I'd forgotten this was on the album. As for not recognising it as a cover, well... Trevor Horn certainly messed around with it quite a bit, so fair enough really.
A very tasty treat. Great manipulation of synth sounds combined with interesting layering, and Holly Johnson's celestial vocals on top of it all. Comes close to perfection, but then almost everything on FGTH's first album is up there on the top tier.
Very original, it reminded me of a video game on the "Dendy" or "Sega" platforms, if you played it as a child, you'll understand what I'm talking about.
The only parts that Frankie Goes To Hollywood did was vocals and backing vocals. The actual musicians on the song are J.J. Jeczalik Keyboards and programming. J.J. Mostly programmed the Fairlight C.M.I. Andy Richards played keyboards Luís Jardim played percussion. Alot of the percussion was the Fairlight C.M.I. II and the Linn Drum drum machine Stephen Lipson played guitar. Trevor Horn played bass. Both bass guitar and synth bass were used. Trevor also did programming on both the Fairlight C M.I. and Synclavier II Those are also the actual musicians on the whole Welcome To The Pleasure album
He's also great narrating the audiobooks, where he impersonates all the other cast members. A really funny guy, and a really nice guy too who always has time for the fans.
Squeezes an entire political treatise into just 6-odd minutes, but within that limitation, I suppose it's OK. At least the true bits. Not so sure about the fictions, but I suppose it's up to the listener not to be lazy, or more focused on avoiding landing up socially excluded for being wrong about elements of the canon. (Pretty Che was all-peace, for instance ... Yeah, yeah ... OK ... Not something you want to be disputing while dancing. Dancing is awkward enough on its own without adding complications like that.) Sorry, I've seen a few too many legends run to their end games in a contradictory truth. Also, I've swallowed a few of the official ones hook line and singer, giving a different slant to the Once Bitten, Twice Shy fiction. (A wise fiction, but we have a tendency to just go bite the stale bread on the hook over and over again. I suppose that's what was meant by this "fishers of men" story?) Go enjoy the song if it doesn't bore you. Me, I'm going to go off and imagine Sr. Guevarra being now all old and mean, and in possession of the power it was that he really craved, so no longer needing the miracle plays written about how he walked on various kinds of water, and pretenses like that, hard at work stealing the future somewhere (maybe in Angola, since that soil was once blessed for a short time by his sacred feet - although there he'd have had fierce competition for the loot). There goes this other imaginary Che Guevarra in his motorcade, with the blue lights flashing, sirens blaring, and occasionally making someone who got in the way of the trip to the boutique or private jet non-exist, even (it's happened for other great heroes that were written so for humanity, so why not for this main character?) And ask him why, and he might tell you, "I didn't join the Struggle to stay poor." Sorry, again. It's just that when the reality behind all the news-fiction and truth-teaching at the truth-seeking institutions of the world comes to slap your face like a wet fish, and the head breaks off because it's rotten, it's hard not to react. Maybe a bit excessively, even. This is how bitter old men are made. Well some of them, anyway. Oh leave that be! Disasters are almost never complete. They're just a bit of contamination that gets into things. A little floaty bit that gets in the drinking water, but doesn't kill you. More importantly, you could've listened to Fairy Mary Mag twice in the time you listened to this. :-) (So you could've first watched the Famous Dancing Baby, and then followed up with a lyrics video, and maybe a tiny bit of perplexity, and got twice the wonderfulness.)
The original Edwin Starr version wasn't much more than the 'chorus' plus the 'Good God y'all' bits. As you know, this is largely Trevor Horn plus a bunch of top-notch session guys, Chris Barrie and Holly Johnson with some FGTH backing vocals. Still impressive at this remove.
For me, this studio version sounds too rigid with those awful synthetic bass lines. I prefer the live versions the band played at the time (in which the bass guitar gave more character).
I'd forgotten this was on the album. As for not recognising it as a cover, well... Trevor Horn certainly messed around with it quite a bit, so fair enough really.
Haven’t listened to FG2H in decades. Now I remember why everyone thought it was so.. Revolutionary
A very tasty treat. Great manipulation of synth sounds combined with interesting layering, and Holly Johnson's celestial vocals on top of it all. Comes close to perfection, but then almost everything on FGTH's first album is up there on the top tier.
