I keep getting Emails from people asking me to re-upload the links and music etc. I think people are just getting to those particular pages so are not reading the reason for the dead links.
So I am putting this in place so hopefully people will read it and stop Emailing me about it.
The reason the links are dead is that my account with Media Fire has been closed with all 11,000 files lost. That is why you can not download the things and No I can not re-upload them.
Eventually I will start doing that again when I have found something suitable. In the meantime this blog will be information only blog.
Thank you all
Michaael
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Welcome to the Pleasuredome was the debut album by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, first released in the UK in October 1984 by ZTT/Island Records. Originally issued as a vinyl double album, it was assured of a UK chart entry at number one due to reported advance sales of over one million.
Whilst commercially successful, the album also drew criticism for containing new versions of the group's (already much-remixed) hit singles from the same year ('Relax' and 'Two Tribes', plus B-side 'War'), as well as a surfeit of cover versions in lieu of much new original material.
However, the album's evergreen ballad 'The Power of Love' would subsequently provide the group with their third consecutive UK number one single.
Trackisting: 01 - The World Is My Oyster - Snatch of Fury (Stay) 02 - Welcome to the Pleasuredome 03 - Relax (Come Fighting 04 - War (...and Hide) 05 - Two Tribes (For the Victims of Ravishment) including The Last Voice 06 - Ferry (Go) 07 - Born to Run 08 - Happy Hi 09 - Wish (The Lads Were Here) 10 - Including The Ballad of 32 11 - Krisco Kisses 12 - Black Night White Light 13 - The Only Star in Heaven 14 - The Power of Love 15 - Bang
In 1982 Frankie Goes to Hollywood line-up was quite unstable. Holly Jonson and Peter Gill (a.k.a. Ped, drums) had just left the Sons of Egypt and teamed up with Mark O’Toole (bass) to form a new band, FGTH, using the name of Johnson’s former band (with Steve Lovell, guitar, and Ambrose Reynolds, bass).
At this point they started looking for a guitarist. Johnson recalls:
‘We tried out a few guitarists from the echelons of Mark [O’Toole]’s family. There were two brothers who could both play, Vinny and Ged, the latter becoming the guitarist for the first performances, though neither was a very important part of the sound which was dominated by the rhythm section. Ped and I had tried to get the guitarist from the Jazz [a.k.a. Jass] Babies to join, but without success.’
After having tried for a short period of time a female singer, Sonia M, Johnson finally replaced her with Paul Rutherford (former Spitfire Boys, English Opium Eaters). This line-up would eventually perform at the Larks in the Parks festival, in Sefton Park.
These are Holly Johnson’s memories about the event:
‘Soon the Larks in the Parks, an annual open-air event for the local bands, came up. We made sure we got a place on the bill, and planned our appearance down to the last detail. We should have a delayed start when we would play car crash sounds from the Mad Max soundtrack which Paul provided. I wore a pair of old leather chaps with G string, which meant that my arse was exposed at the back, and I got someone to paint one cheek pink and the other blue with oil pastel crayons. A black-and-white publicity photo by John Stoddard of this made it look as if my cheeks had been whipped with a riding crop.
Paul and I each dragged a Leather Pet on to the stage pulling at a chain attached to a dog-collar around their necks. The sisters from Kirkby (the Muscatelli sisters, Julie and Marie) posed as captive slaves for us. Slowly we chained them to the drum kit, then launched into ‘Two Tribes’. We had only about eight songs at the time, if that. We sometimes did an impromptu version of the Mickey Mouse Club song to lighten things up a bit.
‘I walked down the ramp on the lake during one of the first songs. When I turned to return to the stage there was an audible gasp from the audience, provoked by my exposed arse. Near the end of the set I asked the audience if we should release the Leather Pets. We did, and they came gyrating to the front of the stage. Dancing wasn’t their strong point we realised, so for subsequent shows we kept them tied up for as long as possible. People left the park bemused, but still talking about what they had seen.’
(Holly Johnson, A Bone in My Flute, 146-47)
Larks in the Park - Sefton Park, Liverpool - 29th July 1982
01 -Two tribes 02 - Welcome to the Pleasuredome 03 - Relax 04 - Disneyland 05 - The World is My Oyster
Click the link below to download the set list above:
Frankie Goes To Hollywood were beginning to attract attention and, in mid-1982 Arista Records paid for demos of 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes' to be recorded.
