Frankie Goes to Hollywood

'''Frankie Goes to Hollywood''' were<!--This article is written in British English, which commonly treats collective nouns as plural. Please do NOT change "were" to "was". See [[WP:PLURALS]] for more information. Thank you.--> an English pop band that formed in [[Liverpool]] in 1980. They comprised [[Holly Johnson]] (vocals), [[Paul Rutherford (singer)|Paul Rutherford]] (backing vocals), Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). Johnson and Rutherford were among the first openly gay pop singers, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood made [[gay rights]] and sexuality a theme of their music and performances.

'''Frankie Goes to Hollywood''' were<!--This article is written in British English, which commonly treats collective nouns as plural. Please do NOT change "were" to "was". See [[WP:PLURALS]] for more information. Thank you.--> an English pop band that formed in [[Liverpool]] in 1980. They comprised [[Holly Johnson]] (vocals), [[Paul Rutherford (singer)|Paul Rutherford]] (backing vocals), Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). Johnson and Rutherford were among the first openly gay pop singers, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood made [[gay rights]] and sexuality a theme of their music and performances.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood signed to [[ZTT Records]] in 1983. Their debut album, ''[[Welcome to the Pleasuredome]]'' (1984), produced by [[Trevor Horn]], achieved advance sales of more than a million, and their first three singles, "[[Relax (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)|Relax]]", "[[Two Tribes]]" and "[[The Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)|The Power of Love]]", reached number one on the [[UK singles chart]]. The [[BBC]] briefly banned them from broadcast for their provocative themes, drawing further publicity. In 2014, the music journalist [[Paul Lester]] wrote that "no band has dominated a 12-month period like Frankie ruled 1984".<ref name="Lester-2014" />

Frankie Goes to Hollywood signed to [[ZTT Records]] in 1983. Their debut album, ''[[Welcome to the Pleasuredome]]'' (1984), produced by [[Trevor Horn]], achieved advance sales of more than a million, and their first three singles, "[[Relax (song)|Relax]]", "[[Two Tribes]]" and "[[The Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)|The Power of Love]]", reached number one on the [[UK singles chart]]. The [[BBC]] briefly banned them from broadcast for their provocative themes, drawing further publicity. In 2014, the music journalist [[Paul Lester]] wrote that "no band has dominated a 12-month period like Frankie ruled 1984".<ref name="Lester-2014" />

Johnson, Gill and O'Toole received the 1984 [[Ivor Novello Awards|Ivor Novello Award]] for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Two Tribes". In 1985, Frankie Goes to Hollywood won the [[Brit Award for Best New Artist|Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act]] and were nominated for Best New Artist at the [[27th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards]] and [[1985 MTV Video Music Awards|MTV Video Music Awards]].

Johnson, Gill and O'Toole received the 1984 [[Ivor Novello Awards|Ivor Novello Award]] for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Two Tribes". In 1985, Frankie Goes to Hollywood won the [[Brit Award for Best New Artist|Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act]] and were nominated for Best New Artist at the [[27th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards]] and [[1985 MTV Video Music Awards|MTV Video Music Awards]].

In February 1983, Frankie Goes to Hollywood performed on the [[Channel 4]] show ''[[The Tube (1982 TV series)|The Tube]]'', dressed in [[Fetish fashion|fetish wear]].<ref name="Lester-2014" /> Johnson said the "extreme" look was a means of attracting attention from the music industry, but that many labels were afraid to sign them.<ref name="Curran-2025">{{Cite web |last=Curran |first=Shaun |date=2025-05-28 |title=Holly Johnson: 'I didn't get rich from Frankie Goes to Hollywood - but I'm not bitter' |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/holly-johnson-didnt-get-rich-from-frankie-goes-to-hollywood-but-im-not-bitter-3710540 |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=[[The i Paper]] |language=en-US}}</ref> That May, Frankie Goes to Hollywood became the first act signed by [[ZTT Records]], a new record label co-founded by the producer [[Trevor Horn]].<ref name="Lester-2014">{{Cite news |last=Lester |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Lester |date=2014-08-28 |title=Frankie Goes To Hollywood: 'No one could touch us – people were scared' |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/28/frankie-goes-to-hollywood-30-years-welcome-to-the-pleasuredome |access-date=2023-04-22 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="Ward-1990" /> Horn admired the "dangerous" sexuality of their music.<ref name="Lester-2014" /> Johnson said they turned down an offer from [[Beggars Banquet Records]] as they wanted to work with Horn.<ref name=":0" />

