THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

19-Frankie Goes to Hollywood-Two Tribes. (Carnage Mix.)

1984-Number 1 single. When it was re-issued in 1994 it reached Number 16, and again in 2000 it made Number 17.

Best Bit-At 4.11.The late Patrick Allen (1927-2006) frightened the life out of us with his talk of imminent nuclear destruction, before jumping back in his helicopter to sell more Barratt Homes.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood (‘FGTH’) were formed in Liverpool, England, in 1980, and remained active until 1987, with two of the original line up joining two others for the bands reformation between 2004-2007. The classic line up who played on ‘Two Tribes’ were Holly Johnson, (vocals) Paul Rutherford, (vocals, and tambourine) Mark O’Toole, (bass) Brian Nash, (guitars) and Peter Gill, (drums) in total there have been eight official members at various points. The band took their name from a ‘Pop Art poster’ by Guy Peellaert (1934-2008) that was featured in the American magazine ‘The New Yorker,’ which featured a newspaper headline saying ‘Frankie Goes Hollywood,’ above an image of a young Frank Sinatra being mobbed by his fans.

At the time of writing Frankie Goes to Hollywood have recorded two of the top 30 best selling singles of all time in the UK, with ‘Relax,’ (Number 6) and ‘Two Tribes,’ (Number 30.) In 1984 they became only the second act ever to have three UK Number 1 singles with their first three releases when ‘The Power of Love’ topped the chart. The first act to achieve the fete was fellow Liverpool group ‘Gerry and The Pacemakers’ 21 years earlier in 1963 (see also best songs 60.) The discography of ‘FGTH’ includes two studio Albums released in 1984 and 1986, and seven singles issued between 1983-1987, all seven of those singles reached the UK top 40, but on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in America, only ‘Relax’ has charted in the top 40, when making Number 10. Between 1993-1994 their first four singles were re-issued and they all charted again within the UK top 20.

‘Two Tribes’ was co-written in 1982, two years before it became a hit in 1984, by ‘FGTH’ members Peter Gill, Holly Johnson, and Mark O’Toole, the song was produced by Trevor Horn, (see also best songs 676 and 455) and released on ‘ZZT’ records, the label Horn had co-founded in 1983. A version of ‘Two Tribes’ was originally recorded for a ‘BBC John Peel’ Radio 1 session in October 1982, clearly showing that the songs structure and arrangement were already in place, before Horn worked his magic on the final production. ‘Two Tribes’ was the second of four singles released from the ‘FGTH’ debut studio Album ‘Welcome to the Pleasuredome’ from October 1984, it went on to spend nine consecutive weeks at Number 1 in the UK, and had the longest stay at the top for any single in the 1980’s.

‘Two Tribes’ is an anti-war song. In the early 1980’s tensions ran very high between The United States and the Soviet Union, and people were very worried of a potential Nuclear War. The song’s title derives from the line ‘Two mighty warrior tribes went to war,’ from the 1981 film ‘Mad Max 2.’ Other lyrics include ‘Working for the black gas,’ which according to Holly Johnson is ‘About oil surpassing gold, how you might as well be paid in petrol,’ and the line ‘Are we living in a land where sex and horror are the new gods?’ was inspired by the 1959 British film ‘Cover Girl Killer,’ Johnson has said,’The TV was on in the background while I was doing me ironing and suddenly this character came out with that statement.’ The actual dialogue, which occurs in the film, is ‘Surely sex and horror are the new gods in this polluted world of so-called entertainment?’

‘Two Tribes’ was heavily marketed with slogans appearing on T-shirts, in the same way as ‘Relax’ had been previously promoted. There were six original mixes of the track released in 1984, including the ‘Carnage,’ and the ‘Annihilation’ versions, and the song also has a very memorable video, which was directed by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme (see also best songs 663 and 154.) The video depicts a wrestling match between the then United States President Ronald Reagan, (1911-2004) and Konstantin Chernenko, (1911-1985) who was then Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in front of Frankie Goes to Hollywood group members, and an assembly of representatives from the world’s nations. The match eventually degenerates into global destruction.

‘When two tribes go to war a point is all that you can score. We got two tribes, we got the spunk, we got the spunk, yeah, yeah. Sock it to me biscuits.’