ZTT Records, Out Now.
It is a disco at the dawn of the eighties. Pop, bombast and synths are swamping stereos and “Blue Monday” has already happened. GRID has been reclassified as AIDS – it’s ravages being made clear worldwide – while war, holding actions and terrorism is part of the worldwide language of engagement. Holly Johnson is wondering if we’re living in a land where sex and horror are the new gods? Posters on ever street corner tell you that “Frankie Say Relax.” People ask “How?”
I’m too young for all of this of course, but the background noise of tension, conflict, fear and paranoia scream from Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s early forays into the pop chart. For two summers, Frankie used pop-music to strategically assault middle England, corrupting their children, exposing their fantasies and making them dance. With “Relax”, “Two Tribes” and “The Power of Love” they formed a trinity of number ones that remain powerful, even though we’re twenty five years older. Frankie Say Greatest doesn’t stop there though, and that’s a shame.