The hit version,produced by Trevor Horn and featuring the band along with other musicians,entered the UK top 75 singles chart in November 1983 but did not crack the top 40 until early January 1984. Three weeks later it reached number one,on the chart dated 28 January 1984,replacing Paul McCartney's "Pipes of Peace".[8] One of the decade's most controversial and most commercially successful records,"Relax" eventually sold a reported two million copies in the UK alone,easily ranking among the ten biggest-selling singles in the UK.[9] It remained in the UK top 40 for 37 consecutive weeks,35 of which overlapped with a radio airplay ban by the BBC (owing to lyrics perceived as overtly sexual).
In June 1984,bolstered by the instant massive success of the band's follow-up single "Two Tribes",the single re-entered the top ten for a further nine weeks,including two spent at No. 2 (behind "Two Tribes"). At that time,Frankie Goes to Hollywood were the only act apart from the Beatles and John Lennon to concurrently occupy the top two positions on the chart. Several 12-inch single versions (and the "Frankie Say Relax" T-shirt craze) further fed the "Relax" phenomenon. The single re-entered the UK top 75 in February 1985 and,more successfully,in October 1993,when it spent three weeks in the top ten.
In the United States,"Relax" was also comparatively slow in reaching its chart peak. Released in March 1984,albeit with a different mix and nearly a minute shorter in length,the single stalled at No. 67 on Billboard's Hot 100 in May during a seven-week run,[10] but it ranked number one for the year on the Los Angeles "alternative rock" station KROQ,as voted for by listeners. In January 1985,a release of "Relax" that was far more similar to the UK hit version entered the Hot 100 at No. 70,and in March it reached No. 10 during its 16-week run.[11] In January 1989,the single was certified gold by the RIAA.
In February 1985,the record was awarded Best British Single of 1984 at the Brit Awards,and Frankie Goes to Hollywood won Best British Newcomer. A version of the song features on Frankie Goes to Hollywood's debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome,released in October 1984.
Singer Holly Johnson said the lyrics came to him as he was walking down Princess Avenue in Liverpool: "I mean they were just, you know, words that floated into my head one day when I was walking down Princess Avenue with no bus fare, trying to get to rehearsals – I mean there was no great sort of calculated, 'Oh I'll sing these words and this record'll be banned'."[12]
ZTT Records signed Frankie Goes to Hollywood after producer-turned-ZTT cofounder Trevor Horn saw the band play on the television show The Tube, on which the group played an early version of "Relax". Horn described the original version of "Relax" as "more a jingle than a song", but he preferred to work with songs that were not professionally finished because he could then "fix them up" in his own style.[13] Once the band was signed, ZTT co-founder Paul Morley mapped out the marketing campaign fashioned as a "strategic assault on pop". Morley opted to tackle the biggest possible themes in the band's singles ("sex, war, religion"), of which "Relax" would be the first, and emphasized the shock impact of Frankie members Holly Johnson's and Paul Rutherford's open homosexuality in the packaging and music videos.[14]
Horn dominated the recording of "Relax" in his effort for perfectionism. Initial sessions were held at the Manor Studio.[15] The band were overawed and intimidated by Horn's reputation, and thus were too nervous to make suggestions. Johnson said in his autobiography, "Whatever he said we went along with".[14] When attempts to record with the full band proved unsatisfactory, Horn hired former Ian Dury backing band the Blockheads for the sessions, with Norman Watt-Roy providing the original bass line. Those sessions were later deemed to be not modern-sounding enough.[16] Instead, Watt-Roy's playing was replaced by a sampled E note on a bass guitar, which was layered over a Linn 2 bass drum.[17]
Horn then constructed a more electronic-based version of the song with keyboards by session musician Andy Richards and with rhythm programming assistance from J. J. Jeczalik of Art of Noise. Horn developed this version of the recording in his west London studio while the band remained in their hometown of Liverpool. Horn had made three versions of "Relax" prior to Richards and guitarist Stephen Lipson joining his ZTT Production 'Theam' in late 1983. Horn left the studio late one night asking for Lipson to erase the multitrack (of version 3) due to lack of progress, but came back into the studio some time later to hear Richards playing a variety of modal chords based around the key of E minor with Lipson playing guitar along to the unerased multitrack.[16][18]