I like this album, but it does suffer from a lack of original material. Especially for a debut offering!
Chris Barrie doing Reagan, man he was a good impressionist to pull that off in his mid 20s! 🙃
Very original, it reminded me of a video game on the "Dendy" or "Sega" platforms, if you played it as a child, you'll understand what I'm talking about.
Chris Barrie is probably best known for playing the part of Rimmer, in the BBC comedy, "Red Dwarf".
And Spitting image voices.
The only parts that Frankie Goes To Hollywood did was vocals and backing vocals. The actual musicians on the song are
J.J. Jeczalik Keyboards and programming. J.J. Mostly programmed the Fairlight C.M.I.
Andy Richards played keyboards
Luís Jardim played percussion. Alot of the percussion was the Fairlight C.M.I. II and the Linn Drum drum machine
Stephen Lipson played guitar.
Trevor Horn played bass. Both bass guitar and synth bass were used. Trevor also did programming on both the Fairlight C M.I. and Synclavier II
Those are also the actual musicians on the whole Welcome To The Pleasure album
Layers and layers of beats (Boléro de Ravel-like)...
Now you are pretty close to the A-side of the maxi "Annihilation Mix" of Two Tribes..........
Chris Barrie is famous for Red Dwarf...
A recommended show
He's also great narrating the audiobooks, where he impersonates all the other cast members. A really funny guy, and a really nice guy too who always has time for the fans.
Squeezes an entire political treatise into just 6-odd minutes, but within that limitation, I suppose it's OK. At least the true bits.
Not so sure about the fictions, but I suppose it's up to the listener not to be lazy, or more focused on avoiding landing up socially excluded for being wrong about elements of the canon. (Pretty Che was all-peace, for instance ... Yeah, yeah ... OK ... Not something you want to be disputing while dancing. Dancing is awkward enough on its own without adding complications like that.)
Sorry, I've seen a few too many legends run to their end games in a contradictory truth. Also, I've swallowed a few of the official ones hook line and singer, giving a different slant to the Once Bitten, Twice Shy fiction. (A wise fiction, but we have a tendency to just go bite the stale bread on the hook over and over again. I suppose that's what was meant by this "fishers of men" story?)
Go enjoy the song if it doesn't bore you. Me, I'm going to go off and imagine Sr. Guevarra being now all old and mean, and in possession of the power it was that he really craved, so no longer needing the miracle plays written about how he walked on various kinds of water, and pretenses like that, hard at work stealing the future somewhere (maybe in Angola, since that soil was once blessed for a short time by his sacred feet - although there he'd have had fierce competition for the loot).
There goes this other imaginary Che Guevarra in his motorcade, with the blue lights flashing, sirens blaring, and occasionally making someone who got in the way of the trip to the boutique or private jet non-exist, even (it's happened for other great heroes that were written so for humanity, so why not for this main character?)
And ask him why, and he might tell you, "I didn't join the Struggle to stay poor."
Sorry, again. It's just that when the reality behind all the news-fiction and truth-teaching at the truth-seeking institutions of the world comes to slap your face like a wet fish, and the head breaks off because it's rotten, it's hard not to react. Maybe a bit excessively, even. This is how bitter old men are made. Well some of them, anyway.
Oh leave that be! Disasters are almost never complete. They're just a bit of contamination that gets into things. A little floaty bit that gets in the drinking water, but doesn't kill you.
More importantly, you could've listened to Fairy Mary Mag twice in the time you listened to this. :-) (So you could've first watched the Famous Dancing Baby, and then followed up with a lyrics video, and maybe a tiny bit of perplexity, and got twice the wonderfulness.)
The original Edwin Starr version wasn't much more than the 'chorus' plus the 'Good God y'all' bits. As you know, this is largely Trevor Horn plus a bunch of top-notch session guys, Chris Barrie and Holly Johnson with some FGTH backing vocals. Still impressive at this remove.
Self indulgent b side album filler?
For me, this studio version sounds too rigid with those awful synthetic bass lines. I prefer the live versions the band played at the time (in which the bass guitar gave more character).
Hard no on Frankie.