Showing posts with label Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Show all posts

Monday, September 14, 2020

7_Songs: Holly Johnson / Frankie Goes to Hollywood

This year in February Holly Johnson turned 60 and we thought it would be a nice occasion to pay tribute to him and his former band Frankie Goes to Hollywood with this 7 Songs feature. Johnson’s career start goes back to the late 70’s Liverpool punk scene out of which the nucleus for Frankie Goes to Hollywood took shape. Inspired to take a name after the title from the news article in the New York times, it seemed that Frankie Goes to Hollywood would be there for big things, and indeed, with the first single and the album release they found pop stardom. 

Photo courtesy of TheGuardian
In 1984, FGTH released “Relax” which was not only a tune but also a motto and a symbol of the mid-80’s and at the same time the band’s biggest hit. One could say that it had an impact on the general pop culture also hitting the street fashion and there was also a themed video game. “Relax” was also an introduction to the band's brilliant album Welcome to the Pleasuredome which gave birth to a string of hits, out of which three reached no.1 in the UK charts. The album was produced by Trevor Horn and released on his ZTT label. It was rich, provocative and decadent with excellent production and a festival of influences which could easily be referred to as progressive disco as an end product. With the release of the second album Liverpool, fame faded and the tensions between the band members were growing. The band managed to release three more singles from it, to tour again, after which Johnson decided to leave the band. He also had to go into a legal battle with the record company winning the dispute in the end. 

Photo courtesy of theartsdesk.com

In the late 80’s Johnson started his solo career when he was signed to MCA, released his solo album Blast and managed to have a series of hits including “Americanos” and “Love Train”. In the early 90’s, Johnson was diagnosed with HIV and thinking this was his end, he wrote his autobiography A Bone in My Flute. Eventually he turned more to art but never really left the music business. He recorded songs and performed occasionally.

The band never reunited even though in 2003, the VH-1 program Bands Reunited brought Johnson, Rutherford, Gill, Nash, and Mark O'Toole together, in the hope of their agreeing to perform impromptu on the show. However, a reunion performance did not transpire. 

Holly Johnson never performed again with Frankie Goes to Hollywood. There is not a single thing in the world that sums up the 1980's as perfectly FGTH and Welcome to the Pleasuredome does for the 80’s. In particular 1984 seems to be the year of the band when they almost made 4 consecutive No.1 in the UK. Frankie was the mega sensation, the artistic concept and even a brand. They were hitting the Euro dance floors and beyond and they were shocking the conservative adults to gain prominence. They had that perfect formula if you are going to do pop, attack it.


Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax
"Relax" was the debut album by FGTH which also gave them the international breakthrough. It is one of the most controversial and most commercially successful records of the decade. It was banned by BBC because of its lyrics that we interpreted to be explicit. Despite all the scandals, the song sold 12 mill records around the world and won the Brit Award for the best song in 1985. It also went beyond music hitting the street fashion with the T-shirts with the slogan Frankie Says Relax




Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power of Love 
This was the third single from their debut album and also the third consecutive No.1 which rounded up a successful year for FGTH. This song is often referenced as a Christmas single due to the music video that features Nativity and also because it was released ahead of Xmas in 1984. In tone it was also different then the previous which were louder made for clubland. The song went platinum in Canada, Germany, New Zealand and triple Platinum in their native UK. 


Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasuredome
This was the title track to the debut album and the only single release that did not reach the UK No. 1 despite having this potential. The spoken-word introductions to both 12-inch mixes are adapted from Walter Kaufmann's 1967 translation of Friedrich Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy. The video, by Bernard Rose, features the group stealing a car, going to a carnival and encountering all manner of deceptively "pleasurable" activities.


Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Rage Hard 
In 1986, Frankie Goes to Hollywood released their second album Liverpool. This album saw more use of the band than the debut album and expressed a more rockier sound than their debut but it was still pretty much powerful in rhythm and form. It was FGTH's first single to be released on CD and even Cassette. It reached number one in the German official charts and No. 4 in the UK. 


Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Warriors of the Wasteland
Another single followed from Liverpool which many think is one of the best tracks on the album. Some interesting inspirations were drawn from T. S. Eliot, but Johnson also cited the 1981 Mel Gibson film, Mad Max 2, and the 1979 film, The Warriors as inspirations. This song barely made it in the Top 20 in the UK and commercial success was starting to decline. FGTH would release one more single before disbanding.


Holly Johnson - Love Train
After the split of FGTH, Holly Johnson released his debut album Blast 1989 and "Love Train" was the first single to be taken from it. Even though it was clearly a dance track it featured the guitar solo from Brain May from Queen. The song reached No.4 in the UK and also had success in Europe. The song was issued as both 7” and 12” including several versions of the song.


Holly Johnson  - Americanos
"Americanos" was another single from Blast that managed to make a big impact on the charts reaching No. 4 in the UK and was a commercial success across Europe. Chris Heath of Smash Hits described the song as an "80’s update of David Bowie's Young Americans in both its content and its spirit, where he acknowledges the superficiality of the American dream but isn't narrow-minded enough to simply condemn it.”. 

