Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Music on Google Play Frankie Goes To Hollywood About the artist Frankie Goes to Hollywood, formed in 1980, were a British 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 1983 debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and subsequently topped the UK singles chart for five consecutive weeks, going on to enjoy prolonged chart success throughout that year and ultimately becoming the seventh best-selling UK single of all time. It also won the 1985 Brit Award for Best British Single. After the follow-up success of "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love," 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 Gerry & the Pacemakers. This record remained unbeaten until the Spice Girls achieved a six-single streak in 1996-1997.

In 1985, Frankie Goes to Hollywood won the Brit Award for Best British Newcomer, and the band also received Grammy Award and MTV Video Music Award nominations for Best New Artist. 1 $9.49 Liverpool is Frankie Goes to Hollywood's second and last studio album, released in October 1986. It would be the band's final album of all-new material, and lead singer Holly Johnson would leave th... 1 1 $9.49 Welcome to the Pleasuredome is the debut studio album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released by ZTT and Island Records on 29 October 1984. Originally issued as a vinyl double album, it was as... 1 1 $9.49 Bang!... The Greatest Hits of Frankie Goes to Hollywood is a compilation album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in 1993 during a spate of reissuing and remixing of Frankie Goes to Hollywood p... 1 1 $4.99 Bang! is a compilation album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood given a Japan-only release during 1985. It is the first compilation album by the group, and the first to gather together various remixes th...

1 1 $14.49 Twelve Inches is a compilation album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, featuring many remixes that had previously only been available in their original twelve-inch format. The track listing for the Ger... 1 1 $9.49 Reload! Frankie: The Whole 12 Inches is a remix album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released by ZTT Records in 1994 as a complementary album to Bang!... The Greatest Hits of Frankie Goes to ... 1 Holly Johnson 0 William Holly Johnson, born William Johnson and known professionally as Holly Johnson, is an English artist, musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who a... 0 The Human League 0 The Human League are an English electronic new wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. After signing to Virgin Records in 1979, the band released two albums and a string of singles before attaining ... 0 Bronski Beat 0 Bronski Beat were a popular British synthpop trio who achieved success in the mid-1980s, particularly with the 1984 chart hit "Smalltown Boy". All members of the group were openly gay and their son...

0 Propaganda 0 Propaganda are a German synthpop group, formed in 1982. They were one of the initial roster of acts signed to Trevor Horn's ZTT label, between 1984 and 1986, during which they released the critical... 0 Ultravox 0 Ultravox are a British new wave band, formed in London in 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980–86, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which ... 0 ABC 0 One of the most popular new wave bands of the early '80s, the British group ABC built upon the detached, synthesized R&B pop of David Bowie and Roxy Music, adding a self-conscious, campy sense of t... 0 Talk Talk 0 Talk Talk were an English new wave band, active from 1981 until their breakup in 1992. Their early hit singles include "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life" and "Such a Shame". Although the band onl...

0 Heaven 17 0 Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synthpop band formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn Gregory. Although ... 0 Spandau Ballet 0 Spandau Ballet /ˈspændaʊ ˈbæl.eɪ/ are an English band formed in London in 1979. The band were inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic movement. They became one of the most successful... 0 Simple Minds 0 Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band. They formed in Glasgow in 1977 and became the most commercially successful Scottish band of the 1980s. They achieved five UK number one albums during their ca... 0 Soft Cell 0 Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the late 1970s, consisting of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo are principally known for their 1981 hit v... 0 Visage 0 Visage were a British synthpop band, formed in London in 1978.

The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "F... 0 Duran Duran 0 Duran Duran are an English new wave/synthpop band formed in Birmingham in 1978. The band grew from alternative sensations in 1982 to mainstream pop stars by 1984. By the end of the decade, membersh... 0 Art of Noise 0 Art of Noise were an English avant-garde synthpop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn an... 0 Thompson Twins 0 Thompson Twins were a British music group that formed in April 1977. Initially a new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity in the mid-1980s, ...

0 Holly Johnson, horoscope for birth date 9 February 1960, born in Liverpool, with Astrodatabank biography - Astro-Databank (to view image author and license, click here ) Biography British pop singer, the outrageous lead singer with "Frankie Goes to Hollywood," the group that had international success with the hit songs "Relax" and "Two Tribes" during the mid 1980s. Born to a working class Liverpool family and raised around the corner from John Lennon's Penny Lane, Holly Johnson began playing guitar at 13. A teenage fan of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, he and a friend went to see Bowie at the Liverpool Empire on 6/10/1973 where they were beaten up for being costumed in platform shoes and make-up. Johnson later assumed a more punk rocker look with his colourful hair, clothes and exotic cosmetics. He chose his nickname spontaneously when asked on a dance-floor for his name, taking "Holly" (after Holly Woodlawn) from Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" that was playing at the time. Truman Capote's Holly Golightly was also in the back of his mind.

After performing as the vocalist with the group "Big In Japan," Johnson formed "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" in Liverpool in the summer of 1980 with Paul Rutherford, Nasher Nash, Mark O'Toole, and Peter Gill. Johnson came up with the name of the group at the last minute before the band were scheduled to play their first gig, after seeing a Variety magazine headline "Frankie Goes Hollywood" which reported Frank Sinatra's move from Las Vegas. The fact that it contained "Holly" sparked Johnson's attention. The group's name subsequently featured on many t-shirts in the form of slogans. Holly Johnson and Paul Rutherford's unashamed and outrageous gayness added to the group's curiosity value, provoking the meeker (and then closeted) Boy George to write a letter to the Record Mirror complaining about their upfront approach. Johnson was the first male pop star to wear designer clothes (by Vivienne Westwood among others).

FGTH's biggest hit was "Relax" which reached No.1 in the British pop charts in 1984, causing such a stir with its (homo)erotic content about oral sex that it was banned by BBC Radio 1 for reasons of "good taste." This ensured that their first three singles all got to No.1, with "Two Tribes" staying there for nine weeks. In the early 1980s Johnson met Wolfgang Kuhle, a successful art dealer, who became his personal manager and lover. They have remained together ever since with their 'only child' -- Funky, a white poodle. In 1987 Holly Johnson fell out with the rest of his group. He also had an argument with his record company, winning a case in court against them on restraint of trade. Going solo in 1989, he had a No.1 album, but fell out with his new record company. He did not release another album until 1999. In an interview for The Times in April 1993 he revealed that he was diagnosed with HIV in 1991.

Not expecting to be alive much longer he wrote a candid and confessional autobiography, "A Bone in My Flute," and held an exhibition of his paintings in the West End of London. With his 1999 single Disco Heaven he made his debut as a video director in a work that features celebrities such as Boy George and Jasper Conran imitating gay icons like Divine and Leigh Bowery. In 2000, Johnson continues to exhibit his paintings, write songs, and perform at major gay events. Link to Wikipedia biography Relationships business associate/partner relationship with O'Toole, Mark (born 16 January 1964). Notes: Band mates in Frankie Goes To Hollywood business associate/partner relationship with Rutherford, Paul (born 8 December 1959). Notes: Band mates in Frankie Goes To Hollywood Events Social : Joined group 1980 (Formed the group "Frankie Goes to Hollywood") Work : Gain social status 1984 (Song goes No.

