I got an idea for another episode of One Hit Wonderland:Break My Stride by Mathew Wilder from 1983. Imagine it going like this DID HE EVER DO ANYTHING ELSE? Todd:Oh, he did do something fantastic about 15 years later. Disney executive:Alright, Mathew. We need you to write and produce some songs for this animated movie called Mulan. It doesn’t have to be too deep or too epic. It’s just about this Chinese girl who dresses up as a guy and goes off to war in order to save her sick father, okay? Mathew Wilder:Okay, got it. Disney executive:Great. Let me know how it goes. (Mathew Wilder writes Reflection and I’ll Make A Man Out Of You and it turns out to be deep and epic) Any comments?
The US Pop chart mattered way too much before other metrics were adopted as legitimate ranking methods. I wished the UK charts mattered more in the US in the '80s, but by the 2000s there was no excuse for American charts to downgrade such a successful band into such status. Perhaps there are foreign language critics that treat some foreign bands the same way in their country, but most of us would never know.
And it's not like Blur was unpopular in America either. Their self-titled record was huge over here and Song 2 got MASSIVE radio play. They just weren't nearly as big as they were in Britain, where they were up there with juggernauts like Oasis as far as sales success.
@@Cooe.Really? Call me an oblivious outsider cause I'm Canadian, but according to the BPI, Blur peaked at 4x Platinum while Oasis more than quadrupled that figure. Oasis' third most successful album, which Todd covered as a Trainwreckord, received two more platinum certifications than Blur's highest-selling album. Is there something I'm missing?
@@StormyKopaAMVs Is it overall? The competition took place at specific moment in time. Oasis won (not overhealmingly but still). Then afterwards Blur was on hiatus. The frontman of Blur got high/drunk with roommate and as a joke made virtual band. How many platinums Gorillaz has?
@@StormyKopaAMVs The British press made a lot of hay out of an imagined rivalry between the two bands. That's why they tend to get mentioned in the same breath as though they were equally successful.
To quote Butthead of Beavis and Butthead fame. "He's Lemmy. He can walk into any damn video he wants!" Lemmy was always showing up in music videos in the 80s
I think it’s so funny how the most “controversial” music and musicians of the late 2010s and this decade are such weak sauce when compared to the trailblazers in the late 70s and 80s. People have no concept of actual transgressive art anymore and “Unholy” is a perfect example as the artists (a non-binary and trans musician) cook up the most inoffensive shite masquerading as edgy. Compare it to the fallout when Prince sang about how he knew a girl named Nikki for example, no juice at all
I’m Irish and I live pretty near an Indian restaurant and cinema, whenever there’s an Indian film showing they sell an bundle offer called ‘Paddy Goes To Bollywood’ that includes a cinema ticket and a curry dinner. So far as I’m concerned that’s their legacy For additional context, ‘meal and a movie’ deals are pretty common for mid priced restaurants near cinemas in Ireland
I remember the announcement when Holly said he had AIDS, but then I never heard of him again. In 1993, the year of the film "Philadelphia," "I have AIDS!" was kind of your "Last Words." I'm super-glad to know he's one of the survivors and that's he's at peace with his creative drive.
@@ionlawrence4401 in the 80s and early 90s, it very much was a terminal disease for many if not most of the people who caught it. Holly and others like Magic Johnson only survived because they got access to the effective ARV drugs right after they became available - without that (expensive) medication HIV is absolutely a death sentence. But I think you know that, everyone who knows anything about HIV/AIDS knows that, so why are you playing dumb?
@@ionlawrence4401I wonder if maybe, just maybe, the socioeconomic conditions caused by imperialism and neocolonialism has made it difficult to treat the disease over there.
My dad got to see these guys in concert up close. REAL up close. He told me he kept trying to touch one of their guitars while they were playing (he was high), and the guitarist kept going "no no nooo" in a playful tone and inching it away
Quick history note: the guy fighting with Reagan is Konstantin Chernenko, the Soviet leader right before Gorbachev. He basically was in charge just long enough to get portrayed in this video.
That's the most fun kind of being dated: when it's so of a specific moment that you can pinpoint the exact moment it was made. Like carbon dating for culture!
It's honestly extremely good advice if you're in the midst of a vehicular accident. Drunk drivers' survival rates are higher on account of how relaxed they are, vs. sober people who tend to tense up. Tension kills, folks. Frankie say relax!
I love the fact that after playing an interview where this man said "it's about buggery, relax and it won't hurt", Todd follows up a minute later with the BBC had to back down
In 1987 in the communist Czechoslovakia, there was a movie called Bony a klid (a wordplay on Bonnie and Clyde, it's hard to explain). The filmmakers asked Frankie Goes to Hollywood if they could give them two songs - Relax and Power of Love. The band was generous enough to give them both songs for 1 Czk, basically for free. And the filmmakers surely used it - Relax plays in the movie roughly 40 times (not kidding). At that time, it was unheard of to have western music played in the Czechoslovak movie. The movie was banned by censors at first, but became hugely popular on the VHS black market, and the presence of Frankie's music was one of the main reasons why, hence the commies gave up and allowed it to play in the theatres. Long live Frankie Goes to Hollywood!
Btw bony were 'points' that allowed you to buy things imported from the west (like denim jeans), people sold them on black market. Klid is basically personal peace. It can also mean 'chill' if you say it to someone. Not sure which meaning is relevant to the movie since I have never actually watched it lol.
Not CZK but KCS :-) Koruna Ceskoslovenska. And yes, Bony a Klid was a pretty good movie, it's been a while since I've seen it, I wonder if it can be streamed somewhere
I remember Paul Rutherford partner also passed away from AIDS during his solo career ("Oh World" album) Fortunately Paul didn't have AIDS, Still alive and well Oh World also very good album.
But one thing I feel sad in FGTH universe/related was Dan Hartman passing away from AIDS in 1994. He produced and co-written some of Holly Johnson first two solo albums.@@whoad8644
Big In Japan were one of those weird "reverse supergroups" where the band wasn't successful at all but the members went on to bigger and better things. Besides Holly you had Budgie who was in The Slits and Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bill Drummond of the KLF, Dave Balfe of The Teardrop Explodes (also founded Food Records who signed Blur) and Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds. Interesting little footnote in music history.
Paul Rutherford, the dancer in the band worked in Liverpools probe record shop at the same time as Pete Burns from Dead or Alive in the late 1970's to the early 1980's. Both of the bands were the last of their generation to make it famous. The teardrop explodes, echo and the bunnymen, OMD etc preceding them
@@jazztheglass6139wow....haven't thought about Probe records for years! Used to get all my records from Skeleton records in Birkenhead and Probe in liverpool. At the time it was the only place you could buy Viz magazine when it was just a self printed black and white fanzine with limited numbers. You had to know what day they got delivered or they would sell out with no more coming...and you had to wait till the next edition...and hope one of your mates at school had managed to get a copy to keep up with the adventures of Buster Gonad and His Unfeasibly Large Testicles 😂😂😂
Side note: David Balfe also inspired Blur's big hit "Country House" after he tried to quit the music industry due to stress and live out in the countryside for a bit. Lasted about two years before he took an exec position at Columbia Records.
My sister had a FGTH T-shirt and we were bouncing down the main drag in Rochester, Minnesota - in the 80s, we stood out with her t shirt and me head to foot in leather. A drop dead gorgeous guy ran up and begged info where to get the t - my sister pulled it up and off, handed it to the kid and i gave her my jacket to get home in. Different time, amazing music...oh, and I miss you, Bo. :)
We Mexicans have the slang "Relaja la raja" (Relax the crack) which is about being motivated to take things easily and flowing with adversity...So it could be about both butt shenanigans and motivation somehow.
The fact that they managed to get a song who's only real lyric is "Relax, don't do it, when you want to suck it, chew it, relax, don't do it, when you want to come" on the Radio during the Reagan and Thatcher administrations is quite frankly astonishing. EDIT: I'm surprised you didn't mention the "when you want to suck it, chew it" line, aka, one of the most misheard lines in pop music history
Seeing Trevor Horn in here from your Buggles episode is like the One Hit Wonderland equivalent of seeing a cameo from an Avenger in another Avenger's solo movie.
“Welcome To The Pleasuredome” was instrumental in the creation of House music, as it was a staple in the little known nightclub in West Loop, Chicago called “The Warehouse” that’s now as protected as “The Stonewall Inn”.
This just made my day. I remember when it was reported on MTV that Holly Johnson was “Struggling” with HIV. Being American, I did not hear much about it after that. I assumed he passed away. I am so thrilled to learn that he made it past the hump. It always broke my heart that so many people passed away before we were able to develop this incredible life saving medicine. So many were my fellow members if the queer community. Klaus Nomi and Baltimora are among them. Thank you, good sir. This made me so happy.
Fun Fact that in late 90s. There's american guys who named themselves "New Frankie Goes To Hollywood" and lead singer claimed that he was Holly Johnson brother. Turned out to be imposter.
Him and Magic Johnson made me feel a little less paranoid about HIV/AIDS, seeing how both of them got infected pretty early on and are still alive today.
Seriously. A close relative of mine contracted it after being assaulted, so to anyone who claims it’s purely a “gay” problem they brought on themselves, it’s NOT IN THE EFFING SLIGHTEST. It’s a societal problem that deserves respect and care and it’s a fight these people are forced to deal with forever
As someone who was 10 in the UK when _Relax_ came out, I cannot now hear it without the phrase 'Relax, don't do it, pick your nose and chew it' running through my mind.
Old black nerd here…. 1985 high school graduate and Relax was a huge hit in America. Everyone had the t-shirt and it was on constant rotation on MTV. It played in every club. I promise you any 80’s kid regardless of race knows Relax.