Singles cover photos courtesy of discogs.com

For the complete Frankie Goes To Hollywood / Holly Johnson discography, as documented in music videos, please check the following the link below.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Best of 1986- Top 50 Singles

In early 1985, the Pet Shop Boys stormed the UK charts with "West End Girls" which would also remain their signature tune and biggest hit. Together with Erasure, they were transforming the synth pop into electro dance giving it a new face. The Communards certainly contributed to this trend as their cover of the disco classic “Don’t Leave Me This Way” was the best selling single of the year. Madonna and George Michael were still among the best selling artists further developing the pop genre and Madonna’s third studio album True Blue was the best selling in the UK.

 The following Top 50 represents the result of the 'Best of 1986 - The Singles list' from 2016 together with our in-house votes


01. The Smiths- There is a Light that Never goes out
02. New Order- Bizarre Love Triangle
03. Desireless- Voyage Voyage
04. Depeche Mode - Stripped
05. The Smiths- Bigmouth Strikes Again
06. The Stranglers- Always The Sun
07. Big Audio Dynmaite- E=MC2
08. a-ha- Hunting High and Low
09. Cyndi Lauper- True Colours
10. David Bowie - Absolute Beginners
11. Madonna - Live to Tell
12. Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush - Don't Give Up
13. Black- Wonderful Life
14. Iggy Pop - Real Wild Child
15. The Bangles - Walk Like an Egyptian
16. Genesis - Land of Confusion
17. R.E.M. - Fall on Me
18. Kim Wilde- You Keep Me Hangin' On
19. The Pretenders- Don't Get Me Wrong
20. Talk Talk - Living in Another World

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Best of 1984 - Top 50 Singles List

The growing popularity of Michael Jackson which started in 1983 also set foot in 1984 especially after the video for "Thriller" was released. Even though the content of the video was controversial at that time, it was also groundbreaking and it revolutionized the music industry and the world of pop by breaking down the racial barriers and transforming the music video into a work of art.
Even at the other end of the Atlantic the 1983 started with a small scandal which involved Frankie Goes To Hollywood who got banned by BBC for almost a year due to the explicit lyrics in the and provocative video for their biggest hit "Relax". Despite this fact, the band managed  to have major success around the world with their debut album "Welcome to the Pleasuredome". This was also the first big success for ZTT Records and three times platinum in the UK. Towards the end of the year the Frankie Goes to Hollywood ban was slowly lifted and "Relax" was the ultimate anthem of 1984 introducing the Frankie Says Relax trend. 
With the growing popularity of MTV, in 1984 the first MTV Music Awards were given away at the  Radio City Music Hall in New York. Among the winners were Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Herbie Hancock. Madonna has not been up for awards, but manged to make prominence and shake the pop world with her performance at the VMA's. 
Just ahead of Christmas when 1984 was in the fade out, a group of musicians headed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure got together for a good cause forming Band Aid. This was a group of musicians who recorded a song to raise awareness and funds for the Ethiopian famine in 1983–1985. It included more than 40 musicians and it sold over two million copies around the globe and raised more than $24 million. 
 Towards the end of the year New Gold Dream which could easily be translated as the golden era of new Wave slowly began to vanish and became clear that the new musical term was Pop.

 The following Top 50 represents the result of the 'Best of 1984 - The Album list' from 2014 together with our in-house votes.
 
Updated: 08/2020


01. Bronski Beat- Small Town Boy 
02. Echo & The Bunnymen- The Killing Moon 
03. Talk Talk- It’s My Life 
04. Prince- When Doves Cry 
05. Billy Idol- Eyes Without a Face 
06. Cyndi Lauper- Time After Time  
07. Leonard Cohen- Dance Me to the End of Love  
08. Dead or Alive- You Spin Me Around 
09. Duran Duran- New Moon on Monday 
10. Alphaville - Big in Japan 
11. A-ha- Take on Me
12. Prince and the Revolution- Purple Rain
13. Madonna - Borderline
14. Pet Shop Boys- West End Girls '84
15. Gary Numan- Berserker
16. Siouxsie and The Banshees- Dazzle
17. Eurythmics- Here Comes the Rain Again 
18. Frankie Goes To Hollywood- Two Tribes
19. The Smiths- What Difference Does it Make  
20. The Style Council- Shout to the Top

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Best of 1984- The Album List

The growing popularity of Michael Jackson which started in 1983 also set foot in 1984 especially after the video for "Thriller" was released. Even though the content of the video was controversial at that time, it was also groundbreaking and it revolutionized the music industry and the world of pop by breaking down the racial barriers and transforming the music video into a work of art.
Even at the other end of the Atlantic the 1983 started with a small scandal which involved Frankie Goes To Hollywood who got banned by BBC for almost a year due to the explicit lyrics in the and provocative video for their biggest hit "Relax". Despite this fact, the band managed to have major success around the world with their debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. This was also the first big success for ZTT Records and three times platinum in the UK. Towards the end of the year the Frankie Goes to Hollywood ban was slowly lifted and "Relax" was the ultimate anthem of 1984 introducing the Frankie Says Relax trend. 
With the growing popularity of MTV, in 1984 the first MTV Music Awards were given away at the  Radio City Music Hall in New York. Among the winners were Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Herbie Hancock. Madonna was not up for awards, but manged to make prominence and shake the pop world with her performance at the VMA's. 
Just ahead of Christmas when 1984 was in the fade out, a group of musicians headed by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure got together for a good cause forming Band Aid. This was a group of musicians who recorded a song to raise awareness and funds for the Ethiopian famine in 1983–1985. It included more than 40 musicians and it sold over two million copies around the globe and raised more than $24 million. 
Towards the end of the year New Gold Dream which could easily be translated as the golden era of new Wave slowly began to vanish and became clear that the new musical term was Pop.

