The Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)
"The Power of Love" is a song originally recorded and released by British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was written by Holly Johnson, Peter Gill, Mark O'Toole and Brian Nash, four of the five members of the band. It was released by the group as their third single.
"The Power of Love"
Initially issued as a single in November 1984, and taken from the debut album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984), "The Power of Love" followed its two predecessors, "Relax" and "Two Tribes", to the top of the UK singles chart. It scored the band an early December number-one. "The Power of Love" was also a top 10 hit in several European countries, in Australia and New Zealand, and in Canada. "The Power of Love" is often regarded as a Christmas song, despite having no reference to Christmas within the song lyrics. However, the accompanying video features the Nativity of Jesus, and the single cover was The Assumption of the Virgin. The single spent just one week at Number One in the UK, outsold by the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" by Band Aid, which until 1997 was the best selling single ever in the UK.
Since then, reissues and/or remixes of the Frankie Goes to Hollywood recording of this song have been top 10 UK hits on two other occasions, hitting number 10 in 1993 and number 6 in 2000. "The Power of Love" has also charted in the UK in a version by Holly Johnson (a solo recording from 1999). The original version by Frankie Goes to Hollywood was featured in the 2012 film Sightseers, the same year that the song was reissued as a digital download and peaked at number 42, in response to a cover version by Gabrielle Aplin. Her recording of the song also went to number 1 in the UK, exactly 28 years after the original Frankie Goes to Hollywood single topped the chart.
Holly Johnson, who co-wrote the song, later reminisced: "I always felt like 'The Power of Love' was the record that would save me in this life. There is a biblical aspect to its spirituality and passion; the fact that love is the only thing that matters in the end".[2]
Frankie Goes to Hollywood version[edit]
The track was first featured during the John Peel Sessions the band performed on during 1983, which was slower and emphasised the track's original camp ironic content (such as the Hooded Claw from the cartoon series The Perils of Penelope Pitstop). After recording at the original speed, ZTT/Trevor Horn sped it up, this also caused a change in pitch.
"The Power of Love" became Frankie Goes to Hollywood's third consecutive (and last) UK number 1 single in December 1984. To commemorate the Christmas release, Godley & Creme directed a Nativity-themed video for the single, and the artwork for the single also used traditional Christian iconography. The original showing of the video on The Tube featured the Nativity occupying the whole screen, however the borders of band members were added for later showings due to pressure from UK broadcasters.
The 12" mix of the song featured actor Chris Barrie aping DJ Mike Read's banning of the single "Relax", as well as his impression of Ronald Reagan, instructing the listener in prayer.[3] The single also featured a Christmas message from the band, entitled "Holier Than Thou".
On the cover is a reproduction of the Assumption of the Virgin by Titian, a 16th-century painting in the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari of Venice.
The single has been reissued in various formats over the years. The 1993 reissue charted at number 10 in the UK; the 2000 remix version reached number 6.
Critical reception[edit]
Richard Harris from NME wrote, "'The Power of Love' is too straight-laced, but still drips with deep-pile quality (Holly Johnson had one of the great pop voices, don't forget)".[4]
Reissues[edit]
1993 reissues[edit]
The 1993 re-issues featured the church in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden on the cover.
Other songs with the title in 1985[edit]
This was the first of three singles in the British top 10 with the title "The Power of Love" in 1985. The other two were "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News, which peaked at No. 9 at the start of autumn, and "The Power of Love" by Jennifer Rush, which reached No. 1 by the middle of autumn.
"The Power of Love"
"The Power of Love"
9 November 2012
2012
4:05
2 December 2018
November 2018
Other cover versions[edit]
The song has been recorded by many other acts. Several Dutch heavy metal artists, including the lead singers of Nightwish, Epica and Within Temptation recorded a cover in support of the Red Cross aiding victims of sexual violence in war-zones.[62] German band Oomph! also covered the song for their best-of album Delikatessen. Feeder also covered the song in 2002.