BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984
“Relax” is the debut single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the United Kingdom by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984).
Although fairly inauspicious upon initial release, “Relax” finally reached number one on the UK singles chart on 24 January 1984, ultimately becoming one of the most controversial and most commercially successful records of the decade. The single eventually sold a reported 2 million copies in the UK alone, making it the seventh best-selling single in the UK Singles Chart’s history. Following the release of the group’s second single, “Two Tribes”, “Relax” rallied from a declining UK chart position during June 1984 to climb back up the UK charts and re-attain number-two spot behind “Two Tribes” at number one, representing simultaneous chart success by a single act, unprecedented since the early 1960s.
Upon release in the United States in late 1984, “Relax” repeated its slow UK progress, reaching number 67 upon initial release, but eventually reaching number 10 in March 1985.
The song won Best British Single at the 1985 Brit Awards.
On all of the original 12-inch releases, the B-side featured a cover of “Ferry ‘Cross the Mersey”, followed by a brief dialogue involving Rutherford attempting to sign on, and an a cappella version of the title track’s chorus, segueing into an instrumental version of “Relax”, known as “From Soft to Hard”.
SIDE A:
Relax (U.S. Mix) 7:24
Producer – Trevor Horn
Written-By – Johnson*, O’Toole*, Gill*
SIDE B:
Ferry Cross The Mersey 4:07
Written-By – Marsden*
Relax (From Soft To Hard) 4:34
Producer – Trevor Horn
Written-By – Johnson*, O’Toole*, Gill*
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Relax | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #10 |
| 1984 | Relax | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #20 |
| 1984 | Relax | U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | #26 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Island Records – 601 096, Island Records – 601 096-213
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Misprint
Country: Europe
Released: 1984
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Bass – Mark O’Toole
Drum – Peter Gill
Guitar – Brian Nash
Illustration [Cover Illustration], Photography By – Anne Yvonne Gilbert
Photography By [Group] – John Stoddart (2)
Sleeve – XLZTT
Vocals [One Voice] – Holly Johnson
Vocals [Two Voice] – Paul Rutherford
NOTES:
The A-side label is misprinted Sex Mix (8:20) but the A-side actually plays the U.S. Mix (7:25).
Find the 12″ on DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Nooooooooooooooooo! How come this isn’t available anymore?
Thank you for this! Would you happen to have any more Frankie singles?
I would love to hear the “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” single, or “Two Tribes” with your touch. This sounds immaculate.
Nice one Paul
I used to own the original “Sex Mix” 12″.
It ran at 33 1/3 but cover and label were identical to the original 12″.
It was labeled “Sex Mix” though and had the cat # ZTT – 12 ZTAS 1
This was it:
https://www.discogs.com/Frankie-Goes-To-Hollywood-Relax/release/33482
Thanks for this, brilliant stuff. The naming of the Relax mixes has been a source of entertainment for ZTT fans for many years, as they were all labelled “Sex Mix” on the labels. The general conclusion, based on the press advertisements that ZTT published at the time, is that the first 16 minute mix (sometimes labelled “Original mix”) is indeed the “Sex Mix”, the second 8 minute edit is “Sex Mix Edition 2”, and the third 7 minute mix that we have here was intended to be the “New York Night Mix”, but can be called either the “New York… Read more »
This is Frankie, and Frankie only…
Thank you very much Paul! Great rip, great post!
Please please please…How about posting the “Annihilation Mix” of Two Tribes? One of my top 20 12ers of the 80s. BTW you nailed two more of my top 20 this week with Nowhere Girl and Sex (I’m a…)and especially the mega rare instrumental version. Many thanks and keep it up!!!
Interesting it didn’t do very well on the dance chart.
Yeah I am surprised it wasn’t a top ten.
I say…. No, FRANKIE SAY….
I have every 7inch, 10inch and 12inch record I ever laid my eyes on, from pre-Frankie singles up to the marvellous INSIDE THE PLEASUREDOME box set. None of the 90s and 20xx remix crap, of course.
I love Frankie. Love Trevor Horn´s work altogether but especially Frankie.
“It is of course Frankie. And Frankie only.”
