Heaven 17 - The Luxury Gap

Released in 1983, The Luxury Gap is widely considered Heaven 17’s definitive masterpiece, representing the pinnacle of their "mechanical Motown" sound. While their debut was more experimental, this platinum-selling follow-up embraced high-gloss production by blending cutting-edge synthesizers with lush orchestral arrangements and brass sections, most notably on the powerhouse hit "Temptation." Critics often praise the album for its sophisticated balance of infectious dance-pop hooks and sharp political commentary on Thatcher-era Britain, cementing its legacy as a cornerstone of the 1980s New Wave and synth-pop movement.

Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement

It would be stretching the point to call Heaven 17 a punk band by any definition, but their music is inextricable from their politics. Sheffield was home to the scene that would spawn a number of memorable acts, primarily the Human League and Heaven 17, in addition to the likes of Cabaret Voltaire and Clock DVA.

Heaven 17 was formed in 1980 by Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, founding members of the Human League. After releasing two dark and dehumanized albums of proto-synth-pop agit prop as the Human League, Marsh and Ware split with Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright. Oakey and Wright’s vision for the Human League as played out over the following decade could not have been more at odds with Marsh and Ware. Oakey and Wright retained the Human League name and recruited two dancers from local clubs to be singers; the reformatted group abandoned Marsh and Ware’s overt political leanings in favour of pristine pop hooks informed by only a covert twinge of class-conscious irony.

So when Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware left the Human League in 1980, the decision seemed iffy; after all, the Human League appeared on the way up and would achieve global fame the very next year with Dare!. The first album from Heaven 17, Marsh and Ware's new trio with singer Glenn Gregory, wasn't greeted with quite the same commercial kudos when released in 1981, but it turned out to be an important outing nevertheless.

Picking up where Kraftwerk had left off with The Man Machine, the group created glistening electro-pop that didn't skimp on danceable grooves or memorable melodies. What set Heaven 17 apart was the well-deep vocals of Gregory, who managed the difficult trick of sounding dramatic without seeming pretentious, and an overtly left-wing political outlook best expressed on the debut single "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang." Other standout combinations of witty lyrics and whiplash electro-grooves include "The Height of the Fighting" and "Play to Win," while the funky title track draws on American R&B for its popping bassline. Despite the catchy material, chart success proved somewhat elusive; Heaven 17 didn't score a major hit until their next album, 1983's The Luxury Gap. Nevertheless, Penthouse and Pavement stands as one of the most accomplished debuts of the '80s.

Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang 12"

In 1981, the BBC banned Heaven 17’s debut single “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang” on the grounds the song’s lyrics were possibly libellous to President Ronald Reagan. The couplet that caused the Beeb’s legal eagles such wrinkled brows was contained in the song’s third verse:

Reagan’s president elect… A fascist god in motion?

Now, this may all sound like the kind of poetry exercise Rick from The Young Ones might have concocted in his overheated imagination; indeed try saying the lyrics in your best Rick the People’s Poet voice and you’ll see what I mean… Let’s not forget, this was the 1980s, when the drum machine was king and the fictitious “Rick” was far closer to how many on the Left actually behaved than most would care to admit.

Even the language of student rebellion had changed little since the late 1960s: everyone was a “fascist,” “the pigs” were in charge, “the man” had his finger on the nuclear trigger and Armageddon was imminent. If you don’t believe me, just pick up any review, by say Angela Carter, from back then, and you’ll be hard pushed to get through more than a few paragraphs before the woe-is-me hand wringing fears of Baby Boomer nuclear annihilation is apparent.

“(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang” was very much of its time, with the lyrics containing the expected tropes on racism, fascism, Adolf Hitler, nuclear war, cruise missiles and a call to “unlock that funky chain dance.” And to a man the nation asked, “Why hadn’t we thought of this before? Unlocking our funky chain dance to stop nuclear war?”

