SLAVES TO THE RHYTHM [2004 / 2008] [DVD] [USA Release]
A Concert for The Prince's Trust! Produced by Trevor Horn!
In 2004, Trevor Horn celebrated 25 years as one of the world’s most successful pop music producers. In ‘SLAVES TO THE RHYTHM,’ a unique Wembley Arena Concert in aid of The Prince’s Trust in 2004. Thirteen of Trevor Horn’s best-selling acts, guest musicians and a full backing orchestra, came together to help celebrate – over two hours of electrifying music, in one place, at one time, for one man.
Artists performing in this very special DVD includes Dollar, Grace Jones, ABC, Art of Noise, Propaganda, Yes, Belle & Sebastian, Pet Shop Boys, Lisa Stansfield, t.A.T.u., Seal, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and of course The Buggles! With the full concert, documentary and jukebox facility, all the energy and excitement of ‘SLAVES TO THE RHYTHM’ are captured on this perfectly mixed DVD.
Artist: Trevor Horn
Director: Janet Fraser Crook
Producer: Mike Kaufman
Musicians: Anne Dudley, Bruce Woolley, Geoff Downes, Lol Crème, Luis Jardim, Paul Robinson, Phil Palmer and Steve Lipson.
Background vocals: Andy Caine, Debi Ross, Linda Allen, Lucinda Larry, Sally Bradshaw and Tessa Nile
Image Resolution: 1080i
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic)
Audio: English: 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio
English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: None
Running Time: 138 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Wienerworld / MVDVisual
Andrew’s DVD Review: ‘SLAVES TO THE RHYTHM’ [2004] With Trevor Horn’s ground-breaking musical career reads like a ‘who’s who’ of popular music. Starting with his own band, The Buggles and the legendary global hit, “Video Killed The Radio Star.” Trevor Horn then joined YES, first as band member, then Producer and his production career continued with artists such as Frankie Goes to Hollywood, ABC, Godley & Creme, Paul McCartney, Seal, Simple Minds, Lisa Stansfield, Rod Stewart, t.A.T.u. and the list goes on and on. Uniquely, in the history of music, “Owner of a Lonely Heart” with YES and “Relax” with Frankie Goes To Hollywood resulted in Trevor Horn being the only Producer to have simultaneous number one records in both the UK and the USA. Trevor Horn’s musical genius has created boundless worldwide hits and in the process, and has played a hugely influential role in shaping many artists careers as well as popular music culture.
Without a doubt, Trevor Horn's relatively unassuming public persona makes it easy to forget or to never recognize in the first place, that he is responsible for such a wide variety of hits across a range of musical tastes. The artists whose work Trevor Horn has produced, from The Buggles to YES to Grace Jones to SEAL to Belle & Sebastian, is to realize the versatility of Trevor Horn’s craft and the key function he serves in developing the artists' sounds and Trevor Horn possesses a distinct savvy pop signature and excellence that links so many amazing musical worlds.
Trevor Horn’s contributions to the pop music culture are on energetically display in this brilliant ‘SLAVES TO THE RHYTHM’ amazing DVD that gives us a useful introduction to this amazing producer's discography that preserves a significant cultural moment when a lot of these acts, well past the height of their popularity, had one more night to shine. If it sounds a little over the top praise for this brilliant auteur producer, so well it should. Because this unique Wembley Arena Concert in aid of The Princes Trust in 2004 added up to something more enjoyable than a generic standard revue concert. This concert has personality and poignancy, much of which comes from the man at the centre and Trevor Horn is generous and good-natured as he provides a narrative to his long musical career and is careful to credit his collaborators and shares anecdotes about the different artists and songs that appear in the concert programme. With each performer that appears on the stage, you view on the massive video screen a year is flashed up on the video screen when each artist Trevor Horn helped to produce their single or album in the recording studio.
