The Holly Johnson Story at the Museum of Liverpool Review
DISCLOSURE -THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Dottie Rood
Being born and bred in Liverpool and a huge supporter of all our museums from the Maritime Museum, the International Slavery Museum, the Walker Art Gallery, the World Museum to the Museum of Liverpool, I was very pleased to be invited to review one of their current exhibitions, the Holly Johnson Story, which is being exhibited at the Museum of Liverpool.
“The exhibition celebrates Holly Johnson’s creative genius, charting his personal life and extraordinary music career over five decades.” A quote on the Museum of Liverpool’s website.
The Holly Johnson Story was produced by Homotopia, DuoVision Arts and National Museums Liverpool in collaboration with Holly Johnson and celebrates the 40th anniversary of Frankie Goes to Hollywood (who he was the lead vocalist for) album Welcome to the Pleasuredome.
Frankie Goes to Holly wood, which was made up of Holly Johnson (on vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Mark O’Toole (on bass), Brian Nash (on guitar) and Peter Gill (on drums) were a band formed in Liverpool in the 1980’s. They were one of the first openly gay pop acts and made gay rights and their sexuality the forefront of their music and their performances. Their first album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1983) had advanced sales of more than a million pounds and their first three singles, ‘Relax’, ‘Two Tribes’ and ‘The Power of Love’ reached number one in the UK singles charts. The BBC banned them from all their broadcasting platforms for a short time which invariably made them more newsworthy and brought them much more publicity.
The exhibition shows the views towards the LGBT+ community back in the 8o’s and the effect Holly Johnson and his music/performances had at that time. This is done in a number of ways, it uses posters, photographs, costumes, art works, background music and personal audio comments, via an old-style phone, of the effect Holly Johnson has had on a number of different people. There was also some of Holly Johnsons own art works and personal comments from him.
The exhibition explores much more than just Holly Johnsons influence back in the 1980’s but he is obviously the main feature (hence the title!). It was more an art exhibition as opposed to an interactive exhibition but had some very interesting displays and information and although it wasn’t very big it had lots packed into it.
I feel this exhibition would not only appeal to Holly Johnson fans but also to anyone who is interested in the 1980’s, not only the musical culture, especially in Liverpool, but also the political climate at that time and some of the trails and barriers the LBGT+ community faced and some of the ways these began to be overcome.
The exhibition is being held at the Museum of Liverpool Pier Head Liverpool United Kingdom L3 1DG, it started on 14th September 2024 and is on until 27th July 2025. It is recommended that some parental guidance is used if you take children, this is due to some sensitive material and adult themes, and I would agree with that.
Ticket prices: Adult: £5 (or £7 with a £2 voluntary donation) Child: 0–17 free Disabled adult: £5 (or £7 with a £2 voluntary donation) Disabled adult/child companion: free National Art Pass: £2.50 (or £4.50 with a £2 voluntary donation) These prices are only for The Holly Johnson exhibition as the rest of the museum is free to access (donations are welcome).
Museum opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 5 pm (closed Mondays except for school holidays and bank holidays).
Rating: 4/5
Fore more information or to book tickets, visit www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk