates from 1980.
The nucleus of the group emerged from the late 1970s Liverpool punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
scene. Lead singer Johnson had played bass with Big in Japan and had also released two solo singles. Local musicians Peter Gill (drums), Jed O'Toole (bass), and Jed's cousin Brian Nash (guitar) initially joined Johnson, calling themselves Sons of Egypt. This line-up secured a number of small local gigs before disbanding
The group was reprised when Johnson joined Mark O'Toole (bass) and Peter "Ped" Gill to form FGTH. During a particularly fluid period of personnel changes, Jed O'Toole joined FGTH on guitar, and a female vocalist, Sonia Mazumder, was also a band member for the first Frankie gig at the Leeds nightclub "The Warehouse," supporting Hambi & The Dance. Paul Rutherford – a member of the headline act who had also sung in seminal Liverpool punk band The Spitfire Boys
The Spitfire Boys
The Spitfire Boys were the first Liverpool punk band to release a single . The Spitfire Boys were mainly notable for including in their line-up Peter Clarke, who went on to drum for The Slits and later Siouxsie and the Banshees as Budgie, and Paul Rutherford, later better known for being a member...
– apparently got so caught up in Frankie's performance that he effectively replaced Mazumder that very night. The new all-male musical line-up subsequently toured locally with a leather-clad female duo known as "The Leatherpets" and managed to fund promotional videos and demos, despite being eventually turned down by both Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
and Phonogram
Phonogram Records
Phonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In 1972, Phonogram was merged with Polydor Records into PolyGram....
. In October 1982, the group recorded a John Peel Session for BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, comprising the originals "Krisco Kisses," "Two Tribes," "Disneyland," and "The World is My Oyster." Around this time Jed O'Toole left the group, to be replaced by the returning Brian Nash.
In February 1983, the group was invited to record a video for "Relax" by the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
show The Tube
The Tube (TV series)
The Tube was an innovative United Kingdom pop/rock music television programme, which ran for five seasons, from 5 November 1982 until 1987...
at the Liverpool State Ballroom. After the broadcast, the Peel session was repeated on radio, and a new session recorded for the BBC, comprising "Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Welcome to the Pleasuredome (song)
"Welcome to the Pleasuredome" is the title track to the 1984 debut album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The lyrics of the song were inspired by the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge....
," "The Only Star In Heaven," and "Relax." These performances, along with a repeat of the Tube video, convinced Trevor Horn
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....
to sign the group for his new label, ZTT Records
ZTT Records
ZTT Records is a record label founded in 1983 by NME journalist Paul Morley, record producer Trevor Horn, and businesswoman Jill Sinclair. The label's name was also printed as "Zang Tumb Tuum" and "Zang Tuum Tumb" on various releases....
, in May 1983.
"Relax"
"RelaxRelax (song)
"Relax" is the debut single by British dance group Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome ....
" was released by ZTT in October 1983 and got a modicum of airplay, allowing it steady progress into the UK Top 40. Following a debut on the BBC's Top Of The Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
on 5 January 1984 while at number 35, the single rose to number six in the charts the following week.
On 11 January 1984, BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Mike Read
Mike Read
Michael David Kenneth Read is an English radio disc jockey, writer, journalist and television presenter.-Early life:...
was playing the record on his show when he noticed the front cover design (by Yvonne Gilbert). Read apparently became outraged by the "overtly sexual" nature of both the record sleeve and the printed lyrics, which prompted him to remove the disc from the turntable live on air, branding it "obscene."
Two days later – almost three months after the single's initial release, and just eight days after the group's Top Of The Pops appearance – the BBC banned the record from all its TV and radio outlets, with the exception of its Top 40 show. "Relax" immediately shot to Number One in the UK charts and stayed there for five weeks, during which time the BBC could not feature the nation's best-selling single on Top Of The Pops.
The original video was directed by Bernard Rose
Bernard Rose (director)
Bernard Rose is an English actor and film director most famous for his direction of the 1992 urban horror film Candyman and the 1994 historical romance film Immortal Beloved....
and depicted a gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
S&M
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
parlor where the bandmembers were admired by muscular leathermen
Leather subculture
The leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures...