Here Trevor Horn takes a chronological approach to his concert, and presents his early work beginning with The Buggles, for whom he sang and played bass guitar. Trevor Horn also leads his band in a stellar version of his massive hit "Video Killed the Radio Star," and afterwards Trevor Horn informs us that the musicians who recorded the original song, are introduced to the audience with each musician member up on the stage, and informs us that they have not played together since the original studio recording, and the fact that ironically is that when you hear the lyric "we hear the playback and it seems so long ago" that sweetly resonates with this unique concert and of course the audience.
After Dollar has performed, we suddenly get a video message from actor Ian McShane and informs us he is in Hollywood on the set of the TV series “Deadwood” and talks about his first ever contact with Trevor Horn and it happened a very long time when Ian McShane was with his wife in a Fish & Chip shop establishment that was behind the Notting Hill Gate Cinema and served really great fish and chips. I mean, really. And Trevor Horn was sitting there at another table, and he came over to Ian McShane’s table said, “What are you doing after fish and chips?” Trevor Horn then says, “Orson Welles is dead, and I need a voice” — it was very funny — “Orson Welles has died, and your voice is pretty good. Si why don’t we go back to the studio, we’ll smoke a large spliff” — which we did. Then we went back to his studio, which was just around the corner. And he said, “I want you to do this voice over to introduce the Grace Jones song “Slave to the Rhythm.” So we did, and I had a great time for two hours, and then went home and that was it. At the point Ian McShane introduces the song “Slave to the Rhythm” and of course Grace Jones who then enters onto the stage to sing the song that Grace Jones is famous for and of course Grace Jones shows off one of her infamous and iconic costume and her really over the top unique and one off designed head dress, to a rapturous applause from the audience.
Trevor Horn’s concert also gives us a unique imaginative rendition of the group’s song "Close To the Edit," and is a group that gained ground-breaker status because of Trevor Horn's early adoption of the Fairlight CMI, which is a digital synthesizer, sampler and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by the company Fairlight and the Art of Noise use of sampling in the recording of their song "Close To the Edit" and there is a thrill in seeing Trevor Horn and his house band members play the very difficult song live, and Trevor Horn jokes with the audience that there was noticeable musical mistakes with the group Art of Noise performance that will ensure that this is indeed the ultimate live performance for the Art of Noise group. Of the house band members, we have long-time Trevor Horn’s associate Anne Dudley who plays on keyboards and especially shines throughout the concert. Art of Noise were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn and music journalist Paul Morley.
Also playing a couple of their musical numbers is Belle & Sebastian, a band Trevor Horn says his oldest daughter turned him onto them. Trevor Horn’s work on the Belle & Sebastian band's “Dear Catastrophe Waitress” is represented here with the songs "I'm a Cuckoo" and "Step Into My Office, Baby." All of the members of the Belle & Sebastian band are in fine form, with Stuart Murdoch and Stevie Jackson both rising to the challenge as they trade off vocals in the huge Wembley arena. As if to emphasize the band's small size, Stevie Jackson becomes just a spectator and takes a couple of photos of the audience before leaving the stage, this gesture at least gets a laugh. But for me overall, I did not really enjoy this groups performance.
But who really shone out in their performance was for me the Pet Shop Boys, whose performance is by comparison, absolutely and totally awesome, and really created a stir just by being there and going through two of their greatest hit songs and of course the audience went wild and all started to stand up and have a good dance and it was truly a magical performance and all of their live performances are flawless and sound exactly like their studio recordings, which is always a sign of a truly professional artists, as some artists do not always translate to a live performance.
At around 69 minutes we get another video message, this time from singer Tom Jones, who at the time was on tour and was sorry he was not there in person to perform for The Prince's Trust and congratulates Trevor Horn for making and producing music for the past 25 years and especially for the finest pop records ever made, and Tom Jones also wanted to thank Trevor Horn for recording his song “If I Only Knew,” and Tom Jones also comments that Trevor Horn made him hold one long note at the beginning of the song, which was great for the studio recording, but now at his age in 2004, has to try and hold that long one note, which is now much more difficult when singing it live. But once again Tom Jones wanted to thank Trevor Horn for allowing him to work with this fabulous producer and at that point introduces onto the stage the group t.A.T.u., which to me were well past their sell by date and of course the question on everyone’s lips is, where are they now, answers on a post card please. In a gross injustice, DOLLAR, the duo with the infamous burger-van owner David Van Day, got to do two numbers, and despite sounding more holiday-camp act did not really perform than perfect pop and also well past their sell by date.