1) Social : Left group 1987 (Group disbanded) Work : Published/ Exhibited/ Released 1989 (Album released) Health : Medical diagnosis 1991 (Diagnosed AIDS) Social : Secrets revealed April 1993 (Revealed that he had AIDS since 1991) Work : Published/ Exhibited/ Released 1999 (Album released) Work : New Career 1999 (Video director) Source Notes Sy Scholfield quotes him by email 2/2001, writing that he was born in Wavertree, Liverpool and that his dad told him that he was born "about four or half past four" in the afternoon." Note: Mr. Johnson also cleared up the confusion over the other birth data that has appeared in various references which state that he was born on 2/19/1960 in Khartoum, Sudan. Johnson says this date no doubt came about through a typing mistake. "Khartoum" ("sounds exotic don't you think"!) was his fun answer to a journalist's staple question after a long day of interviews.

This link with "Khartoum" has nevertheless entered popular culture, particularly as the answer to the Trivial Pursuit question, "Where was Holly Johnson from Frankie Goes to Hollywood born?" Categories Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax (Don’t Do It) Utube Amazon Store Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Relax (Don’t Do It) I want to thank UTUBE and making this happen for me I love connecting the two together this way you can find out about the song and the person as you listen to the music. Also if you do not see a band that you would like to read about stroll down to the bottom and where it says just ask john post your request thank you Frankie Goes to Hollywood From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding reliable references . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (July 2009) Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood (L-R: Paul Rutherford, Peter Gill, Holly Johnson, Mark O’Toole, Brian Nash) Background information Frankie Goes to Hollywood (FGTH) were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s.

The Liverpool, England group was fronted by Holly Johnson ( vocals ), with Paul Rutherford ( vocals , keyboards ), Peter Gill ( drums , percussion ), Mark O’Toole ( bass guitar ), and Brian Nash ( guitar ). The group’s debut single “ Relax ” was famously banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and subsequently topped the UK singles chart for five consecutive weeks, going on to enjoy prolonged chart success throughout that year and ultimately becoming the seventh best-selling UK single of all time (as of May 2006). After the follow-up success of “ Two Tribes ” and “ The Power of Love ,” FGTH became only the second act in the history of the UK charts to reach number one with their first three singles; the first being Gerry & the Pacemakers in 1964. Contents Formation Frankie Goes to Hollywood On the B-side to the group’s first single, Johnson explained that the group’s name derived from a page from The New Yorker magazine, featuring the headline “Frankie Goes Hollywood” [1] and a picture of Frank Sinatra , although the magazine page Johnson referred to was actually a pop art poster by Guy Peellaert .

Allegedly the original group named “Frankie Goes to Hollywood” dates from 1980. [2] The nucleus of the group emerged from the late 1970s Liverpool punk scene. Lead singer Johnson had played bass with Big in Japan and had also released two solo singles. Local musicians Peter Gill (drums), Jed O’Toole (bass), and Jed’s cousin Brian Nash (guitar) initially joined Johnson, calling themselves Sons of Egypt. This line-up secured a number of small local gigs before disbanding The group was reprised when Johnson joined Mark O’Toole (bass) and Peter “Ped” Gill to form FGTH. During a particularly fluid period of personnel changes, Jed O’Toole joined FGTH on guitar, and a female vocalist, Sonia Mazumder, was also a band member for the first Frankie gig at the Leeds nightclub “The Warehouse,” supporting Hambi & The Dance. Paul Rutherford – a member of the headline act who had also sung in seminal Liverpool punk band The Spitfire Boys – apparently got so caught up in Frankie’s performance that he effectively replaced Mazumder that very night.

The new all-male musical line-up subsequently toured locally with a leather-clad female duo known as “The Leatherpets” and managed to fund promotional videos and demos, despite being eventually turned down by both Arista Records and Phonogram . In October 1982, the group recorded a John Peel Session for BBC Radio 1 , comprising the originals “Krisco Kisses,” “Two Tribes,” “Disneyland,” and “The World is My Oyster.” Around this time Jed O’Toole left the group, to be replaced by the returning Brian Nash. In February 1983, the group was invited to record a video for “Relax” by the Channel 4 show The Tube at the Liverpool State Ballroom. After the broadcast, the Peel session was repeated on radio, and a new session recorded for the BBC, comprising “ Welcome to the Pleasuredome ,” “The Only Star In Heaven,” and “Relax.” These performances, along with a repeat of the Tube video, convinced Trevor Horn to sign the group for his new label, ZTT Records , in May 1983.

“Relax” Relax “ Relax ” was released by ZTT in October 1983 and got a modicum of airplay, allowing it steady progress into the UK Top 40. Following a debut on the BBC’s Top Of The Pops on 5 January 1984 while at number 35, the single rose to number six in the charts the following week. On 11 January 1984, BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Mike Read was playing the record on his show when he noticed the front cover design (by Yvonne Gilbert ). Read apparently 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.” [3] 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.

[3] “Relax” immediately shot to Number One in the UK charts and stayed there for five weeks, during which time the BBC could not feature the nation’s best-selling single on Top Of The Pops. The original video directed by Bernard Rose depicted a gay S&M den (filmed in the unused East London theatre Wilton’s Music Hall ), which was promptly banned by both the BBC and MTV , resulting in the production of a substitute video directed by filmmaker Brian De Palma to coincide with the release of his film Body Double . The BBC lifted its ban on “ Relax ” at the end of 1984 to allow the band to perform it on the Christmas edition of Top of the Pops (it had been, aside from Band Aid, the biggest-selling single of the year). “Two Tribes” Twelve inch picture disk of “Two Tribes” with video image “Relax” remained in the charts when the follow-up, “ Two Tribes ,” was released in May 1984. The anti-conflict song was given an aggressively topical nuclear war slant.

Featuring sirens, the unmistakable voice of Patrick Allen (who had voiced the British Government ‘s actual nuclear warning ads, Protect and Survive , two years earlier) and another innovative electronic backing, it went straight into the UK charts at Number One and stayed there for nine weeks (the first single to do so since Wings’ “ Mull of Kintyre ” during 1977–78), with total sales exceeding 1.5 million copies and becoming one of the top 30 best-selling records in the UK ever. Directed by Directed by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme , the video featured lookalikes of Cold War leaders Ronald Reagan and Konstantin Chernenko wrestling in a marquee while band members and others laid bets on the outcome. Ultimately, the audience — consisting of other world leaders — were brought into the fight, and eventually Earth was seen to explode. Additionally, during the fight, the Reagan lookalike can be seen biting the ear of the Chernenko look alike a full 14 years before Mike Tyson accidentally emulated the video bite in real life, as an interesting turn of life imitating art.

