''Blast'' is the debut solo album by the British musician
Holly Johnson
William Holly Johnson (born 9 February 1960) is an English artist, musician, and writer, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, in the late 1970s he wa ...
of
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (singer), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (FGTH drummer), Peter ...
. It was released in 1989 and reached No. 1 in the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
and sold over 300,000 copies making it platinum. The album stayed on the charts for 17 weeks. The album features the hits "Love Train", "Americanos", "Atomic City" and "Heaven's Here". The album was re-released in November 2009 and again in November 2010.
In 2010, Johnson marked "Love Will Come" and "Heaven's Here" as his favourite tracks from the album. The album's title ''Blast'' came from
the short-lived magazine of the early-20th century British
Vorticist
Vorticism was a London-based Modernism, modernist art movement formed in 1914 by the writer and artist Wyndham Lewis. The movement was partially inspired by Cubism and was introduced to the public by means of the publication of the Vorticist mani ...
art movement.
hollyjohnson.com
''The Story Behind the "Europa" Album Artwork Revealed''
In a 2014 interview with The Arts Desk
''The Arts Desk'' (theartsdesk.com) is a British arts journalism website containing reviews, interviews, news, and other content related to music, theatre, television, films, and other art forms written by journalists from a variety of traditio ...
, Johnson spoke of his reaction to the success of ''Blast'' following the stressful nature of his court case with record label ZTT
ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by record producer Trevor Horn, Horn's wife and businesswoman Jill Sinclair, and ''NME, New Musical Express'' (NME) journalist Paul Morley. The label's name was also stylised as ZANG TUMB TUUM ...
:
Track listing
Original release
All tracks written by Johnson except "Atomic City" (Johnson, Dan Hartman
Daniel Earl Hartman (December 8, 1950 – March 22, 1994) was an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Among songs he wrote and recorded were " Free Ride" as a member of the Edgar Winter Group, and the solo hits ...
).
# " Atomic City" – 6:15
# " Heaven's Here" – 4:16
# " Americanos" – 3:35
# "Deep in Love" – 3:58
# "S.U.C.C.E.S.S." – 3:31
# "Love Train
"Love Train" is a hit single by the O'Jays, written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Released in 1972, it reached No. 1 on both the R&B Singles and the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in February and March 1973 respectively, and No. 9 on the UK Singles Ch ...
" – 4:02
# "Got It Made" – 3:49
# "Love Will Come" – 4:28
# "Perfume" – 3:33
# "Feel Good" – 5:28
Blast (Expanded Edition) (2010)
Disc 1 - The Blast Album Remastered
# "Atomic City" – 6:14
# "Heaven's Here" – 4:18
# "Americanos" – 3:37
# "Deep in Love" – 4:00
# "S.U.C.C.E.S.S." – 3:33
# "Love Train" – 4:03
# "Got It Made" – 3:50
# "Love Will Come" – 4:29
# "Perfume" – 3:35
# "Feel Good" – 5:25
Disc 1 continued - B-Sides and Rarities
# "Murder in Paradise" (B-Side of "Love Train") – 6:25
# "Americanos" (Mambo Dub) (B-Side of "Americanos") – 4:14
# "Beat the System" (B-Side of "Atomic City") – 3:48
# "Hollelujah" (B-Side of "Heaven's Here"/From the album ''Hollelujah'') – 4:08
# "Love Me Tender" – 3:09
# "Perfume" (Aromatherapy Mix) (From the album ''Hollelujah'') – 5:58
# "Perfume" (Aromatherapy Instrumental Mix) (Previously unreleased) – 4:13
Disc 2 - The Blast Singles Remixed
Disc 3 - DVD - The Blast Promotional Videos
# "Love Train" (Promo Video)
# "Americanos" (Promo Video)
# "Atomic City" (Promo Video)
# "Heaven's Here" (Promo Video)
# "Atomic City" (Enviro-Mental 12" Mix) (Promo Video)
Personnel
*Holly Johnson - vocals, synthesizer
* Neil Taylor, Johnny Willett, Vini Reilly
Vincent Gerard "Vini" Reilly (born 4 August 1953) is an English musician and leader of the post-punk group the Durutti Column. He is known for his distinctively clean, fluid guitar style, which stood out from his punk-era contemporaries in its ...
, Steve Byrd - guitar
*Brian May
Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...
- guitar solo on "Love Train"
*Nick Bagnall, Andy Richards, Marius de Vries
Marius de Vries (born 1961) is an English music producer and composer. He has won a Grammy Award from four nominations, two BAFTA Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award.
Education
Marius de Vries was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Bedfor ...
, Steve Howell - keyboards
* Chris Whitten - drums
*Danny Cummings, Luís Jardim
Luís Alberto Figueira Gonçalves Jardim (born 4 July 1950) is a Portuguese percussionist, born in the Madeira Island, best known for his work with producer Trevor Horn.
Family
Jardim is a cousin of Alberto João Jardim (former president of the ...
- percussion
*Chyna Gordon, Dee Lewis, Suddenly Denise, Stevie Lange, Lance Ellington, Mark Williamson, Vicky Brown - background vocals
*Guy Barker
Guy Jeffrey Barker, (born 26 December 1957) is an English jazz trumpeter and composer.
Early life
Barker was born in Chiswick, London, the son of an actress and a stuntman. He started playing the trumpet at the age of twelve, and within a yea ...
, John Barclay, John Thirkell, Phil Todd, Stuart Brooks - brass
Chart performance
References
{{Authority control
Holly Johnson albums
1989 debut albums
Albums produced by Stephen Hague
Albums produced by Dan Hartman
MCA Records albums