Heaven 17: 80’s Synthpop (LIVE on WERB)
Back in Farmington Hills, Michigan when I was 16… it hit! That wave of synthpop both foreign and domestic. Led by, in our household on Alameda Avenue, this band from Sheffield, England, HEAVEN 17.
Heaven 17 is an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band was a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), and Glenn Gregory (vocals).
Taking their new name from a fictional pop band mentioned in Anthony Burgess’s dystopian novel, A Clockwork Orange (where The Heaven Seventeen are at number 4 in the charts with “Inside”), Heaven 17 was intended to be just one of the musical projects for British Electric Foundation.
In October 1982, Heaven 17 released their new single “Let Me Go”, which charted just outside the UK Top 40 (but reached the Irish Top 30). However, in 1983 the band’s fortunes changed. Their next single, “Temptation” (on which they were augmented by vocalist Carol Kenyon and a studio orchestra), reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart in spring 1983 and became their biggest hit. The song was taken from their second album, The Luxury Gap, which featured further chart hits “Come Live with Me” (UK #5) and “Crushed by the Wheels of Industry” (UK #17). The album itself charted at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart, their highest ever position, and was certified platinum by the BPI in 1984.
Heaven 17: 80’s Synthpop (LIVE on WERB)
Listen Here
Show Playlist
| TRACK | ARTIST | ALBUM | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Play to Win | Heaven 17 | Penthouse and Pavement | 1981 |
| We Don’t Need (this Fascist) Groove Thang! | Heaven 17 | Penthouse and Pavement | 1981 |
| Penthouse and Pavement | Heaven 17 | Penthouse and Pavement | 1981 |
| Let Me Go | Heaven 17 | The Luxury Gap | 1982 |
| Temptation | Heaven 17 | The Luxury Gap | 1982 |
| We Live So Fast | Heaven 17 | The Luxury Gap | 1982 |
| Crushed by the Wheels of Industry | Heaven 17 | The Luxury Gap | 1982 |
| Who Will Stop the Rain | Heaven 17 | The Luxury Gap | 1982 |
| Key to the World | Heaven 17 | How Men Are | 1984 |
| Shame is on the Rocks | Heaven 17 | How Men Are | 1984 |
| Reputation | Heaven 17 | How Men Are | 1984 |
| This is Mine | Heaven 17 | How Men Are | 1984 |
Heaven 17: 80’s Synthpop (LIVE ON WERB).
