Frankie Goes To Hollywood Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Produced by Trevor Horn (Art of Noise, The Buggles, Yes), 1984's Welcome To The Pleasuredome is the debut album by the British dance-pop band Frankie Goes To Hollywood, a release that still stands as one of the seminal records of the decade. The sometimes over-the-top songs are interspersed with snippets of a Ronald Reagan impersonator and bombastic orchestral compositions. Put their most famous song "Relax" in the middle of this and the song that created so much controversy when it was first released becomes a model of restraint. The irresistibly pounding yet simple bass line makes it as much a floor-filler today as it was in 1984. The Orwellian "Two Tribes," released at the height of the Cold War, still seems strangely poignant while "The Power Of Love," the hyper-ballad that topped the British charts for weeks, is still deliciously cheeky.