"Two Tribes" | ||||
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Single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood | ||||
from the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome | ||||
B-side | "One February Friday", "War" | |||
Released | 4 June 1984 | |||
Format | 7", 12", cassette, CD | |||
Recorded | 1983–1984 | |||
Genre | Hi-NRG | |||
Length | 3:57 | |||
Label | ZTT (ZTAS 3) | |||
Writer(s) | Peter Gill, Holly Johnson, Mark O'Toole | |||
Producer(s) | Trevor Horn | |||
Frankie Goes to Hollywood singles chronology | ||||
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"Two Tribes" is the second single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records on 4 June 1984. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. Presenting a nihilistic, gleeful lyric expressing enthusiasm for a nuclear war, it juxtaposes a relentless pounding bass line and guitar riff inspired by American funk and R&B pop with influences of Russian classical music, in an opulent arrangement produced by Trevor Horn. The recording makes extensive use of samples of the British Protect and Survive public information films on how to survive a nuclear attack.
Supported by a striking advertising campaign depicting the band as members of the Red Army and a wide range of remixes, the single was a phenomenal success in the UK, immediately entering at the number one position on 10 June 1984 and staying at the top of the UK Singles Chart for nine consecutive weeks, during which time the group's previous single "Relax" climbed back up the charts to number two. It was the longest running number-one single in the UK of the 1980s. It has sold 1.58 million copies in the UK as of November 2012. Songwriters Johnson, Gill and O'Toole received the 1984 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. In 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 14th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.
A version of "Two Tribes" was originally recorded for a BBC John Peel session in October 1982. The session version makes clear that the basic structure of the song, including its signature bass-line, percussion arrangement and idiosyncratic introductory and middle eight sections, were already intact prior to any involvement from ZTT or eventual producer Trevor Horn.