Once again Trevor Horn talks about another iconic artist he has been proud to work with and that artist was Seal. And talks about that the pair met in 1990, when Seal had a lone hit as vocalist on Adamski’s song “Killer,” which went to the top of UK charts. Trevor Horn talks about when Seal signed with ZIT, the label of producer Trever Horn, whom would work on the singer's first four studio albums. Trever Horn also talks about the iconic song "Kiss From A Rose" he produced and recorded with Seal which appeared in the ‘Batman Forever ‘soundtrack and became a No. 1 pop and adult contemporary hit, also catapulting SEAL in 1994 into a multi-platinum status. At that point Trevor Horn feels that enough talk has been said and is proud to be a good friend to Seal and at that point introduces Seal onto the stage and does a blistering awesome three song session of his greatest hits, that includes “Killer,” “Kiss From A Rose” and “Crazy.” In between his performance, the singer Seal speaks of the importance role Trevor Horn has played throughout his entire singing career and if course the producer Trevor Horn joins the singer Seal for the first time in their long collaboration together and you can see that both performers enjoyed being together up there on the stage performing, it was truly a magical moment especially for the audience at this one off Wembley Arena Concert. Although no single artist or band receives a disproportionate amount of attention within their concert performances, the emotional closing performances could be considered the ultimate headliner part of the show.
Before the last act comes onto the stage, Trevor Horn wants to thank a few members on the stage and they Tessa Niles and Lucinda Larry who are two of the backing singers, who felt were very important and he feels they are just as important as the artists that have performed on the stage. The Trevor Horn wants to thank his wife Jill Sinclair, who was sitting next to Prince Charles and now introduces the last act of the night is the history making reformed Frankie Goes to Hollywood group who go hell bent for leather blasting through three of their greatest hits "Welcome to the Pleasuredome," "Two Tribes" and "Relax," and especially with the freshly drafted in singer Ryan Molloy, who transplants viewers in attendance and at home to its unstoppable 1984 pop glory. Even strong detractors of the group are won over by their massive energetic performance where the band members radiate throughout their performance. They certainly seem to clearly relish another chance in being in the spotlight once again, and here Trevor Horn has made it totally possible, which the audiences really give them an enthusiastic applause as they leave the stage. The only sad part with this groups final performance, was the fact that Holly Johnson could not be there as the main singer, because he has pursued a solo career who originally helped them achieve their massive world-wide hits. As the audience’s applause fades away, Trevor Horn speaks to the audience and says, “Thank you and good night.”
The artists to my mind that really did a blistering awesome and outstanding performance were of course the outrageous and iconic diva Grace Jones, the amazing 1980s ABC group, the brilliant iconic Pet Shop Boys and the awesome professional performance of Seal, who really pushes the boat out in giving us a superb and emotional performance that really resonates with the audience who go wild. The other disappointment for me was the performance by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, they might proclaim they are the real Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and do their best without the brilliant vocalist Holly Johnson, but as to the performance of the two songs “Relax” and “Two Tribes,” they personally were always only as good studio recordings rather than songs that were performed in front of the audience for the Wembley Concert, so all in all it was a bit of a let-down to be honest and the people singing at times you could not hear what they were singing about, as the band and orchestra behind them tended drown out their words they were singing, so in future Frankie Goes To Hollywood, please stick to recording sessions only, as you are only designed as studio-bound production extravaganzas, not live showstoppers, and explains why such a star-packed show performance by Frankie Goes To Hollywood ultimately underwhelms watching them on this particular DVD.