Even though Arista didn’t like the result and dropped the group, they managed to shoot a cheap video of both songs, filmed at London’s Hope & Anchor.
Click the link below to download the Hope 'N' Anchor Demo's
After the band had changed their name from Sons Of Egypt to Frankie Goes To Hollywood the band had been rehearsing when they got the oportunity to record a session for the John Peel Radio Show.
This first session was recorded and broadcast on 2nd December 1982.
The tracklist was as follows: 01 - The World Is My Oyster 4:04 02 - Krisco Kissess 2:33 03 - Two Tribes 3:39 04 - Disneyland 2:26
Following on from the Kid Jenson session earlier in 1983 Frankie Goes To Hollywood was asked to return to the John Peel Show to record a 2nd session. This one was broadcast on 19th December 1983. The single Relax had been released and was shortly to bring the band the success they had hoped for.
Here is the running order of the 2nd session: 01 - Get It On 02 - The Power Of Love 03 - Junk Funk 04 - The Other Side Of Midnight
As I have now completed the first 4 single by the band Frankie Goes To Hollywood I thought that it would be great to share the early recordings and sessions that are available back then. The first of these is the Kid Jenson session.
It was Christmas 1982 and Frankie were the most talked about band on Merseyside.
In Liverpool at this time was a Tube researcher looking to interview Dead Or Alive for a Tube special on Liverpool. But finding Pete Burns inactive, Mick Sawyer sought out Frankie saying that The Tube would make a video for them.
“Frankie were just an averagely bright rock band,” muses Sawyer. “They had a lot of unfinished ideas and an image only The Tube would touch.”
The video was shot in the city’s State Ballroom — now a disco — and stands as one of the most eloquent documents of the original, unretouched Frankie, with Holly delivering a near-monosyllabic version of 'Relax'. It was a memorable day.
Radio interest was beginning to pick up again, with John Peel repeating his session and Kid Jensen commissioning 'Welcome To The Pleasure Dome', 'The Only Star In Heaven' and 'Relax 2' for his early evening show.
In February 1983 FGTH recorded the session for Kid Jensen ( DJ on Radio One). The track-listing for the session was as follows:
Jensen Session (February 1983) 01 - The Only Star in Heaven 02 - Welcome to the Pleasuredome 03 - Invade My Heart 04 - Relax 2 (Shoot in the Right Direction)
When it went out on the air, unknown to the band someone - someone with influence - was listening: record producer Trevor Horn. The rest is history.
Now to an early band that featured Paul Rutherford.
From the outskirts of Liverpool (St. Helens) the Spitfire Boys first got together under that name on 14th May 1977. They formed some 6 weeks earlier, after meeting The Heartbreakers and finding they needed a support band for an upcoming gig.
Originally called The Blackmailers their new name came courtesy of Wayne County.
The original singer, Mike Rigby, was sacked after 2 or 3 gigs, and after that the band featured Paul Rutherford aka Maggot on vocals, Dave Littler aka Jones on guitar, Peter Griffiths aka Zero and Budgie (Peter Clarke aka Blister) on drums.
Their first proper gig was supporting Johnny & The Heartbreakers at "Parr Hall", Palmyra Square, Warrington, WA1 1BL.
The Spitfire Boys were the first Liverpool punk band to release a single. This was 'British Refugee' backed with the controversial 'Mein Kampf' on the 'R.K.O' label, 7th October 1977.
The band were stars in their home town but never really broke into the London scene after playing a few gigs down there (at The Vortex, supporting their friends The Slits). Early December 'Pete Wylie' joined the band for two or three rehearsals, but due to the lack of strong management the band folded. From being one of the first Punk bands to form in Liverpool, they were also one of the first to disband. This happened on Thursday 22nd December 1977.
Click the link belowt o download the following: British Refugee - Single Version Mein Kampf - B-Side
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
Ferry Aid were a British-American ensemble group, brought together to record the song 'Let It Be' in 1987.
The single was released following the Zeebrugge Disaster, which had occurred on 6 March 1987 involving the capsizing of the MS Herald of Free Enterprise ferry, which killed 193 passengers and crew. All proceeds from sales of the single were donated to the charity set up in the aftermath of the disaster.
The recording was organised by The Sun newspaper, after they had sold cheap tickets for the ferry on that day. 'Let It Be' was written by Lennon/McCartney and originally recorded by The Beatles in 1969.
