Welcome to the Pleasuredome (song)
| Welcome to the Pleasuredome | |
|---|---|
| Frankie Goes to Hollywood | |
| publication | March 18, 1985 |
| length | 13:38 (album version); 4:20 (7 "version) |
| Genre (s) | New wave , dance pop |
| Author (s) | Peter Gill , Holly Johnson , Brian Nash , Mark O'Toole |
| album | Welcome to the Pleasuredome |
Welcome to the Pleasuredome is the theme song of the 1984 debut album of the same name by Frankie Goes to Hollywood . It was released in March 1985, considerably shortened, as the group's fourth UK single.
Emergence
The piece was written by the band and produced with Trevor Horn at Manor Studios in Oxford and at SARM Studios in London . The lyrics of the song were inspired by the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge . The spoken word intros of the two 12-inch mixes were taken from Walter Kaufmann's translation of Friedrich Nietzsche's 1967 Birth of Tragedy . The recitation of the first 12 "single ( Real Altered ) is by Gary Taylor. The passage of the second 12" version ( Fruitness ) and the cassette version are by actor Geoffrey Palmer . It is not known whether the error in Palmers text Welcome to the Pleasured r ome , a slip is or has been included so in the script.
reception
Texts and music video have been criticized for glorifying debauchery; however, like Coleridge's poem, the song is about the dangers of this lifestyle. After the already controversial nature song Relax fired Welcome to the Pleasure Dome discussions about the band.
Looking back, Daryl Easlea of the BBC wrote in 2010: "It is quite possible that Horn has never produced anything better than the title track of this album". He described the piece as “stupid, unabashed and ridiculous - and the best progressive rock recording of the 80s.” Under “shiny veneer and modernism” hides a yes track. “The fact that their Steve Howe plays the acoustic guitar on it” underscores this. “Back then you heard him too often, today you don't hear him often enough: It's the Trojan Prog horse in the city walls of the charts - and with a huge one By far the best track on this record. "
The song had been announced in advance as the band's “fourth number one single”, but then made it to number two in the UK. The song reached ninth place in Germany , and 20th place in Switzerland and Austria .
Frankie Goes to Hollywood performed the piece on November 30, 1985 at Peter's Pop Show in Dortmund's Westfalenhalle . Various re-releases appeared between 1993 and 2000.
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1985 | Welcome to the Pleasuredome Welcome to the Pleasuredome |
DE9 (13 weeks) DE |
AT20 (1 month) AT |
CH20 (6 weeks) CH |
UK2  (18 weeks)UK |
US48 (8 weeks) US |
First published: March 18, 1985
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