Relax (song)
"Relax" is the debut single by British dance group Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984).
Although fairly inauspicious upon initial release, "Relax" finally reached number one on the UK singles chart on 24 January 1984, ultimately becoming one of the most controversial and most commercially successful records of the entire decade. The single eventually sold a reported 2 million copies in the UK alone, making it the seventh best-selling single in UK singles chart history. Following the release of the group's second single, "Two Tribes", "Relax" rallied from a declining UK chart position during June 1984 to climb back up the UK charts and re-attain number-two spot behind "Two Tribes" at number one, representing simultaneous chart success by a single act unprecedented since the early 1960s.
Upon release in the United States in late 1984, "Relax" repeated its slow UK progress, reaching number 67 upon initial release, but eventually reaching number 10 in March 1985.
The song won Best British Single at the 1985 Brit Awards.
The song was used in the films Body Double, Police Academy, Gotcha!, Zoolander and The Proposal. It was featured in an episode of Miami Vice, and in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Saints Row: The Third, and a 2009 television advertisement for Virgin Atlantic, marking 25 years since the company's foundation.
Read more about Relax (song): Background and Recording, Release and Controversy, Original 1983–1984 Mixes, B-sides, Videos, Track Listings, Covers
Famous quotes containing the word relax:
“You enter a state of controlled passivity, you relax your grip and accept that even if your declared intention is to justify the ways of God to man, you might end up interesting your readers rather more in Satan.”
—Ian McEwan (b. 1938)