Holly Johnson
Holly Johnson | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | William Johnson |
Born | Liverpool, England | 9 February 1960
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1977–present |
Labels | |
Website | hollyjohnson |
William Holly Johnson
Biography
Johnson was born on 9 February 1960 in
During his second year at the Liverpool Collegiate, Johnson and his friend were teased and nicknamed "Jolly Johnson" and "Honey Heath". The two shared an interest in Marc Bolan and David Bowie. While he attended Liverpool Collegiate, Johnson was actively involved in that city's punk rock/new wave scene of the late 1970s. Johnson played bass with the local band Big in Japan[6] and also released two solo singles on the Eric's label. Both "Yankee Rose" and "Hobo Joe" failed to chart, however. Johnson met his partner, Wolfgang Kuhle, in the early 1980s.
Kuhle, Johnson's personal manager, became a successful art dealer and collected paintings by Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell. In 1982, Johnson joined Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and he later found fame as the lead singer and lyricist of the band. In 1987, tension grew between Johnson and the rest of his group. He also had an argument with his record company and won a case in court against them on restraint of trade. He left Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the other members of the band were eventually let go by the label after the court case ZTT and Perfect Songs v Holly Johnson.[7]
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
After gaining some measure of local celebrity from being a member of Big In Japan, Johnson became involved with a group of younger musicians who together would become the nucleus of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Johnson himself named the new band[8] after seeing the headline of an article about Frank Sinatra. This new band quickly gained a reputation for their stage show which had strong sadomasochistic overtones. It was during this period that guitarist Brian Nash and backing vocalist Paul Rutherford completed the band's established lineup.[citation needed]
Commercial success and fame
After the band's reputation grew large enough to attract record company interest, they were eventually signed to a new record company, ZTT.[9] Johnson became exposed to the general public via the phenomenal success of their debut single "Relax", which was a huge, and controversial, hit in 1984. The band's first three singles - "Relax" (1983), "Two Tribes" (1984), and "The Power of Love" (1984) all reached #1 of the UK Singles Chart; their fourth single, "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" (1985) reached #2. Frankie's debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome, released in October 1984, sold around a quarter of a million copies in its first week, peaked at #1 on the UK Albums Chart, and was a top-10 seller internationally.
After such success during 1984, when the band spent nearly four months at the top of the singles chart, Johnson was firmly established as a household name. By autumn 1986, his star had faded considerably. Frankie Goes to Hollywood had not released any material since early 1985 and were absent from that year's Live Aid event. In addition, Johnson did not perform on the successful charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid in December 1984.
Recorded in March-July 1986, Frankie Goes to Hollywood's second album, Liverpool, was released the following October. Liverpool peaked at #5 in the UK Albums Chart and spawned three singles: "Rage Hard" (1986), "Warriors of the Wasteland" (1986), and "Watching the Wildlife" (1987). "Rage Hard" was a top 5 hit in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #4, but "Warriors of the Wasteland" and "Watching the Wildlife" peaked at #19 and #28 respectively, suggesting Frankie's popularity was waning. Furthermore, the band was wracked by infighting; by 1987, Johnson's relationship with the rest of the band had broken down irretrievably, not helped by his decision to gain legal rights to exclusive use of the band's name, without consultation with other members.[8] The UK Intellectual Property Office ruled against Johnson, however. During a reunion on the TV show Bands Reunited many years later, when the five members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood were invited to play together using equipment that had been set up for them, he (and guitarist Brian Nash) declined to take part, but he did not rule out the possibility in the future. In his own words; "If it happens, we do it properly. We have a reputation. I'm not a wedding singer!"[10]
Solo career and later projects
Johnson left Frankie Goes to Hollywood in 1987 because of disagreements regarding their musical direction. He became the subject of an injunction from the group's record company, ZTT Records, and its sister publishing company, Perfect Songs, which cited a breach of his prior recording and publishing contracts, thus barring him from pursuing a solo career with any other new label.[11] He embarked on a two-year legal battle with ZTT, the case being settled in Johnson's favour on 10 February 1988, the judge ruling that the original contracts had constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade, remarking that "Mr. Johnson could be 70 years old and still be bound to this contract".[11]
ZTT unsuccessfully
Johnson's relationship with ZTT owners Trevor Horn and Jill Sinclair broke down irretrievably due to the court case: "They, [Horn and Sinclair] have never really forgiven me for winning my freedom in the law courts", the singer said in 2001, adding that the worst part of being in FGTH was "the contract we signed with ZTT."[11]
In 1989, Johnson finally made his first solo debut with the album
After the 1990 remix album Hollelujah, Johnson released his second solo album in 1991. Dreams That Money Can't Buy was a commercial failure and did not chart in the UK, while the singles "Where Has Love Gone?" and "Across the Universe" performed very poorly on UK singles chart. In November 1991, Johnson learned that he was HIV positive.[14] This triggered a temporary withdrawal from the music business and public life in general, with one of his last TV performances around the time being at the Diamond Record Awards, Antwerp, where he performed "Americanos" and "Where Has Love Gone?".[15] His HIV status was made public during an interview with The Times in April 1993.[11]
In March 1994, Johnson's critically acclaimed autobiography A Bone in My Flute was published, in which he discusses his struggle with, and acceptance of, his homosexuality.