“Two Tribes” was a successful single in its own right, but its reign at the top of the charts was made even more notable by the continuing success of its predecessor. “Relax” had made a natural decline down the charts by May 1984, but on the release of “Two Tribes” its sales began to increase again, to the extent that FGTH held the top two spots in the UK charts during July 1984, the first active group to do so since the early 1960s. “Frankie Say War! Hide Yourself” t-shirt. The release of “Two Tribes” also coincided with an extensive and iconic T-shirt marketing campaign during the British summer of 1984, featuring such slogans as “Frankie Say War! Hide Yourself” and “Frankie Say Relax Don’t Do It!” “The Power of Love” FGTH released a third single, “ The Power of Love ,” at the end of 1984.

Unlike the earlier singles, this song was a slower-paced ballad, but it also went to Number One in December and making the band the first act for two decades (since Gerry & the Pacemakers , a fellow Liverpool band, in 1963) to achieve chart-toppers with its first three releases. The video was not banned on this occasion but still caused trouble for the group — because it depicted a nativity scene (and on its first showing did not feature any members of the band, who were subsequently added as picture framing), it was incorrectly grouped in the category of Christmas-only records.[ citation needed ] As a result, to this day radio stations seem to give it airplay only during the festive period.[ citation needed ] The song’s release was preceded by an advertising campaign that, cheekily, declared it to be the band’s third number one single, as if this was a fait accompli . The Band Aid project, for which Johnson recorded a message for the B-side, meant that FGTH managed only one week at the top this time before it was replaced by “ Do They Know It’s Christmas?

.” “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” The title track from FGTH’s album, “ Welcome to the Pleasuredome ,” was released as a fourth single in March 1985. Early promotional posters for the single cockily proclaimed it as “their fourth number one,” even prior to the single’s release. Embarrassingly, the single peaked at Number 2, leading to preemptive claims that the band was now on the decline. The snipers would eventually prove correct, but not for the alleged ‘failure’ of a Number 2 hit. The band’s demise was, in the final analysis, attributable to increasing internal tensions and general disillusionment, suspected by some during 1985, but only becoming truly apparent during the group’s 1986 public and much-heralded “return.” The twelve inches were noted for their long Greek mythology / Samuel Taylor Coleridge spoken introduction by Geoffrey Palmer . Only one sole new track Only one sole new track appeared in the next eighteen months; “Disneyland,” was released on the ZTT Records “Zang Tuum Tumb Sampled” album in late 1985.

Return and decline In 1986, FGTH appeared at the Montreux Rock Festival which was broadcast on UK television. This performance saw the first airings of two future singles, namely “ Rage Hard ” and “ Warriors of the Wasteland .” Both versions were different from the versions eventually released. In August 1986, the long-awaited new Frankie Goes to Hollywood single, “Rage Hard,” was released, reaching number 4 in the UK. Initially showcased promotionally with songs like “Warriors of the Wasteland,” the group’s sound had developed a significantly harder edge with a less flamboyant, more nitty-gritty lyrical side. Whilst the single was inevitably promoted as a flagship ZTT product, Frankie’s self-importance seemed somewhat forced and verging almost on self-parody by 1986. The corresponding album, Liverpool (originally rumoured to be titled “Liverpool … let’s make it a double“), released in October and reaching UK No. 5 was generally panned by the music press, and chart returns declined rapidly with the follow-up singles “Warriors of the Wasteland” (#19) and “ Watching the Wildlife ” (#28).

The group meanwhile threatened to implode of its own accord, in the course of a sometimes poorly attended tour promoting the new album. Johnson kept himself markedly separate from the rest of the band when offstage at this period, tensions becoming exacerbated during a backstage altercation between Johnson and O’Toole at Wembley Arena in January 1987, reflecting the generally collapsing relationship between lead singer and the rest of the band. Things were so bad that fellow Liverpudlian singer Pete Wylie was approached to replace Johnson but declined the offer. [4] FGTH would complete the tour, but Johnson ultimately left the group thereafter, citing musical estrangement. Aftermath In the aftermath of the group split, Johnson was offered a solo recording agreement with MCA Records. However, ZTT, which maintained they had invested heavily in Liverpool (to the extent that the digital recording system used to record the album was very nearly treated as a sixth member of the band on the sleeve of the “Warriors of the Wasteland” single), had other ideas, and promptly sued Johnson in an attempt to hold him to his original contract with the label.

Among other things, ZTT believed that as a departing member of FGTH, Johnson was required to release all solo material through the label until the band’s original multiple-album agreement was fulfilled. The suit was bitterly fought, exposing the inner workings of the ZTT/Frankie machine to a giddy UK music press. After two years, the High Court found in Johnson’s favour, holding that the highly restrictive terms of the contract constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade . The result of the court case, which also effectively freed the remaining members of FGTH from their ZTT contract, became famous as an unprecedented victory for the artist over their corporate paymasters. Later years [ by whom? ] Johnson’s solo career at MCA commenced in 1989, with a succession of high-placed singles and the number one album Blast. The remix collection Hollelujah followed, trailed by a second studio album , Dreams That Money Can’t Buy. However, Johnson’s relations with MCA cooled with this release, and he would ultimately become a reclusive but successful painter, after announcing in 1993 that he was infected with HIV . The following year, Johnson recounted his version of Frankie’s history in his autobiography A Bone in My Flute.

His self-issued 1999 album Soulstream included a re-recording of “The Power of Love,” which was also released as a single. Paul Rutherford, the other openly gay member of the band, released the partially ABC produced album Oh World and a handful of singles before retiring with his New Zealander partner to Waiheke Island . The “other three,” as Smash Hits labelled them, continued to work together in what turned out to be a vain attempt to resurrect “Frankie” with various singers including Dee Harris from Fashion and Grant Boult(Jeckyl Ice) from The Premise, who had opened the shows on the band’s UK and European tours. Under the name Boss Dog, with Boult on vocals, the band were offered a major deal with Virgin Records but on condition they work as Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Johnson challenged the use of the name and the deal soured. Boult and Brian Nash continued with the material written by Boss Dog and under the name Low they released “Tearing My Soul Apart” in 1992 on Swanyard Records. As “Nasher,” Nash released a 2002 solo album entitled Ripe.

Ped worked behind the scenes and scored a top ten hit with the group “Lovestation.” Mark O’Toole moved to Florida and played with Punk outfit “Trapped By Mormons.” The band’s name lived on to the extent that re-issues of “Relax” and “The Power of Love” both returned to the UK Top 10 in 1993. Remixes of “The Power of Love” (which became a dance anthem from its original ballad format) and “Two Tribes” were Top 20 hits again in 2000, while “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” also got commercially successful remix treatment, to the extent of a Top 20 placing four years earlier. ZTT continues in its endeavours to keep the FGTH back-catalogue alive into the new century, with periodic reconfigurations, remasters, and further remixes by an ever-growing pool of dance producers, in an attempt to maintain a perceived tradition that began with the multiple variations of the “Relax” 12-inch issued in 1983.

