Watching the Wildlife


"Watching the Wildlife" is the seventh and last single by British pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Released on 23 February 1987, it is taken from the album Liverpool.
Of the three singles culled from Liverpool, "Watching the Wildlife" was the most radio friendly, lacking the rocky sound of "Rage Hard" and "Warriors of the Wasteland". However, the single only reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart and #23 in Germany. It is also the only one of the three Liverpool singles not to have a CD single release at that time and the mix used on the 7" vinyl single has never appeared on a UK issued compact disc, but a German 4-track single was bundled with the Bang!/Hard On CD/DVD set and apparently contains the mix in question, said mix also features on Frankie Said, Salvo's "best of" offering from 2012. The 1988 Record Collector magazine discography of the band contains a listing for a UK CD single, complete with catalogue number, but this was an error based on assumption. To date, no original 1987 copy has come to light, not even in promo form, and can be safely disregarded as fiction.
The 7" packaging made reference to animals, with a panda and dolphin on the sleeve. The cassette single made more references to sex. To wit, the instrumental mix was dubbed "The Condom Mix" on the cassette single. The promotional condom that was to be distributed with each single would have stopped the single sales counting towards the UK charts as the official chart provider had introduced new rules to this effect, so the idea was abandoned. Promotional copies complete with the condom do exist however.
The single also featured a brand new track, "The Waves" on the B-side.

Track listing

;7": ZTT / ZTAS 26
"animal fur/animal smell"
  1. "Watching the Wildlife" – 3:50
  2. "The Waves" – 3:02
;12": ZTT / 12 ZTAS 26
  1. "Watching the Wildlife" – 9:02
  2. "Wildlife Bit 1" - :38
  3. "Wildlife Bit 2" - :37
  4. "Watching the Wildlife" – 3:49
  5. "The Waves" – 3:02
"Watching the Wildlife" was rereleased in 2012 on CD Sexmix Disk 2, Track 13.
;12": ZTT / 12 ZTAX 26
  1. "Watching the Wildlife" – 7:12
  2. "Wildlife Bit 3" – 6:24
  3. "Wildlife Bit 4" – 4:20
  4. "The Waves" – 3:02
;12": ZTT / 12 ZTE 26
"Beobachtungen im Wilden Leben"
  1. "Beobachtungen im Wilden Leben" – 10:16
  2. "Wildlife Bit 1" - :38
  3. "Wildlife Bit 2" - :37
  4. "Watching the Wildlife" – 3:49
  5. "The Waves" – 3:02
;MC: ZTT / CTIS 26
  1. "Watching the Wildlife" – 4:26
  2. "Watching the Wildlife" – 9:09
  3. "The Waves" – 3:02
  4. "Wildlife Bit 1" - :38
  5. "Wildlife Bit 2" - :37
  6. "Watching the Wildlife" – 6:26
;Digital download: ZTT
  1. "Watching The Wildlife" - 3:52
  2. "Watching The Wildlife" - 9:08
  3. "Watching The Wildlife" - 7:13
  4. "Watching The Wildlife" - 10:14
  5. "Watching The Wildlife" - :38
  6. "Watching The Wildlife" - :37
  7. "Watching The Wildlife" - 6:25
  8. "Watching The Wildlife" - 4:24
  9. "Watching The Wildlife" - 3:50
  10. "The Waves" - 3:02

    Chart performance