Ultimately lead vocalist Johnson was the only band member to perform on the record. The only contribution by the other members was a sample crafted from the sound of the rest of the band jumping into a swimming pool. Johnson later said that "Trevor didn't like the band's standard of playing as he couldn't sync it to his machinery".[15] Horn later recalled of the song's intro, "Hit singles are not just good songs. They need to be moments. Holly had been blowing his saxophone on the studio roof in Notting Hill at 2am, and a bunch of guys appeared on the street, calling up to him. He came down to do the vocal, and I suggested he play it at the start of Relax."[15]
In a 2021 interview, Horn said that "the band we signed weren't quite the band who had appeared on the original demo, though we didn't know that at the time". The demo had featured Jed O'Toole, brother of bassist Mark O'Toole, on guitar, who subsequently left to pursue a 9-to-5 career. He was replaced by Brian Nash, who was a guitar novice at the time the single was recorded, though Horn acknowledged that he developed into a good guitarist by the time Welcome to the Pleasuredome was finished.[15] Horn completed the recording having spent £70,000 in studio time.[19]
Release, controversy and ban by the BBC
Morley intentionally courted scandal with the promotion of "Relax". ZTT initiated the ad campaign for "Relax" with two quarter-page ads in the British music press. The first ad featured images of Rutherford in a sailor cap and a leather vest, and Johnson with a shaved head and rubber gloves. The images were accompanied by the phrase "ALL THE NICE BOYS LOVE SEA MEN", a pun on the music hall song "Ship Ahoy! (All the Nice Girls Love a Sailor)". It declared "Frankie Goes to Hollywood are coming... making Duran Duran lick the shit off their shoes... Nineteen inches that must be taken always." The second ad promised "theories of bliss, a history of Liverpool from 1963 to 1983, a guide to Amsterdam bars".[20]
When the single was first released in November 1983, the initial progress of "Relax" on the UK top 75 was sluggish. First charting at No. 67, it had progressed only to No. 35 by its seventh week on the chart, even having fallen back slightly during that time. But then on Thursday 5 January 1984, Frankie Goes to Hollywood were shown performing "Relax" on the BBC flagship television chart show, Top of the Pops. The following week it soared to No. 6. On 11 January 1984, Radio 1disc jockeyMike Read expressed on air his distaste for both the record's suggestive sleeve (designed by Anne Yvonne Gilbert) and its lyric, which centred on the oft-repeated "Relax, don't do it/When you want to sock it to it/Relax, don't do it/ When you want to come."[21] He announced his refusal to play the record, not knowing the BBC had just decided the song was not to be played on the BBC anyway. Holly Johnson contends that the lyric was misheard: rather than "When you want to sock it to it", the line is "When you want to suck, chew it".[22]
In support of their disc jockey, BBC Radio banned the single from its shows a reported two days later (although certain prominent night-time BBC shows– including those of Kid Jensen and John Peel– continued to play the record, as they saw fit, during 1984).[23] The now-banned "Relax" rose to No. 2 on the charts by 17 January, and hit the number-one spot on 24 January. By this time, the BBC Radio ban had extended to Top of the Pops as well, which simply displayed a still picture of the group during its climactic number one announcement, before airing a performance by a non-number one artist.
This went on for the five weeks that "Relax" was at number one. It then began a slow decline on the charts, falling back as far as No. 31 in May 1984 before returning to No. 2 in July whilst Frankie's follow-up single "Two Tribes" held the UK number-one spot. In the end, "Relax" remained on the top 75 for 48 consecutive weeks and returned in February 1985 for four more, giving a total of 52.[24]
The ban became an embarrassment for the BBC, especially given that UK commercial radio and television stations were still playing the song. Later in 1984 the ban was lifted and "Relax" featured on both the Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops and Radio 1's rundown of the best-selling singles of the year.
Throughout the "Relax" controversy, the band continued to publicly deny that the song's lyrics were sexual. Nevertheless, by 1984, it was clear that the public were aware of the sexual nature of the lyrics, but the scandal had fuelled sales anyway. In 1985, with the release of the Welcome to the Pleasuredome album (which included "Relax"), the band dropped any public pretence about the lyrics:
Everything I say is complete lies. Like, when people ask you what 'Relax' was about, when it first came out we used to pretend it was about motivation, and really it was about shagging.