, a bleached blonde drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
and a large-bodied gentleman dressed as a Roman emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
. The video featured a scene where one of the bandmembers wrestled a live tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
, to the admiration of the clubgoers, and ended where the "emperor" was so excited he shimmied out of his toga
Toga
The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps 20 ft in length which was wrapped around the body and was generally worn over a tunic. The toga was made of wool, and the tunic under it often was made of linen. After the 2nd century BC, the toga was a garment worn...
. It was (filmed in the unused East London theatre Wilton's Music Hall
Wilton's Music Hall
Wilton's Music Hall is a grade II* listed building, built as a music hall and now a more general-purpose performance space in Grace's Alley, off Cable Street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets...
), which was promptly banned by both the BBC and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, resulting in the production of a substitute video directed by filmmaker Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
to coincide with the release of his film Body Double
Body Double
Body Double is a 1984 American thriller film directed by Brian De Palma starring Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, and Gregg Henry. The film is an homage to Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, Rear Window, and Dial M for Murder. The original musical score was composed by Pino Donaggio...
.
The BBC lifted its ban on "Relax
Relax (song)
"Relax" is the debut single by British dance group Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome ....
" at the end of 1984 to allow the band to perform it on the Christmas edition of Top of the Pops (it had been, aside from Band Aid, the biggest-selling single of the year).
"Two Tribes"
Two Tribes
"Two Tribes" is the second single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in May 1984 . The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome....
," was released in May 1984. The anti-conflict song was given an aggressively topical nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
slant. Featuring sirens, the unmistakable voice of Patrick Allen
Patrick Allen
John Keith Patrick Allen was a British film, television and voice actor.-Life and career:Allen was born in Nyasaland , where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada during World War II where he remained to finish his education at McGill...
(who had voiced the British Government's actual nuclear warning ads, Protect and Survive
Protect and Survive
Protect and Survive was a public information series on civil defence produced by the British government during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was intended to inform British citizens on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack, and consisted of a mixture of pamphlets, radio broadcasts,...
, two years earlier) and another innovative electronic backing, it went straight into the UK charts at Number One and stayed there for nine weeks (the first single to do so since Wings'
Wings (band)
Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....
"Mull of Kintyre
Mull of Kintyre (song)
"Mull of Kintyre" is a song written by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine and performed by Wings. The song was written in tribute to the picturesque Kintyre peninsula in Scotland, where McCartney has owned High Park Farm since 1966, and its headland or Mull of Kintyre.The song was Wings' biggest hit...
" during 1977–78), with total sales exceeding 1.5 million copies and becoming one of the top 30 best-selling records in the UK ever.
Directed by Kevin Godley
Kevin Godley
Kevin Godley is a British musician and music video director.He was born in a family of Jewish descent, and went to North Cestrian Grammar School in Altrincham....
and Lol Creme
Lol Crème
Lol Creme is an English musician and music video director, best known for his work in 10cc. He sings, plays guitar and keyboards.-Biography:...
, the video featured lookalikes of Cold War leaders Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was a Soviet politician and the fifth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He led the Soviet Union from 13 February 1984 until his death thirteen months later, on 10 March 1985...
wrestling in a marquee while band members and others laid bets on the outcome. Ultimately, the audience — consisting of other world leaders — were brought into the fight, and eventually Earth was seen to explode.
Additionally, during the fight, the Reagan lookalike can be seen biting the ear of the Chernenko look alike a full 14 years before Mike Tyson accidentally emulated the video bite in real life, as an interesting turn of life imitating art.
"Two Tribes" was a successful single in its own right, but its reign at the top of the charts was made even more notable by the continuing success of its predecessor. "Relax" had made a natural decline down the charts by May 1984, but on the release of "Two Tribes" its sales began to increase again, to the extent that FGTH held the top two spots in the UK charts during July 1984, the first active group to do so since the early 1960s.
