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Interview with legendary singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Interview with legendary singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood
In 1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood's synth dance smash "Relax" took the encoded gay sexuality scrim of Queen and The Village People and punched a whole through it with raw, wildly sexual lyrics, and Holly Johnson's demanding, impudent come-hither glare was a beacon of liberation to many a repressed gay. FGTH's second hit (and my preferred tune) "Two Tribes" expressed the political side of that passion, and the duality of sexual and political liberation perfectly represents Johnson. A visual artist and writer as well as a songwriter, singer and musician, Johnson has led a dazzlingly eclectic life of creative expression across disciplines and scenes. Inspired as a young man Derek Jarman Jean Genet and Andy Warhol, his own work has entered that rarified pantheon of gay cultural touchstones.
His diagnosis with HIV/AIDS in 1991 and subsequent coming out as positive to his friends, family and the press hasn't hampered his productivity, as he's continued to record, paint, write and express himself and is constantly connecting with new audiences. His prickly intelligence, strongly held opinions, and randy humor are suffused in all his work, as a quick visit to his website will make clear. We were delighted when he agreed to a freewheeling correspondence to be shared with BeOneCity readers.
--Jason Rowan
Dear Holly:
Dave from BeOneCity tells me you've agreed to an interview, which is fantastic. I know you prefer to do it by e-mail which I always find less fun than in person or even a phone interview, but I'm happy to work with you in any medium.
Warm Regards,
Jason
Dear Jason
Thanks for your email
I have written for Modern Painters, Details, The New Statesman, The Guardian and other publications.
I've also been interviewed by thousands of journalists, the act of transcribing taped phone conversations is mind numbing. I have only ever done it once. And let's be honest it's not really writing is it? It's editing.
This is an opportunity to enter into correspondence and we could discuss anything from a recent email news flash sent to me by John Stanton who works at amfAR;
"Senate Bill Seeks to Lift Ban on HIV-Positive Visitors – January 11, 2008”
Or something much more fun like the day I got to meet Anthony Hegarty and Honey Dijon.
All the best,
Holly Johnson
Dear Holly:
Please forgive the tardiness of my reply. I was awaiting some inspiration so I could be clever, and I've realized I can't keep waiting. So, I'll barge ahead with whatever I've got.
Re: Senate Bill Seeks to Lift Ban on HIV-Positive Visitors – January 11, 2008
It's the terribly truth that when something doesn't affect one it’s so easily overlooked, and something appalling like the U.S.'s ban on poz visitors is a perfect example. I'd know it was there and had put it out of my mind, something I'm not proud of. It's good to see that it's out there to lift the ban, but it's scandalous that it's there in the first place. Has it ever affected you? Do you think many poz people apply for the waiver? Do you know how if there's a screening process in effect, or is there some kind of hateful database of foreign poz people that U.S. immigration has? How does this all work?
"Or the day I got to meet Anthony Hegarty and Honey Dijon."
Yes, please tell all. I will share a drag story of my own. In 1988, after a long night at the recently deceased Dean Johnson's Rock and Roll Fag Bar at the World in the East Village, a friend and I wound up on the Christopher Street Piers at dawn, tripping our balls off on E. At that time the piers were crumbling wooden death traps that threatened to collapse into the Hudson at any second, and trannies and hustlers and partiers would head out to the end to do their various things. When we climbed around the cyclone fence and carefully made our way across the rotting pier we came across these two super cute barebacks from The World who my friend and I had ongoing obsessions over, and there were sitting with RuPaul in full StarBooty drag. We all sat at the end as the sun rose over the already steamy city, and RuPaul regaled us with tales of life on the drag side. "I see things other people don't," she said, "like someone turning a trick in a parked car, or somebody throwing a gun in the river. When you do drag you have special abilities of perception." I've never done drag, but I have no reason to doubt it, and that tawdry, glamorous morning always remains one of my fondest New York nightlife memories.
Cool.
Jason
Dear Jason
We don't have to be clever but we do have to be real.