—Mark O'Toole, Welcome to the Pleasuredome album liner notes
The track was reissued in September 1993, the first of a string of Frankie Goes to Hollywood singles to be reissued that year. It debuted at a high No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart and peaked at No. 5 the following week. It spent seven weeks on the top 75 this time, thus extending its combined total to 59, making it at the time the third longest runner of all time; it has since been surpassed by 44 other songs and sits in joint 47th place.[25]
Critical reception
American magazine Cash Box said that the song is "a very danceable cut", in which "heavy bass and bass drum provide the backdrop for Frankie's pleading lyric and Frank Sinatraesque soaring vocal."[26] Alan Jones from Music Week gave the 1993 remix four out of five, writing, "ZTT recently got its catalogue back from Island, and is about to embark on a high profile re-issue/remix campaign, of which this is the first fruit. "Relax" is updated by Ollie J in a stomping house mix, while Jam & Spoon's pumped-up Hi-NRG version is hardcore tempo. With the original mixes added to the package, this is going to be big all over again. But will One FM play it?"[27] Richard Harris from NME commented, "'Relax' sounds as divine as ever; a perfect soundtrack for pubescents to discover the delightful realities of having hormones."[28]
Although the 7-inch version of the single remained unchanged throughout its initial release (a mix generally known as "Relax (Move)"), promotional 7-inch records featuring a substantially different mix of "Relax" (entitled either "The Last Seven Inches" or "Warp Mix" because it is a compilation of other versions) were the subject of a limited 1984 release.
One of the reasons we did all the remixes was that the initial 12-inch version of 'Relax' contained something called 'The Sex Mix', which was 16 minutes long and didn't even contain a song. It was really Holly Johnson just jamming, as well as a bunch of samples of the group jumping in the swimming pool and me sort of making disgusting noises by dropping stuff into buckets of water! We got so many complaints about it— particularly from gay clubs, who found it offensive— that we cut it in half and reduced it down to eight minutes, by taking out some of the slightly more offensive parts [this became "Sex Mix (Edition 2)"]. Then we got another load of complaints, because the single version wasn't on the 12-inch— I didn't see the point in this at the time, but I was eventually put straight about it.[17]
Horn attested that visits to New York's Paradise Garage club led to the creation of the final "Relax (New York Mix)", which ultimately replaced the original "Sex Mix" releases:
It was only when I went to this club and heard the sort of things they were playing that I really understood about 12-inch remixes. Although I myself had already had a couple of big 12-inch hits, I'd never heard them being played on a big sound system, and so I then went back and mixed 'Relax' again and that was the version which sold a couple of million over here [in the UK].[17]
Relax picture 12" disc
The original 12-inch version of "Relax", labelled "Sex Mix", ran for over 16 minutes, and is broadly as described by Horn above. The subsequent "Edition 2" was an 8-minute-plus edit of the "Sex Mix", and can only be distinguished by having 12ISZTAS1 etched on the vinyl. The final 12-inch mix, containing no elements from the foregoing versions, was designated the "New York Mix", and ran for approximately 7:20. This was the most commonly available 12-inch version of "Relax" during its worldwide 1984 chart success.
The UK cassette single featured "Greatest Bits", a unique amalgam of excerpts from the "Sex Mix", "New York Mix", "Move" and an instrumental version of "Move".
Since virtually all of the UK "Relax" 12-inch singles were labelled "Sex Mix", a method of differentiating between versions by reference to the record's matrix numbers necessarily became de rigueur for collectors of Frankie Goes to Hollywood releases (and ultimately collectors of ZTT records in general).
"Relax (Come Fighting)" was the version of the song included on the Welcome to the Pleasuredome album. This is ostensibly a variant of the 7-inch single "Move" mix, but is different from that version. For example, the 7" mix fades in on a foghorn type sound while the album mix fades in on sustained synth chords. Also, the backing vocals of the 7" mix are panned to the left, whereas they are mixed in the centre on the album version. Additionally, the 7" mix features a prominent reverberated kick drum sound during the introduction that also appears in other parts of the song, which is completely absent from the album mix. The album mix also has a certain post-production sheen (greater stereo separation of parts, more strategic uses of reverb, etc.) that is absent from the original 1983 7-inch single mix. The "Classic 1993 Version" is a version of the original 7" mix that uses "Bonus, Again" as the instrumental track, although modification with elements from "Come Fighting" thrown in (e.g. both the intro and outro come directly from it) and much of it made to sound more clear.