The release of "Two Tribes" also coincided with an extensive and iconic T-shirt marketing campaign during the British summer of 1984, featuring such slogans as "Frankie Say War! Hide Yourself" and "Frankie Say Relax Don't Do It!"
"The Power of Love"
FGTH released a third single, "The Power of LoveThe Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)
Holly Johnson, former singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, recorded his own version of "The Power of Love" which was released on his 1999 album Soulstream and was released as a single which made #56 in the UK. The single stayed in the charts for 2 weeks...
," at the end of 1984. Unlike the earlier singles, this song was a slower-paced ballad, but it also went to Number One in December and making the band the first act for two decades (since Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat music group prominent during the 1960s. In common with The Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. They are most remembered for being the first act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with...
, a fellow Liverpool band, in 1963) to achieve chart-toppers with its first three releases. The video was not banned on this occasion but still caused trouble for the group — because it depicted a nativity scene (and on its first showing did not feature any members of the band, who were subsequently added as picture framing), it was incorrectly grouped in the category of Christmas-only records. As a result, to this day radio stations seem to give it airplay only during the festive period.
The song's release was preceded by an advertising campaign that, cheekily, declared it to be the band's third number one single, as if this was a fait accompli. The Band Aid
Band Aid (band)
Band Aid was a charity supergroup featuring British and Irish musicians and recording artists. It was founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" for the Christmas market that year. The single...
project, for which Johnson recorded a message for the B-side, meant that FGTH managed only one week at the top this time before it was replaced by "Do They Know It's Christmas?
Do They Know It's Christmas?
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for relief of the 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The original version was produced by Midge Ure and released by Band Aid on 29 November 1984....
."
"Welcome to the Pleasuredome"
The title track from FGTH's album, "Welcome to the PleasuredomeWelcome to the Pleasuredome (song)
"Welcome to the Pleasuredome" is the title track to the 1984 debut album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The lyrics of the song were inspired by the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge....
," was released as a fourth single in March 1985. Early promotional posters for the single cockily proclaimed it as "their fourth number one," even prior to the single's release. Embarrassingly, the single peaked at Number 2, leading to preemptive claims that the band was now on the decline. The snipers would eventually prove correct, but not for the alleged 'failure' of a Number 2 hit. The band's demise was, in the final analysis, attributable to increasing internal tensions and general disillusionment, suspected by some during 1985, but only becoming truly apparent during the group's 1986 public and much-heralded "return." The twelve inches were noted for their long Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
/Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
spoken introduction by Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer (actor)
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...
.
Only one sole new track appeared in the next eighteen months; "Disneyland," was released on the ZTT Records "Zang Tuum Tumb Sampled" album in late 1985.
Return and decline
In 1986, FGTH appeared at the Montreux Rock Festival which was broadcast on UK television. This performance saw the first airings of two future singles, namely "Rage HardRage Hard
"Rage Hard" is the fifth single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released in August 1986.-Background:Having topped the charts around the world with Welcome to the Pleasuredome and its accompanying singles, Frankie Goes to Hollywood took off to Amsterdam to record the follow-up album, Liverpool...
" and "Warriors of the Wasteland
Warriors Of The Wasteland
"Warriors of the Wasteland" is the sixth single from Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in 1986. It was taken from the album Liverpool.Having already referenced literary heavyweights like Coleridge in "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" and Thomas in "Rage Hard)", for "Warriors of the Wasteland" Holly...
." Both versions were different from the versions eventually released. In August 1986, the long-awaited new Frankie Goes to Hollywood single, "Rage Hard," was released, reaching number 4 in the UK. Initially showcased promotionally with songs like "Warriors of the Wasteland," the group's sound had developed a significantly harder edge with a less flamboyant, more nitty-gritty lyrical side. Whilst the single was inevitably promoted as a flagship ZTT product, Frankie's self-importance seemed somewhat forced and verging almost on self-parody by 1986. The corresponding album, Liverpool (originally rumoured to be titled "Liverpool ... let's make it a double"), released in October and reaching UK No. 5 was generally panned by the music press, and chart returns declined rapidly with the follow-up singles "Warriors of the Wasteland" (#19) and "Watching the Wildlife
Watching The Wildlife
"Watching the Wildlife" is the seventh and last single by British pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Released in early 1987, it is taken from the album Liverpool....
