Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Holly Johnson

20 years after a certain group from Liverpool set the world on fire, another group from Liverpool dominated the conversation. It was, however, more of a firework rather than a proper fire, short-lived but quite glorious. The band in question is Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

The nucleus of Frankie Goes To Hollywood emerged from the Liverpool punk scene as the Sons Of Egypt. In 1980 they changed their name to FGTH. Their line-up was Holly Johnson (lead vocals), Paul Rutherford (keyboards, backing vocals), Jed O'Toole (guitar), Mark O'Toole (bass) and Peter Gill (drums). In 1982 former Son Of Egypt Brian Nash replaced Jed O'Toole on guitar. Both Johnson and Rutherford were out gay men.

From 1980 to 1983 the group performed all over the UK, but was not awarded with a recording contract. It took an appearance on a TV show called The Tube, where they performed Relax, to convince Trevor Horn (remember him from yesterday?) to sign them for his new label, ZTT Records.

Relax was released in October 1983 and had a steady progress into the UK Top 40. Following a debut on the BBC's Top Of The Pops in January 1984, it rose from #35 to #6. 6 days later, a BBC DJ was playing the record on his show when he noticed the front cover design and 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 #1 in the UK charts and stayed there for 5 weeks, during which time the BBC could not feature the nation's best-selling single on Top of the Pops.

Well what about the lyrics? They certainly meant business. Judge for yourselves:

Relax, don't do it, when you want to, go do it

Relax, don't do it, when you want to cum

Relax, don't do it, when you want to suck, do it

Relax, don't do it, when you want to cum

Cum

But shoot it in the right direction

Make makin' it your intention

Live those dreams

Scheme those schemes

Gotta hit me

Hit me (Hit me)

Hit me with those laser beams

The original video depicted a gay S&M parlor. It was promptly banned by both the BBC and MTV, resulting in the production of a substitute video directed by Brian De Palma, which also appeared in his film, Body Double.

Here's the original, banned video:

Here's the version from Body Double by Brian De Palma:

The song spent 48 weeks in the Top 75 and sold over 2 million copies in the UK alone, making it the 6th best-selling single of all-time in the UK. It was also #1 in Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand. It was #2 in Belgium, Iceland and Norway, Top 5 in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden and Top 10 in Hong Kong, New Zealand and the US. In Canada it made #11.

How do you follow such a hit up? With Two Tribes, of course. A song that deals with people's obsession with violence, with war especially. The video, directed by Godley & Creme (both ex-10CC), depicted a wrestling match between then-US President Ronald Reagan and then-Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko, for the benefit of an eagerly belligerent assembly of representatives from the world's nations, the event ultimately degenerating into complete global destruction. Here it is:

The song spent 9 weeks at #1 in the UK. It was also #1 in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand and a Top 10 hit in many other countries.

Then a 3d #1 in a row: The Power Of Love is, unlike their first two hits, a ballad. Thus the group became only the second act in the history of the UK charts to reach number one with their first three singles; the first being fellow Liverpudlians... not those guys... Gerry & The Pacemakers. Here's the video:

My favorite song of theirs is actually the 4th hit from their debut album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome, the title track. It "only" made #2 in the UK charts. It either celebrates or warns against a life of debauchery, depending on whom you ask. Never mind that, it's a terrific bundle of energy. Here's their 12-inch version:

Also in the first album, a cover that shouldn't have worked, but it does. They dare cover Springsteen's ultra classic Born To Run and they actually get away with it. Judge for yourselves:

Their second (and last) album, Liverpool, came two years later. Although it was a hit, compared to WTTPD's monster critical and commercial success it was a bit of a let down. Only the lead single, Rage Hard, made the Top 5 in the UK:

By this time, the group members weren't getting along with each other at all. Eventually, lead singer Holly Johnson left the group and in 1989 he released his first solo album, Blast, which went to #1. There were four singles, the first two both peaking at #4 in the UK.

First there was Love Train:

Then came Americanos:

His following album in 1991 was a commercial failure. Later in the year, Johnson learned that he was HIV positive. This triggered a temporary withdrawal from the music business and public life in general. In March 1994, Johnson's critically acclaimed autobiography A Bone in My Flute was published, in which he discusses his struggle with, and acceptance of, his homosexuality. The same year, he recorded a new single, Legendary Children (All of Them Queer), whose lyrics referred to famous LGBT people throughout history. He also performed live at London's Gay Pride. Here's Legendary Children:

Since the mid-1990s, Johnson has worked primarily and quite successfully as a painter. The other openly gay member of FGTH, Paul Rutherford, moved to New Zealand with his civil union partner.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood is a band that could've been much bigger, if there existed better chemistry between its members. As it was, their career was brief, but they really left their mark on the 80s.