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Holly Johnson

 
Artist: Holly Johnson
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Holly Johnson

Similar Artists:

Glenn Underground, Joi Cardwell, Ce Ce Peniston, Adamski

Worked With:

Mark O'Toole, Brian Nash, Steve Lipson, Trevor Horn, Peter Gill, Paul Rutherford

Formal Connection With:

Frankie Goes to Hollywood
See Holly Johnson Lyrics
  • Born: February 09, 1960, Wavertree, Liverpool, England
  • Active: '80s, '90s, 2000s
  • Genres: Electronica
  • Instrument: Vocals
  • Representative Albums: "Blast," "Soulstream," "Dreams That Money Can't Buy"
  • Representative Songs: "Love Train," "Americanos," "Disco Heaven"

Biography

Best remembered as the frontman for British pop phenomenon Frankie Goes to Hollywood, singer Holly Johnson was born February 9, 1960 in Liverpool; in 1977 he joined the short-lived Big in Japan, and after issuing a pair of solo singles, "Yankee Rose" and "Hobo Joe," he formed Frankie Goes to Hollywood in 1980. Buffering their epic, opulent dance-pop with a brilliant marketing campaign highlighted by a series of provocative videos and sloganeering T-shirts, Frankie remains one of the '80s' quintessential bands, although their success proved short-lived and never really translated across the Atlantic; rising to superstardom on the strength of the singles "Relax," "Two Tribes," and "The Power of Love," their 1984 debut Welcome to the Pleasuredome was also well-received by the press, but the group's fall was as meteoric as their rise; after a disastrous 1986 effort, Liverpool, they disbanded. Johnson then spent the next several years locked in a court battle against label ZTT, ultimately winning his artistic freedom; he returned to music in 1989 with his solo debut Blast, which topped the UK charts. Dreams That Money Can't Buy followed two years later, around the time the openly-homosexual singer discovered he'd contracted HIV, a subject frankly detailed in his 1994 autobiography A Bone in My Flute. Also a successful painter, in 1996 Johnson exhibited his work in London; forming his own record label, Pleasuredome, in 1999 he issued his third LP, Soulstream. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Holly Johnson
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Holly Johnson

Background information
Birth name William Johnson
Born February 9, 1960 (1960-02-09) (age 49)
Liverpool, Merseyside, England
Origin United Kingdom
Genres Dance, House, Synthpop, New Wave, Pop-rock
Occupations musician, painter, writer
Years active 1977 - present
Labels MCA Records, Eric's Club, ZTT Records
Associated acts Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Big in Japan
Website www.hollyjohnson.com

Holly Johnson (born William Johnson; 9 February 1960; legal name William Holly Johnson[1]) is an English artist, writer and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Contents

Career

Johnson was born in Liverpool, England. Actively involved in the Liverpool punk rock/new wave scene of the late 1970s, Johnson played bass with Big in Japan and released two solo singles on the Eric's label, before finding fame as the lead singer and lyricist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood (FGTH), who experienced both controversy and phenomenal commercial success during their heyday in the early 1980s.[2]

Johnson left FGTH in 1987 due to disagreements regarding their musical direction. Upon signing a solo deal with MCA Records in July 1987, 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 his new label.[3]

Johnson embarked on a two-year legal battle with ZTT, the case being settled in Johnson's favour on February 10 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; then I suspect even the Synclavier could not enhance his performance".[4]

ZTT unsuccessfully appealed against the decision, the Appeal Court concluding on 26 July 1989 that the original recording and publishing contracts were "not a fair bargain".[5] The result represented a landmark legal outcome, contemporary press reports stating that the result "set a legal precedent which rocked the music business", adding that ZTT had by this time released most of its artists from their original contracts.[4]

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, adding that the worst part of being in FGTH was 'the contract we signed with ZTT'."[6]

Johnson finally released his first solo album, Blast, which reached number one in the UK in May 1989 and spawned four hit-singles, "Love Train" (#4, Jan 1989), "Americanos" (#4, Apr 1989), "Atomic City" (18, Jun 1989) and "Heaven's Here". The album would eventually go platinum.

In May 1989 a charity version of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" recorded by Johnson and other Liverpool artists, including The Christians, Paul McCartney and Gerry Marsden, topped the UK singles chart.