" (#28). The group meanwhile threatened to implode of its own accord, in the course of a sometimes poorly attended tour promoting the new album. Johnson kept himself markedly separate from the rest of the band when offstage at this period, tensions becoming exacerbated during a backstage altercation between Johnson and O'Toole at Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena is an indoor arena, at Wembley, in the London Borough of Brent. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium.-History:...
in January 1987, reflecting the generally collapsing relationship between lead singer and the rest of the band. Things were so bad that fellow Liverpudlian singer Pete Wylie
Pete Wylie
-Studio albums:- Extended Plays :-Singles:-External links:***...
was approached to replace Johnson but declined the offer. FGTH would complete the tour, but Johnson ultimately left the group thereafter, citing musical estrangement.
Aftermath
In the aftermath of the group split, Johnson was offered a solo recording agreement with MCAMusic Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
Records. However, ZTT, which maintained they had invested heavily in Liverpool (to the extent that the digital recording
Digital recording
In digital recording, digital audio and digital video is directly recorded to a storage device as a stream of discrete numbers, representing the changes in air pressure for audio and chroma and luminance values for video through time, thus making an abstract template for the original sound or...
system used to record the album was very nearly treated as a sixth member of the band on the sleeve of the "Warriors of the Wasteland" single), had other ideas, and promptly sued Johnson in an attempt to hold him to his original contract with the label. Among other things, ZTT believed that as a departing member of FGTH, Johnson was required to release all solo material through the label until the band's original multiple-album agreement was fulfilled. The suit was bitterly fought, exposing the inner workings of the ZTT/Frankie machine to a giddy UK music press.
After two years, the High Court found in Johnson's favour, holding that the highly restrictive terms of the contract constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade
Restraint of trade
Restraint of trade is a common law doctrine relating to the enforceability of contractual restrictions on freedom to conduct business. In an old leading case of Mitchell v Reynolds Lord Smith LC said,...
. The result of the court case, which also effectively freed the remaining members of FGTH from their ZTT contract, became famous as an unprecedented victory for the artist over their corporate paymasters.
Later years
Johnson's solo career at MCA commenced in 1989, with a succession of high-placed singles and the number one album Blast. The remix collection Hollelujah followed, trailed by a second studio albumStudio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
, Dreams That Money Can't Buy. However, Johnson's relations with MCA cooled with this release, and he would ultimately become a reclusive but successful painter, after announcing in 1993 that he was infected with HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
. The following year, Johnson recounted his version of Frankie's history in his autobiography A Bone in My Flute. His self-issued 1999 album Soulstream included a re-recording of "The Power of Love," which was also released as a single.
Paul Rutherford, the other openly gay member of the band, released the partially ABC
ABC (band)
ABC are an English band, that charted ten UK and five US Top 40 singles between 1981 and 1990. The band continues to tour and released a new album, Traffic, in 2008.-Formation:...
produced album Oh World and a handful of singles before retiring with his New Zealander partner to Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island is an island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, located about from Auckland.The island is the second-largest in the Hauraki Gulf after Great Barrier Island. It is the most populated, with nearly 8,000 permanent residents plus another estimated 3,400 who have second or holiday homes...
.
The "other three," as Smash Hits
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
labelled them, continued to work together in what turned out to be a vain attempt to resurrect "Frankie" with various singers including Dee Harris from Fashion and Grant Boult(Jeckyl Ice) from The Premise, who had opened the shows on the band's UK and European tours. Under the name Boss Dog, with Boult on vocals, the band were offered a major deal with Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
but on condition they work as Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Johnson challenged the use of the name and the deal soured. Boult and Brian Nash continued with the material written by Balding Brothers and under the name Low they released "Tearing My Rsoul Apart" in 1992 on Swanyard Records. As "Nasher," Nash released a 2002 solo album
Solo album
A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
entitled Rope. Pedro worked behind the scenes and scored a top ten hit with the group "Lovestation." Mark O'Toole moved to Florida and played with Punk outfit "Trapped By Mormons."