In February 1983, Frankie Goes to Hollywood performed on the [[Channel 4]] show ''[[The Tube (1982 TV series)|The Tube]]'', dressed in [[Fetish fashion|fetish wear]].<ref name="Lester-2014" /> Johnson said the "extreme" look was a means of attracting attention from the music industry, but that many labels were afraid to sign them.<ref name="Curran-2025">{{Cite web |last=Curran |first=Shaun |date=2025-05-28 |title=Holly Johnson: 'I didn't get rich from Frankie Goes to Hollywood - but I'm not bitter' |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/holly-johnson-didnt-get-rich-from-frankie-goes-to-hollywood-but-im-not-bitter-3710540 |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=[[The i Paper]] |language=en-US}}</ref> That May, Frankie Goes to Hollywood became the first act signed by [[ZTT Records]], a new record label co-founded by the producer [[Trevor Horn]].<ref name="Lester-2014">{{Cite news |last=Lester |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Lester |date=2014-08-28 |title=Frankie Goes To Hollywood: 'No one could touch us – people were scared' |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/28/frankie-goes-to-hollywood-30-years-welcome-to-the-pleasuredome |access-date=2023-04-22 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="Ward-1990" /> Horn admired the "dangerous" sexuality of their music.<ref name="Lester-2014" /> Johnson said they turned down an offer from [[Beggars Banquet Records]] as they wanted to work with Horn.<ref name=":0" />

"[[Relax (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)|Relax]]" was selected as their first single. After recording several versions, Horn created a dramatically different arrangement without the band, using electronic instruments such as a drum machine and the [[Fairlight CMI|Fairlight]], an early [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] synthesiser.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Ben |date=2021-08-02 |title=How we made: Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/aug/02/how-we-made-relax-by-frankie-goes-to-hollywood-sex-mix-gay-clubs |access-date=2023-04-22 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> It was released in October 1983, backed by a music video set in an [[S&M]] club.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How '80s LGBTQ band Bronski Beat's haunting 'Smalltown Boy' made a difference: 'It was very bold' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/now/how-80-s-lgbtq-band-bronski-beats-smalltown-boy-made-a-difference-it-was-very-bold-183833092.html |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=www.yahoo.com |date=26 June 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Sound on Sound]]'' described it as a "[[hi-NRG]] brand of dance-synth-pop" that "broke new sonic ground, while epitomising '80s excess in all its garish, overblown glory".<ref name="Buskin-2008" /> Initial sales were slow, but rose after the band performed on the [[BBC]] series ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' the following January.<ref name="Lester-2014" /> Soon after, [[List of songs banned by the BBC|the BBC banned "Relax" from its broadcasts]], deeming it obscene. The ban created publicity, associating Frankie Goes to Hollywood with youth rebellion.<ref name="BBCNewsMagazine" /> Within two weeks, "Relax" reached number one on the [[UK singles chart]] and stayed there for four weeks, and the BBC was forced to reverse its ban.<ref name="BBCNewsMagazine">{{cite web |last=Duffy |first=Jonathan |date=14 January 2004 |title=Banned on the run |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3395823.stm |access-date=18 April 2014 |work=[[BBC News Magazine]]}}</ref> "Relax" won the [[1985 Brit Awards|1985 Brit Award]] for Best British Single.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/1985 |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=BRIT Awards |language=en}}</ref>

"[[Relax (song)|Relax]]" was selected as their first single. After recording several versions, Horn created a dramatically different arrangement without the band, using electronic instruments such as a drum machine and the [[Fairlight CMI|Fairlight]], an early [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] synthesiser.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Ben |date=2021-08-02 |title=How we made: Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/aug/02/how-we-made-relax-by-frankie-goes-to-hollywood-sex-mix-gay-clubs |access-date=2023-04-22 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> It was released in October 1983, backed by a music video set in an [[S&M]] club.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How '80s LGBTQ band Bronski Beat's haunting 'Smalltown Boy' made a difference: 'It was very bold' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/now/how-80-s-lgbtq-band-bronski-beats-smalltown-boy-made-a-difference-it-was-very-bold-183833092.html |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=www.yahoo.com |date=26 June 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Sound on Sound]]'' described it as a "[[hi-NRG]] brand of dance-synth-pop" that "broke new sonic ground, while epitomising '80s excess in all its garish, overblown glory".<ref name="Buskin-2008" /> Initial sales were slow, but rose after the band performed on the [[BBC]] series ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' the following January.<ref name="Lester-2014" /> Soon after, [[List of songs banned by the BBC|the BBC banned "Relax" from its broadcasts]], deeming it obscene. The ban created publicity, associating Frankie Goes to Hollywood with youth rebellion.<ref name="BBCNewsMagazine" /> Within two weeks, "Relax" reached number one on the [[UK singles chart]] and stayed there for four weeks, and the BBC was forced to reverse its ban.<ref name="BBCNewsMagazine">{{cite web |last=Duffy |first=Jonathan |date=14 January 2004 |title=Banned on the run |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3395823.stm |access-date=18 April 2014 |work=[[BBC News Magazine]]}}</ref> "Relax" won the [[1985 Brit Awards|1985 Brit Award]] for Best British Single.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/1985 |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=BRIT Awards |language=en}}</ref>