ZTT has tended to date (May 2006) to keep all images of the band absent from their remix artwork, and this absence has tended on the whole to extend to the content and spirit of their reissued product. The group’s first two singles appeared sixth and 22nd respectively in the official all-time UK best-selling singles list issued in 2002. A band called “The New Frankie Goes to Hollywood” appeared, fronted by Davey Johnson, who claimed to be Holly Johnson’s brother. The band plays a few Frankie tracks, but actually has nothing to do with FGTH. Likewise, “Davey Johnson” is no relative of Holly’s. The band is also not to be confused with the FGTH conventions related to The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Reunion and comeback In 2003, the VH-1 program Bands Reunited brought Johnson, Rutherford, Gill, Nash, and Mark O’Toole together from the far corners of the world, in the hope of their agreeing to perform impromptu on the show. By all appearances, the bandmates got on well enough and enjoyed seeing each other again, but a reunion performance did not eventually transpire.

Both Johnson and Nash had reservations about performing at short notice in the contrived manner dictated by the TV show format. Nevertheless, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Trevor Horn ‘s involvement in the music industry, in 2004 a special concert took place at Wembley Arena in November, featuring three of the original FGTH line-up, Mark O’Toole, Peter (Ped) Gill and Paul Rutherford and another former member, Jed O’Toole. Original vocalist Johnson, who announced via the Internet that he would not be appearing, and guitarist Nash, who declined to appear for his own reasons, did not take part. Jed O’Toole took over guitar duties for the event, whilst an open audition was held for a new singer for the concert. Ryan Molloy was recruited as a result. The same lineup (with Molloy and Jed O’Toole, but without Johnson or Nash) reunited for a tour in 2005 playing festivals in Europe. They headlined at Faceparty ‘s Big Gay Out festival at Hyde Park in London. After some confusion with ensuing tour dates, the band posted a warning on their website that many of the tour dates listed by ticket promoters were inaccurate.

The band became increasingly focused on the release of a new album during 2007. However, in early April 2007 came the news that Gill, Rutherford, J. O’Toole and Molloy had formed Forbidden Hollywood to play their new songs alongside old FGTH material. This was to avoid legal issues with Holly Johnson over use of the Frankie Goes to Hollywood name. [5] [6] Live dates were announced, but in June 2007, these were cancelled and the band collapsed with the departure of Molloy. [7] Band members Singles The original singles released during the time the band was together: “ Relax ” (three 12 inch versions: US Mix, 8 minute sex mix, 16 minute sex mix) (1983) “ Two Tribes ” (four 12 inch versions: Carnage, Annihilation, War (Hidden) and Hibakusha) (1984) “ The Power of Love ” (two 12 inch versions: one 4-track version containing the 7″ mix, one 6-track version containing the extended mix a.k.a.

“Leave The Rest To The Gods”) (1984) “ Welcome to the Pleasuredome ” (two 12 inch versions: Real Altered/Pleasurefix and Fruitness) (1985) “ Rage Hard ” (three 12 inch versions: +, ++ and ultra-rare Freddie Bastone Remix) (1986) “ Warriors of the Wasteland ” (three 12 inch versions: Twelve Wild Disciples Mix, Turn of the Knife Mix and Attack) (1986) “ Watching the Wildlife ” (three 12 inch versions: Hotter, Movement 2 and Die Letzten Tage Der Menschheit Mix) (1987) Alternative remixes To coincide with the release of Bang!… The Greatest Hits of Frankie Goes to Hollywood , the tracks “ Welcome to the Pleasuredome ” (1993) and “ Two Tribes ” (1994) were re-released in the UK as singles in remixed form.

The tracks “ Relax ” (1994) and “ The Power of Love ” (1993) were also re-released, but this time in their original form (the CD singles both featured at least one of the original 1984 12 inch remixes). To coincide with the release of Maximum Joy in 2000, new remixes of “The Power of Love,” “Two Tribes,” and “ Welcome to the Pleasuredome ” all entered the UK charts.

Lost tracks These are some of the many lost tracks that were performed on demo tapes and on radio sessions that never made it to albums and have had no actual release: “Unknown” (1982 Demo performed in Liverpool with no title) “Unknown #2” (1982 Demo possibly called “Can’t Win”) “Is There Anybody Out There?” (1982 Demo that is entirely different from the 1986 version) “Watusi Love Juicy” (1982 Demo) “Relax in Heaven Everything is Fine (1982 Demo with different lyrics to the 1983 version) “Junk Funk” (Peel Session December 1983) “Invade My Heart” (BBC Session (Kid Jensen) November 1983) “All Climb Up To Heaven” (1986 Liverpool demo) “Purple Haze” (1986 Liverpool demo) “Delirious” (1986 Mediterranean Studios) “Pocket Vibrator” (1986 Sarm Studios demo) “Waves” (1986 Demo version had actual lyrics) “Our Silver Turns to Gold” (1986 Demo

 version which is different to the 2009 CD release) Computer game In 1985, a computer game entitled Frankie Goes to Hollywood was developed by Denton Designs and published by Ocean Software .

Based on the band’s music, imagery and slogans, the objective of the game was to explore the town of Mundanesville to find the Pleasuredome. References Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Example Problems Frankie Goes to Hollywood File:Relax single.jpg Frankie Goes to Hollywood's biggest selling single, "Relax" Frankie Goes To Hollywood (FGTH) was one of the biggest, most controversial and most marketed UK pop acts of the 1980s . The band was fronted by Liverpudlian singer Holly Johnson , and was supported by Paul Rutherford along with Peter Gill , Mark O'Toole and Brian Nash . Its debut single " Relax " was famously banned by the BBC and subsequently topped the UK singles chart . Along with "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love", FGTH became only the second band in the history of the UK charts to reach number one with their first three singles. Frankie Goes To Hollywood have recently begun touring again with new lead singer Ryan Molloy .

Contents 11 External links Background Emerging from the late 1970s Liverpool punk movement (key member Paul Rutherford had previously been in bands including The Spitfire Boys ), FGTH are said to have taken their name from a newspaper headline referring to either Frank Sinatra or, more likely, Frankie Vaughan . Both names were mentioned in early interviews, though the Sinatra explanation is the one that has stuck. (This could be seen as meaning that the famous "Frankie Say..." quotes are from Vaughan, or Sinatra, although they obviously are not from either). Lead singer Holly Johnson , a fellow Liverpool punk veteran from the band Big In Japan (which also featured future Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie ), recruited Rutherford as co-singer. Local musicians Peter Gill ( drums ), Jed O'Toole ( bass ) and Jed's cousin Brian Nash ( guitar ) then joined. The band set out playing shows around the locality. O'Toole quit shortly afterwards but supplied the band with a replacement — his younger brother Mark O'Toole , whom Jed had taught how to play (Jed also taught Nash the guitar).

