Holly Johnson
Encyclopedia
Holly Johnson is an English artist, writer and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson , with Paul Rutherford , Peter Gill , Mark O'Toole , and Brian Nash .The group's debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and...

, and former bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

 for Big in Japan.

Big in Japan

Actively involved in the Liverpool punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

/new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 scene of the late 1970s, Johnson played bass with Big in Japan and released two solo singles on the Eric's
Eric's Club
Eric's Club was a music club in Liverpool, England. It opened on October 1, 1976 in a building basement on Mathew Street opposite The Cavern Club where The Beatles and other bands of the 1960s played, and became notable for hosting early performances by many punk and post-punk bands.The club was...

 label.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood

He then found fame as the lead singer and lyricist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson , with Paul Rutherford , Peter Gill , Mark O'Toole , and Brian Nash .The group's debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and...

 (FGTH), who experienced both controversy and phenomenal commercial success during their heyday in 1983 and 1984.

Clash with ZTT Records

Johnson left FGTH in 1987 due to disagreements regarding their musical direction. He became the subject of an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...

 from the group's record company, 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....

, and its sister publishing company, Perfect Songs
Perfect Songs
Perfect Songs is an independent music publishing company with a catalogue containing many memorable songs of the past 25 years.It is part of the SPZ Group of companies which also includes Sarm Studios , ZTT Records, Stiff Records and Music Bank hire .Songs featured in their catalogue include Relax...

, which cited a breach
Breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance....

 of his prior recording and publishing contracts, thus barring him from pursuing a solo career with any other new label.

Johnson embarked on a two-year legal battle with ZTT, the case being settled in Johnson's favour on 10 February 1988, the judge ruling that the original contracts had 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,...

, remarking that "Mr. Johnson could be 70 years old and still be bound to this contract".

ZTT unsuccessfully appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....

ed against the decision, the Appeal Court
Court of Appeal of England and Wales
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...

 concluding on 26 July 1989 that the original recording and publishing contracts were "not a fair bargain". The result represented a landmark legal outcome, contemporary press reports stating that the result "set a legal precedent which rocked the music business", adding that ZTT had by this time released most of its artists from their original contracts.

Johnson's relationship with ZTT owners 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....

 and Jill Sinclair broke down irretrievably due to the court case: "'They [Horn and Sinclair] have never really forgiven me for winning my freedom in the law courts', the singer said, adding that the worst part of being in FGTH was 'the contract we signed with ZTT'."

Personal Life

In November 1991, Johnson learned he was HIV positive. This triggered a temporary withdrawal from the music business and public life in general. His condition was made public during an interview in April 1993.

Autobiography

In March 1994, his critically acclaimed autobiography, A Bone in My Flute, was published.

Art

Since the mid 1990s, Johnson has worked primarily as a painter. His works have been exhibited at the Tate Liverpool
Tate Liverpool
Tate Liverpool is an art gallery and museum in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The museum was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corporation...

, and The Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

. He has contributed to Modern Painters
Modern Painters (magazine)
Modern Painters is a monthly art magazine published in New York City by Louise Blouin Media. The magazine is published 10 times per year; it includes profiles on two international artists per issue; columns by international contributors; interviews with and articles by contemporary artists and...

and the Paul Smith sponsored CARLOS magazine.

Discography

Albums

Year Title Peak chart positions
UK
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

GER
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

AUT
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

CHE
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

IT
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

SWE
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

NOR
VG-lista
VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...

NZ
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...

1989 Blast
Blast (album)
Blast is an album by the British musician Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released in 1989 and reached number 1 in the UK charts and sold over 300,000 copies making it platinum. The album stayed on the charts for 17 weeks. The album featured hits "Love Train", "Americanos",...

1 5 12 10 10 11 10 11
1990 Hollelujah
Hollelujah
Holleujah is a remix album by the British musician Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released in 1989. The album is hard to find and has five remixes and a bonus re-making of the "Hollelujah" track written by George Frideric Handel....

1991 Dreams That Money Can't Buy
Dreams That Money Can't Buy
Dreams That Money Can't Buy is the second solo album by Holly Johnson. It was released in 1991 by MCA Records. Kirsty MacColl appeared on the track called "Boyfriend '65". By the time of the release Johnson's relations with MCA collapsed over dissatisfaction with promotional budgets for the album....