The ZTT co-founder [[Paul Morley]] devised a promotional campaign involving "advertising-based slogans, playful propaganda and pseudo-philosophy".<ref name="Brown-1984"/> This included a line of T-shirts inspired by shirts created by [[Katharine Hamnett]], bearing slogans such as "Frankie say relax" and "Frankie say arm the unemployed".<ref name="Brown-1984"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sibbles |first=Emma |date=2009-06-18 |title=Get it off your chest |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jun/19/slogan-t-shirts-hamnett |access-date=2023-04-28 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Morley said he wanted to challenge the idea of music merchandise, asking: "Why did it have to have a face on it, couldn't it be a walking billboard?"<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 2010 |title=Paul Morley |url=https://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=1318 |journal=Creatie}}</ref> The shirts quickly became popular, and ''[[Music Week]]'' reported in July 1984 that they were outselling the singles in some stores.<ref name="Brown-1984" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=Terri |date=14 July 1984 |title=Frankie shirts outsell singles |url=https://www.artofztt.com/xlztt/frankie-goes-to-hollywood-frankie-say-war-hide-yourself-t-shirt/ |journal=[[Music Week]]}}</ref> By December, more than 250,000 T-shirts had been sold.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sutcliffe |first=Kevin |date=1 December 1984 |title=The Road to the Pleasure Dome |page=26 |work=[[The Face (magazine)|The Face]] |url=http://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=138 |quote=Indirectly, the band have Morley (a director and minor shareholder of ZTT) to thank for an income beyond the usual record company minimum. Noticing that Katherine Hamnett's outsized polemical t-shirts of '83 were being knocked off in the high street by the spring of '84, he concocted a series of bold slogans for Frankie's second release: 'Frankie Say Relax', 'Frankie Say Arm The Unemployed', 'Frankie Say War, Hide Yourself'. 250,000 t-shirts bearing these words have been sold to date, plus twice as many pirate versions.}}</ref>

The ZTT co-founder [[Paul Morley]] devised a promotional campaign involving "advertising-based slogans, playful propaganda and pseudo-philosophy".<ref name="Brown-1984"/> This included a line of T-shirts inspired by shirts created by [[Katharine Hamnett]], bearing slogans such as "Frankie say relax" and "Frankie say arm the unemployed".<ref name="Brown-1984"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sibbles |first=Emma |date=2009-06-18 |title=Get it off your chest |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jun/19/slogan-t-shirts-hamnett |access-date=2023-04-28 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Morley said he wanted to challenge the idea of music merchandise, asking: "Why did it have to have a face on it, couldn't it be a walking billboard?"<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 2010 |title=Paul Morley |url=https://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=1318 |journal=Creatie}}</ref> The shirts quickly became popular, and ''[[Music Week]]'' reported in July 1984 that they were outselling the singles in some stores.<ref name="Brown-1984" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=Terri |date=14 July 1984 |title=Frankie shirts outsell singles |url=https://www.artofztt.com/xlztt/frankie-goes-to-hollywood-frankie-say-war-hide-yourself-t-shirt/ |journal=[[Music Week]]}}</ref> By December, more than 250,000 T-shirts had been sold.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sutcliffe |first=Kevin |date=1 December 1984 |title=The Road to the Pleasure Dome |page=26 |work=[[The Face (magazine)|The Face]] |url=http://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=138 |quote=Indirectly, the band have Morley (a director and minor shareholder of ZTT) to thank for an income beyond the usual record company minimum. Noticing that Katherine Hamnett's outsized polemical t-shirts of '83 were being knocked off in the high street by the spring of '84, he concocted a series of bold slogans for Frankie's second release: 'Frankie Say Relax', 'Frankie Say Arm The Unemployed', 'Frankie Say War, Hide Yourself'. 250,000 t-shirts bearing these words have been sold to date, plus twice as many pirate versions.}}</ref>