Holly Johnson
| Holly Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | William Johnson |
| Born | 9 February 1960 Liverpool, Merseyside, England |
| Genres | Dance, House, Synthpop, New Wave, Pop-rock |
| Occupations | musician, painter, writer |
| Instruments | Vocals, Bass |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | MCA Records, Eric's Club, ZTT Records |
| Associated acts | Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Big in Japan |
| Website | www.hollyjohnson.com |
Holly Johnson (born William Johnson; 9 February 1960; legal name William Holly Johnson[1]) is an English artist, writer and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and former bassist for Big in Japan.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Johnson was born in Liverpool, England.
[edit] Big in Japan
Actively involved in the Liverpool punk rock/new wave scene of the late 1970s, Johnson played bass with Big in Japan and released two solo singles on the Eric's label.
[edit] Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Johnson found fame as the lead singer and lyricist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood (FGTH), who experienced both controversy and phenomenal commercial success during their heyday in 1983 and 1984.[2]
[edit] Clash with ZTT Records
Johnson left FGTH in 1987 due to disagreements regarding their musical direction. He became the subject of an injunction from the group's record company, ZTT Records, and its sister publishing company, Perfect Songs, which cited a breach of his prior recording and publishing contracts, thus barring him from pursuing a solo career with any other new label.[3]
Johnson embarked on a two-year legal battle with ZTT, the case being settled in Johnson's favour on 10 February 1988, the judge ruling that the original contracts had constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade, remarking that "Mr. Johnson could be 70 years old and still be bound to this contract".[4]
ZTT unsuccessfully appealed against the decision, the Appeal Court concluding on 26 July 1989 that the original recording and publishing contracts were "not a fair bargain".[5] The result represented a landmark legal outcome, contemporary press reports stating that the result "set a legal precedent which rocked the music business", adding that ZTT had by this time released most of its artists from their original contracts.[6]
Johnson's relationship with ZTT owners Trevor Horn and Jill Sinclair broke down irretrievably due to the court case: "'They [Horn and Sinclair] have never really forgiven me for winning my freedom in the law courts', the singer said, adding that the worst part of being in FGTH was 'the contract we signed with ZTT'."[7]
[edit] Personal life
In November 1991, Johnson learned he was HIV positive. This triggered a temporary withdrawal from the music business and public life in general. His condition was made public during an interview in April 1993.[8]
[edit] Autobiography
In March 1994, his critically acclaimed autobiography, A Bone in My Flute, was published.
[edit] Art
Since the mid 1990s, Johnson has worked primarily as a painter. His works have been exhibited at the Tate Liverpool, and The Royal Academy. He has contributed to Modern Painters and the Paul Smith sponsored CARLOS magazine.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK[9] | GER[10] | AUT[11] | CHE[12] | IT[13] | SWE[14] | NOR[15] | NZ[16] | ||
| 1989 | Blast | 1 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 |
| 1990 | Hollelujah | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1991 | Dreams That Money Can't Buy | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1999 | Soulstream | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK[9] | IRE[17] | GER[10] | AUT[11] | CHE[12] | NET[18] | IT[19] | SWE[14] | NOR[15] | AUS[20] | NZ[16] | U.S.[21] | ||||
| 1979 | "Yankee Rose" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only | |
| 1980 | "Hobo Joe" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only | |
| 1989 | "Love Train" | 4 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 8 | 12 | 21 | 14 | 10 | 35 | 20 | 65 | Blast | |
| "Americanos" | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | — | 10 | — | |||
| "Atomic City" | 18 | 9 | 16 | 19 | 10 | 40 | 29 | — | — | — | 20 | — | |||
| "Heaven's Here" | 62 | 22 | 58 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1990 | "Where Has Love Gone?" | 73 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Dreams That Money Can't Buy | |
| 1991 | "Across the Universe" | 99 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "The People Want to Dance" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1994 | "Legendary Children" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Soulstream | |
| 1998 | "Hallelujah!" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999 | "Disco Heaven" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "The Power of Love" | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| As featured artist | |||||||||||||||
| 1989 | "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey" (with The Christians, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden and Stock Aitken Waterman) |
1[22] | 1 | 5 | 15 | 11 | 21 | 15 | — | 4 | 45 | — | — | single only | |
| 1994 | "Love & Hate" (with Ryūichi Sakamoto) |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Sweet Revenge
align="center"|— |
single only |
[edit] Books
- A Bone in My Flute; hard cover Century UK ISBN 0-7126-6145-X, 17 March 1994; soft cover Arrow UK ISBN 0-09-939341-7, 6 April 1995
[edit] References
- ^ "Trade mark decision O/140/07" (PDF). UK Intellectual Property Office. http://www.ipo.gov.uk/types/tm/t-os/t-find/t-challenge-decision-results/o14007.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ "Famous bands from Liverpool: Frankie Goes to Hollywood". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/music/unsigned/famous.shtml#frankie. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ Southall, Brian (2008). Pop Goes To Court. Omnibus Press, London. pp. 114–115. ISBN 978-1-84772-113-6.
- ^ Cited in Southall (2008), p. 115.
- ^ Cited in Southall (2008), p. 119.
- ^ Cited in Southall (2008), p. 117.
- ^ Johnson speaking in a 2001 interview, cited by Southall (2008), p. 121.
- ^ Southall (2008), p. 120.
- ^ a b Chart Stats. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ a b Charts-Surfer. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ a b Austrian Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ a b The Official Swiss Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ a b Swedish Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ a b Norwegian Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ a b New Zealand Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ The Irish Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ Dutch Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: J. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ Australian Charts. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ Allmusic. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
- ^ Chart Stats. Retrieved: 2009-10-22.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Holly Johnson on Myspace
- Holly Johnson on Twitter
- Holly Johnson at the Internet Movie Database
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood Official site
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- 1960 births
- English male singers
- English New Wave musicians
- English painters
- English rock bass guitarists
- English rock singers
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood members
- LGBT musicians from the United Kingdom
- People with HIV/AIDS
- LGBT people from England
- Living people
- Musicians from Liverpool
- Scouse culture of the early 1980s
- People educated at Liverpool Collegiate Institution