The original airing of Relax on The Tube, before the band were signed to ZTT, featured another verse that was edited from all the released versions, "In heaven everything is fine, you've got yours and I've got mine", presumably removed as it was taken directly from the David Lynch film Eraserhead.
According to a fan enquiry by a member of the Alternate forum (a forum dedicated to ZTT) to Holly Johnson over accusation that "Edition 2" was created by a DJ, "Edition 2" was edited by Trevor Horn at the Sarm East studio with J. J. Jeczalik engineering and Johnson watching.[29]
B-sides
The 7-inch featured "One September Monday", an interview between ZTT's Paul Morley, Holly Johnson and Paul Rutherford. During the interview, Holly revealed that the group's name derived from a page of the New Yorker magazine, headlined "Frankie Goes Hollywood" and featuring Frank Sinatra "getting mobbed by teenyboppers".
On all of the original 12-inch releases, the B-side featured a cover of "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey", followed by a brief dialogue involving Rutherford attempting to sign on, and an a cappella version of the title track's chorus, segueing into an instrumental version of "Relax", known as "Bonus, Again" (which resembles "Come Fighting" more than the 7" mix).
The UK cassette single included "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" and interview sections not included on "One September Monday".
Videos
The first official music video for "Relax", directed by Bernard Rose and set in an S&M themed gay nightclub, featuring the bandmembers accosted by buff leathermen, a glamorous drag queen, and an obese admirer dressed up as a Roman emperor, played by actor John Dair, was allegedly banned by MTV and the BBC, prompting the recording of a second video, directed by Godley and Creme[30] in early 1984, featuring the group performing with the help of laser beams. However, after the second video was made the song was banned completely by the BBC, meaning that neither video was ever broadcast on any BBC music programmes.
A live performance video of the song was directed by David Mallet, making the rounds at MTV. The live version was released as the B-side of the US 12" version of "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" and titled "Relax International."
Another MTV video of the studio version includes footage from the Brian De Palma film Body Double. Body Double, a popular 1984 erotic thriller film, contains a film within a film sequence in which Frankie Goes to Hollywood performs "Relax" on the set of a porn film.[31]
Zoolander versions
"Relax" is a major plot point in the film Zoolander (2001), where the titular character is conditioned to assassinate a target when they hear the song.[32]Limp Bizkit also recorded their own version for the film,[33] though Powerman 5000's cover was used instead, in both the film and on the soundtrack. "Relax" was also used for the trailer of Zoolander 2 (2016).[34]
Track listings
All discographical information pertains to original UK releases only unless noted
"Relax" written by Peter Gill/Johnson/Mark O'Toole
"One September Monday" credited to Gill/Johnson/Morley/Brian Nash/O'Toole/Rutherford
Later reissued in 1984 in a generic sleeve, with the text "Original Mix" on the label.
Mastered at 33⅓ RPM, despite claiming to run at 45 RPM on the label. The 1984 reissue runs at 45 RPM.
12": ZTT / 12 ZTAS 1 (United Kingdom)
"Relax" (Sex Mix, Edition 2) – 8:20
"Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" – 4:03
"Relax" (Bonus, Again) – 4:31
"Edition 2" is an edit of "Sex Mix". Commonly nicknamed the "New York Mix".
12": ZTT / 12 ZTAS 1 (United Kingdom)
"Relax" (New York Mix) – 7:23
"Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" – 4:03
"Relax" (Bonus, Again) – 4:31
"Relax" (New York Mix) is also known as "Relax" (U.S. Mix)
Also released as a 12" picture disc (12 PZTAS 1).
12": Island / 0-96975 (United States)
"Relax" (New York Mix) – 7:23
"Relax" (Come Fighting) – 3:53
"Relax" (Bonus, Again) – 4:31
"New York Mix" labelled as "Long version".
The mixes on the B-side are not stated on the label.
Also released on MC in Canada (Island / ISC-69750).
12": ZTT / 062-2000686 (Greece)
"Relax" (Greek Disco Mix) – 6:15
"Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" – 4:03
"Relax" (Bonus, Again) – 4:31
"Disco Mix" (a.k.a. "The Greek Disco Mix") is a combination of "Relax (7" Mix)" and "Sex Mix (Edition 2)".
"Disco Mix" (a.k.a. "The Greek Disco Mix") is labelled as "Relax" (Sex Mix) on the original 12", which is incorrect.
