Well I am going on a little bit of an indulgent streak this week as I have been listeniing to early Frankie Goes To Hollywood recently. So I have deceided as it has been a long time since my last Frankie post I will catch up a bit this week. Normal posting wii resume next week so here we start with the 4th single.
'Welcome to the Pleasuredome' is the title track to the 1984 debut album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The lyrics of the song were inspired by the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
In March 1985, the album track was substantially abridged and remixed for release as the group's fourth UK single.
While criticized at the time of release and afterward for being a song that glorifies debauchery, the lyrics (and video) make clear that the point of the song, just as Coleridge's poem, is about the dangers of this kind of lifestyle. This song, along with 'Relax', made Frankie Goes To Hollywood even more controversial than they already were.
Despite the group's record label (ZTT) pre-emptively promoting the single as "their fourth number one", an achievement that would have set a new UK record for consecutive number one singles by a debuting artist, 'Welcome to the Pleasuredome' peaked at number two in the UK singles chart, being kept off the top spot by the Phil Collins/Philip Bailey duet 'Easy Lover'. The single spent a total of eleven weeks on the UK chart.
It was the first release by the group not to reach number one and, despite representing a creditable success in its own right, it symbolically confirmed the end of the chart invincibility that the group had enjoyed during 1984. Frankie Goes to Hollywood would not release another record for seventeen months, and they would ultimately fail to emulate their past glories upon their return.
The spoken-word introductions to both 12-inch mixes are adapted from Walter Kaufmann's 1967 translation of Friedrich Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy. The recitation on the first 12-inch ('Real Altered') is by Gary Taylor, whilst that on the second 12-inch ('Fruitness') and the cassette is by actor Geoffrey Palmer. It is unknown whether Palmer's concluding 'Welcome To The Pleasuredrome' was a genuine mistake or a deliberately scripted one.
This is the only single from the group that was not released on a cd single at that time. 'Relax', 'Two Tribes' and 'The Power Of Love' all saw a cdmaxi release in Germany at the end of the 80's. Welcome to the Pleasuredome was not given such a release.
All releases featured either a short, long or even longer version of 'Get It On', originally recorded for a BBC Radio 1 session in 1983, plus a faded or full length version of 'Happy Hi!', the only brand-new song to appear on the single.
Both 'Relax (International)' and 'Born To Run' are faux-live recordings (ie. with studio overdubs), based on an actual live appearance on The Tube's "Europe A-Go-Go" in Newcastle during early January 1985.
The video, by Bernard Rose, features the group stealing a car, going to a carnival and encountering all manner of deceptively "pleasureable" activities. The audio soundtrack of the video was included as part of the cassette single.
Click the link below to download the following:
Main Video
Full Video
Escape Act Mix - Video
Peter's Pop Show - Live Performance
Original 7 inch Version
Altered Real Version
Pleasurfix - Original 12 inch Mix - Promo
CD Mix Version
Fruitness Mix
Into Battle Mix
Kzap Edit Version
Real Altered 12 inch Version
Tribal Urban Mix
DMC Mix
Album Version
Nalin Kane Remix
Brothers In Rhythm Rollercoster Mix
Elevatorman's Non Stop Top Floor Club Mix
Get It On - Shorter Version - 7 inch B-Side
Get It On - Longer Version - 12 inch B-Side
Happy Hi (All In The Body) - Extra Track
Happy Hi (All In The Mind) - Short Version - Extra Track
Happy Hi - Full Version - Extra Track
Relax (International) - Live - 12 inch Extra Track
Megamix - Extra Bonus Track
Disnyland - New Track on ZTT Sampled Album
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