Black nerd here too. My third grade self was going “who didn’t know this song? It was danced to on Solid Gold, for heavens sake.” …and yes, we all knew what that song was about, although I didn’t go”oh THAT kind of sex!” Until some years later. :)
Yeah. It was one of those songs you just heard EVERYWHERE! You couldn't escape it. Everyone heard it weather you wanted to or not. I'm just surprised it wasn't a #1 hit being played so much.
I mean how many other songs resulted in a shirt with a slogan? Sure bands and albums got t-shirts, but a t-shirt referencing an individual song is not common.
"Todd, why do you do this show?" "To make the British angry at me" No, Todd. It's good to know that Dexy's Midnight Runners, Echo and the Bunnymen and Frankie Foes to Hollywood were all one hit wonders in the USA. Weird, but good. Your video on "Come On Eileen" was especially great.
@@henryglennon3864 ?! Noooo Not even close! Madness only ever had one #1, ""House of Fun". Their first 3 singles were... "The Prince" - #16 "One Step Beyond" - #7 "My Girl" - #3 Ian Dury and the Blockheads also only had one #1, "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" Although the Blockheads were involved, Ian Dury's first 3 singles were issued under just his name. They were... "Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll" "Sweet Gene Vincent" "Billericay Dickie" None of them reached the chart on first release. Then his singles started to be credited to "Ian Dury and the Blockheads" "What a Waste" - #9 "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" - #1 "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3" - #3 I think the third group to achieve three #1s with their first 3 singles was The Spice Girls... "Wannabe" "Say You'll Be There" "2 Become 1" In fact, they managed to get #1s with their next 3 singles too... "Mama" / "Who Do You Think You Are?" "Spice Up Your Life" "Too Much" ...making their first 6 singles reaching #1, in total. I guess others have done it since?
@@RocketboyX Oh, I just checked and you are right. They didn't (unless you count the Alternative Rock Chart!) I just thought that because they were mentioned by Homer Simpson once!
Two Tribes 12" extended mix deserves a shout out! It starts out with a siren and samples the Protect and Survive PSA about what to do during a nuclear attack. Its dark, but such a jam.
I remember reading somewhere that the 12" version (officially known as the Annihilation Mix) is widely considered one of the best 12" remixes of the '80s, and having heard it myself I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. It doesn't just make the song longer, it emphatically expands upon the base version's themes, like seeing a short story get expanded into a full novel.
I like the Carnage mix better, but they are both absolute blinders. I flail about like a 90s eurodance "singer". MINE IS THE LAST VOICE YOU WILL EVER HEAR. DON'T BE ALARMED.
Welcome to the Pleasuredome (the song) was an extremely huge track in Chicago House music. DJ Ron Hardy started each set playing it, so it helped transform modern Dance music in a big way.
The fact that you say this series is to piss off British people; but as a British person I LOVE when you cover UK acts - your unique perspectives, the jokes, the out of context clips you use sometimes (like the Ant & Dec clip from Return of the Mac episode) are just peak - to me they’re my favourite eps 😂
"And the deciding factor for me was that, even if they're not really One-Hit Wonders... at the very least I can introduce people to Two Tribes." I'll allow it.
Yeah. I wrote my "2 Tribes tho" comment at the start of the video & was pleased as punch that was the twist. Honestly, I expected a bigger focus on the label conflict, bc that legit tied up a lot of people + money for a lot of years, so much energy + money wasted. In the end, Todd prob decided it was pointless confusing BS & just stuffed it into one line & stayed with a tighter narrative. Which was a good choice.
In the discontinued webcomic _Band_ by Mason Williams (of _1/0_ fame), there are a couple strips where the band tries to come up with a name for themselves, and that was one of the suggestions. I love that it turned out to be taken!
As an Out-And-Proud Gay man since 1994, on whose VERY closeted self this incredible song made SUCH an impression in 1984, THANK YOU SO MUCH for doing this fantastic video on Frankie Goes To Hollywood. 🏳️🌈 Major respect to you, Todd. 🙌🏻 THIS is why I watch you: You are a walking, talking, living, breathing music compendium who freely does everything and you do great videos.
Lemmy must have been the chillest dude who was cool with everyone. I've read music biographies talking about how in the early 80s, punks and metalheads hated each other, but both groups would go to Motorhead shows and be cool.
@@kidwaryodproduction And yet, he walked off Never Mind the Buzzcocks in the 90s. Sadly it was during reshoots so they cut it out of the episode. Unlike the amazing point years later when they needled Preston from indie band The Ordinary Boys to the point he stormed off and they replaced him with someone in the audience...
@@digitaljanus That's very true... and also true right up until he died too, I saw Motorhead a few times in the 00' and 10's and (in the UK anyway) it was a very diverse audience. I'm not a metalhead and never felt unwelcome. If you loved Motorhead it didn't matter what other music you were into or how you looked. ... I miss them so much.
I wonder how politics have been shaped by a huge chunk of gays ( who would have voted Democrat most likely) dying of aids. Did AIDS usher in a Trump era?
As an 80's teen who regularly just left MTV on as background, I still remember Two Tribes really well because there was a period where the video was in pretty heavy rotation on the channel. There are actually a fair number of songs from that era that I didn't find out until years later were not the big chart hits I thought they were because I and most of my friends knew them from MTV.
The Power Of Love is a gorgeous ballad, especially the extended 12” version, and nicely used in the recent film All Of Us Strangers as mentioned by others here. It’s also worth mentioning that the first FGTH cd was used by many electronics dealers to show off new equipment in showrooms in the mid-80s. It’s that well recorded and mixed. It’s worth a listen as a whole.
A brief aside about Bruce Springsteen, as he is mentioned in the video. You might be surprised how much queer people connect with Springsteen’s music and not just songs like “Backstreets” or “The Promised Land” that lend themselves to obvious queer readings. The consistent themes of being an outsider longing for escape from suppressive forces (both internal and external) and hiding one’s true self is pretty much the story of any queer who lived in a place where they had to hide their identity, lest they face ridicule or something far worse. So, the cover of “Born to Run” by the obviously gay duo here is more on point than you’d expect. Source: grew up a queer kid in a small rural town
Oh yeah, all my queer mutuals on tumblr are crazy for Springsteen. And if their posts are to be believed, he acknowledged his appeal to lgbt fans even back then
"Dancing in the Dark" contains the lines "I check my look in the mirror, Wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face Man, I ain't gettin' nowhere I'm just livin' in a dump like this There's somethin' happenin' somewhere Baby, I just know that there is" which really resonated with me years ago, back before I realized I was transgender.
I definitely feel like we could get a OHW on t.A.T.u. one day, as ATTSS was their only Top 40 hit in 2003. They were a much bigger deal in Europe, and they even represented Russia in Eurovision in 2003. They were also a bit of a controversial act at that time too for how they were marketed.
@@defeatstatistics7413 Probably not. But I can definitely see Todd talking about the queerbait, although one of the members, Julia Volkova did come out as Bi. Unfortunately, they infamously said something that was homophobic towards gay males a few years back.
12:07 oh god this is so specifically made in late 1984, because the USSR is represented by one of those guys who were so sick and old, they died after a year of taking power, and now nobody even knows what their names were
Honestly, for any metal fans, Lemmy being in a video for this song isn't *that* surprising. Dude was a consummate "live and let live" type; it's a huge reason why he was so beloved.
One thing Todd didn't mention in his fine video is that "Relax" took almost a year to become a hit in the USA. It was first released with a shorter mix in March 1984; it got only to #67 the first time. After "Two Tribes" almost made the top 40 after that, Island Records re-released "Relax" with a longer mix. It debuted right after the first of the year in 1985, and only on this second chart run did it finally make the top 10. In all, in the USA, "Relax" had two different mixes, two different picture sleeves (or no picture sleeve, the most common 45 rpm variant) and even two different Island label designs.
Yeah, I had a pretty steady MTV diet, and the laser version of the video is the one that stuck in my memory. But when I went back to the original version, it was familiar. I am now realizing my memory latched on to my confusion, then anger when I saw the video had changed. It made the legend of “the dirty version” more fun.
Big in Japan was a building block band that not only started Holly Johnson's music career but also the guitarist Bill Drummond (KLF), fellow guitarist Ian Broudie (Lightning Seeds), and drummer Peter "Budgie" Clarke (Siouxsie and the Banshees).
Big In Japan are definitely one of those bands you find out about as a budding British music nerd like ‘I’ll save that for later’. Am I right in thinking Ian McCollough also had some involvement?
It's funny how Relax was banned by the BBC for its risque lyrics yet the Rolling Stones put out a song a few years earlier with a similar line ("You make a dead man c**") and not only it wasn't banned, it became one of their biggest hits. Still, while they never had the longevity of Duran Duran, the devoted fanbase of Depeche Mode or even the modest US success of the Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes to Hollywood has earned its place as one of the most important bands of 1980's.
@@IsaacIsaacIsaacson Or it could be the fact that the Stones have it in the lyrics once at the end, which the radio stations can easily cut, while Relax has it or references to 'coming' about 12 times, at least once in each verse and chorus.
The timing could not have been more perfect. I just went on a Beatles tour in Liverpool, and the guide was Holly Johnson's brother. Also, Blur's popularity on American alternative stations throughout the '90s effectively erases their one hit wonder status over here too.
Much Music in Canada plugged Parklife and Great Escape pretty hard. I liked their stuff better than Oasis at the time, now I actually like both. Now that I'm not bombarded by Oasis' music it's a bit easier to listen to it.
@@Belgand “There’s No Other Way” and “Girls & Boys” were both top 5 alternative hits, so I assume the majority of alternative stations played them, except those that were averse to the whole Britpop scene.
Absolutely, positively one of my favorite albums of all time. I loved it from start to finish 40 years ago. I love it just the same now. It still sounds completely bonkers in all the right ways, thanks to the mighty Trevor Horn.
@@dorientjewoller113 saw all of us strangers a few days ago and when I said Frankie in the title I kinda thought it was gonna be TPOL, but Idk if the movie has caused any resurgence in popularity of Frankie or the song
Between FGTH’s “Two Tribes” and Flock of Seagulls’ “Space Age Love Song,” Todd has a habit of surprisingly loving Liverpudlian bands’ lesser-known failed second singles.
Are you autistic or something? "two tribes" was #1 in half the world and in the UK it was #1 for 9 weeks!!! one of the best-selling songs of the entire decade.
@@Jabbersac In fact, it was a worldwide success. I don't understand why this guy calls them one hit wonders haha, they are a very famous group with many famous songs.
The brilliance of The Power of Love is that it is technically a Christmas song - meaning people can play it and still feel festive (not to mention getting that lucrative December radio play) - but it doesn't sound like a Christmas song - meaning that everyone who is getting tired of the same old Christmas records can listen to something a bit different.
Three big pop hits that hold a special place in my heart for simply existing: -This one (points for being so over-the-top and maximalist yet is still titled "Relax") - Sisqó's "Thong Song" And, um..... -Crazy Town's "Butterfly"
I mean, yeah. No arguments,you got it. The corresponding rock songs, for me, a 54-year-old, are: Lady by Styx The Final Countdown by Europe In the End by Linkin Park
Welcome to the Pleasuredome is a monster of a song. It incorporates Pink Floyd-like passages (with a direct nod to Welcome to the Machine), an insane bassline by Trevor Horn, and such maximalist production that you can't help but marvel. Imo, one of the most underrated songs of the 80s.
The excellent album "Fabrique" (1982), by the horribly underrated Fashion, almost seems to foreshadow the sound and style of Frankie as of the WTTP album.
Soooooo Happy that Todd came on my feed again!! And he is featuring the 80s. Many thanks sir. keep it up!? I was 11 in 84 and I first vocalized that I was gay. Frankie was part of the zeitgeist even in Marlborough, Massachusetts. I didn't have cable, but my buddy from England showed me the back of Frankie's (Double )Premiere album, which features a Giant Assssss with people underneath. (Like Kandor.) --hence the title "Welcome to the Pleasure DOME". I remember this much. As a virgin, who did not even know how to masturbate, I did not understand any of Frankie's imagery, But I eagerly awaited my future ! ! !
It’s worth listening to the full, album version of “Welcome to the Pleasuredome.” A sprawling, 13-minute quasi-prog epic, such a bizarre and fascinating song. Trevor’s production makes it really immersive, but of course Holly makes it a force to reckon with. I found it randomly as a teenager and it blew my mind
This video made me listen to tracks from the album, I came away thinking this is what Queen's Hot Space or Freddie's first solo album should have been like.
The climactic YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH with the backing vocalists and that massive bass note is one of the few moments in all of music that gives me chills every single time I hear it. And I don't care who is around, I will always go "Woooooo!" along with Holly right after.
I went on a Beatles tour in Liverpool about a decade ago (one of the most wonderfully touristy experiences of my life) and the tour guide's brother was one of the members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, no idea which one unfortunately. We were all very surprised to be welcomed to the tour by this song.
Lemmy being in the Relax video is fitting because theres a UA-cam song mashup of Relax and Motorhead's OVERKILL... and the two songs fit together perfectly.
@SneedyKetler I posted the link earlier but it appears to have been deleted. The video title is Frankie Goes to Hollywood vs Motörhead :: mashup by MadMixMustang
Every once in a while, Todd does an episode on a song that many, many people have requested for years on end. This is one of those times *So I swear to God if Steal My Sunshine’s day does not come by 2026-*
I'm still waiting for his takes on Living Colour's "Cult of Personality", Fishbone's "Sunless Saturday", Chris de Burge's "A Spaceman Came Travelling", and whatever was The Sisters of Mercy's biggest hit
Trevor Horn was just absolutely unstoppable in the late 70s into early 80s. He just kept putting out era-defining masterpiece after masterpiece. This song and the album it comes from is really as much a Trevor Horn work as it is a Frankie Goes to Hollywood one with how much of his distinctive sonic hallmarks it carries. The strong use of guitar string harmonics in particular reminds me a lot of ABC's _The Lexicon of Love_ which he had produced two years earlier.
@@KMan6041 I Agreed. Their second album "Beauty Stab" also easily fit in TrainWreckords. (180 turned of direction from New Wave to Art-Rock killing their momentum completely, But it have a lot of good and interesting song like "Bite The Hand" and "King Money")
Horn even fronted Yes (yup, _that_ Yes) for one album, _Drama_ which is actually... pretty decent. He then went on to produce Yes's biggest-selling album _90125_ just a year before "Relax".
"Relax", "Two Tribes", "Welcome to the pleasuredome"... that entire album is a masterpiece from start to finish. And they had some of the best remixes of their songs ever.
Having bill drummond (ex big in japan, later the KLF) as your contact at the label helped greatly with things, Holly said how bill helped them greatly as he let them do what they want and not tone things down. Considering what Bill did later in his career, im not surprised.
@@neesi1570 He could do one on the shamen however considering "move any mountain" was their only big hit in the US. And they were bills mates from scotland!
Frankie went on tour in the US in late 1984 at the height of their success, playing to smallish venues. I sneaked off to Denver to see them at the Rainbow, which gave me intense bragging rights to my cousins in the UK (for about six months, anyway). A curious decision, because at the time they could have filled arenas in Britain. Also, the B-side to "Two Tribes" was a cover of the Temptations/Alvin Starr song "War" - which also received massive UK airplay despite not being a single or having a video. It probably helped keep "Two Tribes" at #1 for so long.
I saw Oasis on their second American tour in early 1995; there were maybe 500 people in the venue. I knew a couple of Brits at college a year or two later that were quite jealous when I mentioned that.
I love the story that the song that replaces Relax on the German singles chart at #1 was Big In Japan and it was actually inspired by the name of Johnson's old band.
Really love the music from Frankie Goes to Hollywood. They're underrated here in America! Also, I love seeing those stylized title cards themed to the subject (Before the hit, The big hit, etc.) I hope to see that more often!
@@JoGrant-dq8ob As an Italian I understand why Eiffel 65 are OHW to everyone else, but in my country one of the members is to this day one of the most famous DJs and electronic musicians of all time, and whenever they hold reunion concerts tickets sell out within a minute
I didn't know they celebrated Mardi Gras in Australia, I always thought that was strictly a New Orleans thing. I mean I know they do something similar in Brazil except they call it Carnival (pronounced with extra emphasis on the L for some reason)
So Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia initially started as a protest in 1978 against the criminalisation of homosexuality in New South Wales, the state Sydney is in. Overtime, it’s become an LGBT+ pride festival in Sydney every late February/start of March
"Happy Hi" and (especially) "Black Night White Light" are great deep tracks. And of course there is the 13 minute title track of the album which has - get this - an acoustic guitar piece from Yes' Steve Howe.
The Power of Love is also a christmas classic in Germany. I love that song and it's probably the only song that I'm looking forward to being on the radio every christmas
Wow, this brings back memories. In the mid-80s, I was a line cook in Billings, MT where they only had top-40 radio stations. Does anyone here remember radio? F**k, I'm old. Anyhoo, Relax was played in heavy rotation and the MTV video was great. We'd crank it up and just enjoy the musical spectral that it was. Yeah, the sound was awesome and the lyrics were edgy at the time. I thought it was amazing and I thank you for reminding me of a simpler time in my life. Cheers!
To be honest - FGtH weren’t a one-hit wonder per day in the UK. It’s more accurate to say they were a one-album wonder because of how successful Welcome to the Pleasuredome was in the UK in 1984-85.
Relax was the shiny object on what was a pretty cohesive double album that seemed to take you on a journey even as it dropped in old covers like The way to San Jose. If you’re still into eighties pop, it’s an ambitious album worth discovering.
I think this is the first One Hit Wonder segments that didn't rip apart the band and their music in some way. This was more than totally positive - it was "Hey, go listen to their stuff." BTW, there are videos on UA-cam with the producers and sound engineers going over how they built Relax, and how it had no real input from the band other than the basic framework and vocals. From the ground up it was completely synthesizers programmed and sequenced without the band even being there. Horn told the truth that he didn't do it, but he hired the team that did, and instructed them on what he wanted.
Trevor Horn and Lol Creme's supergroup The Producers are worth checking out. Was hilarious to hear Trevor talking about no bass guitar here then see him kill the hell out of a bass on an acoustic Two Tribes...
@@GGCrono The Yello episode was also pretty reverent towards the band; hell, it got me to check out their full catalog. Got three of their albums in my CD collection so far (You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess, Flag, and Zebra) and all of them are full of gems.
I remember him speaking pretty highly of Midnight Oil, as well as Thomas Dolby, though with T.D. it was more about his career outside of music. Todd, even said something like, "I WISH I had Thomas Dolby's career!"
These one hit wonderlands make me wonder what on earth christmas even sounds like in America. If I'm not hearing "The Power of Love" and "Don't let the bells end" by the Darkness several times an hour, it's not Christmas.
From what I can tell, the US is still mostly stuck in the 40s and 50s for their Christmas songs. Stuff like 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas', 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' and 'Jingle Bell Rock'.
@@JorWat25 We have those for sure, but there's newer stuff too. And by "newer" I mean the '80s-'90s, like "All I want for Christmas is Youuuuu," "Last Christmas I gave you my heart" and of course "Simply Havin' a Wonderful Christmastime."
@@JorWat25The biggest Christmas hit in the US as far as I’m concerned is Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is You” which is a pop/RnB crossover hit from the late 90s/early 2000s. Then there’s a mix of 80s songs, the 40s and 50s stuff, and then covers and remixes of it all by new artists. Wham is also a staple on Christmas.
