ZANG TUMMM TUMB ARTICLES “the first draft of history”

When rock stars go crazy!

67 Mike Read bans Relax

Old-school Radio 1 hubris at its nadir.

The term “oxygen of publicity” was obviously unknown to mullet-headed Mike Read. True, Frankie Goes To Hollywoods debut single alluded to the joys of fellatio — according to Holly Johnson, the much misheard key line goes “When you wanna suck it, chew it”. It is, however, unlikely that the playgrounds of Britain would have noticed or even understood this were it not for the publicity afforded by Reads “high-minded” refusal in January 1984, to play the track on his show. Although Reads denunciation led to a full-scale Radio 1 ban, the nation clasped the band — gay sauce and all — to its collective bosom. Relaxs 13 million sales worldwide effectively told Read where he could stick his sanctimony and paid him back for “taking some of the pleasure of being Number 1" away from Johnson.