Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), 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", "Two Tribes" and "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". The lead singer, Holly Johnson, had previously played in Big in Japan and had released some unsuccessful solo singles. He formed the first version of Frankie Goes to Hollywood with musicians including Ambrose Reynolds, but the group soon split. The name came from an advertisement announcing Frank Sinatra's film debut.

In 1982, Johnson restarted Frankie Goes to Hollywood with Peter Gill (drums) and the brothers Mark (bass) and Jed O'Toole (guitar). Jed left before 1983, and was replaced by his cousin, Brian Nash. Johnson said he wanted the band to be provocative and modern, merging punk and disco, and was inspired by the media impact of bands such as the Sex Pistols and Bow Wow Wow. 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. It was released in October 1983, backed by a music video set in an S&M club. 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". "Relax" won the 1985 Brit Award for Best British Single.

The ZTT co-founder Paul Morley devised a promotional campaign involving "advertising-based slogans, playful propaganda and pseudo-philosophy". 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?" The shirts quickly became popular, and Music Week reported in July 1984 that they were outselling the singles in some stores. By December, more than 250,000 T-shirts had been sold.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood appeared in the 1984 thriller Body Double by Brian De Palma. In June, Frankie Goes to Hollywood released their second single, "Two Tribes", featuring an "annihilating" bassline and lyrics about the Cold War. Frankie Goes to Hollywood held the top two spots of the chart simultaneously when "Relax" rose back to number two that August. It had advance sales of a million copies. Their fourth single, "Welcome to the Pleasuredome", was released in March 1985, and reached number two.

1985–1987: Liverpool and decline

By the end of 1984, following promotional touring in the US, Johnson had distanced himself from the band. He spent time with his new boyfriend, Wolfgang Kuhle, who later became his manager. The media reported that disputes had formed within the band.

In August 1986, the first single from Liverpool, "Rage Hard", was released, reaching number four in the UK. Liverpool was released in October 1986 and reached number five. It received poor reviews, and chart returns declined rapidly with the singles "Warriors of the Wasteland" (which reached number 19) and "Watching the Wildlife" (number 28). Horn spent three months creating remixes for the singles, spending an estimated £50,000. Before a concert at Wembley Arena in January, a fight broke out backstage between Johnson and O'Toole. Johnson said ZTT had encouraged the rift as a means of divide and rule, Nash recalled: "During the last tour, everybody knew it would end, as the relationship between Holly and the rest of us was so strained. He didn't want to be in a band situation anymore. Everybody was fed up with the whole thing." His second solo album, Dreams That Money Can't Buy, released in 1991, was unsuccessful. That year, Johnson was diagnosed with HIV and retreated from public life to focus on his health. He has since released further albums and studied at the Royal College of Art. He published a memoir, Nasher Says Relax, in 2012. Gill toured as part of an Australian soap actor's band, and formed a music production company, Love Station, which released singles featuring vocalists including Lisa Hunt. They were led by an American using the stage name Davey Johnson, who claimed he was Holly's brother and had performed uncredited on Welcome to the Pleasuredome.

2003–2011: reunion, performances with Ryan Molloy and trademark dispute

The members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood reunited in Holloway, London, for a 2003 episode of the VH1 show Bands Reunited, but did not perform. In his 2012 memoir, Nash, who had also been uninterested in a reunion, described the VH1 episode as a "circus" that had tried to depict Johnson negatively.

On 11 November 2004, Frankie Goes to Hollywood reunited without Johnson and Nash to perform at a Prince's Trust charity concert at Wembley Arena celebrating Horn's 25 years as a record producer. Johnson and Nash declined to take part. Ryan Molloy was selected as the new vocalist. O'Toole's brother Jed, who had played in the band in the 1980s, replaced Nash.

PopMatters wrote that the Wembley performance had "unstoppable 1984 pop glory" and that "even strong detractors of the group would likely be won over by energy the band members radiate". The Independent wrote that it "fell somewhat flat". Writing in The Guardian, Alexis Petridis wrote that the show "ultimately underwhelms" and that the songs "were designed as studio-bound production extravaganzas, not live showstoppers". Nash praised the performance and wrote that "Molloy did a great job filling Holly's shoes". and Big Gay Out in Finsbury Park, London. In 2006, Molloy said he had written new songs for Frankie Goes to Hollywood. However, the material went unreleased and a European tour was cancelled.

In April 2004, Johnson attempted to register the name Frankie Goes to Hollywood as a trademark for his exclusive use, arguing that it was his intellectual property as he had used it for a previous band.

2011–2023: reissues, reunion with Johnson and film

In 2011, ZTT reissued Liverpool in an expanded edition, plus The Art of the 12", a compilation of tracks from ZTT artists including Frankie Goes to Hollywood. In 2017, Universal Music purchased ZTT, including the Frankie Goes to Hollywood back catalogue.

On 7 May 2023, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, including Johnson and Nash, reunited for a concert featuring several acts celebrating Liverpool music for the Eurovision Song Contest. They performed one song, "Welcome to the Pleasuredome". The Telegraph gave the concert three out of five, writing that Johnson remained "a commanding presence" but that Frankie Goes to Hollywood's short set was disappointing.

Style and legacy

Johnson and Rutherford are openly gay, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood made gay rights and sexuality a theme of their music and performances. Morley said that Frankie Goes to Hollywood combined the "exploratory gay energy" of Johnson and Rutherford with the "heterosexual scouse energy" of the other band members.

As Frankie Goes to Hollywood rose in popularity, some outlets reported that they were a "manufactured" group controlled by ZTT. A 1984 article in the Washington Post described them as "a modern-day Monkees, a post-punk Village People sprung forth fully armed from the brow of junk culture". Johnson said the media had undermined them and underestimated their contributions to their records.