Frankie Goes To Hollywood – British Tour – 1985

March 15th 1985 – De Montfort Hall

In the eighties, Wham were big, Culture Club were huge, both had created an enormous amount of hype and excitement about their tours. Well, Frankie Goes To Hollywood were just MASSIVE. The hype was MASSIVE……your parents were not impressed with the “Relax” single, I can tell you!!!

Mind you, neither was Mike Read. On 11th January 1984, their first single, Relax, was played and on air, Mike declared his disgust at the record lyrics and the record sleeve. The record was subsequently banned!!….although John Peel and Kid Jensen continued to play it.

What the BBC hadn’t accounted for, was that for us kids (I was 19 by now) it was the most exciting thing that had ever happened in our short musical lives.

Relax, despite the ban was number 1 within a fortnight (24th January 1984). This was superb!!

To begin with Frankie Goes To Hollywood had a cult following and had been on The Tube (a cutting edge music programme on the young Channel 4), but once Relax was banned and the press had in effect promoted the fall out, every kid wanted a copy of the record. For many years the band denied the lyrics were in anyway sexual…….later they could admit we were right all along!

By mid 1984, Two Tribe had also caused controversy with its depiction of Russian and American leaders fighting (the Cold War was a real thing around this time).

A good friend of mine sorted the tickets, there’s a story behind that, but I’ll keep that one back, I got to go in the end! We went from our local pub in town to the gig and the excitement was high. This really was a big gig day! Probably the first time I remember seeing loads of touts selling tickets at huge prices as the clamour to get in was so high.

There was always a doubt that the band could play and most were expecting disappointment……it wasn’t disappointing!! This band had been hyped to the max by Paul Morley (ex NME journalist and now the co-founder of their record label ZTT with Trevor Horn of Video Killed the Radio Star “fame”).

They got a Picture Special in the Leicester Mercury….unheard of!!

The atmosphere inside the De Mont was electric, girls screaming and fainting, boys full of testosterone half wondering why they had come to a feasibly gay band, which was a revelation in those days (only Boy George had pulled it off so far and he was getting some terrible press at the time as was Holly Johnson, FGTH lead singer)…..and half looking forward to a good old pogo!

The gig started with a huge screen behind the stage blasting out quotes and imagery with a fair amount of propaganda and then lead singer Holly Johnson appeared dressed as a fairly camp soldier, Paul Rutherford was like a mad dancer around the stage and Mark O’Toole and Brian Nash of Bass and Guitar respectively.

There was definite doubt that Nasher was playing anything special guitar wise, and we could see a secondary guitarist behind the screen. Other than that, they were spot on musicians and played a really tight and energetic set.

They only had the “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” album out, so most of that was played. Cover versions tended to be bland in those days, but FGTH doing “War” and “Born to Run” were superb.

The backdrop of society at this time was high unemployment, high interest rates, the mid Thatcher years which had split a nation…….upstarts like Frankie (and the whole “Frankie Says” T-Shirts) came and told you, you were worth something (everyone) and be proud of it!

It might sound strange at the time you read this, but our friends at school who were “different” for whatever reason, ethnicity, sexuality, mental health….all lacked support…..Frankie Said…’Relax’ and that meant more than the sexual connotation, it meant we all had to get along and it change the way we all thought. I feel very grateful I grew up in a tolerant area, but even in Leicester, there was an under current that needed silencing.

It’s difficult to pick one track for this post, the album was incredibly significant in my music and personal life. Full of pushing boundaries, making sure you were true to yourself and fair to others, ask why?, do what was right for you……This was a time our confidence was down but about to grow!

Try listening to it from start to finish…loud, it certainly stands the test of time and is a mix of styles. Pure pop of the highest degree….but for now “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” – First track on the album, set the scene nicely that this was not going to be an easy ride, but it’ll be fun all the way!!

Set List

• War (Edwin Starr cover)
• Wish (the Lads Were Here)
• The Only Star in Heaven
• Black Night White Light
• The Power of Love
• Welcome to the Pleasuredome
• The World Is My Oyster
• Get It On (T. Rex cover)
• Relax
• Krisco Kisses
• Two Tribes
• Ferry Cross the Mersey (Gerry & the Pacemakers cover)
• Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen cover)
• Relax