The band was offered a deal by a major label, MCA, and moved further in the direction of goth music under the influence of guitarist/keyboardist Roman Jugg and vocalist Dave Vanian.

Given a substantial promotional budget, including a video directed by Jonathan Gershfield, two separate 12" releases (each featuring a different remix of "Grimly Fiendish") and several limited edition 7" variants, the song was the band's biggest hit since 1979, reaching No.

The song takes its title (although misspelled for copyright reasons) from a character - Grimly Feendish - The Rottenest Crook in the World[2] – in the UK children's Wham!, Pow!

Created by Leo Baxendale, Grimly is an over-ambitious and generally incompetent, childlike criminal mastermind, who is often shown wearing a long, black coat, starting initially as the villainous foil to Eagle-Eye, Junior Spy.

The lyrics depict Grimly on trial for being a bad influence on children, but protesting that he was never given much of a chance (an allegory to his fate in the comic world).