Holly Johnson quotes

I got great voice training in St. Mary's Church, Wavertree, in Liverpool, when I was a lad. Dressing up in cassocks was all part of the fun. I used to earn sixpence a week and although I don't go to church very much any more, 'Once In Royal David's City' is still my favourite hymn. (Holly Johnson)

I always saw being in a band a full time job.

Holly Johnson

One U.S. hit single and a hit T Shirt in 1985 does not a celebrity make.

Holly Johnson

This hype word bothers me though It always sounds like an accusation, what does it mean, advertising, column inches in the press? Bands themselves are never really responsible for all of that. That is something that happens to you when you sell millions of records.

Holly Johnson

I was in Big In Japan between '77 and '78. Then I went solo, releasing a couple of singles. Then I joined the Dancing Girls who turned into the Sons Of Egypt who were then whittled down into Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

Holly Johnson

Showbiz is a very strange thing, I've got a love-hate relationship with that. In Liverpool your mates say, ‘You're there, Holly, you're there' but they only see the end product, not what that entails.

Holly Johnson

Coming back doing interviews is weird. It's like an actor who takes a year off and just goes home, settles down, does some gardening, wakes up in the morning, worries about what to have for breakfast, then suddenly you're plonked back in the middle of it all.

Holly Johnson

You used to get people writing in to the Liverpool Echo saying, ‘Who is this Martian walking round town?' I used to get battered. Going out for lunch was like running the gauntlet.

Holly Johnson

Often the raw ideas like ‘Relax' and ‘Rage Hard' - are the best. ‘Rage Hard' just happened. There was little conscious effort.

Holly Johnson

We are here to stir things up. Even people that hate us have to admit that we've already succeeded in doing that. Love Frankie or hate it - that's what we want - a strong reaction.

Holly Johnson

I'm very lucky. I have terrific parents, but some kids have a really rotten time growing up and we should do all that we can to make their lives happier and more secure. (Holly Johnson)

I do sometimes write songs that don't seem right for Frankie so they get filed away. But don't worry - anything good will be used. I'm not that gifted that I can afford to throw away any good stuff.

Holly Johnson

[I was] a little boy with a patch over one eye, who sang and danced along the street. I had what's called a lazy eye, so I had to wear the patch. You tend to be a prodded kind of kid when you look like that, but it makes you much stronger in the end.

Holly Johnson

The name Holly was given me by a girl called Yvonne Petrovitch because of the Andy Warhol connection with the transvestite Holly Woodlawn.

Holly Johnson

When Frankie Goes To Hollywood were still going strong, we made a point of being as Spinal Tap as possible. Yes, we had food fights. Yes, items were thrown out of hotel windows. But one childish prank I liked at the time was when we stayed in those really posh hotels where, at night, you could put your shoes out and in the morning they've been cleaned. We amused ourselves by roaming the corridors at night and having a crap in each pair of shoes we found. We even made bets: whoever filled the most shoes, won.

Holly Johnson

Dad wasn't there much cos he had three or four jobs. First he was away at sea, later on he worked as an insurance salesman in the day and on a building site in the evening.

Holly Johnson

I always saw myself as a multi media artist.

Holly Johnson

I wanted to make the kind of records that I heard in the discos that I danced in at that time. Funky, electronic sounds, while the musicians in the band were more rock oriented. This I suppose created the sound we know as Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

Holly Johnson

To see a player dunk in women's college basketball is just amazing. It's great to see that the game has reached that level now.

Holly Johnson

Writing is a creatively rewarding occupation but for me very time consuming.

Holly Johnson

What can I tell you I continue to be creative, but have only been commercially successful outside of the U.S. (Holly Johnson)

We have such a high drop-out rate from musicians, said the head of the college. He was right - I dropped out before I even dropped in. Months later they were still asking what had happened to me, not realising that I was on a UK tour.

Holly Johnson

Although we were The Spice Girls of 1984 in Europe, My work has never been widely promoted in the U.S.

Holly Johnson

Let's face it I am not Joan Collins or Boy George.

Holly Johnson

I think it's been the topic of conversation for every one... If the U.S. is hit again, how are we going to handle it? Our troops are all over the place.

Holly Johnson