FGTH were signed up to Trevor Horn 's new ZTT record label after a raw video for the song "Relax" was shown on music programme The Tube . With a brief from the band to make them sound like "a cross between Donna Summer and KISS ", Horn set to work on their debut single. Relax The final cut of "Relax" was released at the end of 1983 and got a modicum of airplay, allowing it steady progress into the UK Top 40. After an appearance on Top Of The Pops , the song shot into the Top 10 — and then would come the incident which would propel both song and band into pop notoriety forever. BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Mike Read was playing the record on his show when he noticed the mild sexual imagery used as a design on the front cover, including one of the more salacious quotes from the lyrics. This prompted him to listen more intently to the words, and his reaction was such that he removed the disc from the turntable live on air, snapped it in two and branded it "disgusting".

On January 10 , 1984 , two months after its release, and without Read's knowledge or input, the BBC decided to ban the record from all its TV and radio outlets. A surge to buy the single and find out what the controversy was about followed. Music journalist and ZTT associate Paul Morley immediately started a PR campaign which led to a massive demand for the band and song. "Relax" immediately shot to Number 1 in the charts and stayed there for five weeks, leading to the ludicrous and embarrassing situation for the BBC whereby they couldn't feature the nation's best-selling single on their flagship chart shows on TV and radio. File:Frankie says relax t-shirt.jpg T-Shirt associated with Frankie Goes To Hollywood (although this is not a Katharine Hamnett original, due to the word "says" rather than "say" Also getting in on the act was fashion designer Katharine Hamnett , who designed a range of minimalist, sloganeering T-shirts based around her famous slogan Ban Nuclear Weapons NOW : "Frankie Say Relax Don't Do It", "Frankie Say War Hide Yourself", "Frankie Say Arm The Unemployed".

(T-shirts with "Frankie Says" were fakes.) Prior to these, Hamnett had also designed the familiar "Choose Life" T-shirts worn by Wham! on their video for "Wake Me Up before You Go Go". The offending nature of "Relax" was difficult to decipher entirely, although outrage was expressed in some quarters. Allegedly the expression ...when you want to suck it to it... which appeared on the sleeve and caused Read's outrage was, in fact, a deliberate inaccuracy placed on the sleeve to cause extra interest and intrigue. The real words were, in fact, ...when you want to SOCK it to it.... As for the expression ...when you want to come..., the imagery is inescapable. The design, meanwhile, depicted a man and woman pressed against each other, back to back, with clothed upper bodies but bared buttocks . In a relatively liberalised mid- 1980s period this was saucy at best, not shocking. The video , however, was unsurprisingly banned as it depicted an S&M den (filmed in a Liverpool nightclub called The Coconut Grove, near Johnson's home at the time).

Adding to the controversy surrounding the song, rumours began to circulate after its release that the single had actually been recorded by session musicians. Some time later, producer Trevor Horn admitted that in fact he had cut a 'demo' version of the track with The Blockheads, the renowned backing group for New Wave icon Ian Dury . He then cut a second version with FGTH, but was unhappy with the result and took the tape away to work on it. The perfectionist Horn then spent five weeks refining it, augmenting the basic tracks with extensive overdubs by session musicians. "Relax" was a massive gamble for Horn and his record label, ZTT, and its failure could well have bankrupted him. By the time it was completed, it had cost £70,000 in studio time alone, with the video clip costing an additional £15,000. Two Tribes "Relax" was followed into the charts by "Two Tribes", a topical song about nuclear war .

Featuring sirens, the unmistakable voice of Patrick Allen (who voiced the British Government 's actual nuclear warning ads two years earlier) and another hard-faced, electronic backing, it went into the UK charts straight in at Number 1 and stayed there for a phenomenal nine weeks (the first to do so for seven years). There were no problems with the song this time, but again the video was not shown on British television, this time due to its overtly violent nature. Directed by the renowned duo of Kevin Godley and Lol Crème (half of '70s rock band 10cc ) it featured lookalikes of Cold War leaders Ronald Reagan and Konstantin Chernenko wrestling in a marquee while band members and others laid bets on the outcome. Ultimately, the globe was seen to explode . What made the reign of "Two Tribes" at the top even more notable was the continuing success of its predecessor.

"Relax" had made a natural decline down the charts but on the release of "Two Tribes", sales of it began to rise again to the extent that FGTH held the top two spots in the UK charts, the first act to do so since the posthumous clamour for singles by John Lennon at the beginning of 1981 . The Power Of Love FGTH released a third single, " The Power Of Love ", at the end of 1984 . A surprisingly thoughtful, well-arranged ballad, it went to Number 1 in December and gave the band the honour of being the first act for two decades (since Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1964 ) to achieve chart-toppers with its first three releases. The video was not banned on this occasion but still caused strife for the group — it depicted a nativity scene, lumping it (wrongly) in the category of Christmas -only records. As a result, to this day radio stations seem to give it airplay only during the festive period. The lyrics are not directly concerned with Christmas, however.

The Band Aid project, for which Johnson recorded a message for the B-side, meant that FGTH managed only one week at the top this time. 1984 also saw the release of their debut album, Welcome To The Pleasuredome, but this was poorly received by the critics and didn't sell as well as expected. Along with the singles and title track, it featured a mixture of thrown-together covers (including "Born To Run" from Bruce Springsteen , "San Jose", "Ferry Cross The Mersey") and humour-free Liverpudlian asides and skits. The BBC lifted its ban on "Relax" at the end of 1984 to allow the band to perform it on the Christmas edition of Top Of The Pops (it was, aside from Band Aid, the biggest-selling single of the year). The album's title track, "Welcome To The Pleasuredome", was released as a single at the beginning of 1985 and peaked at Number 2, leading to absurd claims that the band was on the decline. It turned out the snipers were correct, however, but not for the alleged 'failure' of a Number 2 hit.

In fact, the demise of the band was more down to lack of material and skill. Contrary to popular belief, Frankie could play their instruments, as two world tours testified, but their attitude was in question after such immediate success. Decline, split and aftermath In August 1986 the new single "Rage Hard" reached #4 in the UK. But the corresponding album Liverpool, released in October, was panned by the music press, and chart results declined rapidly on the followup singles "Warriors" (#19) and "Watching The Wildlife" (#28). In the midst of these diminishing returns, a backstage altercation between Johnson and Nash at Wembley Arena in January 1987 reflected the collapsing relationship between the lead singer and the rest of the band. FGTH completed the tour, but Johnson left the group immediately thereafter. In the aftermath of the split, Johnson was offered a recording agreement with MCA Records.