The additional features on this brilliant DVD further expand the concert experience, because we have a making-of documentary that reveals the process through which the Wembley concert was developed, there is also a Jukebox facility that allows you the viewer to choose the order in which you want to view each the artist’s performances.
The most enjoyable feature in the DVD is the documentary "Frankie Say Reform," which follows the original members of Frankie Goes to Hollywood band as they seek a replacement for singer Holly Johnson. Here you get to view open auditions and selection processes where they eventually find the singer Molloy to be the best singer to fit for the band, and the weight of his responsibility becomes very clear when he says he had only ten days to get ready to perform for a crowd of 10,000 people. To see the high-stakes, behind-the-scenes events that led to the successful performance that makes the Frankie Goes to Hollywood band's short-lived comeback seem all the more bittersweet in retrospect.
In the end, the Wembley Arena Concert ‘SLAVES TO THE RHYTHM’ serves as a reminder that time has its way with everyone and everything. There is the underdog thrill of past their-prime musicians having another go at stardom. But a more sobering thought, however, is the contrast between the sight of Trevor Horn's happy family, wife and former record company director, and founder of ZTT Records and as stated earlier that partner Jill Sinclair was celebrated at the concert, especially unknown to everyone at the concert, came the untimely tragic accident that put Jill Sinclair in a coma less than two years after the concert was filmed and who sadly passed away on the 22nd March, 2014 at the age of 61.
Trevor Horn's brand of pop music might not always be taken seriously by those who fancy themselves serious music fans. But the songs he produced are what endure, unchanged, through triumph and tragedy. There exists in them a kind of restorative power that brings artists and fans together across the years, and that is worthy of this Wembley Arena Concert celebration and shows us what a true professional Trevor Horn is as a producer and will always be.
TREVOR HORN: SLAVES TO THE RHYTHM MUSIC TRACK LIST
THE BUGGLES: Video Killed The Radio Star
THE BUGGLES: Living In The Plastic Age
DOLLAR: Give Me Back My Heart
GRACE JONES: Slave To The Rhythm
ABC: Poison Arrow
ABC: All of My Heart
ABC: Look of Love
ART OF NOISE: Close To The Edit
PROPAGANDA: The Last Testament of Dr. Mabuse
YES: Cinema
YES: Owner Of A Lonely Heart
Belle & Sebastian: I'm A Cuckoo
Belle & Sebastian: Step Into My Office
Pet Shop Boys: Left To My Own Devices
Pet Shop Boys: It’s Alright
Lisa Stansfield: Takes A Woman To Know
t.A.T.u.: All The Things She Said
SEAL: Killer
SEAL: Kiss From A Rose
SEAL: Crazy
FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD: Welcome To The Pleasuredome
FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD: Two Tribes
FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD: Relax
DVD Image Quality – Wienerworld and MVDVisual presents us with a 1080i image, and especially a wonderful 1.85:1 (Anamorphic) aspect ratio that is pretty good for a DVD format. With close ups of the performers on the stage and the different musicians is really excellent, but when you get the full view of the stage, the massive lighting when full on gives a lot of flare and slightly overpowers each individual person on the stage, but luckily only happens now and again. But overall, the quality of the image is very good for a DVD format, but what a shame they did not feel to release this concert on a Blu-ray disc, as then the image and sound quality would have been outstanding.
DVD Audio Quality – Wienerworld and MVDVisual brings us two solid audio presentations, which are 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio and 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio and both have their merit. With the 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio gives a very warm and very soft audio performance, but when heard in the 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio experience, it tends to sound much louder and clearer on the same volume setting. But again with both audio settings it is very good quality, because when anyone speaks or sings, you can hear all their words very clear and precise. Also with each individual musician and their musical instrument, it is also very clear and precise. One thing also with the audio experience is that it certainly captures the whole amazing electric atmosphere of the Wembley Concert.
