TUMBOMETER 11 — INSIDE THE PLEASUREDOME
In the words of one of WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME’S many voice-over artists, “hello, good evening, and welcome…”
Or rather “welcome inside.” This is the 30th anniversary of what is generally regarded as one of the most important albums of the classic pop era, so we wanted to make it bigger, more luxurious and more detailed than ever before. To quote the album’s original call-to-action:
THEY CAME
THEY FOUGHT
THEY SAID
They made it to the Pleasuredome. Follow them. Find out all that goes on. After all they’ve been through it’s the least that you can do. And bring your imagination. And your love.
The THEY, it has to be said, were the five musicians and songwriters who dreamed up what Frankie Goes To Hollywood were and would sound like in the first place. It was Peter GILL, Holly JOHNSON, Brian NASH, Mark O’TOOLE and Paul RUTHERFORD who came, fought and said. We just brought our imagination, and our love.
You’ve lifted the lid, so what’s inside?
Part One —
Part Two —
Part Three —
Part Four —
as part of this box set.
Now, take a break. Make this last!
Part Five —
And, the grand finale…
Part Six —
These mixes were first released in 2001, possibly a few years ahead of their time, and Frankie Fans have been asking for them again ever since. So some long overdue recognition is due for 5.1 remixers Dan Vickers (who also worked on Art of Noise’s “The Seduction of Claude Debussy,” incidentally) and Iain Robertson (who recently worked on William Orbit’s Strange Cargo 5").
“Brothers and Sisters” also recaps the Frankie video story, courtesy of directors Bernard Rose, Godley & Creme and David Mallet. Look behind the slipcase of the DVD and you’ll find another touch-point from the Frankie experience, each and every one unique… Maybe one day every Inside The Pleasuredome owner will get together for a reunion and connect up their frames from the Pleasuredome filmstrip and project Bernard Rose’s original once more?
Who has put this all together? “Inside The Pleasuredome” is a Union Square Production dreamed up, visualised, compiled, curated and designed by myself, Philip Marshall and Kevin Foakes. We were the slaves to the rhythm.
We were backed up by a team, of course, all of whom went above-and-beyond in their own particular way and so, in alphabetical order, thank you to Peter Ashworth, AJ Barratt, Sarah Bradley, Tom Burgess, Lo Cole, Sue Cole, Paul Dando, Carlo Dinardo, Stephen Flannery, Anne Yvonne Gilbert, Darren Hemmings, James Hobbs, Aaron Horn, Ally Horn, Trevor Horn, Julian Huntly, Karen Jolly, Robert Marston, Paul Morley, Dean Murphy, Andrew Poppelwell, Clive Robins, Steve Rumney, John Service, Jill Sinclair, David Smart, John Stoddart, Dave Turner and Jeff Young. And the companies of Advance Music Research, CSV, Let It Beep, MediaDisc, Meedja, Motive Unknown, Perfect Songs, PIAS, PledgeMusic and ZTT Records.
To say nothing of the original studio team who, for the previously unreleased tracks, are credited as follows (where records remain):
“Lovers and Haters” —
“Cowboys and Indians” —
“Doctors and Nurses” —
“Suck It Up” —
“Soap It Up” —
B5 recorded at Sarm West, Studio 2, engineered by Greg, assisted by Dave Meegan on 05/09/83. B9 recorded at Manor Studios, engineered by Nick Froome/Steve Chase on 24/08/83.
“Voiceless” —
Until next time… welcome inside the Pleasuredome. What next?
Ian Peel,
Forum Studios,
08 August 2014