Given that The Power of Love mentions Penelope Pitstop's nemesis The Hooded Claw, it's probably fair to surmise it was at least partially tongue in cheek. Great video btw
the power of love is amazing. it had a resurgence in the early 2010s in the UK when a singer called gabrielle aplin sang a cover of it. felt like it reintroduced that song to a whole new generation
@@Corrupted-file I remember an old Beavis and Butthead episode where they were watching a video where Lemmy made a guest appearance, and one of them said something like, "He's Lemmy. He can show up in whatever video he wants."
The original official merchandise is "Frankie say relax". There were a lot of unofficial copies that said "says". There were other official T shirts available at the same time, I had one that said "Frankie say arm the unemployed". I sold them on Ebay a few years ago, as they seemed to have shrunk since I wore them in 1984 as an 18 year old...
Here in Germany Relax was the theme song of a TV programm for teens called Reläxx. And yes they just agged the x and the ä because it was the 90ies. It was always on after the series I watched so kid me heard this song 100 times while my mum sat next to me having flashbacks to that music video.
Power of Love is my parents' wedding song, apparently it played on the radio during their first date. Been a Frankie Goes to Hollywood enjoyer since early age. Loved this look into their careers!
I had a professor who said her and her friends back in the ‘80s didn’t think Boy George was gay. They just thought he was British. Her exact words.
Reminds me of:
That is one crazy getup, fella Are you with the show?
- No, I'm English, actually.
(Austin Powers)
Is He Gay Or European Flashbacks
“I feel like I’m trapped in Boy George’s pants”
-Gex
This comment is one of the best things I've read.
I got an idea for another episode of One Hit Wonderland:Break My Stride by Mathew Wilder from 1983. Imagine it going like this
DID HE EVER DO ANYTHING ELSE?
Todd:Oh, he did do something fantastic about 15 years later.
Disney executive:Alright, Mathew. We need you to write and produce some songs for this animated movie called Mulan. It doesn’t have to be too deep or too epic. It’s just about this Chinese girl who dresses up as a guy and goes off to war in order to save her sick father, okay?
Mathew Wilder:Okay, got it.
Disney executive:Great. Let me know how it goes.
(Mathew Wilder writes Reflection and I’ll Make A Man Out Of You and it turns out to be deep and epic)
Any comments?
Limiting yourself to a single Zoolander reference showed a great deal of restraint, I am impressed.
Like, no mention of Mugatu inventing the Piano-Key Necktie?
...... but why male models?
@@IsiahTomasApparently Ben Stiller forgot the line he was supposed to say and instead ad libbed that absolute gem. “We literally just went over that.”
@@louisduarte8763 Hansel’s so hot right now
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
I respect Todd's acknowledgement that calling Blur a one hit wonder is basically just a declaration of war
The US Pop chart mattered way too much before other metrics were adopted as legitimate ranking methods. I wished the UK charts mattered more in the US in the '80s, but by the 2000s there was no excuse for American charts to downgrade such a successful band into such status.
Perhaps there are foreign language critics that treat some foreign bands the same way in their country, but most of us would never know.
And it's not like Blur was unpopular in America either. Their self-titled record was huge over here and Song 2 got MASSIVE radio play. They just weren't nearly as big as they were in Britain, where they were up there with juggernauts like Oasis as far as sales success.
@@Cooe.Really? Call me an oblivious outsider cause I'm Canadian, but according to the BPI, Blur peaked at 4x Platinum while Oasis more than quadrupled that figure. Oasis' third most successful album, which Todd covered as a Trainwreckord, received two more platinum certifications than Blur's highest-selling album. Is there something I'm missing?
@@StormyKopaAMVs Is it overall? The competition took place at specific moment in time. Oasis won (not overhealmingly but still). Then afterwards Blur was on hiatus. The frontman of Blur got high/drunk with roommate and as a joke made virtual band. How many platinums Gorillaz has?
@@StormyKopaAMVs The British press made a lot of hay out of an imagined rivalry between the two bands. That's why they tend to get mentioned in the same breath as though they were equally successful.
To quote Butthead of Beavis and Butthead fame. "He's Lemmy. He can walk into any damn video he wants!"
Lemmy was always showing up in music videos in the 80s
I don't know if you've seen, but the British TV show the young ones has a live musical segment with motorhead, it's great lol
'Relax' walked to 'Unholy' could stumble
I think it’s so funny how the most “controversial” music and musicians of the late 2010s and this decade are such weak sauce when compared to the trailblazers in the late 70s and 80s. People have no concept of actual transgressive art anymore and “Unholy” is a perfect example as the artists (a non-binary and trans musician) cook up the most inoffensive shite masquerading as edgy. Compare it to the fallout when Prince sang about how he knew a girl named Nikki for example, no juice at all
Unholy is honestly better than people give it credit for, it’s too short for its own good though.
@@SawdustMusic-rd8mj idk I think it anticlimactic given the subject matter.
It's barely a real song compositionally speaking. Wouldn't have hurt to at least add 20 seconds.
@@SawdustMusic-rd8mjI gotta admit I really like Unholy. The lyrics are pretty bad but musically it’s great
"They played their fourth biggest hit and walked off the stage"
Ah, the Blues Brothers maneuver.
Granted, Welcome To The Pleasuredome is 14 fucking minutes long (14 amazing minutes, but still).
The absolute funniest thing a band could ever do after 35 years away from pop culture.
Good thing it's their best song (in my opinion)
@Kylora2112 Don't forget that there is a 16 MINUTES version of Relax
I was literally in Liverpool for Eurovision and I didn't know this even happened until this video. Incredible.
I’m Irish and I live pretty near an Indian restaurant and cinema, whenever there’s an Indian film showing they sell an bundle offer called ‘Paddy Goes To Bollywood’ that includes a cinema ticket and a curry dinner.
So far as I’m concerned that’s their legacy
For additional context, ‘meal and a movie’ deals are pretty common for mid priced restaurants near cinemas in Ireland
I want someone to bring this concept to America.
Ooo I love it!
I’m very envious! What a great idea
You can eat curry at a cinema?
Is it good curry?
"We're very busy splitting up at the moment" has just become one of my favourite interview answers.
Fun fact, the CD total length was 70:09 (according to my Sony Discman) - which is 69 minutes and 69 seconds 🤔
So THAT'S why they cut out the "In Heaven, everything is fine" part of "Relax", now everything makes sense.
Noice
Noice
420 likes on this comment too nice
Nice
I remember the announcement when Holly said he had AIDS, but then I never heard of him again. In 1993, the year of the film "Philadelphia," "I have AIDS!" was kind of your "Last Words." I'm super-glad to know he's one of the survivors and that's he's at peace with his creative drive.
It has never been a terminal disease, but don´t tell Africa, I guess?
@@ionlawrence4401 in the 80s and early 90s, it very much was a terminal disease for many if not most of the people who caught it. Holly and others like Magic Johnson only survived because they got access to the effective ARV drugs right after they became available - without that (expensive) medication HIV is absolutely a death sentence.
But I think you know that, everyone who knows anything about HIV/AIDS knows that, so why are you playing dumb?
@@ionlawrence4401but everybody thought it was & it was so taboo that a lot of people couldn’t get the treatment they needed
@@ionlawrence4401I wonder if maybe, just maybe, the socioeconomic conditions caused by imperialism and neocolonialism has made it difficult to treat the disease over there.
between Frankie and Pet Shop Boys, love that Britain had more than one gay pop star that looked like an accountant.
I am screaming, you're so right.
Points to The Communards/Erasure
@@kumachan9311 Andy Bell dressed pretty gay, TBH - I never got accountant vibes off him.
+ a gay metal song that wore gay leather on stage and nobody realized until he said so in the 1990s aka ROB MOTHERFUCKIN HALFORD 🤟
@bobross4449 It seemed pretty obvious to us in the UK that Rob Halford was gay.
...just like Freddie Mercury.
My dad got to see these guys in concert up close.
REAL up close. He told me he kept trying to touch one of their guitars while they were playing (he was high), and the guitarist kept going "no no nooo" in a playful tone and inching it away
I'm always love Brian Nash (their guitarist) character. His solo music (as Nasher) was very good.
Dad had a fun night *wink wink*
Donna "wait you mean the actual guitar"
So uh... your dad sounds open minded 🙃
That's a great story, and a really cool way to find out that the postman is your dad
Quick history note: the guy fighting with Reagan is Konstantin Chernenko, the Soviet leader right before Gorbachev. He basically was in charge just long enough to get portrayed in this video.
That's the most fun kind of being dated: when it's so of a specific moment that you can pinpoint the exact moment it was made. Like carbon dating for culture!
Yeah, I mean Andropov didn't last too long but Chernenko you blinked and missed him.
The Liz Truss of Russia
@@maxresdefault_ At first I read Liz Truss as Liz Phair 😅
"Funstyle Goes to the Hollywood"
dead in Days.
An older guy at work told me a story about how he was in a car crash and got flipped on his roof. And Relax was playing right in that moment
+
He relaxed too much while driving! :(
It's honestly extremely good advice if you're in the midst of a vehicular accident. Drunk drivers' survival rates are higher on account of how relaxed they are, vs. sober people who tend to tense up. Tension kills, folks. Frankie say relax!
Pretty sure that was my dad
I love the fact that after playing an interview where this man said "it's about buggery, relax and it won't hurt", Todd follows up a minute later with the BBC had to back down
"This man" is Boy George
@@deniseb.4656convicted kidnapper Boy George.
@@deniseb.4656 Yeah, I'm surprised he wasn't recognised. He doesn't exactly melt with the crowd when in full makeup.
In 1987 in the communist Czechoslovakia, there was a movie called Bony a klid (a wordplay on Bonnie and Clyde, it's hard to explain). The filmmakers asked Frankie Goes to Hollywood if they could give them two songs - Relax and Power of Love. The band was generous enough to give them both songs for 1 Czk, basically for free. And the filmmakers surely used it - Relax plays in the movie roughly 40 times (not kidding). At that time, it was unheard of to have western music played in the Czechoslovak movie. The movie was banned by censors at first, but became hugely popular on the VHS black market, and the presence of Frankie's music was one of the main reasons why, hence the commies gave up and allowed it to play in the theatres. Long live Frankie Goes to Hollywood!
