Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax ‘banned’ by the BBC
January 1984: Number 29 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of pop music
Sat 11 Jun 2011
Prohibition is good for business. When it was first released, in October 1983, Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s debut single just about troubled the top 40. Enter irate Radio 1 DJ Mike Read who, objecting to its saucy artwork and lyrics, refused to play the track during the chart rundown. The BBC then banned the song from radio and TV (the original video was all decadent nightclub scenes and allusions to “water sports”). Relax duly climbed to No 1, staying there for five weeks.