Like many great moments in pop history the Frankie Goes to Hollywood success story will be remembered for the big hits rather than an extensive back catalogue.
Hailing from Liverpool 'the Frankies' were both the product and the antithesis of Thatcher's Britain. 'Sex, drugs, pop, paranoia, boredom, leather', just part of the eclectic mix that constituted the Frankie vision, according to the sleevenotes written by Paul Morley.
These ingredients combined with the production skills of Trevor Horn (ABC, Art of Noise, Yes), regular appearances on The Tube and the banning of first single 1984's 'Relax' by Radio One-courtesy of DJ Mike Read- which propelled it and second single 'Two Tribes' to the top of the UK charts.
The highlights of the Frankies' short career are all included here, unfortunately their sound translates uneasily from the eighties to the naughties. Lashings of eighties-friendly synthesiser splashed across the collection seem outdated, indeed rather primitive.
Nevertheless the power disco of 'Two Tribes' and 'Relax' still resonate, as does the ironic, tribal, blow out of 'Welcome to the Pleasuredome'. The Frankies were after all, about fun and flamboyance.
No more so than on the hilarious Springsteen cover 'Born to Run' or the Bacharach penned loungecore of 'San Jose'.
Beneath the mirth however, rested a restrained dissonance and reflective passion. When Holly Johnson sings "love is the light scaring darkness away" on the outstanding 'The Power of Love' you know he means it.
The second part of 'Maximum Joy' delivers little more than rather pointless reworkings of the classic hits. Trance-lite remixes of 'The Power of Love', 'Relax' and 'Two Tribes' steal all of the hooks of the original hits, whilst the stripped down formulaic construction misses out on the idiosyncrasies which made them so special.
The Frankies mixed fun, passion and sincerity with equal measure. Some of today's more cosmetically enhanced pop stars could learn a thing or two from Johnson and co.