1999 Soulstream

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

IRE
Irish Recorded Music Association
Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:...

GER
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

AUT
Ö3 Austria Top 40
Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...

CHE
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...

NET
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...

IT
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

SWE
Sverigetopplistan
Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....

NOR
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

AUS
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

NZ
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...

U.S.
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

1979 "Yankee Rose" single only
1980 "Hobo Joe" single only
1989 "Love Train
Love Train (Holly Johnson song)
"Love Train" is the first single from former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson, from his 1989 debut album Blast. The video for the song was directed by Marco Cerere and features a cameo from John Candy. The track contains a guitar solo from Brian May and backing vocals from Don Snow...

"
4 5 4 17 8 12 21 14 10 35 20 65 Blast
Blast (album)
Blast is an album by the British musician Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released in 1989 and reached number 1 in the UK charts and sold over 300,000 copies making it platinum. The album stayed on the charts for 17 weeks. The album featured hits "Love Train", "Americanos",...

"Americanos
Americanos
"Americanos" is the second single from former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson, from his 1989 debut album Blast. The song is the most widely known from Johnson...

"
4 6 2 1 4 8 10 7 6 10
"Atomic City
Atomic City (song)
"Atomic City" is the third single from former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson, from his 1989 debut album Blast. The track was produced by Dan Hartman. A video was created for the track as well as a remix video titled Enviro-mental 12" Mix...

"
18 9 16 19 10 40 29 20
"Heaven's Here
Heaven's Here
"Heaven's Here" is the fourth and final single from former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson, from his 1989 debut album Blast. A remix of the track is included on the Hollelujah remix album...

"
62 22 58
1990 "Where Has Love Gone?
Where Has Love Gone? (song)
"Where Has Love Gone?" is a 1990 single from former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson. It appeared on his 1991 album Dreams That Money Can't Buy. The single contains vocals from Don Snow and Stevie Lange...

"
73 Dreams That Money Can't Buy
Dreams That Money Can't Buy
Dreams That Money Can't Buy is the second solo album by Holly Johnson. It was released in 1991 by MCA Records. Kirsty MacColl appeared on the track called "Boyfriend '65". By the time of the release Johnson's relations with MCA collapsed over dissatisfaction with promotional budgets for the album....

1991 "Across the Universe
Across The Universe (Holly Johnson song)
"Across the Universe" is the second single from former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson, from his 1991 album Dreams That Money Can't Buy. The single contained a non-LP track "Funky Paradise". The track was produced by Andy Richards and features backing vocals from Beverley Skeete,...

"
99
"The People Want to Dance
The People Want To Dance (Song)
"The People Want to Dance" is the third and final single from former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson, from his 1991 album Dreams That Money Can't Buy. The single was released in 1991. At the time of the release, Johnson's relations with MCA cooled over dissatisfaction with...

"
1994 "Legendary Children
Legendary Children (song)
"Legendary Children " is a single from former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson. The single was released in 1994 and consists of five remixes. This was the first single since Johnson discovered he was HIV-positive which triggered a temporary withdrawal from music. According to...

"
Soulstream
1998 "Hallelujah!"
1999 "Disco Heaven
Disco Heaven
"Disco Heaven" is the first single from former Frankie Goes to Hollywood singer Holly Johnson, from his 1999 album Soulstream. The single was released in 1999. The single contains vocals from Angie Brown. The single was released via Johnson's own label Pleasuredome. This was the first single in...

"
"The Power of Love" 56
As featured artist
1989 "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey"
(with The Christians, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

, Gerry Marsden
Gerry Marsden
Gerard "Gerry" Marsden is an English musician and television personality, best known for being leader of the British band Gerry & the Pacemakers.-Biography:...

 and Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman
Stock Aitken Waterman, sometimes known as SAW, were a UK songwriting and record producing trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. They had great success during the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s...

)
1 1 5 15 11 21 15 4 45 single only
1994 "Love & Hate"
(with Ryūichi Sakamoto
Ryuichi Sakamoto
After working as a session musician with Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi in 1977, the trio formed the internationally successful electronic music band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1978. Known for their seminal influence on electronic music, the group helped pioneer electronic genres such as...

)
Sweet Revenge
align="center">—
single only

Books

  • A Bone in My Flute; hard cover Century UK ISBN 0-7126-6145-X, 17 March 1994; soft cover Arrow UK ISBN 0-09-939341-7, 6 April 1995

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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