 

Sunday, January 19, 2014

New Frankie Goes To Hollywood Compilation 'Frankie Said' Announced for February

Frankie Goes To Hollywood have announced the release of a brand new compilation entitled 'Frankie Said'. 'Frankie Said' (Deluxe Edition) is a compilation that combines - for the first time ever - the very best of the audio and video Frankie Goes To Hollywood created for ZTT between 1983 and 1987. From obscurity to infamy and back again in less than five years, perhaps more than any other group, Frankie Goes To Hollywood define 80's music. This compilation includes a series of cutting edge videos alongside BBC TV appearances - previously unavailable footage from Top Of The Pops and The Oxford Road Show '84 - and rare material from the Zang Tuum Tum archives. The release date is announced for mid February.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Best of 1983 - The Singles List

The year 1982 was all about Michael Jackson's Thriller which became the best selling album of all time. The video for the song proved to be challenging for the MTV airwaves and it is also considered as one of the best videos of all time. Along with Michael Jackson's success other artists followed; David Bowie released Let's Dance, his most commercial album to date and ladies rocked too, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper released their debuts too exploring the weird and unconventional and Kim Wilde won the Brit Award for best British female artist. 
In 1982, the first compact discs were produced in Germany and were already sold in Japan during the third quarter of the same year. In 1983 they also went on sale in the USA and they will certainly revolutionize the music industry in the coming years. 
New Wave slowly faded into Pop and its biggest stars of the decade Michal Jackson, Madonna, Prince and George Michael will rule the charts for the rest of the decade and beyond.
 

The following Top 50 represents the result of the 'Best of 1983 - The Singles List' poll from 2013 together with our in-house votes. 

Updated: 06/2020


01. New Order- Blue Monday 

02. Depeche Mode- Everything Counts 
03. The Smiths- This Charming Man 
04. Michael Jackson - Thriller 
05. The Sisters of Mercy- Temple of Love 
06. Simple Minds- New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84 
07. Frankie Goes To Hollywood- Relax 
08. Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) 
09. The The- This is the Day 
10. Siouxsie and The Banshees- Dear Prudence 
11. Yazoo- Nobody's Diary 
12. Echo & The Bunnymen- The Cutter 
13. U2- New Year’s Day 
14. David Bowie – Let's Dance
15. Cyndi Lauper- Girls Just Wanna have Fun
16. Pat Benetar - Love is a Battlefield 
17. Talking Heads - Burning Down The House 
18. R.E.M.- Radio Free Europe 
19. Spandau Ballet - True 
20. PIL- This is not a Love Song 

Monday, September 3, 2012

Wired for Sound- The New Book About 80's Music Childhood

This summer Simon & Schuster Ltd have released 'Wired for Sound' by Tom Bromley who is know for his mixture of fiction and non-fiction, mainly with a pop culture slant. 
'Wired For Sound' chronicles the rise and fall of eighties music, from the Band Aid highs of Duran Duran, Wham! and U2 to the Band Aid II lows of Bros, Jason Donovan and Wet Wet Wet. In loving detail, it explores the themes that defined the charts of the time: from music videos to VW badges, synthesisers to stadium rock and from Radio One to Frankie saying "Relax". 
Tom Bromley captures, too, the experiences of the small town boys and girls who grew up listening to the music: a generation of 'Smash Hits' readers and Sony Walkman owners, 'Top of the Pops' viewers and C90 cassette compilers. Evoking an era when it really mattered who was number one, Wired for Sound is an affectionate celebration of both a musical youth and the decade when young guns really went for it.  

www.tombromley.co.uk
 

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Brand New Frankie Goes To Hollywood Compilation 'Sexmix' Announced for August

A brand new Frankie Goes To Hollywood compilation is set for release this summer. Their record label ZTT and Salvo Music are set to release a new two-CD compilation which collects together rare and unearthed material from original cassette singles, CD singles and shines a light on favourite B-side material. The compilation is entitled 'Sexmix: Archive Tapes and Studio Adventures, Volume One' and  features all seven of Frankie‘s UK singles in one form or another, from "Relax" to "Watching The Wildlife". The compilation also features some rarities such as the CD debut of the full 'Welcome To The Pleasuredome' cassette single  and unique, remastered mixes of 'Rage Hard and Warriors of the Wasteland' which have been out-of-print for a quarter of a century. 
'Sexmix' is coming on 6 August, and boasts this splendid front cover which perfectly captures the spirit of Frankie Goes To Hollywood circa 1984. 

Source

 

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