ZTT, which had invested heavily in Liverpool (to the point where the digital recording system used to record the album was very nearly treated as a sixth member of the band on the sleeve of the "Warriors" single), had other ideas, and promptly sued Johnson in an attempt to hold him to his original contract with the label. Among other things, ZTT believed that as the departing member of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Johnson was required to release all solo material through the label until the band's original multiple-album agreement was fulfilled. The suit was bitterly fought, exposing the inner workings of the ZTT/Frankie machine to a giddy UK music press. After two weeks the High Court found in Johnson's favor, holding that the highly restrictive terms of the contract constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade. Johnson's solo career at MCA commenced in 1989 , with a succession of high-placed singles and the reasonably successful album Blast. The remix collection Hollelujah followed, trailed by a second studio album Dreams That Money Can't Buy. He would later become a reclusive but successful painter after announcing in 1993 that he was living with the HIV virus.

The following year, Johnson recounted his version of Frankie's history in his autobiography A Bone In My Flute. His self-issued 1999 album Soulstream included a re-recording of "The Power Of Love", which was also released as a single. Rutherford, the other openly gay member of the band, released the ABC -produced album Oh World and a handful of singles before retiring with his partner to a farm in New Zealand to raise a family. The 'other three', as pop magazine Smash Hits labelled them, continued to work behind the scenes in the studio on other people's projects. As "Nasher", Nash released a 2002 solo album entitled Ripe. The band's name lived on to the extent that re-issues of "Relax" and "The Power Of Love" both returned to the UK Top 10 in 1993 .

Remixes of "The Power Of Love" (which became a dance anthem from its original lite-jazz ballad format) and "Two Tribes" were Top 20 hits in 1997 , while "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" also got successful remix treatment to the extent of a Top 20 placing four years earlier. ZTT keeps the FGTH back-catalog alive into the new century with periodic reconfigurations, remasters, and further remixes by an ever-growing pool of dance producers, continuing the tradition that began with the multiple variations of the "Relax" 12" issued in 1983. "Two Tribes" was later played in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City . The group's first two singles appeared sixth and 22nd respectively in the official all-time UK best-selling singles list issued in 2002 . A band called "The New Frankie Goes To Hollywood" appeared, fronted by Davey Johnson, who claimed to be Holly Johnson's brother. The band plays a few Frankie tracks, but actually has nothing to do with FGTH. Likewise, "Davey Johnson" is no relative of Holly's.

The band is also not to be confused with the Frankie Goes To Hollywood conventions related to The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Reunion and comeback In 2003 , the VH-1 program Bands Reunited brought Johnson, Rutherford, Gill, O'Toole and Nash together from the far corners of the world in hopes of their performing on the show. By all appearances the bandmates got on well enough and enjoyed seeing one another again, but none of them seemed particularly surprised when Johnson scuttled the envisioned mini-concert with his (literal) last-minute refusal to perform with the rest of the band. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Trevor Horn's involvement in the music industry, in 2004 a special concert took place at Wembley Arena in November which featured three of the FGTH personnel. Once again an exception was Johnson, who announced via the Internet that he would not be appearing, and who stuck to this decision despite much worldwide protest from fans yearning to see the five play together again. The band held an open audition for a new singer for the concert and recruited Ryan Molloy as a result. Nash also declined to take part in the concert for his own reasons.

The same lineup (with Molloy, and without Johnson or Nash) reunited for a tour in 2005 . They headlined at Faceparty 's Big Gay Out festival. Legacy Observers of FGTH's era state that despite the presence of openly gay members and suggestive lyrics and sleeves, the band's raw, aggressive sound avoided alienating a heterosexual male audience, leading some to change their attitudes towards homosexual people. Thus, even though ultimately many do not consider their music to be the best of the vibrant mid-'80s era, FGTH is considered by some to have been a very important band for reasons beyond music. Computer game In 1985, a Frankie Goes To Hollywood computer game was created, based on the music of the band. The objective of the admittedly-strange game was to explore Mundanesville and find the Pleasuredome. Band members Frankie Goes To Hollywood lead singer Holly Johnson releases single Follow Your Heart | Daily Star Published 25th June 2014 GLORY DAYS: Frankie Goes To Hollywood plus bird of prey attempting to Relax in the Eighties [REX] It’s a long way from sex-dungeons to fluffy bunnies.

An incredible 30 years after Frankie Goes To Hollywood's outrageous album Welcome to the Pleasuredome shocked and horrified the nation (well, the BBC) with the filthy lead single Relax, we were all cooing over the adorable John Lewis Crimbo ad with Lily Allen warbling a version of the Eighties rebels' hit The Power Of Love. The band, itself, imploded in the usual pop fashion of rows and recriminations in 1987. But now lead singer Holly Johnson is back and announcing the release of Europa, his first album in 14 years, and a solo tour later this year. SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE VIDEO FOR HOLLY JOHNSON'S FOLLOW YOUR HEART RELAX! We doubt that Holly will be slipping into leather chaps this time around [PH] Europa features guest appearances from electronic music legend Vangelis and the late, great Chicago DJ Frankie Knuckles. Holly reckons he is "the archetypal misery guts" but he's clearly very happy to be back in the recording studio. "I'd forgotten how much physical pleasure I got from singing my own songs. This is my teenage dream come true.

I started to think, why did I ever stop?" Europa is preceded by the single Follow Your Heart and you can hear it exclusively here first. Holly Johnson’s new single, Follow Your Heart, is out July 27. The album, Europa, follows on September 29 Related articles Frankie Goes To Holloywood - Remember The 80s Remember The 80s 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 Lead singers : Holly Johnson, Ryan Molloy Members : Holly Johnson, Paul Rutherford, Mark O'Toole, Brian Nash, Peter Gill, Ryan Molloy, Jed O'Toole, Sonia Mazumder Albums: 2. The World Is My Oyster 3. Snatch Of Fury 4. Welcome To The Pleasuredome 5. Relax 11. Wish The Lads Were Here 12. The Ballad Of 32 13. Krisco Kisses 14. Black Night White Light 15. The Only Star In Heaven 16.

The Power Of Love 17. Bang 1984 Welcome to the Pleasuredome was the debut album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released in the UK in October 1984 by ZTT/Island Records Warriors of the Wasteland - 4:58 Rage Hard - 5:03 Is Anybody Out There? - 7:25 Liverpool is Frankie Goes to Hollywood's second and last studio album, released in October 1986 (see 1986 in music). It would be the band's final album of all-new material, and lead singer Holly Johnson would leave the band following the corresponding world tour, followed by a flurry of lawsuits from ZTT. Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Music Downloads, Album Info & More – artistxite.ca Show me Biography Frankie Goes to Hollywood (FGTH), formed in 1980, were a British band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson (vocals), with Paul Rutherford (vocals), Peter Gill (drums, percussion), Mark O'Toole (bass guitar), and Brian Nash (guitar).