The band's name lived on to the extent that re-issues of "Relax" and "The Power of Love" both returned to the UK Top 10 in 1993. Remixes of "The Power of Love" (which became a dance anthem from its original ballad format) and "Two Tribes" were Top 20 hits again in 2000, while "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" also got commercially successful remix treatment, to the extent of a Top 20 placing four years earlier. ZTT continues in its endeavours to keep the FGTH back-catalogue alive into the new century, with periodic reconfigurations, remasters, and further remixes by an ever-growing pool of dance producers, in an attempt to maintain a perceived tradition that began with the multiple variations of the "Relax" 12-inch issued in 1983. ZTT has tended to date (May 2006) to keep all images of the band absent from their remix artwork, and this absence has tended on the whole to extend to the content and spirit of their reissued product.
The group's first two singles appeared sixth and 22nd respectively in the official all-time UK best-selling singles list issued in 2002.
A band called "The New Frankie Goes to Hollywood" appeared, fronted by Davey Johnson, who claimed to be Holly Johnson's brother. The band plays a few Frankie tracks, but actually has nothing to do with FGTH. Likewise, "Davey Johnson" is no relative of Holly's. The band is also not to be confused with the FGTH conventions related to The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
.
Reunion and comeback
In 2003, the VH-1 program Bands ReunitedBands Reunited
Bands Reunited is a television program produced by VH1 in 2004. Hosted by Aamer Haleem, the show documented the attempted reuniting of a formerly popular musical ensemble for a special concert in either London or Los Angeles....
brought Johnson, Rutherford, Gill, Nash, and Mark O'Toole together from the far corners of the world, in the hope of their agreeing to perform impromptu on the show. By all appearances, the bandmates got on well enough and enjoyed seeing each other again, but a reunion performance did not eventually transpire. Both Johnson and Nash had reservations about performing at short notice in the contrived manner dictated by the TV show format.
Nevertheless, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Trevor Horn
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....
's involvement in the music industry, in 2004 a special concert took place at Wembley Arena in November, featuring three of the original FGTH line-up, Mark O'Toole, Peter (Ped) Gill and Paul Rutherford and another former member, Jed O'Toole. Original vocalist Johnson, who announced via the Internet that he would not be appearing, and guitarist Nash, who declined to appear for his own reasons, did not take part. Jed O'Toole took over guitar duties for the event, whilst an open audition was held for a new singer for the concert. Ryan Molloy
Ryan Molloy
Ryan Molloy is a British singer, songwriter and actor, who replaced Holly Johnson as the lead singer in Frankie Goes to Hollywood . He has also been successful in musical theatre, appearing in a number of hit musicals in the UK....
was recruited as a result.
The same lineup (with Molloy and Jed O'Toole, but without Johnson or Nash) reunited for a tour in 2005 playing festivals in Europe. They headlined at Faceparty
Faceparty
Faceparty is a UK-based social networking site allowing users to create online profiles and interact with each other using forums and messaging facilities similar to email.-History:...
's Big Gay Out
Big Gay Out
Big Gay Out is the name of the non-profit LGBT fair day in Auckland, New Zealand. The Big Gay Out has been running since the 1990s and is usually organised and run by the New Zealand AIDS Foundation...
festival at Hyde Park in London.
After some confusion with ensuing tour dates, the band posted a warning on their website that many of the tour dates listed by ticket promoters were inaccurate. The band became increasingly focused on the release of a new album during 2007. However, in early April 2007 came the news that Gill, Rutherford, J. O'Toole and Molloy had formed Forbidden Hollywood to play their new songs alongside old FGTH material. This was to avoid legal issues with Holly Johnson over use of the Frankie Goes to Hollywood name. Live dates were announced, but in June 2007, these were cancelled and the band collapsed with the departure of Molloy.