Having a currency called "Czk" is probably the most eastern European thing I have ever heard of.
@@sandequation2653 in what way? its just shortening for "ceska koruna" aka czech crown? how is that different from literally any other currency name
the eastern bloc looooved their British post punk and new wave
Btw bony were 'points' that allowed you to buy things imported from the west (like denim jeans), people sold them on black market. Klid is basically personal peace. It can also mean 'chill' if you say it to someone. Not sure which meaning is relevant to the movie since I have never actually watched it lol.
Not CZK but KCS :-) Koruna Ceskoslovenska. And yes, Bony a Klid was a pretty good movie, it's been a while since I've seen it, I wonder if it can be streamed somewhere
Hearing holly is still alive is the best news ever. I was getting sad think about the AIDS crisis. Glad we didn’t lose him to it ❤
I remember Paul Rutherford partner also passed away from AIDS during his solo career ("Oh World" album) Fortunately Paul didn't have AIDS, Still alive and well
Oh World also very good album.
I heard “gay in the 80s” at the start, and I dreaded the news for 15 minutes. Thank goodness he’s okay
@@kidwaryodproductionA certain douchebag would insist he was "one of the boring ones".
Yeah,, as a fan of The Nylons (also a potential one-hit-wonderland topic), you could definitely end up worse.
But one thing I feel sad in FGTH universe/related was Dan Hartman passing away from AIDS in 1994. He produced and co-written some of Holly Johnson first two solo albums.@@whoad8644
Big In Japan were one of those weird "reverse supergroups" where the band wasn't successful at all but the members went on to bigger and better things. Besides Holly you had Budgie who was in The Slits and Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bill Drummond of the KLF, Dave Balfe of The Teardrop Explodes (also founded Food Records who signed Blur) and Ian Broudie of The Lightning Seeds. Interesting little footnote in music history.
Holy shit, like the Mynah Birds.
Paul Rutherford, the dancer in the band worked in Liverpools probe record shop at the same time as Pete Burns from Dead or Alive in the late 1970's to the early 1980's.
Both of the bands were the last of their generation to make it famous. The teardrop explodes, echo and the bunnymen, OMD etc preceding them
@@jazztheglass6139wow....haven't thought about Probe records for years!
Used to get all my records from Skeleton records in Birkenhead and Probe in liverpool. At the time it was the only place you could buy Viz magazine when it was just a self printed black and white fanzine with limited numbers. You had to know what day they got delivered or they would sell out with no more coming...and you had to wait till the next edition...and hope one of your mates at school had managed to get a copy to keep up with the adventures of Buster Gonad and His Unfeasibly Large Testicles 😂😂😂
Courtney love hung around that lot in the early 80s as well weirdly enough
Side note: David Balfe also inspired Blur's big hit "Country House" after he tried to quit the music industry due to stress and live out in the countryside for a bit. Lasted about two years before he took an exec position at Columbia Records.
My sister had a FGTH T-shirt and we were bouncing down the main drag in Rochester, Minnesota - in the 80s, we stood out with her t shirt and me head to foot in leather. A drop dead gorgeous guy ran up and begged info where to get the t - my sister pulled it up and off, handed it to the kid and i gave her my jacket to get home in. Different time, amazing music...oh, and I miss you, Bo. :)
Broadway is a much different strip these days…
*I* grew up in Rochester! It was a good time and place to grow up.
We were there for a year or so, I do recall the small town feel I noted in my comment. And yep, I would go back in a heartbeat. Peace -
Legend
My mom grew up in Rochester in the '80s! What a weird, small world
We Mexicans have the slang "Relaja la raja" (Relax the crack) which is about being motivated to take things easily and flowing with adversity...So it could be about both butt shenanigans and motivation somehow.
Yeah, I think the origin of that saying has something in common with "relaxing" though
The fact that they managed to get a song who's only real lyric is "Relax, don't do it, when you want to suck it, chew it, relax, don't do it, when you want to come" on the Radio during the Reagan and Thatcher administrations is quite frankly astonishing.
EDIT: I'm surprised you didn't mention the "when you want to suck it, chew it" line, aka, one of the most misheard lines in pop music history
Also impressive is it came out during the year of the PMRC hearings.
Yooo you're that guy with the community things about billboard songs
The 80s was certainly a time
A risque song? In the 80s? Unfathomable!
Hi Sean
Seeing Trevor Horn in here from your Buggles episode is like the One Hit Wonderland equivalent of seeing a cameo from an Avenger in another Avenger's solo movie.
@CapraObscura Is Trevor Horn the Neil Cicierega of the 80s?
@CapraObscura other perspective: Trevor Horn is Stan Lee
@@brendanb2982 Trevor Horn, if you know music, is more like Nicholas Cage. Prolific to the point of madness, and either a genius or a mad man.
as a british child Trevor Horn was literally the first music producer i knew the name of. the influence and reach he's had is incalculable.
I'll never get over his stint as the lead singer of Yes
“Welcome To The Pleasuredome” was instrumental in the creation of House music, as it was a staple in the little known nightclub in West Loop, Chicago called “The Warehouse” that’s now as protected as “The Stonewall Inn”.
Frankie’s Bizarre Adventure, where the mantle of Frankie is passed to Frankie Knuckles
That’s insane!
This just made my day. I remember when it was reported on MTV that Holly Johnson was “Struggling” with HIV. Being American, I did not hear much about it after that. I assumed he passed away. I am so thrilled to learn that he made it past the hump. It always broke my heart that so many people passed away before we were able to develop this incredible life saving medicine. So many were my fellow members if the queer community. Klaus Nomi and Baltimora are among them. Thank you, good sir. This made me so happy.
Fun Fact that in late 90s. There's american guys who named themselves "New Frankie Goes To Hollywood" and lead singer claimed that he was Holly Johnson brother. Turned out to be imposter.
Im so sorry you lost so many friends and had to deal with religious nutcases who hated you. Odd how the wrath of God was defeated by medicine.
Him and Magic Johnson made me feel a little less paranoid about HIV/AIDS, seeing how both of them got infected pretty early on and are still alive today.
Seriously. A close relative of mine contracted it after being assaulted, so to anyone who claims it’s purely a “gay” problem they brought on themselves, it’s NOT IN THE EFFING SLIGHTEST. It’s a societal problem that deserves respect and care and it’s a fight these people are forced to deal with forever
Past the hump?
As someone who was 10 in the UK when _Relax_ came out, I cannot now hear it without the phrase 'Relax, don't do it, pick your nose and chew it' running through my mind.
I was only 7 at the time, but I can 100% confirm those lyrics.
Old black nerd here…. 1985 high school graduate and Relax was a huge hit in America. Everyone had the t-shirt and it was on constant rotation on MTV. It played in every club.
I promise you any 80’s kid regardless of race knows Relax.
Black nerd here too. My third grade self was going “who didn’t know this song? It was danced to on Solid Gold, for heavens sake.”
…and yes, we all knew what that song was about, although I didn’t go”oh THAT kind of sex!” Until some years later. :)
Yup. Black guy here born in 81, I remember this song from my childhood.
Yeah. It was one of those songs you just heard EVERYWHERE! You couldn't escape it. Everyone heard it weather you wanted to or not. I'm just surprised it wasn't a #1 hit being played so much.
I mean how many other songs resulted in a shirt with a slogan? Sure bands and albums got t-shirts, but a t-shirt referencing an individual song is not common.
Public Enemy referenced Frankie when they named their album Welcome to the Terror Dome.
“Straight about not being straight” is my new favourite Todd line
"Todd, why do you do this show?"
"To make the British angry at me"
No, Todd. It's good to know that Dexy's Midnight Runners, Echo and the Bunnymen and Frankie Foes to Hollywood were all one hit wonders in the USA. Weird, but good.
Your video on "Come On Eileen" was especially great.
Come is dirty.... Gotta bleep ya....*BLEEP* on Elieen!
You can add Madness and Ian Dury and The Blockheads to that list.
Wait, Echo and the Bunnymen actually had a hit in the states?
@@henryglennon3864 ?! Noooo
Not even close!
Madness only ever had one #1, ""House of Fun".
Their first 3 singles were...
"The Prince" - #16
"One Step Beyond" - #7
"My Girl" - #3
Ian Dury and the Blockheads also only had one #1, "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick"
Although the Blockheads were involved, Ian Dury's first 3 singles were issued under just his name. They were...
"Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll"
"Sweet Gene Vincent"
"Billericay Dickie"
None of them reached the chart on first release.
Then his singles started to be credited to "Ian Dury and the Blockheads"
"What a Waste" - #9
"Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" - #1
"Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3" - #3
I think the third group to achieve three #1s with their first 3 singles was The Spice Girls...
"Wannabe"
"Say You'll Be There"
"2 Become 1"
In fact, they managed to get #1s with their next 3 singles too...
"Mama" / "Who Do You Think You Are?"
"Spice Up Your Life"
"Too Much"
...making their first 6 singles reaching #1, in total.
I guess others have done it since?
@@RocketboyX Oh, I just checked and you are right. They didn't (unless you count the Alternative Rock Chart!)
I just thought that because they were mentioned by Homer Simpson once!
Two Tribes 12" extended mix deserves a shout out! It starts out with a siren and samples the Protect and Survive PSA about what to do during a nuclear attack. Its dark, but such a jam.
I remember reading somewhere that the 12" version (officially known as the Annihilation Mix) is widely considered one of the best 12" remixes of the '80s, and having heard it myself I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. It doesn't just make the song longer, it emphatically expands upon the base version's themes, like seeing a short story get expanded into a full novel.
I like the Carnage mix better, but they are both absolute blinders. I flail about like a 90s eurodance "singer".
MINE IS THE LAST VOICE YOU WILL EVER HEAR. DON'T BE ALARMED.
