Relax ! with Frankie (Frankie Goes to Hollywood in general)

Member Name: ness

Product:	Frankie Goes to Hollywood in general
Date:	10/09/00 (100 review reads)
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This was a great band formed in 1980 and fronted by openly gay Holly Johnston. They were famed for their sexual and political lyrics. The promotion behind Frankie was both clever and inventive.

Their debut single Relax, a dance track, was a big hit, but it caused quite a bit of controversy with its sexually suggestive lyrics. It was banned by the BBC but this didn’t stop it form reaching no 1 in the UK charts. Then Frankie's promotional director masterminded a marketing campaign that caused Frankie-mania. T-shirts that read "Relax" and "Frankie Says...," appeared across the country.

Their second single, the political ‘Two Tribes’ went straight into the charts at no 1 and remained there for nine weeks. The power of the single lay with its lyrics which dealt with the escalation of nuclear arms and the prospect of global annihilation. In order to reinforce the harrowing theme, the group included a chilling voice over from actor Patrick Allen giving instructions on how to avoid fall out in the event of nuclear war. Johnson's closing lines of the song are'Are we living in a land where sex and horror are the new gods?

Frankie then released my all time favorite track, a moving ballad, “The Power of Love” which was a Christmas hit in 1984. All these three tracks were taken from their debut album “ Welcome to the Pleasuredome”. All their singles were available in 12” remixed formats as well.

The group broke up in 1987. Holly Johnson then spent the next several years locked in a court battle against label ZTT, ultimately winning his artistic freedom; he returned to music in 1989 with his solo debut “Blast”, which topped the UK charts. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with AIDS in the early '90s and has retired from music.

A remix of “The Power of Love” was released in 2000, and there may be more to follow in the near future.


If you want to get a feel of Frankie I would recommend their album "Bang- The Greatest Hits of Frankie goes to Hollywood" which includes the tracks "Relax", "Two Tribes", "Welcome to the Pleasuredome","The Power of Love" & "Rage Hard".

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