Artists to have contributed and performed solo spots on the song are as follows (in order of appearance):
Paul McCartney Jim Diamond Boy George Sara Dallin, Keren Woodward and Nick Kamen Paul King Mark King Taffy Andy Bell Pepsi & Shirlie Mel and Kim Jaki Graham Gary Moore (guitar solo) Mark Knopfler (guitar solo) Kim Wilde and Nik Kershaw Edwin Starr Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot Ruby Turner Kate Bush
The closing choruses of the song feature an ensemble choir featuring many of the above performers as well other recording artists, including Bonnie Tyler, Errol Brown, Hazel O'Connor, The Nolans, Rick Astley, Jim Diamond, Doctor and the Medics, Alvin Stardust, Steve Strange, Mandy Smith, Su Pollard, Maxi Priest, Howard Jones, Samantha Fox, Linda Lusadi, Jimmy Somerville and members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Go West, The Alarm and Bucks Fizz.
The B-side of the 7 inch single is a gospel version of 'Let It Be', made up on the spot by improvising. The 12 inch single has 'Let It Be (Mega Message Mix)' on the B-side.
Click the link below to downoad the following: Video Single Version Gospel Jam Mix - B-Side
Band Aid were a British and Irish charity supergroup, founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia by releasing the record 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' for the Christmas market. The single surpassed the hopes of the producers to become the Christmas number one on that release. Two subsequent re-recordings of the song to raise further money for charity also topped the charts.
The original was produced by Midge Ure. The 12" version was mixed by Trevor Horn. The name 'Band Aid' was chosen as a pun on the name of a well known brand of adhesive bandage, also referring to musicians working as a band to provide aid and alluding to the fact that any help stemming from their efforts is likened to a band-aid on a very serious wound. The group has formed on three occasions, each time from the most successful British and Irish pop music performers of the time, to record the same song at the same time of year.
The original 1984 Feed The World logo was based on a pencil sketch by Bob Geldof after watching a BBC television news report by Michael Buerk from famine-stricken Ethiopia. Geldof was so moved by the plight of starving children that he decided to try and raise money using his contacts in pop music. Geldof enlisted the help of Midge Ure, from the group Ultravox, to help produce a charity record.
Ure took Geldof's lyrics, and created the melody and backing track for the record. Geldof called many of the most popular British and Irish performers of the time (Kool & The Gang and Jody Watley were the only Americans present at the original recording), persuading them to give their time free. His one criterion for selection was how famous they were, in order to maximise sales of the record. He then kept an appointment to appear on a show on BBC Radio 1, with Richard Skinner, but instead of promoting the new Boomtown Rats material as planned, he announced the plan for Band Aid.
The recording studio gave Band Aid no more than 24 free hours to record and mix the record, on 25 November 1984. The recording took place between 11am and 7pm, and was filmed by director Nigel Dick to be released as the pop video though some basic tracks had been recorded the day before at Midge Ure's home studio. The first tracks to be recorded were the group / choir choruses which were filmed by the international press. The footage was rushed to newsrooms where it aired while the remainder of the recording process continued. Later drums by Phil Collins were recorded, including the memorable opening 'African Drum' beat. But in reality, the introduction of the song features a slowed down sample from a Tears for Fears' track called 'The Hurting', released in 1983.
Tony Hadley, of Spandau Ballet, was the first to record his vocal, while a section sung by Status Quo was deemed unusable, and replaced with section comprising Paul Weller, Sting, and Glenn Gregory. Paul Young has since admitted, in a documentary, that he knew his opening lines were written for David Bowie, who was not able to make the recording but made a contribution to the B-side (Bowie performed his lines at the Live Aid concert the following year). Boy George arrived last at 6pm, after Geldof woke him up by 'phone to have him flown over from New York on Concorde to record his solo part. (At the time Culture Club was in the middle of a US tour.)
The following morning, Geldof appeared on the Radio 1 breakfast show with Mike Read, to promote the record further and promise that every penny would go to the cause. This led to a stand-off with the British Government, who refused to waive the VAT on the sales of the single. Geldof made the headlines by publicly standing up to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and, sensing the strength of public feeling, the government backed down and donated the tax back to the charity. The record was released on 29 November, and went straight to No. 1 in the UK singles chart, outselling all the other records in the chart put together. It became the fastest- selling single of all time in the UK, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at Number 1 for five weeks, selling over three million copies and becoming easily the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK. It has since been surpassed by Elton John's 'Candle In The Wind 1997' (his tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales) but it is likely to keep selling in different versions for many years to come.