In April 1998, he performed "The Power of Love" live at the Easter Gay Happening in Krefeld, Germany at Club Königsburg.[20]
Since the mid-1990s, Johnson has worked primarily as a painter. His works have been exhibited at the
In August 2009, Johnson presented an hour-long show "In the Beginning" on BBC Radio 2 about the Beatles, whilst he also appeared in the new video for Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" as the DJ. Since then, he has performed The Power of Love twice in Germany, also performing the song at the opening of Life Ball 2011 in Vienna. In an interview at the Q Awards, Johnson announced plans for an album of new material. In 2010, Johnson performed "Americanos" on German TV,[22] and "Relax" on French TV. During February 2011, Johnson joined Jools Holland and his band for a version of the Animals' "The House of the Rising Sun" song, a track that Johnson covered on his Soulstream album. In August 2011, he performed a full set live at the Rewind Festival, using a mix of Frankie Goes to Hollywood songs together with some of his solo hits "Americanos", "Heaven's Here" and "Love Train".
On 5 December 2013, Johnson performed at Save The Children’s Christmas Tree Sessions at London’s Union Chapel. He closed the evening with ‘The Power Of Love’ accompanied by Gaz Coombes on guitar.
In May 2014, Johnson announced his first UK solo tour, named "Dancing with No Fear". The seven-date tour was preceded by a new solo album, released on 15 September.[23] The album, titled Europa, was preceded by a lead single, "Follow Your Heart".[24]
The second single from Europa, "In And Out Of Love", was released on 4 September 2014 with a special pop promo directed by
In late 2015, Johnson co-wrote a song with Gary Barlow for the film Eddie The Eagle. The song "Ascension" was released in March 2016 as the focus track for the album Fly (songs inspired by the film Eddie The Eagle) and appears on the end credits for the film.[27]
In 2018, Johnson guest starred throughout the final episode of the British TV series Benidorm.[28]
In 2021, he appeared in the British TV series Never Mind the Buzzcocks and performed “The Power of Love”.
In 2022, he hosted Pride Not Prejudice on Greatest Hits Radio.
In May 2023, Johnson and the other members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood reunited for a one-off performance at the opening night of Eurovision, in their hometown of Liverpool. They performed a single song, "Welcome to the Pleasuredome", from their inaugural album.[29]
In May 2023 Working Title Films announced production of Relax, a musical biopic about Frankie Goes to Hollywood, based upon Holly Johnson's autobiography A Bone in My Flute (1994), and starring Callum Scott Howells as Johnson.[30] The film is to be written and directed by Bernard Rose, who directed the original music videos for the band's songs "Relax" (1983) and "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" (1985).
Personal life
Johnson has been referred to as a "monumental
Discography
Studio albums
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [34] |
AUS [35] |
AUT [36] |
GER [37] |
ITA [38] |
NLD [39] |
NOR [40] |
NZL [41] |
SWE [42] |
SWI [43] | |||
1989 | Blast | 1 | 97 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 27 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | |
1991 | Dreams That Money Can't Buy | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
1999 | Soulstream | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
2014 | Europa | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Live albums
Year | Title |
---|---|
2014 | Unleashed From the Pleasuredome
|
Singles
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AUS [35][47] |
AUT [36] |
CAN [48] |
GER [37] |
IRE [49] |
ITA
[50] |
NLD [39] |
NOR [40] |
NZL [41] |
SWE [42] |
SWI [43] |
US [51] | ||||
1979 | "Yankee Rose" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
1980 | "Hobo Joe" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
1989 | "Love Train" | 4 | 35 | 17 | 56 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 12 | 10 | 20 | 14 | 8 | 65 | Blast |
"Americanos" | 4 | 77 | 1 | — | 2 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 4 | — | ||
"Atomic City" | 18 | — | 19 | — | 16 | 9 | 29 | 40 | — | 20 | — | 10 | — | ||
"Heaven's Here" | 62 | — | — | — | 58 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1990 | "Where Has Love Gone?" | 73 | 147 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Dreams That Money Can't Buy |
1991 | "Across the Universe" | 99 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
" The People Want to Dance "
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1994 | " Legendary Children "
|
85 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
1998 | "Hallelujah!" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Soulstream |
1999 | "Disco Heaven" | 85 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
"The Power of Love" | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2014 | "Follow Your Heart" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Europa |
"In and Out of Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2015 | "Heaven's Eyes" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
"Dancing With No Fear" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2016 | "Ascension" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Eddie the Eagle (soundtrack) |
Guest appearances
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK |
AUS [35] |
AUT [36] |
GER
[37] |
IRE [49] |
ITA
[50] |
NLD
[39] |
NOR [40] |
SWI
[43] | |||
1989 | "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" (with The Christians, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden and Stock Aitken Waterman) |
1[52] | 45 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 15 | 21 | 4 | 11 | Non-album single |
1994 | " Ryūichi Sakamoto )
|
97 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Sweet Revenge |
2012 | "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (as part of The Justice Collective) |
1 | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | — | — | Non-album single |
References
- ^ "Trade mark decision O/140/07" (PDF). UK Intellectual Property Office. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
- ^ "strip4.jpg". HOLLY JOHNSON.