Band members
- Mark O'Toole - bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
(1980-1987, 2004-2007) - born 1964 - Peter Gill - drums (1980-1987, 2004-2007) - born 1964
- Holly JohnsonHolly JohnsonHolly Johnson is an English artist, writer and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and former bassist for Big in Japan.- Big in Japan :...
- lead vocals (1980-1987) - born 1960 - Jed O'Toole - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(1980-1982, 2004-2007) - born 1960 - Sonia Mazumder - backing vocals (1980)
- Paul RutherfordPaul RutherfordPaul Rutherford is the former backing vocalist, dancer and occasional keyboardist with 1980s pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood , one of the group's two openly gay singers....
- backing vocals, keyboards, dancing (1980-1987, 2004-2007) - born 1959 - Brian NashBrian NashBrian Nash was the guitarist for 1980s pop band, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. He was otherwise known as Nasher....
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(1982-1987) - born 1963 - Ryan MolloyRyan MolloyRyan Molloy is a British singer, songwriter and actor, who replaced Holly Johnson as the lead singer in Frankie Goes to Hollywood . He has also been successful in musical theatre, appearing in a number of hit musicals in the UK....
- lead vocals (2004-2007)
Original material
- Welcome to the PleasuredomeWelcome to the PleasuredomeWelcome to the Pleasuredome was the debut album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released in the UK in October 1984 by ZTT/Island Records. Originally issued as a vinyl double album, it was assured of a UK chart entry at number one due to reported advance sales of over one million...
(1984) - LiverpoolLiverpool (album)Liverpool is Frankie Goes to Hollywood's second album, released in October 1986 . It would be the band's final album of all-new material, and lead singer Holly Johnson would leave the band following the corresponding world tour, followed by a flurry of lawsuits from ZTT.The album was a commercial...
(1986)
Compilations
- Bang! (Japanese import) (1985)
- Bang!... The Greatest Hits of Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1993)
- Reload - The Whole 12 Inches (1994)
- Maximum JoyMaximum Joy (album)Maximum Joy is a greatest hits album by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, released on by ZTT Records.- Background :The album takes its name from a song title from the band's Liverpool album....
(2000) - The Club Mixes 2000The Club Mixes 2000The Club Mixes 2000 is a remix album by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. It was released in 2000 by Repertoire Records of Germany.The album's tracklisting is made up almost exclusively of new remixes commissioned by ZTT in 2000 for the Maximum Joy hits compilation campaign.- Track listing :CD One#...
(2000) - Twelve Inches (2001)
- Rage Hard: The Sonic CollectionRage Hard: The Sonic CollectionRage Hard: A Sonic Collection is a greatest hits album by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, released in 2004 by ZTT Records, exclusively to SA-CD. It is basically identical to the 2000 compilation album Maximum Joy, minus the second disc.- Background :...
(2003) - Return To The Pleasuredome (boxset, Japan only) (2009)
- Frankie Say GreatestFrankie Say GreatestFrankie Say Greatest is a compilation album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in 2009 by ZTT Records. The album is available in various formats: single CD, double CD, double LP, and DVD...
(2009)
Singles
The original singles released during the time the band was together:- "RelaxRelax (song)"Relax" is the debut single by British dance group Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome ....
" (three 12 inch12-inch singleThe 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...
versions: US Mix, 8 minute sex mix, 16 minute sex mix) (1983) - "Two TribesTwo Tribes"Two Tribes" is the second single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in May 1984 . The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome....
" (four 12 inch versions: Carnage, Annihilation, War (Hidden) and Hibakusha) (1984) - "The Power of LoveThe Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)Holly Johnson, former singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, recorded his own version of "The Power of Love" which was released on his 1999 album Soulstream and was released as a single which made #56 in the UK. The single stayed in the charts for 2 weeks...
" (two 12 inch versions: one 4-track version containing the 7" mix, one 6-track version containing the extended mix a.k.a. "Leave The Rest To The Gods") (1984) - "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" (two 12 inch versions: Real Altered/Pleasurefix and Fruitness) (1985)
- "Rage HardRage Hard"Rage Hard" is the fifth single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released in August 1986.-Background:Having topped the charts around the world with Welcome to the Pleasuredome and its accompanying singles, Frankie Goes to Hollywood took off to Amsterdam to record the follow-up album, Liverpool...