"Two Tribes" was a much better,more intense track,with an absolutely unholy dense,heavy mix.
I’d argue that’s one of the top 10 12” of the 80’s. Right up there Perfect Kiss by New Order.
The 12" mix was one of the best dance mixes ever produced and I will die on this hill.
Welcome to the Pleasuredome (the song) was an extremely huge track in Chicago House music. DJ Ron Hardy started each set playing it, so it helped transform modern Dance music in a big way.
The fact that you say this series is to piss off British people; but as a British person I LOVE when you cover UK acts - your unique perspectives, the jokes, the out of context clips you use sometimes (like the Ant & Dec clip from Return of the Mac episode) are just peak - to me they’re my favourite eps 😂
Sides nobody pisses off the British more than themselves.
So they take that piss and have a good laugh about it.
Too bad you’re just some nonexistent NPC to him.
@@heethanthen somebody's gwumpy!
@@gangswagster Somebody’s ignorant
@@heethanthenHe was just saying he liked something, chief. He wasn't engaging in parasocial delusion á la "Swifties". Your reply is nonsensical.
"And the deciding factor for me was that, even if they're not really One-Hit Wonders... at the very least I can introduce people to Two Tribes."
I'll allow it.
Ok, if it mentions Two Tribes I won't get pissed off and I'll actually watch it.
That's what I came here to say
VICE CITY
Yeah. I wrote my "2 Tribes tho" comment at the start of the video & was pleased as punch that was the twist. Honestly, I expected a bigger focus on the label conflict, bc that legit tied up a lot of people + money for a lot of years, so much energy + money wasted. In the end, Todd prob decided it was pointless confusing BS & just stuffed it into one line & stayed with a tighter narrative. Which was a good choice.
I was wondering about this!
Big in Japan is probably one of the greatest band names I've ever heard of.
It's right up there with Barenaked Ladies
In the discontinued webcomic _Band_ by Mason Williams (of _1/0_ fame), there are a couple strips where the band tries to come up with a name for themselves, and that was one of the suggestions. I love that it turned out to be taken!
It's the name of a pretty good Alphaville tune, too
@@tomflorio3639 Tom Waits has a fun song called Big In Japan too
It's the name of a Tom Waits single too!
I was unaware of the lead singer's stage-name. So now, thanks to Todd, I will know them forevermore as Holly Goes to Frankiewood.
As an Out-And-Proud Gay man since 1994, on whose VERY closeted self this incredible song made SUCH an impression in 1984, THANK YOU SO MUCH for doing this fantastic video on Frankie Goes To Hollywood. 🏳️🌈 Major respect to you, Todd. 🙌🏻
THIS is why I watch you: You are a walking, talking, living, breathing music compendium who freely does everything and you do great videos.
I love the fact that even 80's Lemmy found his way into this band peripherally.
Lemmy must have been the chillest dude who was cool with everyone. I've read music biographies talking about how in the early 80s, punks and metalheads hated each other, but both groups would go to Motorhead shows and be cool.
On that time, He even participate in gameshow with Modern Romance, Dollar and Bucks Fizz 😆
@@kidwaryodproduction And yet, he walked off Never Mind the Buzzcocks in the 90s. Sadly it was during reshoots so they cut it out of the episode. Unlike the amazing point years later when they needled Preston from indie band The Ordinary Boys to the point he stormed off and they replaced him with someone in the audience...
I mean... I am pretty sure I remember hearing Lemmy was bi so, unless that was debunked... not THAT strange.
@@digitaljanus That's very true... and also true right up until he died too, I saw Motorhead a few times in the 00' and 10's and (in the UK anyway) it was a very diverse audience. I'm not a metalhead and never felt unwelcome. If you loved Motorhead it didn't matter what other music you were into or how you looked. ... I miss them so much.
The fucking wave of relief I felt when you revealed that Holly was still alive and flourishing cannot be overstated. Thank fuck.
Came here to say this too, so much relief!
It's so sad that with like 90% of gay artists and actors from the 80s, you expect their story to end with dying from AIDS somewhere in the 90s
Indeed. It feels like such a blessing when a queer artist from that period is still living, let alone after having been diagnosed HIV positive.
When the other members of Queen said Freddie would probably still be alive if he’d been diagnosed a couple of years later… they were probably right.
I wonder how politics have been shaped by a huge chunk of gays ( who would have voted Democrat most likely) dying of aids. Did AIDS usher in a Trump era?
So this is why my sister had a shirt that said “Frankie says relax” in middle school. In 2007…
Frankie say*** Relax
I thought it was because of Zoolander making the song a meme 😅
sounds like your sister was pretty cool in middleschool
It might be because of Friends! There's a pretty iconic picture of Ross wearing it
It's one of those shirts people wear without knowing where it originated.
As an 80's teen who regularly just left MTV on as background, I still remember Two Tribes really well because there was a period where the video was in pretty heavy rotation on the channel. There are actually a fair number of songs from that era that I didn't find out until years later were not the big chart hits I thought they were because I and most of my friends knew them from MTV.
"I Melt With You" by Modern English, that surprised me
@@fromthehaven94and the movie Valley Girl, the sing is practically a character. It’s interesting what’s still easily available and what’s less so.
The Power Of Love is a gorgeous ballad, especially the extended 12” version, and nicely used in the recent film All Of Us Strangers as mentioned by others here.
It’s also worth mentioning that the first FGTH cd was used by many electronics dealers to show off new equipment in showrooms in the mid-80s. It’s that well recorded and mixed. It’s worth a listen as a whole.
I sobbed to it in “All of Us Strangers.”
A brief aside about Bruce Springsteen, as he is mentioned in the video.
You might be surprised how much queer people connect with Springsteen’s music and not just songs like “Backstreets” or “The Promised Land” that lend themselves to obvious queer readings. The consistent themes of being an outsider longing for escape from suppressive forces (both internal and external) and hiding one’s true self is pretty much the story of any queer who lived in a place where they had to hide their identity, lest they face ridicule or something far worse.
So, the cover of “Born to Run” by the obviously gay duo here is more on point than you’d expect.
Source: grew up a queer kid in a small rural town
Oh yeah, all my queer mutuals on tumblr are crazy for Springsteen. And if their posts are to be believed, he acknowledged his appeal to lgbt fans even back then
Born to Run is the Smalltown Boy of New Jersey
"Streets of Philadelphia" from the film "Philadelphia" anyone?
"Dancing in the Dark" contains the lines
"I check my look in the mirror,
Wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man, I ain't gettin' nowhere
I'm just livin' in a dump like this
There's somethin' happenin' somewhere
Baby, I just know that there is"
which really resonated with me years ago, back before I realized I was transgender.
In my experience w my queer friends: transmascs go HARD for Bruce.
Finally, a new OHW entry in the Trevor Horn-verse! Perhaps we will get an All The Things She Said video to complete the trilogy?
Buffalo Gals maybe?
I definitely feel like we could get a OHW on t.A.T.u. one day, as ATTSS was their only Top 40 hit in 2003. They were a much bigger deal in Europe, and they even represented Russia in Eurovision in 2003. They were also a bit of a controversial act at that time too for how they were marketed.
@@Flamingbro69 there has never been a more queerbait band than t.A.T.u
@@defeatstatistics7413 Probably not. But I can definitely see Todd talking about the queerbait, although one of the members, Julia Volkova did come out as Bi. Unfortunately, they infamously said something that was homophobic towards gay males a few years back.
wait trevor horn produced that song??
12:07 oh god this is so specifically made in late 1984, because the USSR is represented by one of those guys who were so sick and old, they died after a year of taking power, and now nobody even knows what their names were
Yuri Andropov
@@johns3106 no this is Chernenko
@@redwaytoo Yep, Konstantin Chernenko. Was a short-time Premier like Yuri Andropov.
It was more to do with the fact he was a chain smoker since he was a kid
Ronald Reagan
Honestly, for any metal fans, Lemmy being in a video for this song isn't *that* surprising. Dude was a consummate "live and let live" type; it's a huge reason why he was so beloved.
One thing Todd didn't mention in his fine video is that "Relax" took almost a year to become a hit in the USA. It was first released with a shorter mix in March 1984; it got only to #67 the first time. After "Two Tribes" almost made the top 40 after that, Island Records re-released "Relax" with a longer mix. It debuted right after the first of the year in 1985, and only on this second chart run did it finally make the top 10. In all, in the USA, "Relax" had two different mixes, two different picture sleeves (or no picture sleeve, the most common 45 rpm variant) and even two different Island label designs.
Yeah, I had a pretty steady MTV diet, and the laser version of the video is the one that stuck in my memory. But when I went back to the original version, it was familiar. I am now realizing my memory latched on to my confusion, then anger when I saw the video had changed.
It made the legend of “the dirty version” more fun.
Big in Japan was a building block band that not only started Holly Johnson's music career but also the guitarist Bill Drummond (KLF), fellow guitarist Ian Broudie (Lightning Seeds), and drummer Peter "Budgie" Clarke (Siouxsie and the Banshees).
I remember Holly also released solo single on that time too, It was named "Yankee Rose" and "Hobo Joe"
Budgie also drummed on the Slits album "Cut".
Big In Japan are definitely one of those bands you find out about as a budding British music nerd like ‘I’ll save that for later’. Am I right in thinking Ian McCollough also had some involvement?
It's funny how Relax was banned by the BBC for its risque lyrics yet the Rolling Stones put out a song a few years earlier with a similar line ("You make a dead man c**") and not only it wasn't banned, it became one of their biggest hits.
Still, while they never had the longevity of Duran Duran, the devoted fanbase of Depeche Mode or even the modest US success of the Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes to Hollywood has earned its place as one of the most important bands of 1980's.
There is a very simple reason for that: One is by a straight musician, one is by a gay musician
@@IsaacIsaacIsaacson Or it could be the fact that the Stones have it in the lyrics once at the end, which the radio stations can easily cut, while Relax has it or references to 'coming' about 12 times, at least once in each verse and chorus.
