One NME ad for the single featured gay lead singer Holly Johnson in a tank top and sailor hat with the tagline “All The Nice Boys Love Sea Men” and boasting “nineteen inches that must be taken always.” Another saw gay back-up vocalist Paul Rutherford with a shaved head and leather gloves touting it as “a guide to Amsterdam bars.” Frankie Goes To Hollywood knew exactly what they were doing, and they did it with aplomb.įollowing a light smattering of same sex music video kisses through the ‘00s like Christina’s “Beautiful” and t.A.T.u.’s “All The Things She Said”, Kylie Minogue finally came and reminded people that sometimes a video just needs to be a mess of writhing bodies and sexuality. The original song was also banned from BBC radio for suggestive lyrics (the constantly repeated “when you want to come” especially), which actually ended up being outdone by the suggestiveness of the song’s ad campaign. The video was quickly banned by the BBC for… well, all of that.
It features the lead wrestling a tiger onstage for a crowd of mustached hunks, a Caeser-esque bear who presides over the club stripping down to a leather thong, and ends with the main character fully a part of the crowd and grinding into another man from behind. The original video for this ‘80s new wave anthem follows the gradual descent of a suit-and-tie type down the rabbit hole of an underground leather bar.