Thank you for your drag story, what a magical memory.
"Everybody say Love", was something I always remember about the Drag Colossus that is Ru Paul . I wouldn’t really describe Antony or Honey as drag queens though, they're not Glamazons.
The Legendary actor Divine, surprisingly, was an incredibly soft-spoken human being in real life, which was so at odds with the characters he portrayed.
I feel that we don't show our appreciation to each other enough in the lesbian, gay and transgender world.
When I met DJ Honey Dijon at the TURNING after show Party at the end of 2006. (Turning by Antony and Charles Atlas was a multi media performance that will soon come out on DVD.) She just walked up to me and said "thank you, for Welcome To The Pleasuredome, the album was a big influence on me when I was younger and I refer to it on my website".
This random act of kindness made me feel appreciated in a particular way that only Honey could have made me feel. It's not the kind of unreserved thing that English people usually do .
I recently got to meet Holly Woodlawn the Warhol Superstar and Stonewall veteran, who was visiting London. And now, through the marvel of the Internet I’m able to thank her for her bravery, chutzpah and the name I took as my own.
Regarding the entry restrictions for HIV Positive people into the USA. Of course it has affected me. When I toured with FGTH I would never have predicted that traveling to another country that shares a common language would become an issue. I was no doubt HIV Positive then, but did not know it. Most people who travel I'm sure do not apply for the waiver as it is rather intimidating process. If you are declined then it unlikely that you will ever be able to visit again. But if you lie on the immigration form and your deception is discovered then you will be deported and barred from entry forever. I don't know if a database exists or not but I have a good idea. I haven't visited the USA since 1989 when I was promoting my first solo album BLAST, Some of the tracks on that album were produced by Dan Hartman the singer and writer of Pop and Disco hits “I can Dream About You”, “Instant Replay” and “Re Light My Fire” who died from an AIDS related illness in March 1994. On the very day I published my autobiography A Bone In My Flute. After I came out publicly about my HIV Status around Easter 1993 (I was diagnosed in October 1991) it was a news item on the wire and throughout the MTV Network especially. There was no way I would have been able to travel anonymously at that point. A few years later I was granted a waiver when I applied through a US Immigration lawyer based in the UK. I had to prove through documentation that I had business interests and property here. Basically I had to prove that I have a life and I wasn't likely to become a burden on the USA economy. They gave me a three-month window in which to visit, which I didn't actually use as my plans changed. Of course I was grateful that I was granted a waiver, but I have to apply each time I want to visit, I haven't applied since as need so much notice, it takes about three months and of course it would have to be for something really worthwhile. Thirty days in any calendar year is the new allowance. These restrictions don't exactly make one feel welcome. I’m tempted to say, it's more of a loss to the USA than it is to me, but that of course is a matter of opinion. But it is the reason why the Worlds Aids Conference isn't hosted by the USA. There are other countries that bar entry for HIV positive people outright but China for example has announced it will be lifting restrictions. We're not criminals and shouldn't be treated as such. I could go on about how it makes me feel but I think it's best to just stick to the facts and highlight the situation in that way.
HJ
P.S. LET ME KNOW IF ANY OF THIS IS UNCLEAR.
Dear Holly:
Some sad news came while I was composing my last reply. I was going to bring up these PSAs that celebrities, both gay and straight, are doing on anti-gay violence in the wake of the murder of Lawrence King.
http://www.towleroad.com/janet_jackson/
And was going to bring up how in this post-Queer Eye/Will & Grace world, the acceptance and comfort that gays may feel in (most parts) of big cities-the hinterlands are still awash in phobia and violence-and I wondered if this can ever really change? Will the gradual acceptance that's happening in the mainstream really penetrate to the blokes and the rednecks?