DVD Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: JUKBOX: When you click on this item, a picture of a Jukebox appears and you see the entire Artists and their songs that performed at the Wembley concert and are listed like you would view with a proper Jukebox in an establishment, especially when you want to select a 45 r.p.m vinyl record to play. It seems that if you want, you can select each item in the order you want the performers to appear and then you eventually you press PLAY, instead of how each Artist appears when you just play the DVD. To me this is far too consuming and totally boring; instead I prefer to go the main Menu where you click on the SONGS item and press each Artists performance which appears instantly.
Special Feature: SONGS: With this special feature, here you get the full complete list of all the Artists and their individual songs they perform, and so when you click on a specific Artist and the song you want to see them perform, you instantly you get to see that Artist perform on the stage at the Wembley Arena Concert, so happy viewing!
Special Feature: DOCUMENTARY [2005] [1080i] [1.78:1] [19:41] Here we get to see an exclusive look behind-the-scene of the setting up of the Wembley Arena Concert and the rehearsals, especially wanting to getting everything 100% right for that special night in 2004. But before all that we get an in-depth interview with Trevor Horn at his recording studio, where Trevor Horn talks about being personally involved with The Prince’s Trust and especially the upcoming Wembley Concert. Trevor mentions that the concert came about when talking about doing a Buggles tour. Trevor Horn also comments that he loves doing the recording sessions with his Artists, but sometimes you get so involved that you eventually you get stuck in a rut and he felt the need to leave the recording studio and get out there with your public who have supported you and forgets what the music is all about, especially working long hours in the recording studio and fancied getting out of the recording studio and enjoying himself, especially playing to a live audience and also working with the Artists he has produced and recording their Albums, instead of feeling it has just become a job. So by getting the Artists Trevor Horn has worked with and getting them to perform live at the Wembley Arena Concert is something Trevor Horn was really looking forward to and getting back to his roots on why he loves performing with the different Artist he has recorded with, especially live at that Wembley Arena Concert, as it feels it boosts your batteries. Also now and again you get glimpses of the rehearsals in progress, but also as a bonus we get personal intimate interviews with the Artists who are all very excited to appear at the one off Wembley Arena Concert and are also very honoured to appear with Trevor Horn on the stage, and to see Trevor’s face light up with a nice big smile and to also see a twinkle in his eyes. They also feel that Trevor Horn has a wonderful charismatic personality and is also a lovely guy who is just a joy to work with and makes you feel you are the only person that Trevor Horn is interested in. SEAL talks about being a massive fan of Trevor Horn without realising it, and loved the Grace Jones “Slave To The Rhythm” CD Album, which he loved and adored, and SEAL also bought some other CD Albums without realising they were all produced by Trevor Horn and feels a great honour to appear on the stage at Wembley Arena with his long term friend and collaborator Trevor Horn. Trevor Horn says that it is much simpler finding the same song and keeps churning out loads of CD Albums, whereas doing lots of different songs and recording them is much harder and much more difficult. Trevor Horn feels 25 years is a very long time to survive in the record industry that at times can be very fickle. In between this interview with Trevor Horn, we now and again get glimpses of Grace Jones in rehearsals and she is wearing an outrageous black fur hat which matches her black outfit. Trevor Horn also comments that string machines are nice, but they are not the same as the real string instrument and real musicians and he boasts that we in the United Kingdom have by far the best orchestra players in the world and not a lot of people know what, and Trevor has worked all over the world, and our horn players, French horn players, string players are the best in the world. The people from the group YES talks about how they came into contact with Trevor Horn, and especially came about when The Buggles released the song and video of “Video Killed The Radio Star.” They also at the time were having very great trouble of securing a contract for a record deal and in the end when they contacted Trevor Horn he saw this groups potential and he helped their career blossom and of course produced their hit CD Albums, because they were originally told that the group YES was too left field and getting their songs played on the radio, but Trevor Horn knew their potential, especially