After Live Aid, 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' was re-released in late 1985 in a set that included a special-edition 'picture disc' version, modeled after the Live Aid logo with 'Band' in place of 'Live'. An added bonus, 'One Year On' (a statement from Geldof and Ure on the telephone) was available as a b-side. 'One Year On' can also be found in transcript form in a booklet which was included in the DVD set of Live Aid, the first disc of which features the BBC news report, as well as the Band Aid video.
The original Band Aid ensemble consisted of (in sleeve order):
Adam Clayton (U2) Queen Phil Collins (Genesis, solo) Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats) Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet) Chris Cross (Ultravox) John Taylor (Duran Duran) Paul Young Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet) Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17) Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran) Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats) Marilyn Keren Woodward (Bananarama) Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet) Jody Watley (Shalamar) Bono (U2) Paul Weller (The Style Council) James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & the Gang) George Michael (Wham!) Midge Ure (Ultravox) Martyn Ware (Heaven 17) John Keeble (Spandau Ballet) Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet) Roger Taylor (Duran Duran) Sarah Dallin (Bananarama) Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama) Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats) Francis Rossi (Status Quo) Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & the Gang, whose members were the only Americans to participate) Dennis J. T. Thomas (Kool & the Gang) Andy Taylor (Duran Duran) Jon Moss (Culture Club) Sting (The Police) Rick Parfitt (Status Quo) Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats) David Bowie Boy George (Culture Club) Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings) Stuart Adamson (Big Country) Bruce Watson (Big Country) Tony Butler (Big Country) Mark Brzezicki (Big Country)
Click the link below to download the following: Video Band Aid Story - 3 Part Documentary Single Version 12 inch Mix by Trevor Horn Standard Mix Feed The World - B-Side One Year On - Feed The World - B-side
'The Power of Love' is the third single from Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in November 1984. It is taken from the album 'Welcome To The Pleasuredome'. The track was first featured during the John Peel Sessions the band performed on during 1983, which was slower and emphasized the track's original camp ironic content (such as the Hooded Claw being from cartoon The Perils of Penelope Pitstop).
'The Power of Love' followed its two predecessors, 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes', to the top of the UK singles chart, scoring the band an early December Number One, being pipped at the post by Band Aid for Christmas chart topper.
To commemorate the Christmas release, Godley & Creme directed a nativity themed video for the single, and the artwork for the single also used traditional Christian iconography. The original showing of the video on The Tube the nativity occupied the whole screen. The record company did not like this as they wanted the band to feature in the video so the borders of band members was added for later showings. This went against the bands wishes as they were happy with the original video.
The 12" mix of the song featured actor Chris Barrie's aping DJ Mike Read's banning of the single 'Relax'.
The single also featured a Christmas message from the band, entitled "Holier Than Thou".
On the cover it is reproduced the Assunta by Titian, a XVI century painting in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari of Venice.
Click the link below to download the following: Original Video - Without Borders 2nd Video Release - with Borders 2000 Video Version Single Version Extended Version Instrumental Version Rob Searle 2000 Club Version The World Is My Oyster (Scapped) - B-Side The World Is My Oyster (Trapped) - B-Side Holier Than Thou - B-Side
'Two Tribes' is the second single by Frankie Goes To Hollywood and released in by ZTT Records in May 1984. The song was later included on the album Welcome To The Pleasuredome. The single was a phenomenal success in the UK, staying at number one for nine consecutive weeks, during which time the group's previous single 'Relax' climbed back up the charts to number two. In the USA the single was unable to repeat this success where it peaked at number 43.
A version of 'Two Tribes' was originally recorded for a BBC John Peel session in October 1982. The session version makes clear that the basic structure of the song, including its signature bass-line, percussion arrangement and idiosyncratic introductory and middle eight sections, were already intact prior to any involvement from ZTT or eventual producer Trevor Horn. The song's title derives from the line "when two great warrior tribes go to war", from the film Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (the line is also spoken by Holly Johnson at the beginning of the session version). The single was released at the height of the Cold war, when general fears about global nuclear warfare were at a peak. Although Johnson would attest in a 1984 radio interview that the 'two tribes' of the song potentially represented any pair of warring adversaries, the song does contain the line "On the air America/I modelled shirts by Van Heusen", a clear reference to then US President Ronald Reagan, who had advertised for Phillips Van Heusen in 1953 (briefly reviving the association in the early 1980s), and whose first film had been titled Love Is On The Air. Johnson also noted: "There's two elements in the music — an American funk line and a Russian line. It’s the most obvious demonstration of two tribes that we have today."
