Frankie Goes To Hollywood – “Two Tribes” (1984)
Franke Goes To Hollywood weren’t pulling any punches. Their video for “Two Tribes” opens with archival footage of Richard Nixon proclaiming “Above everything else, the American people want leaders who will keep the peace.” It isn’t any subtler who the two tribes are from there, as the video focuses on a ring match between lookalikes of Reagan and Chernenko. The song reflects some of the common themes from similar songs, both the futility of it all (“When two tribes go to war/ A point is all you can score”) and the feeling of the whole world being caught between American and Russia’s personal pissing match. (Frankie Goes To Hollywood were from England.) And just like there were some unlikely pop hits from their peers, “Two Tribes” is an enduring dancefloor jam thanks to its driving electronics, though that also worked as a representation of the Cold War’s standoff intensifying.
Waldina 