The group's 1983 debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and subsequently topped the UK singles chart for five consecutive weeks, going on to enjoy prolonged chart success throughout that year and ultimately becoming the seventh best-selling UK single of all time. It also won the 1985 Brit Award for Best British Single. After the follow-up success of "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love," 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 Gerry & the Pacemakers . This record remained unbeaten until the Spice Girls achieved a six-single streak in 1996-1997. In 1985, Frankie Goes to Hollywood won the Brit Award for Best British Newcomer, and the band also received Grammy Award and MTV Video Music Award nominations for Best New Artist.

On the B-side to the group's first single, Johnson explained that the group's name derived from a page from The New Yorker magazine, featuring the headline "Frankie Goes Hollywood" and a picture of Frank Sinatra , although the magazine page Johnson referred to was actually a pop art poster by Guy Peellaert. The original group named "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" dates from 1980. The nucleus of the group emerged from the late 1970s Liverpool punk scene. Lead singer Johnson had played bass with Big in Japan and had also released two solo singles. Local musicians Peter Gill (drums), Jed O'Toole (bass), and O'Toole's cousin Brian Nash (guitar) initially joined Johnson, calling themselves the Sons of Egypt. This line-up secured a number of small local gigs before disbanding. The group was reprised when Johnson joined Mark O'Toole (bass) and Peter "Ped" Gill to form FGTH.

During a particularly fluid period of personnel changes, Jed O'Toole joined FGTH on guitar, and a female vocalist, Sonia Mazumder, was also a band member for the first Frankie gig at the Leeds nightclub "The Warehouse," supporting Hambi & The Dance. Paul Rutherford – a member of the headline act who had also sung in seminal Liverpool punk band The Spitfire Boys – apparently got so caught up in Frankie's performance that he effectively replaced Mazumder that very night. The new all-male musical line-up subsequently toured locally with a leather-clad female duo known as "The Leatherpets" and managed to fund promotional videos and demos, despite being eventually turned down by both Arista Records and Phonogram Inc. In October 1982, the group recorded a John Peel Session for BBC Radio 1, comprising the originals "Krisco Kisses," "Two Tribes," "Disneyland," and "The World Is My Oyster." Around this time Jed O'Toole left the group, to be replaced by the returning Brian Nash. In February 1983, the group was invited to record a video for "Relax" by the Channel 4 show The Tube at the Liverpool State Ballroom.

After the broadcast, the Peel session was repeated on radio, and a new session recorded for the BBC, comprising "Welcome to the Pleasuredome," "The Only Star in Heaven" and "Relax." These performances, along with a repeat of the Tube video, convinced Trevor Horn to sign the group for his new label, ZTT Records , in May 1983. "Relax" was released by ZTT in October 1983 and got a modicum of airplay, allowing it steady progress into the UK Top 40. Following a debut on the BBC's Top of the Pops on 5 January 1984 while at number 35, the single rose to number six the following week. On 11 January 1984, BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Mike Read was playing the record on his show when he noticed the front cover design (by Yvonne Gilbert).

Read apparently 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 Number One in the UK charts and stayed there for five weeks, during which time the BBC could not feature the nation's best-selling single on Top of the Pops. The original video was directed by Bernard Rose and depicted a gay S&M parlour where the band members were admired by muscular leathermen, a bleached blonde drag queen, and a large-bodied man dressed as a Roman emperor. The video featured a scene where one of the band members wrestled a live tiger, to the admiration of the clubgoers, and ended where the "emperor" was so excited he shimmied out of his toga.

Filmed in the unused East London theatre Wilton's Music Hall, it was promptly banned by both the BBC and MTV, resulting in the production of a substitute video directed by filmmaker Brian De Palma to coincide with the release of his film Body Double. The BBC lifted its ban on "Relax" at the end of 1984 to allow the band to perform it on the Christmas edition of Top of the Pops (it had been, aside from Band Aid of which Holly Johnson was a participant, the biggest-selling single of the year). "Relax" remained in the charts when the follow-up, "Two Tribes," was released in May 1984. The anti-conflict song was given an aggressively topical nuclear war slant.

Featuring sirens, the unmistakable voice of Patrick Allen (who had voiced the British Government's actual nuclear warning ads, Protect and Survive, two years earlier) and another innovative electronic backing, it went straight into the UK charts at Number One and stayed there for nine weeks (the first single to do so since John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John 's "You're the One That I Want" in 1978), with total sales exceeding 1.5 million copies and becoming one of the top 30 best-selling records in the UK ever. Directed by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, the video featured lookalikes of Cold War leaders Ronald Reagan and Konstantin Chernenko wrestling in a marquee while band members and others laid bets on the outcome. Ultimately, the audience – consisting of other world leaders – were brought into the fight, and eventually Earth was seen to explode. "Two Tribes" was a successful single in its own right, but its reign at the top of the charts was made even more notable by the continuing success of its predecessor.

"Relax" had made a natural decline down the charts by May 1984, but on the release of "Two Tribes" its sales began to increase again, to the extent that FGTH held the top two spots in the UK charts during July 1984, the first active group to do so since the early 1960s. The release of "Two Tribes" also coincided with an extensive and iconic T-shirt marketing campaign during the British summer of 1984, featuring such slogans as "Frankie Say War! Hide Yourself" and "Frankie Say Relax Don't Do It!" FGTH released a third single, "The Power of Love," at the end of 1984. Unlike the earlier singles, this song was a slower-paced ballad, but it also went to Number One in December and making the band the first act for two decades (since Gerry & the Pacemakers , a fellow Liverpool band, in 1963) to achieve chart-toppers with its first three releases.

The video was not banned on this occasion but still caused trouble for the group – because it depicted a nativity scene (and on its first showing did not feature any members of the band, who were subsequently added as picture framing). The song's release was preceded by an advertising campaign that, cheekily, declared it to be the band's third number one single, as if this was a fait accompli. The Band Aid project, for which Johnson recorded a message for the B-side, meant that FGTH managed only one week at the top this time before it was replaced by "Do They Know It's Christmas?." The title track from FGTH's album, "Welcome to the Pleasuredome," was released as a fourth single in March 1985. Early promotional posters for the single proclaimed it as "their fourth number one," even prior to the single's release. However, the single peaked at Number 2. The twelve inch singles featured Greek mythology/ Samuel Taylor Coleridge spoken introduction. Geoffrey Palmer narrates on the second 12", known as the "fruitness" mix.

Only one sole new track appeared in the next eighteen months; "Disneyland," was released on the ZTT Records "Zang Tuum Tumb Sampled" album in late 1985. In 1986, FGTH appeared at the Montreux Rock Festival which was broadcast on UK television. This performance saw the first airings of two future singles, namely "Rage Hard" and "Warriors of the Wasteland." Both versions were different from the versions eventually released. In August 1986, the long-awaited new Frankie Goes to Hollywood single, "Rage Hard," was released, reaching number 4 in the UK. Initially showcased promotionally with songs like "Warriors of the Wasteland," the group's sound had developed a significantly harder edge with a less flamboyant, more nitty-gritty lyrical side. The album, Liverpool, was released in October 1986 and reached UK No. 5. It was generally panned by the music press and chart returns declined rapidly with the follow-up singles "Warriors of the Wasteland" (No. 19) and "Watching the Wildlife" (No. 28).

