Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised 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.
"Relax" is the debut single by English new wave band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the United Kingdom by ZTT Records in 1983.
Trevor Charles Horn is an English record producer and musician. His influence on pop and electronic music in the 1980s was such that he has been called "the man who invented the eighties".
Art of Noise were a British avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and music journalist Paul Morley. The group had international Top 20 hits with its interpretations of "Kiss", featuring Tom Jones, and the instrumental "Peter Gunn", which won a 1986 Grammy Award.
Paul Robert Morley is a British music journalist. He wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, and has since written for a wide range of publications and written his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Records and was a member of the synthpop group Art of Noise. He has also been a band manager, promoter, and television presenter.
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.
Claudia Brücken is a German singer and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop band Propaganda.
"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.
Nicholas William Dennis Hodgson, also known as MC Tunes, is an English rapper from the Moss Side area in Manchester. His name was legally changed to Lockett in 1981, and he also goes by the name Nicky Lockett. Tunes played a significant role in the Madchester-music scene during the 1980s and 1990s. In his early career Tunes took niche music genres into the UK Singles Chart, whilst fronting 808 State, and later achieved cult status with the band Dust Junkys.
Andrew Poppy is an English composer, pianist, and record producer.
Wishful Thinking is a 1985 remix album by the synthpop band Propaganda.
Jonathan Edward Stephen "J. J." Jeczalik is a British electronic musician/record producer, co-founder of the electronic music group the Art of Noise. He taught IT at Oxford High School until his retirement in 2013.
Bob Kraushaar is an English pop music record producer specializing in mixing. Kraushaar has mixed and produced commercially successful songs and albums for numerous British and international artists. His first industry appointment was as a runner for Trevor Horn. He graduated to tape-operating at Marcus Studios but moved back to the SARM Studios when they expanded and equipped with SSLs. His first chart success came with Johnny Hates Jazz, and he was soon known as a mixing specialist having made his mark with ZTT artists such as Propaganda and Art of Noise. SARM's associated ZTT label was outputting multiple 12-inch singles requiring alternative versions, and many of these were mixed by Kraushaar. He went on to work with Paul McCartney, ABC, The Human League, Erasure, and perhaps his most regular client, Pet Shop Boys. 1985 saw Kraushaar mixing "Intermission ", a track on Anne Pigalle's album Everything Could Be So Perfect.
Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Island Records and renamed it Sarm West Studios. Sarm Studios original locations were eventually succeeded by the Sarm Music Village complex.
"One in Ten" is a song by British reggae band UB40, released in July 1981 as a single from their second album Present Arms. It became the band's fourth top-ten hit, peaking at number seven on the UK Singles Chart.
"Heaven's Here" a song by English singer Holly Johnson, released in 1989 as the fourth and final single from his debut solo album Blast. It was written by Johnson and produced by Stephen Hague. The song reached No. 62 in the UK and No. 22 in Ireland.
Andrew John Richards is an English pianist, composer, music producer and keyboardist.
Jill Sinclair was a British businesswoman and record company director who founded ZTT Records. She has been called one of the "most successful people in the British music business".
Ian Peel is a British music journalist. He is founder of the magazines Classic Pop and Long Live Vinyl and is a writer with special interests in Eighties pop music, ZTT Records, and Paul McCartney's experimental works.
"The Nine Lives of Dr. Mabuse" is the debut single by German new wave/synth-pop band Propaganda. The song was produced by Trevor Horn and was released on his label, ZTT in 1984. It appears on the debut album A Secret Wish. It was a moderate chart hit in the UK and Switzerland, peaking at numbers 27 and 14, respectively. In Germany, the song reached the top 10, peaking at No. 7.
