Plain vanilla and prudes can enjoy censored toned-down tunes and elevator music. ![]() Controversial music (and books, and artwork, and speeches) will always play a role in society. I wish we had gotten tickets to that awesome event. Live Aid was going on! Frankie wasn’t there. We drove home from the shore on a sweltering day past Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. By next summer, something else came to take its place.Īfter 33 years, I can reflect fondly on that summer, that band, that song, and that shirt. Trendy, fad t-shirts don’t live a long life, even if they were made of a 50 percent polyester/50 percent cotton mix. My father wore the shirt till it was relegated to a shop rag. The band faded as new material was slow to be released. How can you put a price on going your own way? Current musicians hold Frankie and crew in high regard they took chances and went in a direction that others feared. Other new (and old) artists at the time weren’t going to roll the dice or rock the boat because income was made on the predictable. They weren’t shy in their intentions and didn’t play it safe. Holly had to be laughing!ĭigging deeper, you’d realize Frankie Goes to Hollywood took a huge risk by releasing this as their first single. I knew better, and so did you when you saw him mowing the lawn wearing this highly prized piece. At the time he thought it was just a novelty item, you know, a guy or shop on the beach peddling a shirt with his name on it. However, if he knew then what we know now about what the words on that shirt really meant, he might have killed me. He was the one that needed to “chill out.” Coping with a mortgage, a new Porsche on the way, helping my brother with college costs, putting food on the table, keeping the house warm, and working a retail job filled with stress could all wear him down. I was already totally relaxed and carefree. With the song, came the infamous shirt.Īnyway, I decided to buy that feasible and fashionable shirt for my dad, not me. It eventually wandered from the UK to our shores by 1984. The song eventually hit the top of the charts with its catchy beat and synthesized seizures. This song was controversial from the get-go due to lewd sexual connotations and was banned by several stations on the BBC. “Frankie Says Relax.” I just had to get one at a boardwalk shop! These shirts were practically flying off the racks by themselves! And so was the song “Relax” by Johnson’s group Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Three simple oversize words on a basic white t-shirt. At least as far as, can I say this, thrusting went. And a male musician named Holly Johnson told us to go easy. The summer of 1985 provided fresh opportunity (and temptation), and the entire nation was optimistic and pretty united. Back then, they were flattered, not flattened by a compliment headed their way. Today, in a politically skewed world, if you made any remark about them or their outfit of choice you’d get slapped in the face or stuck with a harassment suit faster than sand sliding through your toes on said beach. In 1985 it wasn’t sexist, pompous or remotely rude to tell a tan, buxom young lady they looked fine and dandy in their hand-picked bikini. ![]() The movies in 1985 were great - “Back to the Future”, “The Breakfast Club”, “Commando” - and so was the music - “Crazy for You” by Madonna, “Part Time Lover” by Stevie Wonder, and “Raspberry Beret” by Prince.Īs a guy in his mid-20s just out of college and freshly minted for the world, the future was so bright - I had to wear shades!īeach fact. I distinctly remember the heavy-duty activity on the boardwalk and surrounding areas. ![]() The economy was booming, Reagan was president, and everything was coming up roses. ![]() The Chevy Camaro IROC Z made its debut on American streets. Poor George passed away last year at age 53, so his choices on planet earth are now nil.ġ985 was a good, vibrant year. George Michael and his group WHAM! wore ones on stage that said “CHOOSE LIFE” - a statement against war, death, and destruction. Hamnett first designed these snow-white shirts with big, bold, black lettering in 1983. That particular year it was for t-shirts with oversized slogans on them that could be read from 30 feet away. Our family took a vacation to Stone Harbor, NJ that year, and as most of you know, beaches provide a breeding ground for new trends and fads. Till then, let me take you back to the summer of 1985 when things were really cooking! Since most of us want to shed the thermal underwear and slip into shorts, swimsuits, and tank tops. hit single and a hit t-shirt in 1985 does not a celebrity make.” – Holly Johnson
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