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Heaven 17 are an English synthpop band originating in Sheffield in the early 1980s.

Biography

Taking their name from a fictional pop group mentioned in Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange (where 'The Heaven Seventeen' are at number 4 in the charts with 'Inside' *), Heaven 17 formed when Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware split from their earlier group The Human League and formed production company British Electric Foundation (BEF). Shortly after, they recruited their good friend and photographer Glenn Gregory on vocals to complete their lineup for Heaven 17. Contrary to popular belief, they were not New Romantics and shared few visual characteristics with groups such as Spandau Ballet and Culture Club.

Like The Human League, Heaven 17 heavily used synthesisers and drum machines. They had a few minor hits including the early 'Play To Win' which featured on the album Penthouse and Pavement. Their debut single '(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang' from the same album attracted some attention, became a left-wing anthem for a while, and was banned by the BBC because of its overtly political lyrics, but it still reached number 45 in the UK singles chart.

Major chart success eluded them until the single 'Temptation' (in which they were augmented by the vocalist Carol Kenyon) reached number 2 in the UK charts in summer 1983. Other songs from the same album, The Luxury Gap, also charted though not as high - 'Come Live With Me' reached number 5 in the UK, 'Crushed By The Wheels of Industry' reached number 17, and 'Let Me Go', reaching 41 in November 1982. The album itself charted at their best ever position, number four.

At the end of 1983, the band helped launch Tina Turner's solo career, producing and providing backing vocals on her debut hit 'Let's Stay Together'. 1984 featured the release of the moderately successful How Men Are, which reached number 12.

The band also worked on the Band Aid single at the end of 1984, with Gregory supplying vocals alongside Midge Ure and Sting. However, they did not perform at Live Aid the following year.

Pleasure One (featuring the single 'Trouble') appeared in 1986 and it was followed up in 1988 with Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho (featuring the single 'Train of Love In Motion'). The early 90's were a quiet period for the band and they wouldn't work together as Heaven 17 until 1996's Bigger Than America. In the preceding years, Marsh and Ware produced a second BEF album to 1982's original Music of Quality and Distinction and Gregory formed the band Ugly. Ware became an in-demand producer, working for the likes of Terence Trent D'Arby, Alison Moyet and Erasure. 2005 saw the release of the long-awaited Before After; the album having a much more contemporary dance sound compared to previous albums.

Albums

Penthouse and Pavement (1981) - Melody Maker's album of the year (1981) *

The Luxury Gap (1983) - reached number 4 in the album charts. Contained 'Temptation' and 'Let Me Go', the band's biggest UK and US hits respectively

How Men Are (1984)

Pleasure One (1986) - notable for the introduction of a 'real' band, and the loss of the electronics and social commentary that characterised the band's early career

Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho (1988) - the title comes from the nicknames given to the band by Terence Trent D'Arby

Bigger Than America (1996) - marked a return to their synthesiser and social commentary roots. Described as a "sequel" to Penthouse and Pavement.

Before After (2005) - lost the politics in favour of a more dance oriented album.

Compilations and notable albums

Endless (1986) - consisted of a 'Heaven 17 Megamix', and both 12-inch and new re-recordings of songs

The Best of Heaven 17 (1992) - originally released on the Virgin VIP label

Higher and Higher - The Best of Heaven 17 (1993) - contained remixes of 'Temptation' and '(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang'

The Remix Collection (1995) - contained 12-inch versions of songs and the 1992/ 3 remixes of 'Temptation', '(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang' and 'Penthouse and Pavement'

Executive Summary (1996) - essentially a 6-track 'Best of' CD introducing the upcoming album Bigger Than America

Retox/ Detox (1998) - this 2 CD set consisted of entriely new remixes of the band's songs by DJs and remixers

How Live Is (1999) - the band's live appearance at the SECC Glasgow supporting Erasure (previously only available from the official website as Live At Last)

Virgin Voices Vol. 1: A Tribute To Madonna (1999) - This tribute album contains the band's cover of Madonna's 'Holiday'.

We Will Follow: A Tribute To U2 (1999) - The band's cover of U2's 'With Or Without You' opens this tribute album to U2.

Party O' The Times (1999) - The band's contribution to this Prince tribute album was a cover of 'Sign O' The Times'.

Live at Scala, London (2005) - the band's appearance at the Scala, London on 29 November, available 10 minutes after the end of the show and from Live Here Now with artwork by Haiminh Le *

Interesting facts

The band still work together - stating on their recent releases that "Heaven 17 have been - and always will be...".

Heaven 17 is also mentioned in the song 'Cubs in Five' by The Mountain Goats. While listing a group of things that will never happen, the lyrics state that "Bill Gates will single-handedly spearhead the Heaven 17 revival."

The band's first television appearance where they actually played live was on The Tube in 1987, playing 'Contenders' and 'Trouble' from Pleasure One.

Their first actual live tour was supporting Erasure in 1997 - with reasons for the gap ranging from "making a conscious decision to wait 17 years" to "we were too lazy" on 1999's How Live Is.

Though 'Temptation' is featured in the film Trainspotting, it is not actually on the 'official' CD soundtrack whereas 'Temptation' by New Order is - though they are not the same song (Heaven 17's 'Temptation' is played at the disco where Renton would meet Diane; New Order's 'Temptation' lyrics are sung by Diane while she's taking a bath, and is played faintly in the background during breakfast at Diane's not much later). Heaven 17's 'Temptation' is however featured on the second Trainspotting CD, featuring songs 'inspired by' the film.

'Geisha Boys and Temple Girls' (from Penthouse and Pavement) takes many of its lyrics from the book Will I Like It? by Peter Mayle about losing your virginity.

Honeyroot

Honeyroot is an ambient dance collaboration between Glenn Gregory and Keith Lowndes, that is signed to the 'Just Music' recording company. The project has it's origins in the 1997 Blatant album release Skyscraping by ABC. As ABC was essentially Martin Fry, after the departure of co-member Mark White, Keith Lowndes and fellow Sheffield native Glenn Gregory of the electropop-funk band Heaven 17, were brought in for co-writing duties on the album.

Singles

Honeyroot reached the Top 75 of the UK Singles chart with their ambient reading of the Joy Division song "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

Album

  • Honeyroot - Sound Echo Location (Just Music 2005)

See Also

External links

English musical groups | New Wave groups | Music from Sheffield | Synthpop

Heaven 17 | Heaven 17 | Heaven 17 | Heaven 17 | Heaven 17 | Heaven 17 | Heaven 17 | Heaven 17 | Heaven 17

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Heaven 17".

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