FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD - "Relax"

FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD - "Relax"

The actual commercial 45 running time is (3:53), the listed time is "3:56" on the record label. (Island 7-99805)

Wow, that's an amazing analysis of all the different versions of this song, Crap! What a labyrinth. At least the hit 45 version has been issued on CD.

Incredible! Ron, thank you for your time spent figuring
out these versions of "Relax"!

That's it.

Ron—respectfully—I think you have made some errors here.

If I understand correctly, you claim you have a retail 7" with catalog number 7-99805 containing the 3:02 edit, with purple labels, and that this version is was what charted in mid-1984. And you claim to have once had a 12" with this edit on it, too.

I can't verify these claims, and I'm skeptical that you have access to extremely rare records that no one in 37 years of heavily collecting this thoroughly discographied band has ever noticed.

The actual situation with this song is much more mundane.

The first US release was on promo 12" (DMD 691) with yellow/aquamarine labels and a company sleeve, and also on retail 12" in the common retail "two bodies" sleeve (0-96975). This was in either late Dec. 1983 or early Jan. 1984. It hit the Billboard dance charts later in January 1984. The A-side contained the 3rd UK 12" version, which is the ~7:20 mix (I time it at a bit over 7:21); unlike the meandering, noodly version on the first two UK 12"s, this is a straightforward extended version, the first half of which is instrumental. The B-side contains the 3:54 single version (always "3:56" on the labels) which was the hit version in the UK and elsewhere, immediately followed by the 4:24 instrumental version, which has an acapella intro.

The video debuted on MTV in mid-February. There were no US 45s out yet. There is even an ad in an early March issue of R&R magazine which implies that only the 12" was available for radio stations to play the song from. That situation was quickly rectified, though.

• The 1st DJ copy (7-99805, teal skyscraper labels) says 3:02 and Edit, and this duration is correct. It is, as already mentioned, the last few minutes of the 12" A-side. This 45 appeared in approximately the 2nd week of March 1984. Cash Box mentioned it (w/3:02 duration) in their March 24th issue.

• The 2nd DJ copy (PR 600, stencil labels) says 3:56 and actually runs 3:54; they contain the standard hit single version, same as on the B-side of the 12". These came with a "Dear Programmer" card from late March or maybe early April 1984, essentially encouraging the play of this version instead of the dull 3:02 edit.

• The 3rd DJ copy (PR ̶5̶9̶5̶ 695 and 12" PR 696, stencil labels) say 3:55 and contain the 3:55 LP version, which as you have noticed is a very slightly different mix than the regular single version. The LP came out in October 1984 and these promos were not released until circa December 1984; they coincide with the debut of the new "checkerboard" picture sleeves for the 7" & 12", the back cover of which thanks fans for support of the November 1984 live shows.

• All [OK, most; see posts below] US retail 45s have catalog # 7-99805 and contain the hit single version; they say 3:56 and run 3:54. There are several label and sleeve variations. This single first charted on the Hot 100 at #84 and peaked at #67; this was in April & May 1984, so we know the retail 45 was out no later than April 1984. Due to a new promotional push announced in December 1984, it charted again at #70 in January 1985 and reached #10 that March.

Although the 3:02 version may have gotten US radio play in 1984, the far more common 3:54 version was out at the same time, was the only retail version, was the version in the video, and had been promoted to radio as the million-selling hit. It's likely that it was played just as much as the 3:02 first-promo version, if not more.

Meanwhile, Canada was the only region that got the 3:02 version on a retail 45. [apparently not; see subsequent posts...]

Trying to ascertain release dates by label & company sleeve designs is tricky. If you got a retail 45 of "Relax", it may have light-blue labels with pink script "Island" and purple rim text—this is the standard design Island US used in 1984 and early 1985. The sleeve will either be the original "two bodies" p/s, the "checkerboard" p/s, or the old pinkish/reddish company sleeve with blue script "Island" and ©1982 on the back. Or you might have the purple/skyscraper labels with green neon-style "Island". AFAIK these did not come in picture sleeves; they were only in the old pinkish/reddish company sleeve.

The skyscraper labels were the standard design in 1982 & 1983 and were resurrected in 1985 for the "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" single. The only other example of these labels on a post-1983 release is on "Relax". Given the ubiquity of the blue labels in 1984 and this special case for 1985, and the fact that the record got its second wind in 1985, I'm inclined to believe the purple/skyscraper-label copies are really from 1985.

The above is the result of a lot of research on my part, and I'm happy to share my info sources (most are online), but I wanted to keep this post fairly concise. If I've made any mistakes, I'm happy to admit it and make corrections; please share what you have.

Also, different topic here, but I don't think the 1993 release was a new remix made in 1993; it sounds way too much like it was just a shelved original-era mix that was unearthed in 1993 and became the version released on way too many compilations thereafter.

Edited by mjb50