yes, to dispense early doors with the usual, i do indeed mutter every year that "maybe" i should cease honouring the anniversary of certain concerts (gigs, if you will). just about every year, perhaps, would be a more accurate account, look you see. so there should be little surprise, either across those what know me in the "real" world and them what regularly visit this blog, that once more today i celebrate the cherished memory of seeing Frankie Goes To Hollywood live.
it is now, as of today (or the date this "went live"), a mere 39 years since Uncle Colin drew the fortunate but all the same in regards of the grown ups in the family view of the band short straw to take me off to the Manchester G-Mex to see them. despite caution being offered (it was my first gig proper) that the support bands were "generally no good" we got Berlin as the support, and yes they did indeed do the song off of Top Gun (the one that was the second love theme after Playing With The Boys) as well as selections from their other songs what didn't sound like that massive hit at all.
above, in some sort of neon filter thing (yes VHS mode) is an image of my denim jacket what Gran sewed the remnants of my much worn tour jumper on the back of. on a whim, when i took this jacket out of the closet (so to speak) so as to take a picture, i thought to try it on. strangely and unexpectedly it does fit me these days. well, kind of. one is not supposed to button up a denim jacket, after all. perhaps, at some stage, i shall go for a stroll wearing it, see if it inspires (or inflames) any conversations the way in which my Bowie bag does. from memory the only vague form of "conversation" i can recall this jacket ever inspiring was some wit shouting "Frankie Goes To Leningrad" at me.
once more i have probably added too many pictures here for all that i have to say, but also i have again delved into the bootleg tape (which was an actual tape at some stage) from the gig i was at which someone exceptionally kindly furnished me with a copy of. here, resplendent with some "that will do" artwork i knocked up in MS Paint, is the second song they (Frankie) played at the gig.
rather likely, between the sound quality and my handwriting, that you shall indeed need me to say which song that was, although i would think the more devout ("real" or "proper") Frankie Fans clocked it from the title of this post. so as to clarify, it is indeed The Only Star In Heaven, being from their much vaunted debut, or if you like first album (of two), also appearing as a strangely agreeable instrumental on one of the Power Of Love 12" singles.
easily, no matter how much life has "happened" since (and there has been a lot), i remember my joy, or indeed my excitement, at them doing it. having no real concept of what bands "do" at gigs i didn't, for some reason, expect them to play an "album track" as such. silly in retrospect, i know, for if all they had done was the singles, well, at that point the gig would have been six songs long. but my experience of gigs by then was videos (actual) of the likes of Queen and the Stones, and all that got shown in such was them doing the big hits.
for anyone who has happened on this hoping for a (somewhat) decent sounding live recording of the band, well, sorry. very few decent ones do, except bootlegs from the radio broadcast of the Wembley gigs on the same tour. still, it is a modern marvel that someone decided to keep hold of their tape of this bootleg, despite the quality, then make the effort to "digitise" it, and then had the kindness to share it with moi. not (entirely) everything in this century i really don't particularly understand is all that bad.
since you are here, and have made it that far, a slight bonus above, in the form of a Smash Hits readers poll from 1986, which is now 40 (!) years ago. this probably would have made more sense to post at the end of this year, for it will have come out (so to speak) at the end of 1986, but it is here now. how would i have voted? quite likely Frankie as the best group, followed by Sigue Sigue Sputnik and then, trying to remain true to what i would have liked at the time, Queen or Simple Minds. lovely that some of the ones who(m) were voted "worst" elected to comment on it all, and Holly is absolutely not wrong in respect of his take on the Warriors Of The Wasteland video.
going for the usual sort of conclusion, or (if you will) ending, here and i will ponder if anyone else out there remembers the gig, or has a fascination with commemorating the anniversary of it like i do. probably not, i suppose. dare say there's one or two if you mentioned it to them would go "oh yeah i went to that". unlikely that the members of the band (themselves) are wandering around today being mindful that they played a gig at the Manchester G-Mex on this day. but, well, i remember.
to be stolen or bought.
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