Editing Frankie Goes to Hollywood (section)

=== 1985–1986: ''Liverpool'' and decline ===
{{Main|Liverpool (album)}}
By the end of 1984, following promotional touring in the United States, Johnson had distanced himself from the band. He spent time with his new boyfriend, Wolfgang Kuhle, who later became his manager.<ref name="Nasher" /> In 1985, Frankie Goes to Hollywood left the UK for a year for tax purposes and wrote songs for their second album in Ireland.<ref name="Bradley-1988">{{Cite journal |last=Bradley |first=Lloyd |date=March 1988 |title=The final chapter? |url=https://www.zttaat.com/article.php?title=664#page6 |journal=[[Q (magazine)|Q]]}}</ref> The media reported that disputes had formed within the band.<ref name="Bradley-1988" /> They began recording their second album, ''[[Liverpool (album)|Liverpool]]'', in [[Wisseloord Studios]], near Amsterdam, in November 1985. Between March and June 1986, they worked in ZTT's studio [[Sarm West]] in London. The album was produced by the ZTT engineer [[Stephen Lipson]]; Horn took over mixing in its final stages.<ref name="Bradley-1988" />

Johnson remained distant from the band during the sessions and was unhappy about the album's focus on rock over dance.<ref name="Bradley-1988" /> [[Jill Sinclair]], Horn's wife and one of the ZTT founders, later alleged that Johnson had been uncooperative and absent for most of the sessions.<ref name="Bradley-1988" /> According to Nash, [[Duran Duran]] singer [[Simon Le Bon]] declined an invitation to replace Johnson. [[Pete Wylie]] was also approached, but Johnson remained and completed ''Liverpool''.<ref name="Wright-2012">{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Jade |date=2012-11-06 |title=Ex-Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Brian 'Nasher' Nash reveals all in his new autobiography |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/music/ex-frankie-goes-hollywoods-brian-nasher-3328902 |access-date=2023-04-30 |website=[[Liverpool Echo]] |language=en}}</ref>

In August 1986, the first single from ''Liverpool'', "[[Rage Hard]]", was released, reaching number 4 in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |title=RAGE HARD by FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/frankie-goes-to-hollywood-rage-hard/ |website=Official Charts |access-date=25 July 2024}}</ref> ''Liverpool'' was released in October 1986 and reached UK No.&nbsp;5. It received poor reviews and chart returns declined rapidly with the follow-up singles "Warriors of the Wasteland" (No.&nbsp;19) and "[[Watching the Wildlife]]" (No.&nbsp;28).{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} Horn spent three months creating remixes of "Watching the Wildlife" and "Warriors of the Wasteland" for the single releases, spending an estimated £50,000.<ref name="Bradley-1988" /> By March 1988, ''Liverpool'' had sold around 800,000 copies.<ref name="Bradley-1988" />