Who is gay in frankie goes to hollywood
Trevor Horn interview
If there’s ever a doubt that song can change the society, just look at the mid-80s for proof. There was Band Aid and Live Aid, of course, but before that there was Frankie Goes to Hollywood, bringing homosexuality to the fore with Loosen and ushering out the Cold War with Two Tribes. In this interview from 2017 we caught up with theproducer behind the power, Trevor Horn… By Andy Jones
To say that Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s success in the 80s was down to sheer luck would be unfair, however several stars did align quite beautifully.
In lead singles Relax and Two Tribes, the organization smashed the sexual and political innocence of the time – confronting Britain with both homosexuality and highlighting the stupidity of the Cold War, taking its youth by the scruff of the neck and screaming ‘grow some balls’.
We’d like to reflect that we would possess eventually matured as a society at some indicate, and grown to welcome homosexuality as we expect we have today, but Relax sped up the process. It put it out there like never before, the BBC didn’t like it, and suddenly there was a lot of growing up to do.
That single sold a couple of million and bounced around the
Perhaps one of the greatest success stories of the 1980s, Liverpool group Frankie Goes To Hollywood, were more than a mere pop group, they were an all-conquering phenomenon.
“Frankie Says . . . ” was emblazoned across the chests of millions of Britons, with the T-shirts selling as well as the records.
Their first single, Relax, was deemed unsuitable to be played on the radio. BBC Radio 1 instantly banned it, and it shot straight to the top of the charts. It went on to become the biggest-selling single in Britain of the 80s, in its unique 7″ and also in its remixed versions ( 12″, 15″ and 19″).
Two fascinating tensions ran through the collective. The gay and straight factions of the band wildly over-exaggerated their sexuality.
Two fascinating tensions ran through the team. The gay and straight factions of the band wildly over-exaggerated their sexuality.
The “out” frontmen, Holly Johnson and Paul Rutherford were sending militant coded messages to the many other occupants of the 80s singles charts who played for their team but still claimed to be heterosexual.
As a reaction, the other three members of FGTH – three years
Mr. Style Icon: Holly Johnson on David Bowie
Before he became the brash and unabashedly gay singer of British eighties idea poppers Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Holly Johnson was growing up in Liverpool and struggling with his sexuality. That is, until a television documentary would lead him to the work of Andy Warhol and, in the identical year, David Bowie’s glambiguity as Aladdin Sane. Johnson’s double epiphany was as musical as it was sexual and helped shape not just Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s explicit debut Welcome to the Pleasure Dome, and Johnson’s lifelong committment to LGBT rights, but also his first solo LP in fifteen years, 2014’s Europa (Pleasuredome). Max Dax got the skinny.
There were a handful of musicians in the seventies who encouraged me as a teenager to reside my homosexuality more or less openly—amongst them Marc Bolan, Lou Reed and Andy Warhol. In 1973, when I was thirteen, I saw David Bailey’s famous TV documentary about Andy Warhol. Literally overnight I became his biggest fan. The motion picture was extremely controversial at the second. There was communicate of the “impending brutalization” of the British youth, whatever that was supposed to mean. That’s also the mome
In this festive edition of Queer the Music Jake sits down with the iconic Holly Johnson, the front man of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, to discuss the 1984 UK number one single and enduring Christmas song, ‘The Power of Love’.
The Might of Love came out during a time of social and political turmoil in the UK. Between Thatcherism, the miner strike and an encroaching AIDS epidemic the world was becoming a scary place for the LGBTQ+ society. Despite this, gay bars, clubs and saunas were thriving in the UK and amongst it all Frankie Goes to Hollywood were skyrocketing to victory with their debut album ‘Welcome to the Pleasuredome’.
Tune in to hear about how ‘The Power of Love’ was written and how it unwittingly became synonymous with Christmas.
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How Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Gay, Controversial Melody Videos Shaped the ’80s
These days, Frankie Goes to Hollywood are considered a one-hit wonder — or a punchline. A “FRANKIE SAY RELAX” shirt is an easy shorthand for cheap comedies to say “Hey, the 1980s existed!”
But, during their time, Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a big deal — and were unabashedly same-sex attracted. Their unflinching and, pardon the pun, frank lyrics were married to brilliant tune. The debut LP Welcome to the Pleasuredome is a masterpiece. But as good as their album was, it was their music videos that really solidified their place in the canon.
“Relax”
If you’ve only seen the most common video for their debut (and most famous) single “Relax,” you might be surprised:
The video, directed by Godley and Creme, is just the band playing the song on a soundstage. As one would expect from Godley and Creme — directors of acclaimed music videos fond of Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” — it’s beautifully shot. Unfortunately, it’s also boring; act videos have to truly be something special to be memorable.
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