Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Frankie Say Greatest
Frankie Goes To Hollywood: Frankie Say Greatest
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By Adam Leveridge
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Tuesday, 03, Nov 2009 11:39
Universal, out now.
In a nutshell...
Kick back, Relax, and enjoy.
What's it all about?
It seems impossible to turn on the TV or radio these days without another epic band reforming. People say we've got Take That to thank, but I'm fairly sure the Who and Pink Floyd came first. Maybe Pink Floyd never went away - it's hard to tell. In this case, it's not so much a reformation, just a reissue. Compare that with Spandau Ballet's recent reworking of classics like Gold, though, and there's little cause for complaint.
While Spandau's new work is pleasing, it does bring to mind the old adage about things that ain't broke, and don't need fixing. With Frankie Say Greatest, nothing is fixed, it's all exactly as it was first time around - frenetic, frenzied and overlaid with Holly Johnson's unmistakeable, ageless (and timeless) vocals. A second disc of remixes adds an extra sweetener to take the collection beyond the territory of a mere Greatest Hits - although, as the title suggests, that is fundamentally what this is.
Who's it by
Do you really not know? Two Tribes? Relax? No? Right then. Frankie Goes To Hollywood was a 1980s five-piece with two lead vocalists, the most recognisable of whom is probably Holly Johnson. Johnson went on to have a solo career, although more recently he has turned his talents to visual art, rather than music.
Relax is almost certainly their most notable track, although some would argue in favour of Two Tribes. Relax, however, showed the band three decades ahead of their time; just as the download charts these days see songs hover near the top of the charts for some time before making it big, Relax too was staking a claim to the lower part of the top ten until being banned by the BBC. That, of course, propelled it into infamy - and the rest is literally history.
As an example...
"Relax, don't do it/When you want to go to it/Relax, don't do it/When you want to come/Relax, don't do it/When you want to come/When you want to come." - Relax
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Alas, the material is old. Should a reunion follow, however, that could be a different story.
What the others say
"The seminal hits are still fun, funky and dance-floor friendly, and come complete with remixes from the likes of Chicane, Freddie Bastone and Scott Storch." - IndieLondon
"Johnson's two post-Frankie solo albums, Blast and Dreams That Money Can't Buy, have been deleted for the best part of a decade. When his record company told him about the release of Frankie Say Greatest, he said he would agree to talk about the record only in exchange for the reissue of the two solo records." - The Times
So is it any good?
Well sure - it's just as good as you'll remember. Depending on how much of a Frankie fan you are, that's either a great thing or a not-so-great thing. Personally, I love the 80s as much now as I did at the time, so any demonstration of their absolute awesomeness is always welcome. Frankie Goes To Hollywood is one of the few names that absolutely sums up the entire decade in four words, so this reissue is definitely no bad thing.
That being said, I was always more of a fan of Johnson's other work, particularly the epically incredible solo effort that is Americanos. As some of the interviews suggest, Frankie... was never his chance to produce anything totally true to himself, with general unrest from the band's producer Trevor Horn and, later, within the band itself, as the other members hoped to move towards a rock sound.
Anyway, that's something of an aside. Judging this album purely on its own merits, the plus points are everything you'd expect - the elements that made these songs successful first time around with the added bonus of nostalgia. Negatives include the fact that there's nothing particularly new and that, rather than filling that need, the remixes seem a little tacked on - particularly as they're not as good as the original tracks.
7/10
Bob Bardsley