Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax (1983)

"Relax" is the debut single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the United Kingdom by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was ...

"Relax" is the debut single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the United Kingdom by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984).

Although fairly inauspicious upon initial release, "Relax" finally reached number one on the UK singles chart on 22 January 1984, ultimately becoming one of the most controversial and most commercially successful records of the decade. The single eventually sold a reported 2 million copies in the UK alone, making it the seventh best-selling single in the UK Singles Chart's history. Following the release of the group's second single, "Two Tribes", "Relax" rallied from a declining UK chart position during June 1984 to climb back up the UK charts and re-attain the number 2 spot behind "Two Tribes" at number 1, making them the only act at the time to have occupied the top two simultaneously apart from the Beatles and John Lennon.

Upon its release in the United States, "Relax" repeated its slow UK progress. In its initial release, it peaked at number 67 in May 1984. In January 1985, it re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 70, eventually reaching number 10 in March.

The song won Best British Single at the 1985 Brit Awards.

The song featured on the soundtrack of the films Body Double and T2 Trainspotting, in the game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories in the fictional in-game radio station Wave 103, and on the soundtrack to Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.

Videos

The first official video for "Relax", directed by Bernard Rose and set in an S&M themed gay nightclub, featuring the bandmembers accosted by buff leathermen, a glamorous drag queen, and an obese admirer dressed up as a Roman emperor, was allegedly banned by MTV and the BBC, prompting the recording of a second video, directed by Godley and Creme[22] in early 1984, featuring the group performing with the help of laser beams. However, after the second video was made the song was banned completely by the BBC, meaning that neither video was ever broadcast on any BBC music programmes.