A live performance on Top Of The Pops propelled the song further up the chart to #6. The song stalled at #77, but a return performance on The Tube in late 1983 helped it climb to #35 in the UK. “Relax” generated a lot of controversy-it was promoted with an overtly sexual music video (two tamer videos – ‘laser’ and ‘live’ – were released afterward), suggestive cover art, and ads like this one with the headline “ALL THE NICE BOYS LOVE SEA MEN” and shirts that read “Frankie Say Relax Don’t Do It”. Johnson used “little slurs” and “microtones” to get a distinctive sound. Horn initially thought Johnson’s singing was out of tune, but the vocal effect was intentional. By the time Holly sang the vocal at 4 am, he was so totally hyped up, he was crazy, like a Doberman with a rabbit in its teeth. They heard it, (Holly) and Paul immediately started to dance, and so did the rest of us, just dancing around the control room. He added a programmed bass line, Lipson on guitar, Richards on keyboard and Jeczalik making “funny noises” on the Fairlight synthesizer to create what would become the fourth and official recording. ![]() Later, Horn decided to start from scratch again, building the song around a beat he’d previously made on an LM-2 drum machine. ![]() He was dissatisfied with that as well so a third version was recorded by Horn, producer/engineer Steve Lipson, keyboard player Andy Richards and Fairlight synthesizer programmer JJ Jeczalik. Horn recorded FGTH performing “Relax” but was not satisfied, so he recorded a second version with Ian Dury’s backing band The Blockheads. Producer and owner of ZTT Records Trevor Horn was first exposed to FGTH performing “Relax” on Britain’s Channel 4 show The Tube, but didn’t sign them until hearing it again later on DJ David Jensen’s radio show on BBC Radio 1. It was written in 1982 after frontman Holly Johnson came up with the basic idea while on his way to band practice one day. ![]() “Relax” is the debut single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the United Kingdom in 1983.
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