when he heard one of their compositions and informed them it would be a massive worldwide hit and he was proved right. When the group ABC wanted to record their song “Poison Arrow” especially with Trevor Horn, they were not sure how to get the right sounds, but with Trevor’s usual input, like adding string instruments and Trevor said doing it that way the song will last long after it became a massive hit, and again Trevor Horn was proved right. Another group that Trevor Horn got involved with a lot was Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and of course recorded the massive hit single “Relax,” and was helped by adding some chords that was not there before, whereas originally with a demo recording it sounded more like an R&B song, and with the help of Trevor Horn and just before the recording was finished, Trevor decided to add a straight minor chord on top of all the recording, and made it ten times bigger, and Trevor felt it was going to be again another massive worldwide hit and he proved right. Then we hear some personal comments from the Pet Shop Boys and especially Neil Tennant, who were very keen to work with Trevor Horn, who they feel was the number one producer in the world, and Trevor Horn was very keen to work with the Pet Shop Boys, because both like each other’s style of music, especially orchestral, and also dance music, and gradually the Pet Shop Boys over time got to know Trevor Horn and the Pet Shop Boys got up the courage to contact Trevor Horn personally to ask him to produce their CD Albums, and of course over time they had three number one singles in a row. We get to hear some comments for Lol Crème, saying Trevor Horn is a very passionate about making records, and a few years ago Lol Crème and Stewart Copland the drummer from The Police, who both at the time had a day job, but when not working would book an hour in a recording studio and thrash out some music and recorded it and invited Trevor Horn to come and hear the recording to see whether he would be interested in producing their music, and then of course invite them to Trevor’s recording studio, but unfortunately he never turned up. Lol Crème also comments that he loved being up there on the Wembley Arena Concert stage, as it was a totally fantastic and unique experience, and especially where he was standing in the orchestra area when Grace Jones performed and especially when standing playing the percussion instrument and again being in the midst of the orchestra was a complete thrill. Lol Crème also comments that this Wembley Concert will be an unstoppable freight train and so you might as well stay on for the ride and enjoy it, and hopefully when we are all on the stage, hopefully Trevor Horn will really enjoy himself and that is what it is all about, and especially for all his hard work over 25 years, which is a serious body of work. We get to hear some personal comments from SEAL about Trevor Horn and he informs us that Trevor is always first into the recording studio and the last to leave, and Trevor is the one who painstakingly wants to get that perfect recording, as well as getting the vocals right, and because of Trevor’s dedication, he is a producer that sets him apart from other producers. Chris Lowe from the Pet Shop Boys found Trevor Horn totally amazing compared to other producers they have worked with, and when Trevor heard their first demo recording, but decided to improve the recording 100%, and Chris Lowe tells us that Trevor is famous for flying thousands of miles just to get a particular drum loop. Chris Lowe also says that they have never performed with a live orchestra and normally the Pet Shop Boys play to an audience with sampling recordings, but plying with an orchestra you really get a dynamic performance and experience and when the French horn stops, it is quite an uplifting experience. We also find out that Trevor Horn the producer makes you try different musical avenues and to bring the best out of you, and to do whatever it takes, and to make you understand what you Trevor Horn is trying to achieve with your recording and help you to realise your dream and to also make the dream come alive. Where hear some personal comments from Lisa Stansfield about Trevor Horn, and especially when recording a particular song, and you would be just finishing off the recording, when Trevor would say, “I wonder what that would sound like,” and everyone would look at each other with puzzled expressions on their faces, and you go away and come back the next day and would try and sing the song another way and it would sound fantastic, and Lisa thinks Trevor is a very intelligent man, and he definitely knows what he wants out of a recording. Trevor Horn is all about casting his net for different people and is really good at it, especially bringing in the right people, like musicians or engineers, to make the right recording session work, so over a period of time you get the right end results, and everyone is happy and it feels that good, and that they know when they hear