Frogtoon Music

Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Artist Biography For Frankie Goes To Hollywood

Frankie Goes To Hollywood FGTH Was One Of The Most Controversial And Commercially-Successful U.K. Pop Acts Of The Mid-80s. The Liverpool-Based New Wave Group Was Fronted By Vocalist Holly Johnson And Supported By Paul Rutherford Backing Vocals Peter Gill Drums Mark O'Toole Bass And Brian Nash Aka Nasher Guitar . The Group's Debut Single Titled "Relax" Was Famously Banned By The BBC And Subsequently Topped The U.K. Singles Chart For Five Weeks Enjoying Prolonged Chart Success Throughout 1984. Following The Phenomenal Follow-Up Success Of "Two Tribes" And "The Power Of Love" The Latter Being An Emotional Ballad Experiencing Seasonal Resurgence Over The Years FGTH Became Only The Second Act In The History Of The UK Charts To Reach Number One With Their First Three Singles. Things Began To Unravel In 1985 When Their Fourth Single "Welcome To The Pleasuredome" Stalled At Number Two Success That Many Other Groups Would Deeply Envy But They Faced Massive Expectations . Their Second And Final Album Called 'Liverpool' Took Over A Year To Complete Reportedly At Huge Expense. The Lead-Off Single "Rage Hard" Peaked At Number Four And It Was Clear That The Public Had Began To Move On. 'Liverpool' Sold Poorly Despite Critical Acclaim And Underground Song Plays And Conflict Between Lead Singer Holly Johnson And The Rest Of The Band Led To An Acrimonious Split. Johnson Embarked On An Initially Successful Solo Career But He Quickly Spiraled Into Obscurity. The Rest Of The Band Broke Up Completely After Several Attempts To Recruit A New Lead Singer. Nonetheless The Group Had Proved Hugely Influential. Their Three Number One Singles Have Been Extensively Remixed And Repackaged Over The Years And Despite Their Limited Back Catalogue The Band Is Generally Seen As Being One Of The Defining Moments Of The Eighties. Numerous New Wave And Post-Punk Music Revivalists Look Back To Their Aggressive Yet Stylish Sound As An Inspiration. The Band Is Also Known Today For Having A Hit Video Game Based Around Them For The ZX Spectrum Amstrad CPC And Commodore 64 Giving Them An Interesting Spot In Video Gaming History.

Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Two Tribes

The Song's Title Derives From The Line "when Two Great Warrior Tribes Go To War" From The Film Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior The Line Is Also Spoken By Holly Johnson At The Beginning Of The Session Version . The Single Was Released At The Height Of The Cold War When General Fears About Global Nuclear Warfare Were At A Peak. Although Johnson Would Attest In A 1984 Radio Interview That The "two Tribes" Of The Song Potentially Represented Any Pair Of Warring Adversaries Giving The Examples Of "cowboys And Indians Or Captain Kirk And Klingons" The Song Does Contain The Line "On The Air America/I Modelled Shirts By Van Heusen" A Clear Reference To Then US President Ronald Reagan Who Had Advertised For Phillips Van Heusen In 1953 Briefly Reviving The Association In The Early 1980s And Whose First Film Had Been Titled Love Is On The Air. Johnson Also Noted "There's Two Elements In The Music — An American Funk Line And A Russian Line. It’s The Most Obvious Demonstration Of Two Tribes That We Have Today." To Accentuate This Inherent Musical Tension Horn Juxtaposed The Driving Funk/rock Rhythm Section With A Dramatic Formal String Arrangement And Plenty Of Orchestral Stabs A Novel Technique That Horn Himself Had Pioneered The Previous Year In Producing Yes's "Owner Of A Lonely Heart". ZTT Aggressively Marketed The Single In Terms Of Its Topical Political Angle Promoting It With Images Of The Group Wearing American Military Garb In Combat As Well As Soviet-Style Army Uniforms Set Against An American Urban Backdrop. The Original Cover Art Featured A Soviet Mural Of Lenin And Images Of Reagan And Then-UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The Sleeve Notes Attributed To ZTT's Paul Morley Dispassionately Reported Details Of The Relative Nuclear Arsenals Of Each Superpower And The Unknown Power Of "synergisms". The Various Mixes Were Subtitled In Terms Of The Expected Aftermath Of Nuclear Conflict.

50 Similar Tracks:

HOME FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD
POPULAR TRACKS MIXES ALBUMS
Video 1 : 50