Editing Frankie Goes to Hollywood (section)

=== 1983–1984: "Relax", "Two Tribes" and success ===
[[File:Trevor Horn (cropped2).jpg|thumb|249x249px|[[Trevor Horn]], pictured in 1984 wearing a Frankie Goes to Hollywood shirt, signed the band to ZTT and produced their first album.]]
In February 1983, Frankie Goes to Hollywood performed on the [[Channel 4]] show ''[[The Tube (1982 TV series)|The Tube]]'', dressed in [[Fetish fashion|fetish wear]]. That May, they became the first act signed by [[ZTT Records]], a new record label co-founded by the producer [[Trevor Horn]].<ref name="Lester-2014">{{Cite news |last=Lester |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Lester |date=2014-08-28 |title=Frankie Goes To Hollywood: 'No one could touch us – people were scared' |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/28/frankie-goes-to-hollywood-30-years-welcome-to-the-pleasuredome |access-date=2023-04-22 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name="Ward-1990" /> Horn admired the "dangerous" sexuality of their music.<ref name="Lester-2014" /> "[[Relax (song)|Relax]]" was selected as their first single. After recording several versions, Horn created a dramatically different arrangement without the band, using electronic instruments such as a drum machine and the [[Fairlight CMI|Fairlight]], an early [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] synthesiser.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Ben |date=2021-08-02 |title=How we made: Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/aug/02/how-we-made-relax-by-frankie-goes-to-hollywood-sex-mix-gay-clubs |access-date=2023-04-22 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

"Relax" was released in October 1983, backed by a music video set in an [[S&M]] club.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How '80s LGBTQ band Bronski Beat's haunting 'Smalltown Boy' made a difference: 'It was very bold' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/now/how-80-s-lgbtq-band-bronski-beats-smalltown-boy-made-a-difference-it-was-very-bold-183833092.html |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=www.yahoo.com |date=26 June 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Sound on Sound]]'' described it as a "[[hi-NRG]] brand of dance-synth-pop" that "broke new sonic ground, while epitomising '80s excess in all its garish, overblown glory".<ref name="Buskin-2008" /> Initial sales were slow, but rose after the band performed on the [[BBC]] series ''[[Top of the Pops]]'' the following January.<ref name="Lester-2014" /> Soon after, [[List of songs banned by the BBC|the BBC banned "Relax" from its broadcasts]], deeming it obscene. The ban created publicity, associating Frankie Goes to Hollywood with youth rebellion. Within two weeks, "Relax" reached number one on the [[UK singles chart]] and stayed there for four weeks, and the BBC was forced to reverse its ban.<ref name="BBCNewsMagazine">{{cite web |last=Duffy |first=Jonathan |date=14 January 2004 |title=Banned on the run |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3395823.stm |access-date=18 April 2014 |work=[[BBC News Magazine]]}}</ref> "Relax" won the [[1985 Brit Awards|1985 Brit Award]] for Best British Single.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.brits.co.uk/history/shows/1985 |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=BRIT Awards |language=en}}</ref>

The ZTT co-founder [[Paul Morley]] devised a promotional campaign involving "advertising-based slogans, playful propaganda and pseudo-philosophy".<ref name="Brown-1984"/> This included a line of T-shirts inspired by shirts created by [[Katharine Hamnett]], bearing slogans such as "Frankie say relax" and "Frankie say arm the unemployed".<ref name="Brown-1984"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sibbles |first=Emma |date=2009-06-18 |title=Get it off your chest |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jun/19/slogan-t-shirts-hamnett |access-date=2023-04-28 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Morley said he wanted to challenge the idea of music merchandise, asking: "Why did it have to have a face on it, couldn't it be a walking billboard?"<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 2010 |title=Paul Morley |url=https://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=1318 |journal=Creatie}}</ref> The shirts quickly became popular, and ''[[Music Week]]'' reported in July 1984 that they were outselling the singles in some stores.<ref name="Brown-1984" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=Terri |date=14 July 1984 |title=Frankie shirts outsell singles |url=https://www.artofztt.com/xlztt/frankie-goes-to-hollywood-frankie-say-war-hide-yourself-t-shirt/ |journal=[[Music Week]]}}</ref> By December, more than 250,000 T-shirts had been sold.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sutcliffe |first=Kevin |date=1 December 1984 |title=The Road to the Pleasure Dome |page=26 |work=[[The Face (magazine)|The Face]] |url=http://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=138 |quote=Indirectly, the band have Morley (a director and minor shareholder of ZTT) to thank for an income beyond the usual record company minimum. Noticing that Katherine Hamnett's outsized polemical t-shirts of '83 were being knocked off in the high street by the spring of '84, he concocted a series of bold slogans for Frankie's second release: 'Frankie Say Relax', 'Frankie Say Arm The Unemployed', 'Frankie Say War, Hide Yourself'. 250,000 t-shirts bearing these words have been sold to date, plus twice as many pirate versions.}}</ref>

Frankie Goes to Hollywood appeared in the 1984 thriller ''[[Body Double]]'' by [[Brian De Palma]].<ref name="Brown-1984-2">{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Joe |date=1984-11-04 |title=Say It Again, Frankie |language=en-US |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1984/11/04/say-it-again-frankie/cd796263-1360-40c6-b1d7-d23c90c72d6d/ |access-date=2021-06-01 |issn=0190-8286 <!-- unsupported parameter |note=#1lib1ref -->}}</ref> In June, Frankie Goes to Hollywood released their second single, "[[Two Tribes]]", featuring an "annihilating" bassline and lyrics about the [[Cold War]].<ref name="Lester-2014" /> Its music video, depicting a fight between [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Konstantin Chernenko]], was played extensively on [[MTV]].<ref name="Brown-1984-2" /> The single spent nine weeks at number one on the UK singles chart.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frankie Goes To Hollywood {{!}} full Official Chart History {{!}} Official Charts Company |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/21146/frankie-goes-to-hollywood/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=[[Official Charts Company]]}}</ref> Frankie Goes to Hollywood held the top two spots of the chart simultaneously when "Relax" rose back to number two that August.<ref name="Lester-2014" />