Oh, I almost forgot… 🙂
“In song and in dance
I express myself as a member of a higher community
I have forgotten how to walk and speak
I am on the way toward flying into the air, dancing
My very gestures express enchantment
I feel myself a god
Supernatural sounds emanate from me
I walk about enchanted, in ecstasy, like the gods I saw walking in my dreams
I am no longer an artist
I have become a work of art
Welcome to the pleasure dome…”
Oh Paul!! I had to chime in once more concerning this release. Thank you so much for this. Actually, because this version (a.k.a. as the New York Mix) has been on so many numerous CD compilations, I thought the song was getting to be a bit tired. But, after listening to your gorgeous rip, I was thrilled like I haven’t been in years. The quality is STUNNING and to have the flip-side, is a godsend Paul. I even forgot how great their cover of “Ferry Cross The Mersey” was. I marvel about the sound you produce like it’s an art… Read more »
Thank you Jeff actually the “New York Mix” is an edit of the “Sex Mix” and runs about 8:23 I believe. I agree with you that Hot Tracks mix is brilliant 🙂
Lovely 🙂 Btw, have you heard of “Relax” (Sound Clinic UK)10″ acetate unreleased 5.20mins version? Seems unreachable..
I have never heard of that Chris seems rare 🙂
Thanks so much dear DjPaul!
I’ve been a big fan of FGHT… since 1984.
I’ve got all the FGTH 12″ but my vinyl player doesn’t work.
Please can you posted another FGTH 12″ rip?
All the best!
Hi Phil I will be adding more FGTH in the future 🙂
One of the biggest from the 80s! ZTT and Trevor Horn really ruled the 12″ mixes. Think I have every mix of Relax that was released on CD. To add to the confusion, the A-side 12″ of Relax I bought back then was miss labelled as New York Mix instead of US Mix. LOL
Of all the follow up remixes released in the 90s and later I only digged the Jam & Spoon Trip-O-Matic Fairy Tale Mix. Relaxing day @ BTG 🙂
Davos I have one labeled like that too seems they titled a lot of them “Sex Mix” when they were actually other mixes the “Sex Mix” runs 16 minutes 🙂
Just noticed that the embedded URL for the FLAC24 file is missing the first two letters “bu”. It looks like this: http://rningtheground.net/btg2/relax24.rar
It should be all good you might have to clear your browser cache and download directly from the blog and not your email. I made the fix after the email notifications were sent out.
Well, first, glad you made it out ok there. Second, this is an awesome record, and indeed a confusing release, it seems the mix ups could have been intentional, but who knows. It is strange that even to this day they are still exhuming different mixes of this record. Who knows if the recent Inside the Pleasuredome box is really the last word on this, song, I doubt it. I always thought back in the day that Relax owed a bit of something to Prince.
I totally agree. I actually thought it was George Michael when I first heard it parts of the chorus sound like him to me. Seems the label did a terrible job of misprinting the records.
As FGTH were one of the kings of the 12″ i went off checking this site for certain 80’s 12″s. I know there’s only so much time in the day and that you spend an incredible amount of your time on these truly wonderful posts but i was amazed to see so little FGTH on here. Also no post (that i could see) of the biggest selling 12″ of all time, New order’s Blue Monday of course. And finally no post for the 12 of Soft Cell’s Tainted love. Any chance that some more FGTH may be forthcoming, Paul? Many… Read more »
There is definitely more Frankie, Soft Cell and New Order coming Neil 🙂
Oh joy so excited for each and every new post, DJ Paul! Especially with DOA today!
As always, your rips sound AMAZING! Can’t thank you enough for FGTH!
You’re welcome PhotoHop 🙂
I think I have the original cd single for this . Thanks Paul. Welcome To the Pleasuredome (7″) is my favorite FGTH single.
You’re welcome Omar 🙂
I love me some Frankie, that’s for sure!! Thank you Paul for ripping this 12-inch!! Especially for its “From Soft To Hard” version. Oh, and I love Paul Morley’s liner notes on the back cover. Such a scandal. Thankfully, at the time, my Mom and Dad never checked out the artwork from this twelve. I love records that brought the heat and this was a giant favorite of mine. And again, the lyrics were great without any profanities in sight!! Ah, the days of the 12-inch single!! As a lad I always wanted to measure up to a seven, ten… Read more »
It’s been exciting around these parts this morning I almost didn’t get to even make a post today. We had a tornado warning and very strong storms luckily all is ok now. This song has so many mixes and most of the 12″ singles are misprinted so you never knew what mix you were gonna get when you bought a copy. Very confusing.
Wow Paul, so relieved to here that you are alright. I get very nervous because I hear of all the intense weather you guys have. Thanks for letting us know.
Jeff