the recording back, it is perfect and that is the professional skill that Trevor Horn has. Near the end of this documentary, we see the audience arrive and one person is really excited to finally get to see Frankie Goes To Hollywood after ten year gap, and then after the concert has finished, we get comments from the audiences leaving the auditorium and say what a fantastic concert and especially seeing SEAL amazing performance. Near the end of the documentary Trevor Horn comments that for some unknown reason he was very frightened to working with SEAL on the stage at the Wembley Arena, whereas he has only worked with SEAL in the recording studio and was worried he would screw up and spoil the performance of SEAL, but he need not of worried, as Trevor thought SEAL’s performance was great, especially when SEAL jumped off the stage and went towards the audience and sung up close and personal. Also we get to see after the concert with all involved with the concert all lined up to meet and greet Prince Charles and chatting to him. But finally we get to hear from Trevor Horn again, when he comments that he had some tearful moments in rehearsals, because when this concert was thought off, Trevor felt totally paranoid that people might think it might be Trevor Horn’s some kind of ego trip, but he never should of worried, as the thing that gave him great heart, was that everyone involved seemed enthusiastic, and Trevor had fun watching the performers having fun. So all in all, this is a really fascinating documentary and well worth viewing. Contributors include: Thereza Bazar [DOLLAR], Martin Fry [ABC], SEAL, David Van Day [DOLLAR], Steve Howe [YES], Trevor Rabin [YES], David Palmer [ABC], Frankis Goes To Hollywood [Group Members], Neil Tennant [Pet Shop Boys], Lena [t.A.T.u.], Lol Crème [Godley & Creme], Chris Lowe [Pet Shop Boys], Claudia Brucken [PROPOGANDA] and Lisa Stansfield.
Special Feature: FRANKIE SAY REFORM [2005] [1080i] [1.37:1] [17:03] This special feature was a television TV documentary produced by VH1 / MTV Networks Europe around the reform of the group Frankie Goes To Hollywood, especially to perform live at The Prince’s Trust Wembley Arena Concert and especially supporting their producer and mentor Trevor Horn and the group was really keen to perform, and sadly they could not persuade Holly Johnson to perform on the stage with them again, because he had now gone solo or had some form of falling out, so the group members were very disappointed and sad about Holly Johnson’s decision. So to make a success at the concert, they had to have an audition to find a new lead singer, either male or female, but Paul Rutherford [Vocalist] was rooting for a male singer, and so they threw down a gauntlet to anyone who could replace Holly Johnson and here we get to see the audition in progress and it was held at the Marquee Club in London and was held on one very early Sunday morning, which some group members were slight bleary eyed, because of the night before of enjoying themselves into the wee small hours, and Paul Rutherford thought it was at a very unholy time of the day, and we see some of the hopefuls singing outside and warming up their vocal chords. Trevor Horn comments that they are looking for a singer who will work full time and to sound a bit like Holly Johnson, and we see Trevor Horn’s assistants sitting at a table viewing the people wanting to audition, and of course judging them, and to cut the wheat from the chaff. But you see some of the people auditioning and it is real cringe worthy viewing folks and the assistants also comment that some of the dingers had the right voices, but not the right look, and some of them had a nasty attitude, and a lot freaks going on. Then the assistants inform the ones they want to hear again and send away the ones that were rejected and thanked them for them attending the audition. Then we see a couple of the group members, the assistants and Trevor Horn sitting at the table in wanting to see the other people left for another audition, and to me some of them again are cringe worthy viewing folks, until they finally whittle them down to three and one of them Ryan Molloy is announced as the winner and he breaks down with tears of emotion and so excited, who by the way lives in Newcastle, but originally came from Los Angeles, who the judging panel found him very impressive and you closed your eyes, you would of thought it was actually Holly Johnson, although one of the other singer Scott, was to my mind sounded the much better singer, and the judges were torn between Ryan Molloy and Scott. But now the hard work had to start, as they had only 10 days of rehearsals before the Wembley Arena Concert, so the pressure was on. We them see Ryan Molloy arriving for the rehearsals and he hopes it all goes well, especially as the group had not played together for over 10 years and were wondering if it would all come together, and so we see them getting down to the serious business of rehearsing and some of the members comment that even though