But then I got a call from my friend Christopher with the news that our friend Fernando had unexpectedly contracted pneumonia, lost consciousness for days and then had died. He had tested negative three years ago and had obviously neglected to check again, sero-converted and contracted a wicked case of pneumonia. I'm still in shock. He was younger than me-probably 39-incredibly vital and full of fire. He was Brazilian, and in 1988 was my first real intro to that spirit of fun and life and abandon. He and Christopher were boyfriends, and I became the third muskateer for a while. There was the age-appropriate love triangle going on in there, with lots of drama and lots of fun-the bad times were cinematically bad, and the fights made us all feel more real. Fernando always talked about the 1s and the 10s, saying that to feel the extreme joy and pleasure of the 10s you had to accept the punishing lows of the 1s-even revel in the pain. All life was to experienced, and not at arm's length, with comfortable ironic, or WASPy distance. Get in the dirt and play, he always seemed to say. As the edges of my life have receded to the not too bad, not too great 4s, 5s and 6s, I have become safe and cut off a little. And I don't want to. Every couple years I would see Fernando when he would come back from Brazil through New York, and he would always bring me back to that layer of life, kind of re-set my sails for turbulent gorgeous open waters...and now he's suddenly gone. Anyhow, that's what happened and why I took so long to respond. These deaths like this drive home that the AIDS crisis is not over-just because we're able to treat many kinds of cancer doesn't mean we act like there's no more cancer, right?
It's been awhile since I lost someone to AIDS, after the scores of people I knew who died in the 80s and 90s. It doesn't get any easier, this sense of a needless loss.
Dear Jason:
Sorry for my tardy reply I've been down with a bad head cold and I'm still trying to shake it off.
Well Jason, I’m sorry to hear about your friend. Many of us have lost members of our extended gay families to HIV and it's always a great loss.
There are those that try to diminish gay people and their value as human beings, and those that were silent or damning when gay men started to die in their thousands. Also those who now wholeheartedly put their efforts into the problem of HIV and AIDS in Africa where it is a terrible tragedy and on a larger scale, but would never sully their public image with their support of an alternate sexuality. The Bullies, the red necks and macho men do Concern me obviously, my own education suffered because of this kind of homophobia. The various churches that preach hatred and damnation against gay people are perhaps the source of much of this wrong thinking and doing.
Ultimately we need to support each other and respect ourselves, which may sound rather trite, but still rings true.
All the best
Holly Johnson 2008 xxx
Holly:
The guys at Radiate are getting ready to go for the next issue so I'm being told we should attempt to wind this up. To begin the end of all this, I thought I'd ask you about what you're up to, and what you're obsessed with, right now. I've been to your site and seen that there's a lot going on--but what's most pressing/inspiring/upsetting to you at this moment?
Best,
Jason
Jason,
Well Jason the most pressing things are, apart from staying alive, breathing in and out.....are getting your house in order. And I don't mean new drapes for the spare room. If it's one thing Life has taught me it's you never know the moment when it ends, so I’m trying to tie up all those loose ends, I’m currently creating a digital archive of unreleased material that was recorded on analogue tapes or older digital formats that are no longer in use. Technology and its constant upgrades are always a struggle to keep pace with.
I have always been inspired by what is new and breaking through in music and art even when it takes the past as it's reference point. For example Ladytron an electro group from Liverpool who are obviously inspired by Kraftwerk and Hercules and Love Affair who hark back to the music of the Studio 54 era but with a modern sensibility. I went to The Royal College Of Art from 2001 to 2004t o work alongside Fine Art Post Graduates to learn new ways of making visual art works, although painting is something I always return to, Printmaking from William Blake to Andy Warhol has always inspired me. Banksy the new darling of the Art World is a Graffiti Artist who owes much to the example of Keith Haring who when alive was the most prolific HIV Positive artist, I love all those connections and being alive to witness them.
I find upsetting the terrible, needless and illegal war that the UK and USA have recently colluded in, the destruction of the natural world by men greedy for money and power; Themes that have always surfaced in my work even though it's only Pop music or Pop Art it doesn't have to relinquish meaning.
I hope that's enough for you for now. I've been a bit under the weather with a hellish flu that lingered on and on, but has (hopefully) been conquered by my immune system.
Spring is in the air and I’m going out to enjoy it
Best,
Holly Johnson
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