Speaking of Pet Shop Boys, did a lot of British singers of the 80’s sport similar faces?
Holly resembles face wise Neil Tennant
Looks like not relaxing on the censors let it flourish.
@@ThomasmemoryscentralAs someone who recently watched West End Girls' music video, I kind of see it. But it's a different feeling.
The timing could not have been more perfect. I just went on a Beatles tour in Liverpool, and the guide was Holly Johnson's brother.
Also, Blur's popularity on American alternative stations throughout the '90s effectively erases their one hit wonder status over here too.
Much Music in Canada plugged Parklife and Great Escape pretty hard. I liked their stuff better than Oasis at the time, now I actually like both. Now that I'm not bombarded by Oasis' music it's a bit easier to listen to it.
It must depend on your local alt rock station because Blur wasn't on mine in the Midwest.
@@Belgand “There’s No Other Way” and “Girls & Boys” were both top 5 alternative hits, so I assume the majority of alternative stations played them, except those that were averse to the whole Britpop scene.
The magical mystery tour?
@@michaelthomas7481 Indeed.
Any band that throws out a full double album as their debut deserves more love. Especially something as insane as Welcome to the Pleasuredome.
Absolutely, positively one of my favorite albums of all time. I loved it from start to finish 40 years ago. I love it just the same now. It still sounds completely bonkers in all the right ways, thanks to the mighty Trevor Horn.
One of the greatest produced albums of all time, still sounds great
I used to put this album on and just dance my ass off - loved it. Always kinda wondered what happened to them, I just had the one album.
The first disc of Welcome To The Pleasuredome might just be some of the best synthpop known to man. Thanks Todd!
never really knew holly's story but i was absolutely delighted to hear that he's still alive and well, it actually put a smile on my face.
Yeah 'Two Tribes' was probably their best work, it still gives me goosebumps.
I was more excited to hear Todd talk about that than I was Relax.
The Power Of Love was a bigger hit then Relax.
@@dorientjewoller113 saw all of us strangers a few days ago and when I said Frankie in the title I kinda thought it was gonna be TPOL, but Idk if the movie has caused any resurgence in popularity of Frankie or the song
When it played during the climax of the film Doomsday, I fist-pumped in the theatre!
@@dorientjewoller113 and such a gorgeous vocal from Holly!
The piano intro you done did this time goes so much harder than the rest of 'em
Octaves!
Uh-huh-huh, you said "hard". 👱♂🙎♂
I’ve always been interested in Todd’s playing. Has he put out anything, even under a different alias?
As a Brit who immediately bristled seeing the video title, all I have to say for 0:30 is: well played.
Well, exactly. I came on here expressly for the purpose of venting my displeasure, and here I am, undercut.
Between FGTH’s “Two Tribes” and Flock of Seagulls’ “Space Age Love Song,” Todd has a habit of surprisingly loving Liverpudlian bands’ lesser-known failed second singles.
you just can't call "Two Tribes" a failed single when it also hit number 1 in the UK
Are you autistic or something? "two tribes" was #1 in half the world and in the UK it was #1 for 9 weeks!!! one of the best-selling songs of the entire decade.
@@Jabbersac In fact, it was a worldwide success. I don't understand why this guy calls them one hit wonders haha, they are a very famous group with many famous songs.
The brilliance of The Power of Love is that it is technically a Christmas song - meaning people can play it and still feel festive (not to mention getting that lucrative December radio play) - but it doesn't sound like a Christmas song - meaning that everyone who is getting tired of the same old Christmas records can listen to something a bit different.
Its funny how the uk has those, Stay Another Day by East 17 being another one!
The video is really cheap looking though. They should have hired Russell Mulcahy.
Stop the Cavalry was never meant to be a Christmas song, but that line about being home for Christmas made it so iirc
It sounds like a Christmas song lol
@@BaBaBaBennyI would also add The Pretenders 2000 Miles as it hardly mentions Christmas
Three big pop hits that hold a special place in my heart for simply existing:
-This one (points for being so over-the-top and maximalist yet is still titled "Relax")
- Sisqó's "Thong Song"
And, um.....
-Crazy Town's "Butterfly"
I hate that song for being such an earworm but that Sisqo song is another good OHW choice for Todd to cover. 👍
I am unashamed in my love for Butterfly
- Sugar
- Baby
I mean, yeah. No arguments,you got it. The corresponding rock songs, for me, a 54-year-old, are:
Lady by Styx
The Final Countdown by Europe
In the End by Linkin Park
Welcome to the Pleasuredome is a monster of a song. It incorporates Pink Floyd-like passages (with a direct nod to Welcome to the Machine), an insane bassline by Trevor Horn, and such maximalist production that you can't help but marvel. Imo, one of the most underrated songs of the 80s.
Welcome to the Pleasuredome is such an indulgent track, it just oozes with charm and character.
The excellent album "Fabrique" (1982), by the horribly underrated Fashion, almost seems to foreshadow the sound and style of Frankie as of the WTTP album.
Todd does not lie. During 84-85 Frankie were the biggest band in Britain, bigger than Wham or Duran Duran.
Soooooo Happy that Todd came on my feed again!!
And he is featuring the 80s. Many thanks sir. keep it up!?
I was 11 in 84 and I first vocalized that I was gay. Frankie was part of the zeitgeist even in Marlborough, Massachusetts. I didn't have cable, but my buddy from England showed me the back of Frankie's (Double )Premiere album, which features a Giant Assssss with people underneath. (Like Kandor.)
--hence the title "Welcome to the Pleasure DOME".
I remember this much. As a virgin, who did not even know how to masturbate, I did not understand any of Frankie's imagery,
But I eagerly awaited my future ! ! !
As a Brit living in the US, it's always cool to see what didn't make it across the Atlantic from my childhood.
Two Tribes slaps! One of my all time favorites!
It’s worth listening to the full, album version of “Welcome to the Pleasuredome.” A sprawling, 13-minute quasi-prog epic, such a bizarre and fascinating song. Trevor’s production makes it really immersive, but of course Holly makes it a force to reckon with. I found it randomly as a teenager and it blew my mind
This video made me listen to tracks from the album, I came away thinking this is what Queen's Hot Space or Freddie's first solo album should have been like.
Pleasuredome is incredible, I'm sad to see it didn't get much praise in this video...
I always listen to extended versions of songs and WttP is one of my favorites
The climactic YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH with the backing vocalists and that massive bass note is one of the few moments in all of music that gives me chills every single time I hear it. And I don't care who is around, I will always go "Woooooo!" along with Holly right after.
The extended mix of Welcome to the Pleasure dome is phenomenal on a good system. In fact most of their first album is just plain great engineering.
I went on a Beatles tour in Liverpool about a decade ago (one of the most wonderfully touristy experiences of my life) and the tour guide's brother was one of the members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, no idea which one unfortunately. We were all very surprised to be welcomed to the tour by this song.
It was Holly Johnson's brother Jay. I went on that same tour a few months ago.
Lemmy being in the Relax video is fitting because theres a UA-cam song mashup of Relax and Motorhead's OVERKILL... and the two songs fit together perfectly.
Well, I know what I'm watching after this 😄
@@LongLiveRockAnRollthrow us a link if y’all find it!
@SneedyKetler ua-cam.com/video/tg6Vv1ZwzQ0/v-deo.htmlsi=6O1vt2kg-dbhfT6p hopefully this works
@@SneedyKetler They might not be able to. UA-cam's garbage bots think links are spam so they delete those as soon as they get posted.
@SneedyKetler I posted the link earlier but it appears to have been deleted. The video title is Frankie Goes to Hollywood vs Motörhead :: mashup by MadMixMustang
Every once in a while, Todd does an episode on a song that many, many people have requested for years on end. This is one of those times
*So I swear to God if Steal My Sunshine’s day does not come by 2026-*
Or shit if he never do Vixen I would be pissed
I'm still waiting for his takes on Living Colour's "Cult of Personality", Fishbone's "Sunless Saturday", Chris de Burge's "A Spaceman Came Travelling", and whatever was The Sisters of Mercy's biggest hit
Were TSOM one hit wonders in america anyway?
@@louisduarte8763 A Spaceman Came Travelling? For real? That's the big American hit?! The Lady In Red is the absolute monster in the UK.
Trevor Horn was just absolutely unstoppable in the late 70s into early 80s. He just kept putting out era-defining masterpiece after masterpiece. This song and the album it comes from is really as much a Trevor Horn work as it is a Frankie Goes to Hollywood one with how much of his distinctive sonic hallmarks it carries. The strong use of guitar string harmonics in particular reminds me a lot of ABC's _The Lexicon of Love_ which he had produced two years earlier.
Fun Fact : ABC later produced some track in Paul Rutherford "Oh World" album 😁
Lexicon of Love is so good. It needs to be talked about as one of the best pop albums ever tbh
@@KMan6041 I Agreed. Their second album "Beauty Stab" also easily fit in TrainWreckords. (180 turned of direction from New Wave to Art-Rock killing their momentum completely, But it have a lot of good and interesting song like "Bite The Hand" and "King Money")
Horn even fronted Yes (yup, _that_ Yes) for one album, _Drama_ which is actually... pretty decent. He then went on to produce Yes's biggest-selling album _90125_ just a year before "Relax".
"One hit wonder!" I'm about to rage.
Then Todd does his intro.
👏Well played fella, well played👏
"Relax", "Two Tribes", "Welcome to the pleasuredome"... that entire album is a masterpiece from start to finish. And they had some of the best remixes of their songs ever.
Love the last side of the album. Krisco Kisses, Black Night White Light, Only Star in Heaven into Power of Love. Great album!
Having bill drummond (ex big in japan, later the KLF) as your contact at the label helped greatly with things, Holly said how bill helped them greatly as he let them do what they want and not tone things down. Considering what Bill did later in his career, im not surprised.
