Robbed Hit of the Week 12/16/13: Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Two Tribes"...

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - "Two Tribes"
from the album Welcome To The Pleasuredome (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #43

This week's "robbed hit" is by the British new wave group Frankie Goes To Hollywood, who had come together in the early 80s in their native Liverpool, England, before coming under the wing of producer Trevor Horn, who recorded their debut album Welcome To The Pleasuredome. Released in 1984, it contained their first single, released the year before, "Relax". The track steadily grew a following but then exploded when the English radio and TV broadcaster BBC effectively banned the song from the radio and from TV for its sexual overtones and racy cover, and shot to #1 in the UK. Released in the U.S. in the spring of 1984, it was a minor hit at #67.

The single's follow-up was just as bombastic but in the political vein as FGTH dabbled in Cold War relations on "Two Tribes". One of their earliest songs, written by singer Holly Johnson with bandmates Mark O'Toole and Peter Gill, "Two Tribes" cribbed a line from the second Mad Max movie and the video that went with it, directed by former 10cc hitmakers Godley & Creme, featured Reagan and Soviet leader Chernenko look-a-likes in an Ultimate Fighter situation...

"Two Tribes" continued their British success, spending nine weeks atop the singles charts (while "Relax" went back up to #2 behind it). In America, while the song did better than "Relax" (initially), it stalled just underneath the top-40 on the pop chart at #43. It did better on rock radio, landing at #27 on Billboard's format chart, and went all the way to #3 on the U.S. club play list. Internationally, the single was huge all across the world, going to #1 in Belgium, Holland, Ireland, and Germany, and top-ten almost everywhere else.

"Two Tribes", despite its moderate showing on the pop charts in America, stands as one of the most innovative and influential songs of the 80s, pairing the band's inner fire with Horn's amazing production. The entire Welcome album is one of the best cohesive new wave sets of the decade.

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Here's the "long version" of the video..

The BBC did let the band go on with the song on Top Of The Pops...

...here they are again in 1985...

The original "Annihilation" mix that went to #3 on the American club chart was fierce...

In 1994, the song was re-released with new mixes, and reached #16 on the UK singles chart...

...and in 2000, with yet another rework, "Two Tribes" reached the top-40 for a third time at #17...

Finally, here's the producer of the record Trevor Horn (coincidentally with the video director Lol Creme) with a cool stripped down instrumental version...