To accentuate this inherent musical tension, Horn juxtaposed the driving funk/rock rhythm section with a dramatic formal string arrangement and plenty of orchestral stabs, a novel technique that Horn himself had pioneered the previous year in producing Yes's 'Owner of a Lonely Heart'.
ZTT aggressively marketed the single in terms of its topical political angle, promoting it with images of the group wearing American military garb in combat, as well as Soviet-style army uniforms set against an American urban backdrop. The original cover art featured a Soviet mural of Lenin and images of Reagan and then-UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The sleeve notes, attributed to ZTT's Paul Morley, dispassionately reported details of the relative nuclear arsenals of each superpower.
The various mixes were subtitled in terms of the expected aftermath of nuclear conflict. The Original 1984 mixe featured actor Patrick Allen, who recreated his narration from the Protect and Survive public information films for certain 12-inch mixes (the original Protect and Survive soundtracks were sampled for the 7-inch mixes).
The 12-inch A- and B-sides also ostensibly featured voice parts by Reagan, as played by actor Chris Barrie who also voiced the character on Spitting Image. The standard 7-inch mix featured a pop/radio-oriented production that dispensed with a section of the song's middle eight altogether. A significantly different guitar-driven 'We Don't Want To Die' mix appeared, with complete middle eight, on the limited edition 7-inch picture disc. The first 12-inch mix (Annihilation) started with an air-raid siren, and unfolded as a ground-breaking extended deconstruction and reinvention of the basic track, including Allen's starkest advice about how to tag and dispose of family members should they die in the fallout shelter. The 'Carnage' mix was, by comparison, altogether more conventional, featuring enhanced string treatments, a percussive midpoint flurry of vocal samples (from Allen and the group's B-side interview), but broadly following the prevailing instrumental/vocal 12-inch structural paradigm. The eventual album version 'For The Victims Of Ravishment' would derive from the 'Carnage' mix. The 'Hibakusha' mix was originally released in a very limited edition, and appears on the Japanese-only Bang! album from 1985, even though the Japanese liner notes admit that the title is not pleasant to the Japanese readers. This mix was musically based on the 'Annihilation' mix, but with a unique middle section comprising orchestral samples.
The 7-inch featured 'One February Friday', an interview between Morley and the group's three musicians (The Lads), Mark O'Toole, Brian Nash and Peter Gill, over an otherwise untitled instrumental track. This technique had already been used on the B-side of 'Relax', the similarly titled 'One September Monday'.
The principal B-side to the original 12-inch single was a cover version of 'War', which became the subject of an accomplished extended remix in its own right (subtitled 'Hidden') on the single's third UK 12-inch release, where it was promoted as a double A-Side with 'Carnage'.
With the exception of this AA release, all 12-inch versions featured the following additional B-side tracks: A shortened version of the 7-inch B-side interview (without music) A largely instrumental version of 'Two Tribes (We Don't Want To Die)' with faux-live overdub treatments (subtitled 'Surrender' A sequence of Patrick Allen outtakes, known as 'The Last Voice'.
The UK cassette single featured a cut-together combination of 'Surrender', 'Carnage' and 'Annihilation', plus Reagan snippets and interview sections not included on any other release.
The Godley & Creme directed video depicted a wrestling match between Reagan and then-Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko for the benefit of group members and an eagerly belligerent assembly of representatives from the world's nations, the event ultimately degenerating into complete global destruction. A longer version of the video (based on the 'Hibakusha' mix) included an introductory cut-up monologue by Richard Nixon "No firm diplomacy... No peace for America and the world", plus similar contributions from other world leaders, including Lord Beaverbrook, Yasser Arafet and John F. Kennedy. The complete soundtrack to the extended video was eventually released as 'Two Tribes (Video Destructo)' on the German version of the Twelve Inches compilation. A third version of the video, included on the band's compilation of videos, retains the introduction, but loses most of the inserted clips in the main wrestling sequence.
