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Heaven 17

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Heaven 17
Heaven 17 are an English new wave synthpop band originating from Sheffield formed in the early 1980s. Originally a trio, the band comprised Martyn Ware (keyboards), Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously with The Human League) and Glenn Gregory (vocals). Although most of the band's music was recorded in the 1980s, they have occasionally reformed to record and perform since then, playing their first ever live concerts in 1997. Marsh left the band in 2007 and Ware and Gregory have continued to perform as Heaven 17 since then. Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware were the founder members of pioneering British electro-pop group The Human League; Glenn Gregory had been their original choice when seeking a vocalist for the band but he was unavailable at the time, so they chose Philip Oakey instead. When personal and creative tensions within the group reached breaking point in late 1980 Marsh and Ware left the band, ceding the Human League name to Oakey. Taking their new 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"), they became Heaven 17 and formed the production company British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.)... (read more at wikipedia)

Links To Peel

Their debut single "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" attracted some attention and, due to its overtly left-wing political lyrics, was banned by BBC Radio One DJ Mike Read (who is a staunch supporter of the Conservative Party), and neither this nor any other of the four singles taken from the band's debut album Penthouse and Pavement managed to reach the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart. However Peel was a big fan of the song and would play it on his show, despite the BBC banning the track. Peel nominated the track as his Peelenium 1981. He also featured the follow-up singles and their debut electro-funk album Penthouse and Pavement (1981) on his show, but when the band achieved success in 1983 with their UK Top Ten hit single "Temptation", he somehow got disillusioned with their sounds and didn't play any of their later material.

Festive Fifty Entries

Peelenium

Other Shows Played

1981
Heaven 17 - We Don't Need No Fascist Groove Thing

Heaven 17 - We Don't Need No Fascist Groove Thing

1982
1983
1991
1999
  • 07 December 1999: '(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (7")' (Virgin) Peelenium 1981

Top Of The Pops

External Links

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