Heaven 17 are an English new wave synthpop band originating from Sheffield 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 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 (BEF) ... (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, 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 materials.
Festive Fifty Entries
- 1981 Festive Fifty: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang #29
Peelenium
- Peelenium 1981: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
Other Shows Played
1981
- 18 February 1981: (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (single) Virgin
Heaven 17 - We Don't Need No Fascist Groove Thing
- 23 March 1981: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (JP: "..rumour has it that one or two of the commercial radio stations want to ban this record - presumably they don't want to offend any fascists..")
- 02 April 1981: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (7") Virgin
- 09 April 1981: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (single) Virgin
- 11 May 1981: I'm Your Money (7": I'm Your Money) (Virgin)
- 21 May 1981: Are Everything (7” – I’m Your Money) Virgin
- 28 December 1981: '(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (LP-Pemthouse And Pavement)' (Virgin) FF #29 (JP: And two of the best things about 1981 have been the success of Heaven 17 and the Human League in the Chuck Berry and Eddie Cochran tradition respectively.')
1982
- 08 February 1982: 'At The Height Of The Fighting (He-La-Lu) (12 inch)' (Ariola)
- Feb 82-UB40: 'At The Height Of The Fighting (He-La-Lu) (12 inch)' (Ariola)
1983
- Karl's Tape 17 - April May 1983: Key To The World (album - The Luxury Gap) Virgin (Kid Jensen show)
- 05 May 1983 (TOTP): Temptation
- Karl's Tape - June 1983: Come Live With Me (Kid Jensen show)
1991
- 28 September 1991: 'We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang (12")' (Virgin)
- Best Of Peel Vol 37: 'We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thang (12")' (Virgin)
1999
- 07 December 1999: '(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (7")' (Virgin) Peelenium 1981