There was very little about Frankie Goes to Hollywood's debut album, Welcome to The Pleasuredome, that wasn't grandiose. From their outsized, obsessively cultivated image (thanks to ZTT Records, the No. 1 home for bizarrely cultivated musical images in the 1980s), to their peppy British dance-pop hooks and glistening production by Trevor Horn to their stunning two-year run of hit singles, including the No. 1s "Relax," "Two Tribes," and "The Power of Love" (and the spectacular title track, a near career-ender at "only" No. 2), Frankie did it in a big way for quite some time.
Now, 30 years later, ZTT are making Frankie big again with an exhaustive deluxe box set edition of the band's first album planned for release. This 5LP box features bonus material in the form of a cassette, a DVD and digital FLAC files, too, and should theoretically offer the last word on the album (the most recent words of which was a deluxe reissue issued by Salvo/Union Square Music weeks after The Second Disc started).
Inside The Pleasuredome will feature:
- The original album, newly remastered on 12" 180-gram vinyl by Trevor Horn at SARM Studios
- Three 10" EPs of unreleased sessions, alternate takes and remixes
- A C90 cassette featuring 14 versions of iconic hit "Relax," six of which are unreleased
- Original promo videos and new surround mixes on DVD
- Digital FLAC files of all the vinyl as well as an EP of unreleased instrumentals
- Various paper goods and book content
- All housed in a custom lidded box
A set this expansive is also likely to be expensive; in fact, it's being fundraised/sold through PledgeMusic, a crowdsourcing music service. The whole box goes for about $200 in U.S. dollars - sort of ironic, considering licensing restrictions prevent the set's release in America, Canada or Japan. (The box has still been well-received; with 40 days to go as of this writing, the project has been 92% funded.)
Sound enticing? Head to the PledgeMusic link to reserve your copy, and hit the jump for full specs on what's inside, including the just-announced track list!
Inside The Pleasuredome (ZTT, 2014)
- "Come Inside": flipbook of Lo Cole's Welcome To The Pleasuredome artwork
- "Tumbometer Nine": info sheet of contents/sources of all tracks + Element Series discography
- And Suddenly There Came a Zang! The Art of Frankie Goes to Hollywood: 48-page hardbound book "with contributions from Paul Morley, designers David Smart, Lo Cole and photographers Anne Yvonne Gilbert, John Stoddart, Steve Rumney, AJ Barratt and Peter Ashworth"
LPs 1-2: Welcome to The Pleasuredome (originally released as ZTT IQ1 (U.K.), 1984)
- Well….
- The World is My Oyster
- Snatch of Fury (stay)
- Welcome to the Pleasuredome
- Relax (come fighting)
- War (….and hide)
- Two Tribes (for the victims of ravishment)
- Ferry (go)
- Born to Run
- San Jose (the way)
- Wish (the lads were here)
- Including The Ballad of 32
- Krisco Kisses
- Black Night White Light
- The Only Star in Heaven
- The Power of Love
- Bang
LP 3: “Lovers and Haters” – Studio Sessions (previously unreleased)
- Relax (9/4/1983: Rough Mix)
- Relax (9/10/1983: CMI Backing Track)
- The Only Star in Heaven (8/29/1984: ’Gary’s Mix’ with Keys and BD)
- The Only Star in Heaven (8/29/1984: ’Gary’s Mix’ Dub Bits)
LP 4: "Cowboys and Indians" – Alternate Takes (previously unreleased)
- Two Tribes (10/4/1984: Bit 4)
- War (10/4/1984: Man Has a Sense for the Discovery of Beauty)
- Two Tribes (5/31/1984: Rough 12” Mix)
- Two Tribes (6/1/1984: Rough 12” Mix)
LP 5: "Doctors and Nurses" – Mix/Remix (previously unreleased)
- War (5/17/1984: ‘War! III’)
- Welcome to the Pleasuredome (8/10/1984: ‘Pleasuredome II’)
C90 Cassette: "Suck It Up": "Relax" Singlette (* denotes previously unreleased material)
- Relax (Bit 1) *
- Relax (Sex Mix) (12" A-side - ZTT 12 ZTAS 1 (U.K.), 1983)
- Relax (New York Mix) (12" A-side - ZTT 12 ISZTAS 1 (U.K.), 1983)
- Relax (Greatest Bits) (from ZTT cassette single CTIS 002 (U.K.), 1983)
- One September Monday (Bit 1) *
- Relax (Bit 2) *
- Relax (Sex Mix, Edition 2)
- Relax (Sex Mix, Edition 3)
- Relax (Video Version) *
- One September Monday (Bit 2) *
- Relax (Greek Disco Mix) (12" A-side - ZTT 200 086-6 (GR), 1983)
- Relax (The Last Seven Inches!) (from ZTT promo 7" single ZTAS 1 (U.K.), 1983)
- Relax (Bonus, Again)
- Relax (Bit 3) *
DVD: "Brothers and Sisters"
Features the Pleasuredome promo videos and 5.1 mixes of key tracks. The disc will feature NTSC region 0 on one side and PAL region 0 on the other.
Promo videos:
- Relax (Version 1)
- Relax (Live Version)
- Relax (Laser Version)
- Two Tribes (Version 1)
- Two Tribes (Video Destruction)
- The Power of Love (Version 1)
- The Power of Love (Version 2)
- Welcome to The Pleasuredome (An Alternative to Reality)
- Welcome to The Pleasuredome (The Escape Act)
- Relax – No. 1 and Guiltless (Version 1)
- Relax – No. 1 and Guiltless (Version 2)
- The Power of Love (Win Hearts and Minds)
- Welcome to The Pleasuredome (The Event of the Decade)
5.1 mixes:
- Relax
- Two Tribes
- Ferry Cross the Mersey
- The World is My Oyster
- Welcome to The Pleasuredome
- San Jose
- War
- Born to Run
- The Power of Love
FLAC EP: Voiceless, Vol. 1(previously unreleased)
- Welcome to The Pleasuredome (A Remade World - Voiceless)
- War (Hide Yourself! - Voiceless)
- Two Tribes (Carnage 7" - Voiceless)
- Relax (Come Fighting - Voiceless)
- The Power of Love (Voiceless)
Jason says
No Blu-ray, only 'selected' tracks in 5.1, lots of pretty useless vinyl and a bloody cassette for God's sake. Too much fluff.
Anthony James says
Surely if there was a time for ZTT to put every single bit of Pleasuredome material that they have in archive together in one neat set then this was it - it looks lovely but for me it's a bit of a missed opportunity.
Tony says
No actual discs but vinyl and cassettes? cassettes? Not available in the US? Double fail.
dc2012cvr says
Reblogged this on newdiscoconnectiondotco and commented:
Do we realy need this? Why not just put them all on CD/DVD/Blu-Ray and be done with it. Regards DC2012