The BBC has always had a strange relationship with pop music. In 1969, they banned The Kinks’ song “Plastic Man” because it contained the word “bum,”. Just a few years later in 1972, they were happily piping out Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” with its lines about “giving head” to the Beeb’s Radio 2 grey-haired Daily Mail-reading middle aged listeners.  Now, they were quaking that The Gipper might possibly, maybe, well you just never know, sue the bum off the Corporation for some rather juvenile political pop posturing? What would Rick have said?

Borrowed from “Dangerous Minds”

Now that wasn’t much of a review, was it? There may be some comparisons to the current key holder of the White House, Mr Trump, but what is that going to change? Nothing.

So did it live up to all the hype...Hell yes! This was one of the songs to own in 1981. Lifted from the funky Penthouse and Pavement album, Fascist Groove Thang indicated an altogether different direction both musically and socially from the prevailing New Romantic movement of the day. Precious little had suggested that Heaven 17’s first single would be a corking little number like this. Perhaps it hasn't weathered as well as it might, not least because the band raided the chart listings for the hip phrases of the day, so that it’s hard not to smirk slightly at lines like “hot your arse, I feel your power”, “come out your house and dance your dance”, and the very peculiar references to “brothers”, “sisters”. From the intro whipping up like a dervish into the lean, propulsive bass-line over which Glenn Gregory intones the pithy, sometimes hilarious lyrics, it's a great call to (dis)arms and a dynamite dance-track too. Still, you have to hand it to the boys for managing somehow to filter radical 70’s funk through their early 80’s Sheffield synth lab and come up with something this stirring.

Allez Allez - African Queen / Repetition - The Still Reflex 7'' / Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement 12''

On the verge of an international breakthrough in 1981, Belgian based funky new wave band Marine, formed around singer Marc Marine, whose debut single ‘Life In Reverse’ was making waves, mislaid their founder member. John Peel had invited the act to perform a session for his show in August 1981; however singer Marc, whilst in London to record the session decided to quit. The band immediately replaced him with vocalist Sarah Osborne, who was at the time singing with London band and fellow label mates, Repetition; Marc eventually assembled a second version of Marine for his follow up single Same Beat.

Repetition, were a post-punk (also dubbed as Belgian post-punk) band which formed in the August of 1979. The band's initial line up was ex SpizzOil guitarist Pete Petrol, Ex Xtraverts drummer Tim Transe, keyboard player A.S.D.H. (Andy Hooper), bassist AWOL (Nicholas), and vocalist Sarah Osbourne. They were signed to Les Disques du Crépuscule after gaining the interest of Annik Honoré in 1979. First single 'A Still Reflex' was released in January 1981 and recorded at Spaceward Studios in Saffron Waldon, most notably produced by Joy Division’s manager, Rob Gretton. Owing to the connection with Brussels based Les Disques du Crepuscule the band toured in Belgium and the Netherlands in 1980 playing at Plan K in Brussels and the Effenaar in Eindhoven and appeared on Generation 80 TV show. Steve Musham joined the band during this period, playing bass initially, and then replacing Osbourne on vocals on the next single, ‘A Full Rotation', recorded at Berry Street Studios in London, in 1980.

Once Sarah Osborne was in place with the remaining members of Marine they promptly changed their name to Allez Allez and recorded their planned Peel session. The band then started to get regular play by Peel in the early 80's. Factoid; Allez Allez are considered to be the first Belgian act to perform a session for Peel's show. In the slipstream of their successful debut-single "She's Stirring Up", the mini-album "African Queen" aroused a lot more interest and became a gold selling record. It even earned them a place at the famous Torhout-Werchter festival in 1982. Allez Allez showed commercial potential, and following their indie mini album ‘African Queen’ the group signed with Virgin. Promises’ was produced by Martyn Ware of Heaven 17/Human League, and was released in November 1982. The album and singles unfortunately were not mainstream hits, and Sarah left the band to marry Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory.