The BBC says ‘no’ to Frankie Goes to Hollywood

In 1984 BBC Radio1 DJ Mike read refused to play Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s provocative hit, and soon after it was completely banned by the government broadcaster.

The Liverpool band’s debut single had been release din late 1983 and they filmed a risqué  music video at at S&M club. The track began to soar up the charts after they made an appearance on the iconic Top of the Pop television program.

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On this day Read aired his dislike of the single and it’s artwork and declared he would not play the song. Not all of their DJ’s adhered to the ban though with Kid Jensen and John Peel continuing to give it a spin. The ban saw the song rise higher in the charts reaching the number two spot, and the following week it hit the top spot where it remained for an impressive five weeks.

In the end, Relax remained on the Top 75 for 48 consecutive weeks and returned in February 1985 for four more weeks, giving it a total of 52 weeks of chart success.

The song was back in the Top 10 in 1993 when the band put out a Greatest Hits collection and several remixes of the song.

Todd Haynes film ‘Poison’ premiered in 1991

In the early 1990s a string of films from queer directors and writers were dubbed the New Queer Cinema move

ment. One of the movies central to the rush of filmmakers tackling queer identity at the height of the AIDS crisis was Todd Haynes’ Poison.

Haynes had got a lot of attention for a short film he made about the life of Karen Carpenter. Haynes used Barbie dolls as actors for Superstar: The Karen Carpenter, but his unauthorised used of music by Carpenters resulted in a lawsuit from Richard Carpenter.  The film also hinted that Richard Carpenter was gay and closeted. After the lawsuit the film was no longer allowed to be screened.

Poison, his first feature film was released in 1991 and it comprised three separate stories, partially inspired by the novels of Jean Genet.

Firstly Hero which sees an seven-year old named Richie shoot his abusive father and then fly away, it’s told in the style of a tabloid news magazine, secondly Horror follows a scientist who claims to have isolated the elixir of human sexuality, when he drinks it he is transformed into a hideous murderer who is shunned by people.

Finally Hero sees a prisoner John Broom who is attracted to another inmate Jack Bolton. Broom recalls seeing Bolton being humiliated while they were in a juvenile facility.   

Film critics noted how the three stories portrayed different ways gay people are treated through the media and popular culture. The movie won the Grand Jury prize (drama) at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival.

Conservative politicians were outraged at the film ,even though they had not viewed it, one commentator labeled Haynes “The Fellini of Felatio’.

Haynes would go on to make Safe (1995) Velvet Goldmine (1998), Far From Heaven (2002), I’m Not There (2007), Carol (2015), Wonderstruck (2017) and Dark Waters (2019). In 2001 he directed the TV miniseries Mildred Pierce. 

Also on this day in history…

In 1973 a documentary series An American Family  began screening on public television in the USA. Decades before reality TV filled our screens, the show followed the Loud family on Santa Barbara. The families oldest son, Lance Loud, who was 22 when the series aired, came out on the show declaring himself “Homo of the Year”.

After the show aired Loud moved to NYC and became the front man of new-wave band The Mumps, he later became a respected music journalist.  Lance Loud died of an AIDS related illness in 2001, his close friend Rufus Wainwright sung Over the Rainbow at his memorial service.

In 2010 a feature film was made about An American Family with actor Thomas Dekker playing Lance Loud.

Also on this day, in 1994 the Wall Street Journal sent a memo to staff giving them permission to use the word ‘gay’ in articles and headlines. Prior to this journalists were forced to describe people as ‘homosexual’.

This post was first published on 11 January 2020 and has subsequently been updated. 

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