Ryan Molloy is nervous, he seems to be getting on really well. Next up we are at the Wembley Arena and the big day has arrived and we see some rehearsals up on the stage with different artists, especially seeing Frankie Goes To Hollywood going through their particular rehearsals and say they are very nervous. Martin Fry comments that seeing Frankie Goes To Hollywood doing their rehearsals, did have a little tear in his eyes, and it felt really good. Then we see Frankie Goes To Hollywood step out onto the stage and meets and greets their European Fan Club, who have waited over 10 years to meet the members of the group, and especially to see the group perform on the stage again, and we also see the group autographing T-shirts, photos and their 12 inch Single “Relax.” Some of the group members praise Ryan Molloy for his professional outlook, even though he does not know the structure of the group and the songs that well, especially the three songs they have to belt out in the evening, but Frankie Goes To Hollywood gets some more added pressure, as they are asked to close the show, where originally they were supposed to close the first half of the concert. In the dressing room some of the group members asked if Holly Johnson had been in contact to wish them well, and one persona says, “Deadly Silence.” Even Neil Tennant felt it was very sad that Holly Johnson declined to appear in the concert, but Neil felt he must have had his reasons, and of course we never find out why there is negative animosity between Holly Johnson and Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Then all of a sudden its time for Frankie Goes To Hollywood to perform their three songs, which the audience goes really wild with excitement, even after a 10 year gap in not being in the spotlight, but deep down the members of the group were extremely nervous with anxiety, whether they would be welcomed to the Pleasuredome and they were nervously waiting in the wings to go onto the stage and again wondering if the audience would welcome them back, and also wondering after the concert, whether the group had a future long after the concert finished, and of course when they do their final song “Relax,” the audience goes completely wild, so of course the group should not of had any doubts they would be welcomed back and of course they all leave with a great big smiles on their faces, and of course they are all very ecstatic and in the dressing room they celebrate with some alcoholic refreshments and again they are all very happy with how it all went for them. Near the end of the concert, the announcer says, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please be upstanding for the President of The prince’s trust, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales” who the walks out onto the stage to shake hands with everyone on the stage. So all in all, this was a really nice and very informative documentary about reforming the group Frankie Goes To Hollywood, but since that documentary I have not heard whether from that concert their career started to happen, but despite that, I really enjoyed the documentary and brought back so my happy memories when I was a DJ on Roller Skates, oh happy days! Contributors include: Paul Rutherford [Vocalist], Trevor Horn [Producer], Mark O’Toole [Bass], Ryan Molloy [New Vocals], Peter “Pad” Gill [Drums], Jed O’Toole [Guitar], Martin Fry [ABC], Neil Tennant [Pet Shop Boys] andChris Lowe [Pet Shop Boys].
Finally, ‘SLAVES TO THE RHYTHM’ 2004 Wembley Arena Concert is a reminder that time has its way with everyone and everything and the thrill of seeing all of these Artists that has been produced by Trevor Horn and are proud to perform for him at The Prince’s Trust concert, but once again what was also very sad at the same time, unknown to everyone, that two years later is wife Jill Sinclair would have a tragic accident, go into a coma and then sadly less than two years after the concert was filmed passed away. But on a happier note, again the Wembley Concert was seeing Artists that came under the banner of "Trevor Horn Sound” and performed so amazing and of course the audience were so enthusiastic in seeing all these Artists that were proud to be produced by Trevor Horn. What was also good to view were the amazing images, especially the awesome lighting you got to view and especially the awesome sounds you get to hear, like you feel you are actually at the concert. What was also amazing was the diverse group of Artists who gathered to celebrate their producer Trevor Horn, plus the backup band is equally in giving a stellar performance, including Geoff Downs (the other Buggle and of Asia), Lol Crème, Anne Dudley, Alan White of YES fame, as well as the amazing full orchestra, several elegant and brilliant back-up singers and a stellar stage and light show, that was indeed an amazing spectacle indeed. So all in all, this was a very compelling Wembley Concert to own on this amazing Wienerworld and MVDVisual DVD. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
