Frankie Goes to HollyWood.

[bubinga5]

I heard this record earlier, it was this specific mix. its amazing imo.. they are one of the most underrated bands. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZUzJoiS7sA

[Bassman Sam]

Trevor Horn was the man behind FGTH 's success. That's where the talent was, IMHO. The band was average at the best.

[AntLockyer]

I do enjoy listening to FGTH.

[4000]

They played live on the Tube and I thought they were great. They did a version of Born To Run which I preferred to the live Springsteen versions I've seen (although I'm not a Springsteen fan TBH). It was early days for me as a player but I seem to remember Mark O'Toole was a pretty decent player by then. I don't think they did much on the studio recordings though; I think a large part of it was programmed.

Absolutely love the bassline to 'Welcome...' and Trevor Horn is a genius IMO.

Edited June 15, 2013 by 4000

[4000]

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr08/articles/classictracks_0408.htm

[BigRedX]

It's the songs.

They performed are pre-Trevor Horn versions of "Relax" and "Two Tribes" on The Tube (which is how Paul Morley and Trevor Horn discovered them) and while they don't have the polish of the final recorded items, all the basic elements are there.

Apart from the 4 singles and their cover of "Born To Run" the rest of the first album is pretty much filler. No amount of production or session musician playing can disguise that.

[bubinga5]

blimey its a tough crowd on BC, i just thought the record was good

[BigRedX]

[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1371279867' post='2111982']
blimey its a tough crowd on BC, i just thought the record was good
[/quote]

And it is. But it's mostly the fact that it's a good song to start with that makes it so.

It annoys me when people say that Frankie was all about the production and that the band were mostly replaced by session musicians in the studio, because those people are missing the point. Sure the production helped to turn some very good songs and into really great recordings, but as a lot of the album shows production, can't do much to save songs that are really rather ordinary. As for the session players, IMO they are for when you need to really nail a take in a couple of hours and unfortunately the band themselves don't have what is required for that. When you are dealing with a recording (like this one) that has been crafted over many weeks, and assembled from numerous takes, sampled, sequenced and resequenced, the people who made the original noises on the instruments are largely irrelevant. Besides the most important single instrument is the lead vocal and no-one is going to replace Holly Johnson.

[mep]

[quote name='4000' timestamp='1371278288' post='2111967']
They played live on the Tube and I thought they were great. They did a version of Born To Run which I preferred to the live Springsteen versions I've seen (although I'm not a Springsteen fan TBH). It was early days for me as a player but I seem to remember Mark O'Toole was a pretty decent player by then. I don't think they did much on the studio recordings though; I think a large part of it was programmed.

Absolutely love the bassline to 'Welcome...' and Trevor Horn is a genius IMO.
[/quote]

I have always liked their version of Born To Run over Springsteen's. We play it in our band and I used to to play it in a band just aftet it was released. It's quite epic. There is also a small basd solo instead of the sax. Geyt your pick out and dig in.

[kevin_lindsay]

They performed live in 2004 (with a different kead singer as Holly Johnson declined to participate) and they sounded incredible. Mark O'Toole's O-Bass sounded fantastic. Here's aa ckip from the DVD which was released of the event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrU71O2FyA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1371279822' post='2111981']
It's the songs.

They performed are pre-Trevor Horn versions of "Relax" and "Two Tribes" on The Tube (which is how Paul Morley and Trevor Horn discovered them) and while they don't have the polish of the final recorded items, all the basic elements are there.

Apart from the 4 singles and their cover of "Born To Run" the rest of the first album is pretty much filler. No amount of production or session musician playing can disguise that.
[/quote]
I agree with this and Born To Run is a very good example of a cover that is not merely a cover.

[kevin_lindsay]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1371286442' post='2112055']

I agree with this and Born To Run is a very good example of a cover that is not merely a cover.
[/quote]

Yup, their version of Born To Run was fantastic. I prefer it to Springsteen'soriginal.

[White Cloud]

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1371276633' post='2111958']
I wonder , could they play live? It all seemed a bit contrived to me. I once went to see Sigue Sigue Sputnik, at the height of their "fame" and they were the worst live band I have ever seen, no joke. Mistakes, slack, badly played...just dreadful. I wonder if Frankie were better than that or were they just a studio band?
[/quote]
Yes - saw them in the day at a half full SECC. They played well.

[DaveFry]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBWY8oAnnww[/media]

[Lozz196]

[quote name='kevin_lindsay' timestamp='1371287479' post='2112078']
Yup, their version of Born To Run was fantastic. I prefer it to Springsteen'soriginal.
[/quote]

Yep. Never really keen on FGTH, but their version of this song was great.

[sprocketflup]

loved the album, and another fan here of the Bruce Sp*nkstain song. Still gets regular airplay on my iBrick

[Dingus]

Funny you have posted this track - I have been trying to play this bassline and getting it wrong for nearly thirty years now . It's harder than it first appears . Great line from as very capable player . I once heard Trevor Horn say that Mark O'Toole was a clever player , and this track really shows that .

[bartelby]

FGTH (on the pleaseure dome tour) was one of the first gigs I ever went to. Can't really remember much except the lasers and it being loud. Every now and again I'll listen to the album. I still enjoy it, but I need to be in the mood.

[Chris2112]

Their version of 'Born To Run' is astounding, far more energetic than Springsteen's (even the later live versions which are the popular ones). 'Welcome to the Pleasure Dome' is a fantastic track too, loads of energy and a super tight bassline.

[spacey]

Mark was a real pick player, bass picking is sometimes frowned upon by bass snobs, usually because they can not do it right, its an art-form of picking on harmonic spots to get that magic tone.
Become a forgotten art reserved to the old masters these days , bass picking is to the bass what broken chords are to guitarists.

[booboo]

[quote name='spacey' timestamp='1371330954' post='2112723']
Mark was a real pick player, bass picking is sometimes frowned upon by bass snobs, usually because they can not do it right, its an art-form of picking on harmonic spots to get that magic tone.
Become a forgotten art reserved to the old masters these days , bass picking is to the bass what broken chords are to guitarists.
[/quote]

I'll admit that when I last listened to the album (probably around '85) I always thought it was either synth, slap or both blended on a lot of the tracks. I'm good with the old 'Carole Kaye' muted flats style, but this is making me think about popping on a fresh set of rounds and having a play! Off to amazon to get WTTPD on cd.

[foal30]

good record.
probably prefer Horn's work on Grace Jones "Slave to the Rhythm"
but the 2 records compliment each other

[karlfer]

Tosspots Go To Cricklewood, meh, hated them (just pointing out the other view )

[alyctes]

WTTPD and Born To Run, indeed

[Chris2112]

[quote name='booboo' timestamp='1371333850' post='2112772']
Off to amazon to get WTTPD on cd.
[/quote]

You'd be better off just downloading the best tracks, as mentioned earlier, there is some pap on that record too!