Click the link below to download the following: Main Video
Keep The Peace - Video Version 1
Keep The Peace - Video Version 2
Dutch TV Performance - Video
German TV Performance - Video
2K Remix Video
UK Maxi-Cassette Mix For the victims of ravishment - including the last voice - Album Version Two Tribes (Surrender)
Annihilation Mix Carnage Mix Intermission Legend Mix Hibakusha Mix 808State Remix Apollo Four Forty Remix Olav Basoski Tiberian Power Mix Rob Searle's Club Mix Fluke Magimix Hot Tracks End I.D. - Special Radio Mix War (Hide Yourself) - B-Side War (Somewhere Between Hiding and Hiden) - B-side War (Hidden) - B-Side
Frankie Goes to Hollywood (FGTH) were extremely popular in the mid 1980s. The Liverpool group was fronted by Holly Johnson (vocals), supported by Paul Rutherford (vocals, keyboards), Peter Gill (drums, percussion), Mark O'Toole (bass guitar) and Brian Nash (guitar). In February 1983, the group were invited by the Channel 4 show 'The Tube' to record a video at the Liverpool State Ballroom. The Peel sessions were repeated after the show and a new session recorded for the BBC, comprising 'Welcome To The Pleasuredome' 'The Only Star In Heaven' and 'Relax'. These performances along with the repeat of the Tube video convinced Trevor Horn to sign the group to his new label ZTT Records.
In October 1983 'Relax' was released to the public and recieved a modicum of airplay allowing it to progress steadly into the UK Top 40. A debut performance on the BBC's Top Of The Pops show on 5th January 2004, while the single was at number 35 in the charts, propelled the single to number 6 the following week.
On 11th January 1984 BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Mike Read was playing the single on his show when he noticed the front cover design (by Yvonne Gilbert). Read apparently became outraged by the 'overtly sexual' nature of both the record sleeve and the printed lyrics, which promted him to remove the disc live on air, breaking it and branding it 'obscene'. Two days later - almost 3 months after the single's initial release, and just 8 days after the BBC Top Of The Pops show, the BBC banned the single from all its TV and radio outlets, with the exception of its Top 40 show.
'Relax' immediately shot to Number One in the UK Singles Chart the following week and stayed there for 5 consecutive weeks, during which time the BBC could not feature the nations best-selling single on their flagship TV chart show. The single went on to enjoy prolonge chart success throughout 1984 and ultimately becaming the 7th best selling single of all time (as of May 2006). Following the follow-up success of 'Two Tribes' and 'The Power of Love', FGTH became only the second act in the history of the UK charts to reach number one with their first three singles; the first being Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1964
The original video directed by Bernard Roase depicted a gay S&M den (filmed in the unused East London theatre Wilton's Music Hall), which was promptly banned by both the BBC and MTV, resulting in the production of a substitute video directed by filmmaker Brian De Palma to coincide with the release of his film Body Double with the movie stars even featuring in the video. Another video was also made for the UK market labeled 'The Lazer Version' as the band walked and performed with lazers being projected around them.
The BBC lifted its ban on 'Relax' at the end of 1984 to allow the band to perform it on the Christmas edition of Top of the Pops (it had been, aside from Band Aid, the biggest-selling single of the year).
Click the link to download the following:
Video's Original Banned Video Lazer Video USA Body Double - From the film Body Double Mashed Up Merging Video - All versions combined to teh track Nightlife - Interview with Holly about the banning of Relax The Tube - First Live Performance The Tube - Short Documentary The Tube - Introduced by Jools Holland Live on Europe A Go-Go 1985 Virgin Atlantic 25th anniversary TV Add - featuring relax
MP3's Single Version Club 69 Future Anthem Part 1 Sex Mix-Original 12 Inch The Party Trick - Acting Dumb Relax MCMXCIII The Special Act Adapted from the Sex Mix The Ollie J Remix The US Mix - Come Dancing Jam & Spoon Trip-O-Matic Fairy Tale Mix The Single - The Act Jam & Spoon Hi N-R-G Mix From One September Monday Mix New York Mix Marc Et Claude's Respect Remix Relax (Live) Peter Rauhofer's Doomsday Club Mix 12 inch Extended Mix 25th Anniversary Mix 2M jr. Schranz Bootleg Mix 89 Inner Style Mix Antoine Clamaran Remix Cryptonites Remix From soft To Hard Mix 94 Remix Digitally Remastered 'Party Trick Mix' Discotech remix Ferry Across the Mersey - B-Side
Welcome to the Pleasuredome was the debut album by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, first released in the UK in October 1984 by ZTT/Island Records. Originally issued as a vinyl double album, it was assured of a UK chart entry at number one due to reported advance sales of over one million.
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