MC: ZTT / CTIS 102
"From Soft to Hard – From Dry to Moist"
"Relax" (Greatest Bits) – 16:49
"The Party Trick" (acting dumb) – 0:36
"The Special Act" (adapted from the sex mix) – 7:46
"The US Mix" (come dancing) – 4:38
"The Single" (the act) – 3:55
"Later On" (from One September Monday) – 1:36
"Ferry Across the Mersey (...and Here I'll Stay)" – 4:06
The mixes on this cassette single reissued on vinyl for Record Store Day 2022 as side A of 'Altered Reels' – the cassette single of "Two Tribes" was reissued on side B.
Re-issues
The title track has periodically been reissued as a single in a number of remix forms.
1993 re-issues
CD: ZTT / FGTH1CD
"Relax" (Classic 1993 Version) – 3:55
"Relax" (MCMXCIII) – 3:42
"Relax" (Ollie J. Remix) – 6:38
"Relax" (Jam & Spoon Trip-O-Matic Fairy Tale Remix) – 7:52
"Relax" (Jam & Spoon HI N-R-G Remix) – 7:55
"Relax" (New York Mix – The Original 12") – 7:22
2x12": ZTT / SAM 1231
"Relax" (Ollie J. Remix) – 6:38
"Relax" (Trip-Ship Edit) – 6:12
"Relax" (Ollie J's Seven Inches) – 3:30
"Relax" (Jam & Spoon HI N-R-G Remix) – 7:55
"Relax" (Jam & Spoon Trip-O-Matic Fairy Tale Remix) – 7:52
"Relax" (MCMXCIII) – 3:42
UK 12" promo
2001 re-issues
CD: Repertoire Records / REP 8027 (Germany)
"Relax" (Classic 1993 Version) – 3:56
"One September Monday" – 4:50
"Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" – 4:06
"Relax MCMXCIII" – 3:43
"Relax" (original video) – 4:07
CD: Star 69 / STARCD 520 (US)
"Relax" (Peter Rauhofer's Doomsday Radio Mix) – 3:45
"Relax" (Peter Rauhofer's Doomsday Club Mix) – 9:47
"Sex Mix Edit" was mixed by Luis Jardim with Bob Painter as engineer on 13 December 1984, having taken the multitracks with him (according to the booklet of The Art of The 12" Volume 2). It was first released on the 2009 Japanese "Return to the Pleasuredome" box set by accident, due to confusion with "Sex Mix Edition 2".
"Bonus, Again" mislabelled "The Instrumental", as if it was an unreleased mix.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprise Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford, Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). They were among the first openly gay pop acts and made gay rights and sexuality a theme of their music and performances.
"Two Tribes" is an anti-war song by British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records on 4 June 1984. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Presenting a nihilistic, gleeful lyric expressing enthusiasm for nuclear war, it juxtaposes a relentless pounding bass line and guitar riff inspired by American funk and R&B pop with influences of Russian classical music, in an opulent arrangement produced by Trevor Horn.
"Welcome to the Pleasuredome" is the title track to the 1984 debut album by English pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The lyrics of the song were inspired by the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
"Rage Hard" is the fifth single by English pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released on 25 August 1986 as the first single from their second album Liverpool. The song reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart and number 1 in Germany and it was also a massive success in other countries.
Liverpool is the second and final studio album by British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in October 1986. Produced by Stephen Lipson and mixed by Trevor Horn, the album showcases a heavy rock sound in contrast to the synth dance tone found in its predecessor, Welcome to the Pleasuredome. The recording sessions would be marred by the radical change in musical direction creating tension within the band.
ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by the record producer Trevor Horn, the businesswoman Jill Sinclair and the NME journalist Paul Morley. They released music by acts including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Grace Jones, the Art of Noise and Seal.
William Holly Johnson is an English artist, musician, and writer, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, in the late 1970s he was a bassist for the band Big in Japan. In 1989, Johnson's debut solo album, Blast, reached number one in the UK albums chart. Two singles from the album – "Love Train" and "Americanos" – reached the top 5 of the UK Singles Chart. In the 1990s, he also embarked on writing, painting, and printmaking careers.