In a weird way, it's too bad the KLF isn't a one hit wonder. Todd could get a hell of an episode out of them.
@@neesi1570 He could do one on the shamen however considering "move any mountain" was their only big hit in the US. And they were bills mates from scotland!
I maintain that The KLF is probably the most interesting band there has been.
Frankie went on tour in the US in late 1984 at the height of their success, playing to smallish venues. I sneaked off to Denver to see them at the Rainbow, which gave me intense bragging rights to my cousins in the UK (for about six months, anyway). A curious decision, because at the time they could have filled arenas in Britain.
Also, the B-side to "Two Tribes" was a cover of the Temptations/Alvin Starr song "War" - which also received massive UK airplay despite not being a single or having a video. It probably helped keep "Two Tribes" at #1 for so long.
Two tribes stayed at no.1 for so long because they kept releasing new mixes/versions. There were 6 of them.
I saw Oasis on their second American tour in early 1995; there were maybe 500 people in the venue. I knew a couple of Brits at college a year or two later that were quite jealous when I mentioned that.
I love the story that the song that replaces Relax on the German singles chart at #1 was Big In Japan and it was actually inspired by the name of Johnson's old band.
The second I saw this video title I immediately thought, “wait, I would have expected this video to be about Two Tribes, not Relax.”
I was expecting Power of Love.
Really love the music from Frankie Goes to Hollywood. They're underrated here in America! Also, I love seeing those stylized title cards themed to the subject (Before the hit, The big hit, etc.) I hope to see that more often!
I’m glad Todd is committed to not covering Song 2 because I’m pretty sure if he called Blur a one hit wonder I’d actually lose my mind
As an Australian I lost my mind when he did a OHW on Midnight Oil! Those guys are a big deal here.
It's a shame because I kind of just want to hear him talk about Song 2, it's such a departure from their usual sound.
@@JoGrant-dq8ob As an Italian I understand why Eiffel 65 are OHW to everyone else, but in my country one of the members is to this day one of the most famous DJs and electronic musicians of all time, and whenever they hold reunion concerts tickets sell out within a minute
Todd’s highlighting of LGBT icons in music continues just in time for Sydney’s Mardi Gras next weekend.
I didn't know they celebrated Mardi Gras in Australia, I always thought that was strictly a New Orleans thing.
I mean I know they do something similar in Brazil except they call it Carnival (pronounced with extra emphasis on the L for some reason)
Whoa! Can you tell us more about Oz Mardi Gras? Is it like New Orleans or more like Mobile’s take on the holiday?
So Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia initially started as a protest in 1978 against the criminalisation of homosexuality in New South Wales, the state Sydney is in.
Overtime, it’s become an LGBT+ pride festival in Sydney every late February/start of March
I really enjoy the whole album including the cover songs. The uncensored video for “Relax” is eye popping.
Indeed and it's obviously the best version but I find myself really liking the bisexual energy the Body Double version has.
"Happy Hi" and (especially) "Black Night White Light" are great deep tracks. And of course there is the 13 minute title track of the album which has - get this - an acoustic guitar piece from Yes' Steve Howe.
The Power of Love is also a christmas classic in Germany. I love that song and it's probably the only song that I'm looking forward to being on the radio every christmas
Wow, this brings back memories. In the mid-80s, I was a line cook in Billings, MT where they only had top-40 radio stations. Does anyone here remember radio? F**k, I'm old. Anyhoo, Relax was played in heavy rotation and the MTV video was great. We'd crank it up and just enjoy the musical spectral that it was. Yeah, the sound was awesome and the lyrics were edgy at the time. I thought it was amazing and I thank you for reminding me of a simpler time in my life. Cheers!
GTA Vice City memories flooding back real hard when you played Two Tribes, god such a simpler times that was
To be honest - FGtH weren’t a one-hit wonder per day in the UK. It’s more accurate to say they were a one-album wonder because of how successful Welcome to the Pleasuredome was in the UK in 1984-85.
They weren’t a one hit wonder at all in the UK. They had three UK number ones. Plus two other top 5 hits.
They were one of the defining bands of the 80s in the UK. Todd covers it from the US perspective and I find that fun and different.
Wasn’t ‘The power of Love’ a hit in the States?That song is beautiful.
@@Bella-fz9fy mentioned in the video!
@Bella-fz9fy Briefly mentioned. The problem is one particular time travel movie has a song of the same name.
I love hearing Todd get so into this song that he has to belt it out at the beginning.
Relax was the shiny object on what was a pretty cohesive double album that seemed to take you on a journey even as it dropped in old covers like The way to San Jose. If you’re still into eighties pop, it’s an ambitious album worth discovering.
I would 100% unironically wear a “Frankie says Relax” tee today! 🤷🏼♀️🤣
I think this is the first One Hit Wonder segments that didn't rip apart the band and their music in some way. This was more than totally positive - it was "Hey, go listen to their stuff."
BTW, there are videos on UA-cam with the producers and sound engineers going over how they built Relax, and how it had no real input from the band other than the basic framework and vocals. From the ground up it was completely synthesizers programmed and sequenced without the band even being there. Horn told the truth that he didn't do it, but he hired the team that did, and instructed them on what he wanted.
Trevor Horn and Lol Creme's supergroup The Producers are worth checking out. Was hilarious to hear Trevor talking about no bass guitar here then see him kill the hell out of a bass on an acoustic Two Tribes...
There's definitely been others. Just off the top of my head, Your Woman.
Everything But The Girl was definitely the same. There's been a few others too but that one stands out.
@@GGCrono The Yello episode was also pretty reverent towards the band; hell, it got me to check out their full catalog. Got three of their albums in my CD collection so far (You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess, Flag, and Zebra) and all of them are full of gems.
I remember him speaking pretty highly of Midnight Oil, as well as Thomas Dolby, though with T.D. it was more about his career outside of music. Todd, even said something like, "I WISH I had Thomas Dolby's career!"
These one hit wonderlands make me wonder what on earth christmas even sounds like in America. If I'm not hearing "The Power of Love" and "Don't let the bells end" by the Darkness several times an hour, it's not Christmas.
From what I can tell, the US is still mostly stuck in the 40s and 50s for their Christmas songs. Stuff like 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas', 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree' and 'Jingle Bell Rock'.
@@JorWat25 We have those for sure, but there's newer stuff too. And by "newer" I mean the '80s-'90s, like "All I want for Christmas is Youuuuu," "Last Christmas I gave you my heart" and of course "Simply Havin' a Wonderful Christmastime."
@@patrickflanagan862 there’s also even more recent stuff from Kelly Clarkson and Ariana Grande
@@JorWat25The biggest Christmas hit in the US as far as I’m concerned is Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is You” which is a pop/RnB crossover hit from the late 90s/early 2000s. Then there’s a mix of 80s songs, the 40s and 50s stuff, and then covers and remixes of it all by new artists. Wham is also a staple on Christmas.
@@Eric_Hunt194 The "Irish jig" part with all the profanity doesn't play well over here.
Given that The Power of Love mentions Penelope Pitstop's nemesis The Hooded Claw, it's probably fair to surmise it was at least partially tongue in cheek. Great video btw
I was SHOCKED he didn’t mention it
Wait, THAT'S what the Hooded Claw is referincing?? I thought it was an artful description of an unknown sinister menace. That's so funny, omg.
Body Double is such a good movie, that’s one of my favorite film genres
I found the VHS hidden in my parents closet like it was a filthy porn. I watched it & didn't understand it at all lol
the power of love is amazing. it had a resurgence in the early 2010s in the UK when a singer called gabrielle aplin sang a cover of it. felt like it reintroduced that song to a whole new generation
Holy F’ing shiz…Lemy in the ‘Relax’ video is blowing my MF’ing mind.
Who knew, leather-appreciation is all the world needed to get along! 🤘🏼
Lemmy was also in the video for "I Wanna Be a Cowboy" by Boys Don't Cry, for which I presume Todd is working on a OHW episode.
@@zombiedodge1426
Just watched it; never knew Lemmy was makin’ the rounds, in 80’s music videos…love it. 🤘🏼
@@Corrupted-file I remember an old Beavis and Butthead episode where they were watching a video where Lemmy made a guest appearance, and one of them said something like, "He's Lemmy. He can show up in whatever video he wants."
@@bkgrila
😆 I can hear them saying it. 🤘🏼
On FGTH 1984 tour, Lemmy joined them on stage at the Hammersmith Odeon during Relax as well.
The Power of Love is pretty much the best ballad ever recorded.
It’s ok
Always been one of my favourites. The album is a masterpiece. The production is epic.
Frankie can be summed up: Trevor Horn, the studio equipment used in his studio AND all the re-mixes. Some of them are 20-30 min long.
One thing about 80s one hit wonders Is that even if you've never heard the song before, you've soooo totally heard it.
Two tribes is just amazing - as a kid I heard it when I was about 8 and I’d never heard anything so powerful it just totally seized me
0:54 ok but Todd actually can sing I love it!!
I'm Canadian but I spent the summer of 1984 in Liverpool, England. There were lineups around the corner at the record shops to buy this.
“Frankie Says Relax” is an all time great T-Shirt
Makes me think of Friends
The original official merchandise is "Frankie say relax". There were a lot of unofficial copies that said "says". There were other official T shirts available at the same time, I had one that said "Frankie say arm the unemployed". I sold them on Ebay a few years ago, as they seemed to have shrunk since I wore them in 1984 as an 18 year old...
Here in Germany Relax was the theme song of a TV programm for teens called Reläxx. And yes they just agged the x and the ä because it was the 90ies. It was always on after the series I watched so kid me heard this song 100 times while my mum sat next to me having flashbacks to that music video.
Power of Love is my parents' wedding song, apparently it played on the radio during their first date. Been a Frankie Goes to Hollywood enjoyer since early age. Loved this look into their careers!