| Holly Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | William Johnson |
| Born | 9 February 1960 Liverpool, Merseyside, England |
| Origin |  |
| 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.
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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 10 February 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". He appeared on the Jools Holland show performing The Power of Love and performed the song again in 2004 for ZDF Love Songs.
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. Recently, he performed The Power of Love twice in Germany. In an interview at the Q Awards, Johnson announced plans for an album of new material.
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK[9] | GER[10] | AUT[11] | CHE[12] | IT[13] | SWE[14] | NOR[15] | NZ[16] | ||
| 1989 | Blast | 1 | n/a | 12 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| 1990 | Hollelujah | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1991 | Dreams That Money Can't Buy | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999 | Soulstream | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK[9] | IRE[17] | GER[10] | AUT[11] | CHE[12] | NET[18] | IT[19] | SWE[14] | NOR[15] | AUS[20] | NZ[16] | U.S.[21] | |||
| 1979 | "Yankee Rose" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
| 1980 | "Hobo Joe" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
| 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[22] | 1 | — | 15 | 11 | 21 | 15 | — | 4 | 45 | — | — | single only |
| 1994 | "Love & Hate" (with Ryūichi Sakamoto) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Sweet Revenge |
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   | Official web site - Holly Johnson.com |
| | Zang Tuum Tumb and all that - Zang Tuum Tumb and all that | Home |
| | There's Nothing Like the Real Thing, Baby - There's Nothing Like the Real Thing, Baby: Frankie Goes to Hollywood : Rolling Stone |
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