Pioneers Of Bate: Frankie Goes To Hollywood
 | cernunnos7 |
| Posted on: | July 20, 2014 |
| Categorized: | Pioneers Of Bate |
Relax
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
ZTT Records
1983
Relax isn’t specifically a bate song but it did introduce cumming into the popular jargon of the day. As a call to hold off and enjoy the feeling of sexual ecstasy, Relax was ahead of the curve on edging. That’s a pun.
The single was actually the production of Trevor Horn, who took what he describes as “more a jingle than a song” and gave it a throbbing production sheen suitable for the masses. But it was ZTT’s aggressive marketing campaign that took the young MTV generation by storm, with all sorts of Frankie Say variations displayed on oversized T’s.
What made the Relax phenomenon so important in bate history is that it’s the first time no euphemisms were used in a mainstream pop hit (that I’m aware of) about sex. Cumming is presented right upfront, although singer Holly Johnson couldn’t admit to its true meaning publicly until sometime later.
There is a sense of foreboding and danger in the production, but Relax promoted what was then still a revolutionary message about illicit sexual pleasure. It WAS a dangerous idea in some circles and Relax was banned by the BBC.
Make no mistake though that this was a manufactured controversy to get attention and sell stuff.
Morley intentionally courted scandal with the promotion of “Relax”. ZTT initiated the ad campaign for “Relax” with two quarter-page ads in the British music press. The first ad featured images of Rutherford in a sailor cap and a leather vest, and Johnson with a shaved head and rubber gloves. The images were accompanied by the phrase “ALL THE NICE BOYS LOVE SEA MEN” and declared “Frankie Goes to Hollywood are coming … making Duran Duran lick the shit off their shoes … Nineteen inches that must be taken always.” The second ad promised “theories of bliss, a history of Liverpool from 1963 to 1983, a guide to Amsterdam bars”.
Along with their shamelessness about sex, Frankie was unabashedly queer in an era when even Boy George had to be coy about his sexuality to the public at large. Since David Bowie had first pioneered the mainstream gay icon a decade earlier, queer sexual identity had gradually begun to seep into the limelight, revealing to the world a provocative gay nightlife-style that was perceived by the larger culture as being dark and morally dangerous.
Artists and labels were discovering that there WAS a queer market out there, though the audience was most often adolescent straight girls. Aladdin Sane was a call out to get the gay on, and gay culture hit the mainstream with glam drag, space cadets and tragic Genet posturing. This was the music of leather pacts and trysts with hustlers in darkened doorways, Warhol Superstars and Rocky Horror. It was theatrical, ironic and outrageous. But it was also highly manufactured.
The aggressive gangland style of Bowie’s MainMan management wasn’t terribly successful as a business, but it was brilliant at causing a stir. The practice was adopted a few years later by Malcolm McLaren, and Sex Pistols dropped a look and sound that changed pop music and fashion forever. Manufactured authenticity, a hallmark of camp culture, became a mainstream idea. Mixed with the excess commercialism of the Eighties, the market was just ripe for something sensational.
The Frankie team launched their own”strategic assault on pop” and started raking in the cash while they could. Relax was at the top of the charts around the world, and Frankie-style merchandise even began seeping into other people’s videos.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood didn’t last much longer than the time it took them to get there, but the impact of the Relax campaign was to open a window into a wider sexual world for pop music. Prince (already established as a sexual provocateur) and Madonna would carve out their own niches throughout the rest of the decade.
All these years later, Relax still remains a potent soundtrack to sex pleasure and slow release. I’m gonna relax myself for awhile now too. Frankie say pass the lube.
Who are your favorite pioneers of sex or bate?
Relax
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
ZTT Records
1983
Relax isn’t specifically a bate song but it did introduce cumming into the popular jargon of the day. As a call to hold off and enjoy the feeling of sexual ecstasy, Relax was ahead of the curve on edging. That’s a pun.
The single was actually the production of Trevor Horn, who took what he describes as “more a jingle than a song” and gave it a throbbing production sheen suitable for the masses. But it was ZTT’s aggressive marketing campaign that took the young MTV generation by storm, with all sorts of Frankie Say variations displayed on oversized T’s.
What made the Relax phenomenon so important in bate history is that it’s the first time no euphemisms were used in a mainstream pop hit (that I’m aware of) about sex. Cumming is presented right upfront, although singer Holly Johnson couldn’t admit to its true meaning publicly until sometime later.
There is a sense of foreboding and danger in the production, but Relax promoted what was then still a revolutionary message about illicit sexual pleasure. It WAS a dangerous idea in some circles and Relax was banned by the BBC.
Make no mistake though that this was a manufactured controversy to get attention and sell stuff.
Morley intentionally courted scandal with the promotion of “Relax”. ZTT initiated the ad campaign for “Relax” with two quarter-page ads in the British music press. The first ad featured images of Rutherford in a sailor cap and a leather vest, and Johnson with a shaved head and rubber gloves. The images were accompanied by the phrase “ALL THE NICE BOYS LOVE SEA MEN” and declared “Frankie Goes to Hollywood are coming … making Duran Duran lick the shit off their shoes … Nineteen inches that must be taken always.” The second ad promised “theories of bliss, a history of Liverpool from 1963 to 1983, a guide to Amsterdam bars”.
Along with their shamelessness about sex, Frankie was unabashedly queer in an era when even Boy George had to be coy about his sexuality to the public at large. Since David Bowie had first pioneered the mainstream gay icon a decade earlier, queer sexual identity had gradually begun to seep into the limelight, revealing to the world a provocative gay nightlife-style that was perceived by the larger culture as being dark and morally dangerous.
Artists and labels were discovering that there WAS a queer market out there, though the audience was most often adolescent straight girls. Aladdin Sane was a call out to get the gay on, and gay culture hit the mainstream with glam drag, space cadets and tragic Genet posturing. This was the music of leather pacts and trysts with hustlers in darkened doorways, Warhol Superstars and Rocky Horror. It was theatrical, ironic and outrageous. But it was also highly manufactured.
The aggressive gangland style of Bowie’s MainMan management wasn’t terribly successful as a business, but it was brilliant at causing a stir. The practice was adopted a few years later by Malcolm McLaren, and Sex Pistols dropped a look and sound that changed pop music and fashion forever. Manufactured authenticity, a hallmark of camp culture, became a mainstream idea. Mixed with the excess commercialism of the Eighties, the market was just ripe for something sensational.
The Frankie team launched their own”strategic assault on pop” and started raking in the cash while they could. Relax was at the top of the charts around the world, and Frankie-style merchandise even began seeping into other people’s videos.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood didn’t last much longer than the time it took them to get there, but the impact of the Relax campaign was to open a window into a wider sexual world for pop music. Prince (already established as a sexual provocateur) and Madonna would carve out their own niches throughout the rest of the decade.
All these years later, Relax still remains a potent soundtrack to sex pleasure and slow release. I’m gonna relax myself for awhile now too. Frankie say pass the lube.
Who are your favorite pioneers of sex or bate?
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