"Disco Heaven" is a song from former

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). Johnson and Ruther ...

singer

Holly Johnson William "Holly" Johnson (born 9 February 1960) is an English singer, songwriter and artist, 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 ...

, which was released in 1999 as the second single from his third studio album '' Soulstream''. The song, written and produced by Johnson, reached No. 85 in the UK Singles Chart.

Background

"Disco Heaven" is a song about the friends Johnson had lost to

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. Johnson told ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' in 1999, "It's a song about remembering in a positive way your friends that aren't here any more. You know they're all there dancing together in disco heaven."

Music video

The song's music video was Johnson's directorial debut and his first video since 1994's " Legendary Children". The video features cameo appearances from

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer-songwriter and DJ who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop band Culture Club. He began his solo career in 1987. Boy George grew up in Eltham a ...

as the ghost of

Leigh Bowery Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 – 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery's performances featured striking costumes and make-up and were conceptual, flamboyant, outlandish, and sometime ...

Jasper Conran Jasper Alexander Thirlby Conran (born 12 December 1959) is a British designer. He has worked on collections of womenswear and for the home, as well as productions for the stage in ballet, opera and theatre. Early life He is the second son of ...

as the late American designer

Halston Roy Halston Frowick (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990), known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer, who rose to international fame in the 1970s. Halston's minimalist, clean designs, which were often made of cashmere or ...

Angie Brown Angie Brown (born 13 June 1963) is a British singer and songwriter from Brixton, South London. Brown is a co-artist on the hit single " I'm Gonna Get You" (1992) by Bizarre Inc. She performed on a number of recordings with Bizarre Inc as lead ...

(the song's backing vocalist) as herself, Jibby Bean as herself, Win Austin as

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, model and actress. She began her Model (person), modelling career in New York State, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves St ...

, Trademark as

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

, Nicola Bowery Roy as

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

, Pinkietessa and Golden Boy. Dancers in the video included Faustos Danese, Charles Sebunya, Roberto Saraceno, Laura Hills, Melody Woodhead and Bev Jones. The video's choreography was handled by Les Child, who was assisted by Mark Tyme. Speaking of the video to the ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to ta ...

'' in 1999, Johnson said, "The video tries to recapture the feel of the Studio 54 disco days and it's about all the people of that generation who are now having a disco together in heaven." In 2010, Johnson said of his experience directing the video, "I loved it but it was exhausting, after producing the record, I was trying to promote it, release it, direct the video, it was all a bit too much for one person."

Critical reception

In a review of ''Soulstream'', Caroline Sullivan of ''

'' noted, "By default, the best tracks are the campest: the nostalgic 'Disco Heaven' and 'Legendary Children'." Jon O'Brien of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

retrospectively wrote, "The retro stylings are more forgivable when Johnson's distinctive, powerful vocals and life-affirming lyrics are let loose on the dancefloor, with the infectious camp Euro-disco of "Hallelujah" and "Disco Heaven," the latter a joyous lament to the friends he lost to AIDS, and impossible to resist."

Track listing

;12" single #"Disco Heaven (Wayne G's Heaven Mix)" - 7:03 #"Disco Heaven (Sicario Club Mix)" - 7:10 #"Disco Heaven (Frankie Says... Edit)" - 6:23 #"Disco Heaven (7" Version)" - 4:12 ;CD single #"Disco Heaven (Sicario Club Mix Edit)" - 4:15 #"Disco Heaven (Daz & Andy's Heavenly Remix)" - 6:59 #"Disco Heaven (Sicario Club Mix)" - 7:12 ;CD single #"Disco Heaven (Sicario Club Mix Edit)" - 4:15 #"Disco Heaven (Frankie Says... Edit)" - 6:23 #"Disco Heaven (Wayne G's Heaven Mix)" - 7:03 #"Disco Heaven (Sicario Club Mix)" - 7:12 ;CD single (UK promo) #"Disco Heaven (Wayne G's Heaven Mix)" - 7:03 #"Disco Heaven (Sicario Club Mix)" - 7:10 #"Disco Heaven (Frankie Says... Edit)" - 6:23 #"Disco Heaven (7" Version)" - 4:12 #"Disco Heaven (Sicario Club Mix Edit)" - 4:15

Personnel

* Holly Johnson - lead vocals, producer, engineer, artwork * Angie Brown - backing vocals * Gavin Landless, Mark Tucker, Simon Wilde - engineers * Mike "Spike" Drake - mixing, production assistance * Chris Toole - programming * Nick Ingman - strings arrangement, strings conductor

Charts

References

{{authority control 1999 songs 1999 singles Songs written by Holly Johnson Holly Johnson songs