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'Relax' was originally a No.1 in 1984 for Holly, Paul, Ped, Mark and Nasher... Frankie's next 2 singles, 'Two Tribes' and 'The Power Of Love' also hit the top then a couple of years later they were gone... This remix shot them back into the Top 5 in October '93.
Before we start here, I acknowledge that the TotP performance in that YouTube link isn't contemporaneous with this appearance (it's from January 1984) but I thought it was an interesting historical document, as a reminder that the single was only banned after it had started to make some commercial impact. Apparently this was represented on 1993 episodes of the show by the cleaner, "laserbeams" version of the video, but you can see that through my original post about this track when it appeared on Now II. In the fairly unlikely event that you're unfamiliar with 'Relax' itself, you might as well read that anyway, because the song itself hasn't much changed here, despite that sleeve note's reference to a "remix": admittedly I'm comparing across different recording formats here, but this doesn't sound that different from the versions I have on my Now II LP, or on another compilation CD. What I could piece together from the Wikipedia entry suggests that whilst there were remixes included on the 1993 version of the single, this is the album version, which is similar but not quite identical to the original 1983 single release whose tenth anniversary it marked.
I suppose the most notable point about this track in a Now 26 context is how it sits among music from 1993. Obviously, sequencing it after two cover versions by long-established acts isn't the most helpful test of that, and given my aforementioned lack of musical awareness in '93 itself, I can only really assess that from a 2012 perspective. From here it seems to sit quite well, but then again the 1993 tracks are almost twice as old now as this was then.
Fans of connections might be interested to know that the original release of 'Relax' was in the Top 40 when the Pet Shop Boys released their first single (the unsuccessful original version of 'West End Girls') in April 1984, although of course it was somewhere in the chart for the majority of the year anyway. Indeed the additional chart weeks from this re-issue made it the third longest-charting single ever at the time, although that has been overtaken since. UB40 were there then too, and amazingly enough with a cover version. Tune in tomorrow for an act that hadn't charted at all in the 1980s!
Also appearing on: Now 2 [this track], 3, 46
Available on: Bang!... The Greatest Hits Of Frankie Goes To Hollywood
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