Johnson's relations with MCA cooled over dissatisfaction with promotional budgets for his second solo album, Dreams That Money Can't Buy, which was released in 1991 after Johnson had left the label.[7]

In November 1991, Johnson learned he was HIV positive. This triggered a temporary withdrawal from the music business and public life in general. His condition was made public during an interview in April 1993.[7]

In March 1994, his critically acclaimed autobiography, A Bone in My Flute, was published.

Since the mid 1990s, Johnson has worked primarily as a painter. His works have been exhibited at the Tate Liverpool, and The Royal Academy. He has contributed to Modern Painters and the Paul Smith sponsored CARLOS magazine.

He has continued to make music via his own Pleasuredome label, such as 1999's Soulstream, an album that includes a re-recording of "The Power of Love".

In August 2009, Johnson presented an hour long show In the Beginning on BBC Radio 2 about The Beatles[8]. He also appeared in the new Relax video as the DJ.

Private life

Johnson currently lives in London. His partner from 1984 to the present is his manager Wolfgang Kuhle.[9]

Discography

See also: Frankie Goes to Hollywood discography

Albums

Year Title Peak chart positions
UK[10] GER[11] AUT[12] CHE[13] IT[14] SWE[15] NOR[16] NZ[17]
1989 Blast 1 n/a 12 10 10 11 10 11
1990 Hollelujah — — — — — — — —
1991 Dreams That Money Can't Buy — — — — — — — —
1999 Soulstream — — — — — — — —

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK[10] IRE[18] GER[11] AUT[12] CHE[13] NET[19] IT[20] SWE[15] NOR[16] AUS[21] NZ[17] U.S.[22]
1989 "Love Train" 4 5 4 17 8 12 21 14 10 35 20 65 Blast
"Americanos" 4 6 2 1 4 8 10 7 6 — 10 —
"Atomic City" 18 9 16 19 10 40 29 — — — 20 —
"Heaven's Here" 62 22 58 — — — — — — — — —
1990 "Where Has Love Gone?" 73 — — — — — — — — — — — Dreams That Money Can't Buy
1991 "Across the Universe" 99 — — — — — — — — — — —
"The People Want to Dance" — — — — — — — — — — — —
1994 "Legendary Children" — — — — — — — — — — — — Soulstream
1998 "Hallelujah!" — — — — — — — — — — — —
1999 "Disco Heaven" — — — — — — — — — — — —
The Power of Love" 56 — — — — — — — — — — —
As featured artist
1989 "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey"
(with The Christians, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden and Stock Aitken Waterman)		 1[23] 1 — 15 11 21 15 — 4 45 — — single only
1994 "Love & Hate"
(with Ryūichi Sakamoto)		 — — — — — — — — — — — — Sweet Revenge

Books

References

  1. ^ "Trade mark decision O/140/07" (PDF). UK Intellectual Property Office. http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-os/t-find/t-challenge-decision-results/o14007.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-21. 
  2. ^ "Famous bands from Liverpool: Frankie Goes to Hollywood". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/music/unsigned/famous.shtml#frankie. Retrieved 2009-03-21. 
  3. ^ Southall, Brian (2008). Pop Goes To Court. Omnibus Press, London. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-1-84772-113-6. 
  4. ^ a b Cited in Southall (2008), p. 117.
  5. ^ Cited in Southall (2008), p. 119.
  6. ^ Johnson speaking in a 2001 interview, cited by Southall (2008), p. 121.
  7. ^ a b Southall (2008), p. 120.
  8. ^ Radio 2's Beatles Bank Holiday. BBC. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  9. ^ Holly Johnson at NNDB. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  10. ^ a b Chart Stats. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  11. ^ a b Charts-Surfer. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  12. ^ a b Austrian Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  13. ^ a b The Official Swiss Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  14. ^ Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  15. ^ a b Swedish Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  16. ^ a b Norwegian Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  17. ^ a b New Zealand Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  18. ^ The Irish Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  19. ^ Dutch Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  20. ^ Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: J. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  21. ^ Australian Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  22. ^ Allmusic. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
  23. ^ Chart Stats. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.

External links

v • d • e
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Holly Johnson · Brian Nash · Mark O'Toole · Paul Rutherford · Peter Gill
Studio albums
Compilations
Singles
Videos
From a Wasteland to an Artificial Paradise · Shoot! The Greatest Hits of Frankie Goes to Hollywood · Hard On
Associated Articles

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Holly Johnson".  Read more

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