" (three 12 inch versions: +, ++ and ultra-rare Freddie Bastone Remix) (1986) - "Warriors of the WastelandWarriors Of The Wasteland"Warriors of the Wasteland" is the sixth single from Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in 1986. It was taken from the album Liverpool.Having already referenced literary heavyweights like Coleridge in "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" and Thomas in "Rage Hard)", for "Warriors of the Wasteland" Holly...
" (three 12 inch versions: Twelve Wild Disciples Mix, Turn of the Knife Mix and Attack) (1986) - "Watching the WildlifeWatching The Wildlife"Watching the Wildlife" is the seventh and last single by British pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Released in early 1987, it is taken from the album Liverpool....
" (three 12 inch versions: Hotter, Movement 2 and Die Letzten Tage Der Menschheit Mix) (1987)
Alternative remixes
To coincide with the release of Bang!... The Greatest Hits of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the tracks "Welcome to the PleasuredomeWelcome to the Pleasuredome
Welcome to the Pleasuredome was the debut album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released in the UK in October 1984 by ZTT/Island Records. Originally issued as a vinyl double album, it was assured of a UK chart entry at number one due to reported advance sales of over one million...
" (1993) and "Two Tribes
Two Tribes
"Two Tribes" is the second single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in May 1984 . The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome....
" (1994) were re-released in the UK as singles in remixed form. The tracks "Relax
Relax (song)
"Relax" is the debut single by British dance group Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome ....
" (1994) and "The Power of Love
The Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)
Holly Johnson, former singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, recorded his own version of "The Power of Love" which was released on his 1999 album Soulstream and was released as a single which made #56 in the UK. The single stayed in the charts for 2 weeks...
" (1993) were also re-released, but this time in their original form (the CD singles both featured at least one of the original 1984 12 inch remixes).
To coincide with the release of Maximum Joy
Maximum Joy (album)
Maximum Joy is a greatest hits album by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, released on by ZTT Records.- Background :The album takes its name from a song title from the band's Liverpool album....
in 2000, new remixes of "The Power of Love," "Two Tribes," and "Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Welcome to the Pleasuredome
Welcome to the Pleasuredome was the debut album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released in the UK in October 1984 by ZTT/Island Records. Originally issued as a vinyl double album, it was assured of a UK chart entry at number one due to reported advance sales of over one million...
" all entered the UK charts.
Lost tracks
These are some of the many lost tracks that were performed on demo tapes and on radio sessions that never made it to albums and have had no actual release:- "Unknown" (1982 Demo performed in Liverpool with no title)
- "Unknown #2" (1982 Demo possibly called "Can't Win")
- "Is There Anybody Out There?" (1982 Demo that is entirely different from the 1986 version)
- "Watusi Love Juicy" (1982 Demo)
- "Relax in Heaven Everything is Fine (1982 Demo with different lyrics to the 1983 version)
- "Junk Funk" (Peel Session December 1983)
- "Invade My Heart" (BBC Session (Kid Jensen) November 1983)
- "All Climb Up To Heaven" (1986 Liverpool demo)
- "Purple Haze" (1986 Liverpool demo)
- "Delirious" (1986 Mediterranean Studios)
- "Pocket Vibrator" (1986 Sarm Studios demo)
- "Waves" (1986 Demo version had actual lyrics)
- "Our Silver Turns to Gold" (1986 Demo version which is different to the 2009 CD release)
Computer game
In 1985, a computer gamePersonal computer game
A PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
entitled Frankie Goes to Hollywood was developed by Denton Designs
Denton Designs
Denton Designs was a British video games developer based in Liverpool. The company was founded in 1984 and initially specialised in developing software for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer...
and published by Ocean Software
Ocean Software
The British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s...
. Based on the band's music, imagery and slogans, the objective of the game was to explore the town of Mundanesville to find the Pleasuredome.