Openly and unapologetilly gay, partnered to a man for 30 years and rponsible for one of the most explic songs pop – we uldn’t fd a gayer gay in. Holly found fame and notoriety as the lead sger of agent provotrs Frankie Go to Hollywood, is about to release new album Europa this month
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HOW FRANKIE GO TO HOLLYWOOD’S GAY, CONTROVERSIAL MIC VIOS SHAPED THE ’80S
Thirty years after toppg the charts Frankie Go To Hollywood, Holly Johnson is back wh a solo album. He talks to <strong>Craig McLean</strong> about gay rights, jet-set stunts and the Ge * is frankie goes to hollywood gay *
But, durg their time, Frankie Go to Hollywood were a big al — and were unabashedly gay.
RELATED | Gay Rockers Elton Motello Were Cut Out of a Massive H Sgle. RELATED | The First Ever AIDS Chary Mic Sgle was Incredibly Dark and Boldly Gay. Johnson was bullied for beg openly gay growg up Cred: Mike Prr, John StoddartIn an article published 1986, Johnson relled the difficulti of growg up openly gay Liverpool.
HOLLY JOHNSON – GAY IN
After all the ntroversy surroundg Frankie – their prev No 1, Relax, was banned for s “obscene” ntent, and the vio for Two Trib was banned for beg cent – even this choice of outf seems like a provotive further playfully mark the ocsn, dmmer Peter “Ped” Gill and bassist Mark O’Toole have swapped stments, while sger Holly Johnson, to the bemement of the BBC meramen, prefac his performance – wh a mixture of relish and disgt – by tearg up a py of the Sun, the newspaper that has been doorsteppg his parents Liverpool for quot about their gay son. But that’s bee would be impossible to recreate what they were a one-off: two self-styled “feroc homosexuals” up ont, backed by three prototype Liam Gallaghers, who were known as “The Lads”.
“You had a tly great producer – the bt the world along wh Qucy Jon – you had a slightly narcissistic journalist, you had this heterosexual se energy and this very exploratory gay energy, all mixed up one place.
“We were at the foreont of that, makg sense of gay rights. “He [Horn] thought the gay thg was the most dangero thg about , but he loved that, and the fact that we were overtly sexual, ” says sexual energy was harnsed by Horn for Relax, four mut (16 on the tumcent 12 Sex Mix) of pulsatg shagtroni.