26th part of my ongoing look at the music that made liverpool great. liverpool bands have produced some of the best music ever, every week i’m going to post a song/video from a group or singer from liverpool some popular and some not so popular this week it’s Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Liverpool's Frankie Goes to Hollywood formed in 1980, comprising ex-Big in Japan vocalist Holly Johnson, vocalist Paul Rutherford, guitarist Nasher Nash, bassist Mark O'Toole, and drummer Peter Gill. Originally, the group was called Hollycaust, but they changed their name to Frankie Goes to Hollywood (taken from an old headline about Frank Sinatra's acting career) by the end of the year. The band didn't make anything of note until 1982, when they appeared on the British television program The Tube with a rough version of the video for "Relax." The appearance attracted attention from several record labels as well as record producer Trevor Horn. Horn contacted the band and signed them to his label, ZTT. Late in 1983, Frankie's first single, the Horn-produced "Relax"/"Ferry Cross the Mersey," was released. A driving dance number, "Relax" featured sexually suggestive lyrics that would soon lead to great controversy.
Around the time of the release of "Relax," Frankie's promotional director, Paul Morley, a former music journalist, orchestrated a massive, intricate marketing campaign that soon paid off in spades. Morley designed T-shirts that read "Relax" and "Frankie Says...," which eventually appeared across the country. The group began playing up their stylish, campy homosexual imagery, especially in the first video for "Relax." The video was banned by British TV and a new version was shot. Similarly, Radio 1 banned the single and the rest of the BBC radio and television networks quickly banned the record as well. Consequently, "Relax" shot to number one in January of 1984 and soon sold over a million copies. Frankie's second single, the political "Two Tribes," was released in June of 1984. The single, which was also produced by Trevor Horn, entered the charts at number one; it went gold in seven days. "Two Tribes" stayed at number one for nine weeks and eventually sold over a million copies. While it was on the top of the charts, "Relax" went back up the charts, peaking at number two.
Frankie mania had taken England by storm, yet it took a while to catch on in America. "Relax" peaked at number 67 in the spring of 1984, while "Two Tribes" just missed the Top 40 in the fall. Welcome to the Pleasuredome, the band's Trevor Horn-produced debut double album, entered the U.K. charts at number one and their third single, the ballad "The Power of Love," also reached number one. Welcome to the Pleasuredome reached at number 33 in early 1985 in the U.S., prompting the re-release of "Relax"; this time around, it made it into the American Top Ten.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax
Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Rage Hard
"OH I YEAH WELL ARD
My Trusted MOGs
Frankie were 1984, I have trouble remembering any other bands I liked, that big, that year. I remember my friend Sean playing the album over and over and over, in his car. It became a sountrack to our shopping and eating trips to London in 1984. Brings back memories of sitting in Cafe Pacifico, just across from the Pineapple dance studio in Covent Garden. Many thanks for the reminder.
My Trusted MOGs
ooohhh 'hit me with those laser beams' great post lovin it not heard the two tribes mix thought that was something quite unique thanks x
My Trusted MOGs
love these liverpool bands posts, m8. i remember frankie goes to hollywood - relax getting at least 30 different mixes & remixes, which was a record back in the day and probably it still still. relax got #1 in the spanish lists for a few weeks and it wasnt banned because we dont like banning... we are like that, heh. i also remember 2 tribes, but i think i missed rage hard.
big up liverpool.