The group meanwhile threatened to implode of its own accord, in the course of a tour promoting the new album. Johnson kept himself markedly separate from the rest of the band when offstage at this period, tensions becoming exacerbated during a backstage altercation between Johnson and O'Toole at Wembley Arena in January 1987, reflecting the generally collapsing relationship between lead singer and the rest of the band. Things were so bad that fellow Liverpudlian singer Pete Wylie was approached to replace Johnson but declined the offer. FGTH completed the tour, but Johnson ultimately left the group thereafter, citing musical estrangement. In the aftermath of the group split, Johnson was offered a solo recording agreement with MCA Records. However, ZTT, which maintained they had invested heavily in Liverpool (to the extent that the digital recording system used to record the album was very nearly treated as a sixth member of the band on the sleeve of the "Warriors of the Wasteland" single), had other ideas, and promptly sued Johnson in an attempt to hold him to his original contract with the label.

Among other things, ZTT believed that as a departing member of FGTH, Johnson was required to release all solo material through the label until the band's original multiple-album agreement was fulfilled. The suit was bitterly fought, exposing the inner workings of the ZTT/Frankie machine to a giddy UK music press. After two years, the High Court found in Johnson's favour, holding that the highly restrictive terms of the contract constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade. The court case effectively freed the remaining members of FGTH from their ZTT contract. Johnson's solo career at MCA commenced in 1989, with a succession of high-placed singles and the number one album Blast. The remix collection Hollelujah followed, trailed by a second studio album, Dreams That Money Can't Buy. However, Johnson's relations with MCA cooled with this release, and he would ultimately become a reclusive but successful painter, after announcing in 1993 that he was HIV-positive. The following year, Johnson recounted his version of Frankie's history in his autobiography A Bone in My Flute.

His self-issued 1999 album Soulstream included a re-recording of "The Power of Love," which was also released as a single. Paul Rutherford, the other openly gay member of the band, released the partially ABC produced album Oh World and a handful of singles before retiring with his New Zealander partner to Waiheke Island. The "other three," as Smash Hits labelled them, continued to work together in what turned out to be a vain attempt to resurrect "Frankie" with various singers including Dee Harris from Fashion and Grant Boult (Jeckyl Ice) from The Premise, who had opened the shows on the band's UK and European tours. Under the name Boss Dog, with Boult on vocals, the band were offered a major deal with Virgin Records but on condition they work as Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Johnson challenged the use of the name and the deal soured. Boult and Brian Nash continued with the material written by The Shuffle Brothers and under the name Low they released "Tearing My soul Apart" in 1992 on Swanyard Records. As "Nasher," Nash released a 2002 solo album entitled Ripe.

Ped worked behind the scenes and scored a top ten hit with the group "Lovestation." Mark O'Toole moved to Florida and played with Punk outfit "Trapped By Mormons." The band's name lived on to the extent that re-issues of "Relax" and "The Power of Love" both returned to the UK Top 10 in 1993. Remixes of "The Power of Love" (which became a dance anthem from its original ballad format) and "Two Tribes" were Top 20 hits again in 2000, while "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" also got commercially successful remix treatment, to the extent of a Top 20 placing four years earlier. The group's first two singles appeared sixth and 22nd respectively in the official all-time UK best-selling singles list issued in 2002. In 1998, A band calling itself alternately "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" and "The New Frankie Goes to Hollywood Featuring Davey Johnson" began to tour the United States. The band consisted of none of the original members of the band and formed without their knowledge or consent.

The impostor band was led by an American using the stage name Davey Johnson, who alternately claimed he was Holly Johnson's brother and had performed as an uncredited session musician on Welcome to the Pleasuredome. The members of the actual band and their producer Trevor Horn refuted both claims. Mark O'Toole, who had been living in Florida, became aware of the band and warned concert promoters not to hire them. Likewise, A Flock of Seagulls frontman Mike Score, who had been a Liverpool acquaintance of the members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, kicked the impostor band off his tour after discovering they were a fraud. After Holly Johnson contacted the trade magazine Pollstar to confirm that the American-based act was unauthorized, the impostor band was dropped by a booking agent, but continued to be booked by small clubs throughout the southern United States. The fake group continued to perform until at least September 2000, when a feature on the controversy was published in that month's issue of Spin.

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. Both Johnson and Nash had reservations about performing at short notice in the contrived manner dictated by the TV show format. In 2004, a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Trevor Horn's involvement in the music industry a special concert took place at Wembley Arena in November, featuring three of the original FGTH line-up, Mark O'Toole, Peter (Ped) Gill and Paul Rutherford and another former member, Jed O'Toole. Original vocalist Johnson, who announced via the Internet that he would not be appearing and guitarist Nash, who declined to appear for his own reasons, did not take part. Jed O'Toole took over guitar duties for the event, whilst an open audition was held for a new singer for the concert. Ryan Molloy was recruited as a result. The same lineup reunited for a tour in 2005 playing festivals in Europe.

They headlined the Big Gay Out festival at Hyde Park in London. After some confusion with ensuing tour dates, the band posted a warning on their website that many of the tour dates listed by ticket promoters were inaccurate. The band became increasingly focused on the release of a new album during 2007. However, in early April 2007 came the news that Gill, Rutherford, J. O'Toole and Molloy had formed Forbidden Hollywood to play their new songs alongside old FGTH material. This was to avoid legal issues with Holly Johnson over use of the Frankie Goes to Hollywood name. Live dates were announced but in June 2007, these were cancelled. The original singles released during the time the band was together: To coincide with the release of Bang!... The Greatest Hits of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, the tracks "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" (1993) and "Two Tribes" (1994) were re-released in the UK as singles in remixed form.

The tracks "Relax" (1994) and "The Power of Love" (1993) were also re-released, but this time in their original form (the CD singles both featured at least one of the original 1984 12 inch remixes). To coincide with the release of Maximum Joy in 2000, new remixes of "The Power of Love," "Two Tribes," and "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" all entered the UK charts. In 1986 a medley "Propaganda For Frankie" (P4F) was released by the German ZYX record label, mixing a re-recording of FGTH "Relax" with Propaganda's "P-Machinery". In 1985, a computer game entitled Frankie Goes to Hollywood was developed by Denton Designs and published by Ocean Software. Based on the band's music, imagery and slogans, the objective of the game was to explore the town of Mundanesville to find the Pleasuredome. It also came boxed with an extra cassette with a live version of 'Relax' on it. Timeline

Question: Which singer was lead singer with band Frankie Goes to Hollywood in the mid 1980s?
Answer: Holly Johnson