Propaganda is a German synth-pop band formed in Düsseldorf in 1982. They signed a recording contract with ZTT Records as early as 1983 and released their first single "Dr Mabuse" in 1984. Followed by their debut studio album, the critically acclaimed A Secret Wish, in 1985. Two of the album's singles, "Dr. Mabuse" and "Duel", were UK Top 30 hits. A second studio album, 1234 (1990), was recorded with a markedly different line-up and released by Virgin Records to less success. There have been several partial reformations of the group in the 21st century, with the original vocalists currently active as xPropaganda.
"The Power of Love" is a song originally recorded and released by British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was written by Holly Johnson, Peter Gill, Mark O'Toole and Brian Nash, four of the five members of the band. It was released by the group as their third single.
"Warriors of the Wasteland" is the sixth single by English pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Released on 10 November 1986 as the second single from their album Liverpool, it stalled at number 19 in the UK Singles Chart, number 7 in Germany and number 13 in Switzerland.
Welcome to the Pleasuredome is the debut studio album by English synth-pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released on 29 October 1984 by ZTT Records. Originally issued as a vinyl double album, it was assured of a UK chart entry at number one due to reported advance sales of over one million. It actually sold around a quarter of a million copies in its first week. The album was also a top-10 seller internationally in countries such as Switzerland, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand.
"War" is a counterculture-era soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label in 1969. Whitfield first produced the song – a self-evident anti-Vietnam War statement – with The Temptations as the original vocalists. After Motown began receiving repeated requests to release "War" as a single, Whitfield re-recorded the song with Edwin Starr as the vocalist, with the label deciding to withhold the Temptations' version from single release so as not to alienate that group's more conservative fans. Starr's version of "War" was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970, and is not only the most successful and well-known record of his career, but it is also one of the most popular protest songs ever recorded. It was one of 161 songs on the no-play list issued by Clear Channel following the events of September 11, 2001.
"Ferry Cross the Mersey" is a song written by Gerry Marsden. It was first recorded by his band Gerry and the Pacemakers and released in late 1964 in the UK and in 1965 in the United States. It was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching number six in the United States and number eight in the UK. The song is from the film of the same name and was released on its soundtrack album. In the mid-1990s, a musical theatre production, also titled Ferry Cross the Mersey, related Gerry Marsden's Merseybeat days; it premiered in Liverpool and played in the UK, Australia, and Canada.
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 products by ZTT Records, hence the appearance of "classic" 1993 versions of two tracks, and the addition of one contemporary remix on the American CD version of 1994.
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 Hollywood.
Maximum Joy is a greatest hits album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released on 25 October 2000 by ZTT Records.
"Slave to the Rhythm" is a song by Jamaican singer, model and actress Grace Jones. It was released in October 1985 from Jones' seventh album, Slave to the Rhythm (1985), on which it is titled "Ladies and Gentlemen: Miss Grace Jones". It was produced by Trevor Horn and written by Horn, Bruce Woolley, Stephen Lipson and Simon Darlow. The song peaked at number 12 in the UK and number one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Its music video was directed by Jean-Paul Goude.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a British band who released two studio albums and seven singles before disbanding in 1987. Since then, almost all of their tracks have been rereleased on compact disc, including various compilation albums and CD singles. In recent years, their record company has also released original material that was not released during the band's heyday.
Frankie Say Greatest is a compilation album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in 2009 by ZTT Records. The album is available in various formats: single CD, double CD, double LP, and DVD. The latter contains the music videos to the band's singles, while the LP version focusses on remixes only.
Hard On is a 14-track music video compilation by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released by ZTT Records in 2000. The compilation contains all main music videos and includes interviews with Paul Rutherford, Trevor Horn, Paul Morley, Paul Lester and Gary Farrow. It also includes The story of Frankie Goes To Hollywood and ZTT Records as well as a picture gallery of record sleeves, photographs, press articles and magazine covers. In 2009, a new CD compilation was released titled Frankie Say Greatest which was also released as a DVD. The DVD is an exact replica of Hard On except the cover work is different.
↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.118. ISBN0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid 1983 and 19 June 1988.
↑ "Relax in French Chart" (in French). Dominic DURAND / InfoDisc. 20 June 2013. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013. You have to use the index at the top of the page and search "Frankie Goes to Hollywood"
↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1sted.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN978-951-1-21053-5.
↑ "Top 100 Singles"(PDF). Music Week. London, England: Morgan-Grampian plc. 26 January 1985. p.37. Archived(PDF) from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
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