- ^ "Gay History, Gay Celebrities, Gay Icons - Holly Johnson". Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
- ^ "Frankie Say See You In Court". Blitz Magazine. August 1988.
- ^ "Frankie Say Come Again". Uncut. July 2004.
- Q. January 1992. Archived (via the Library of Mu) on 16 September 2016.
- ^ "Article: THE DOCTRINE OF RESTRAINT OF TRADE – Music Law Updates". Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ a b A Bone In My Flute (autobiography)
- ^ Lester, Paul (28 August 2014). "Frankie Goes To Hollywood: 'No one could touch us – people were scared'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ Bands Reunited: "Frankie Goes To Hollywood" (episode)
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84772-113-6.
- ^ Cited in Southall (2008), p. 119.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
- ^ a b c McLean, Craig (21 September 2014). "Holly Johnson: 'I was never very good at sucking up – it's just not my style'". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Holly Johnson - 'Americanos' - Diamond Record Awards 1991". YouTube. 7 November 2009. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- ^ "The Advocate". Here. 23 May 2000.
- ISBN 9780816627196.
- ISBN 9781935251835.
- ^ "Holly Johnson @ Gay Pride London 1994 Relax". YouTube. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- ^ "Holly Johnson - The Power Of Love @ Gay Happening 1998, Königsburg Krefeld". YouTube. 9 July 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- ^ a b Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Holly Johnson - The Power Of Love (Live on ZDF Love Songs 2004). 12 January 2010 – via YouTube.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Holly Johnson - Americanos 2010". YouTube. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- ^ "Announces 'Dancing With No Fear' Solo Uk Tour: Unleashed From The Pleasuredome". Holly Johnson. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- ^ "LISTEN: Holly Johnson - Follow Your Heart". The Quietus. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- OfficialCharts.com. Archived from the originalon 20 October 2013.
- ^ "Holly Johnson - Unleashed From The Pleasuredome (Holly Johnson Live)". Discogs. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
- ^ "'Ascension' the new single from Holly Johnson - HOLLY JOHNSON". www.hollyjohnson.rocks. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
- ^ "Benidorm goes out with a bang as special guest Holly Johnson steps up for some throwback karaoke classics". The Mirror. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
- ^ "Frankie Goes To Hollywood go back to the Pleasuredome at Liverpool reunion". BBC News. 8 May 2023.
- ^ Shoard, Catherine (10 May 2023). "Frankie Goes to Hollywood biopic Relax in the works". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "Holly Johnson: Show to celebrate 'monumental LGBTQ+ icon'". BBC. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ Arlidge, John (7 April 1993). "Singer Holly Johnson has Aids virus". The Independent. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ^ "Famous bands from Liverpool: Frankie Goes to Hollywood". BBC. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
- ^ OfficialCharts.com.
- ^ a b c Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "Discography Holly Johnson". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- "Americanos": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry". Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015 – via Imgur.com.
- Blast: "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry". Retrieved 23 September 2016 – via Imgur.com.
- ^ a b c "Discographie Holly Johnson" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b c "Suche nach "holly johnson"". charts.de (in German). Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Hit Parade Italia - ALBUM 1989" (in Italian). www.hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b c "Discografie Holly Johnson" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b c "Discography Holly Johnson". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Discography Holly Johnson". charts.nz. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Discography Holly Johnson". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b c "Discography Holly Johnson". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ "Certified Awards Search". bpi.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Bundesverband Musikindustrie: Gold-/Platin-Datenbank" (in German). musikindustrie.de. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ "Chart Log UK: Candy J. - JX". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- ^ "Bubbling Down Under: Week commencing 21 January 1991". Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ a b "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". www.irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ a b "Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: J" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ "Holly Johnson Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- ^ "GERRY MARSDEN, PAUL MCCARTNEY, HOLLY JOHNSON AND THE CHRISTIANS". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
External links
- Official website
- Holly Johnson at AllMusic
- Holly Johnson discography at Discogs
- Holly Johnson at IMDb