Browse Artists → # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Music Resources
  1. GuitarFreeTabs
  2. Guitar MX
  3. CAMERATABS
  4. Bass Videos
  5. Frankie Goes To Hollywood Bass Tabs
Link Exchange – Sign Up

Home F Frankie Goes To Hollywood Biography

Band Picture

Frankie Goes To Hollywood consists of Brian Nash (guitarist), Holly Johnson (vocalist), Mark O'toole (bassist), Paul Rutherford (vocalist), Peter Gill (drummer).

Frankie Goes To Hollywood (FGTH) was one of the biggest, most controversial and most marketed UK pop acts of the 1980s. The band was fronted by Liverpudlian singer Holly Johnson, and was supported by Paul Rutherford along with Peter Gill, Mark O'Toole and Paul McGurk. Its debut single " Relax" was famously banned by the BBC and subsequently topped the UK singles chart. Along with "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love", FGTH became only the second band in the history of the UK charts to reach number one with their first three singles (the first was Gerry and the Pacemakers, in 1964).

FGTH have recently begun touring again with new lead singer Ryan Molloy.

Emerging from the late 1970s Liverpool punk movement (key member Paul Rutherford had previously been in bands including The Spitfire Boys), FGTH are said to have taken their name from a newspaper headline referring to either Frank Sinatra or, more likely, Frankie Vaughan. Both names were mentioned in early interviews, though the Sinatra explanation is the one that has stuck. (This could be seen as meaning that the famous "Frankie Say..." quotes are from Vaughan, or Sinatra, although they obviously are not from either).

Lead singer Holly Johnson, a fellow Liverpool punk veteran from the band Big In Japan (which also featured future Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie), recruited Rutherford as co-singer. Local musicians Peter Gill ( drums), Jed O'Toole ( bass) and Jed's cousin Brian Nash ( guitar) then joined. The band set out playing shows around the locality. O'Toole quit shortly afterwards but supplied the band with a replacement — his younger brother Mark O'Toole, whom Jed had taught how to play (Jed also taught Nash the guitar).