Heaven 17 was meant to be just 1 project of British Electric Foundation (BEF) which was born out of the disbanding of the original Human League which Martyn Ware founded in 1980. Heaven 17’s unique vocalist Glenn Gregory was always meant to be in HL but wasn’t available at the time.
H17 have had - and continue to - a massive impact on the sound of The Assembly (‘80’s), Electronic (‘90’s) and most recently Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz. You can hear the strains of H17’s modern classic Penthouse and Pavement across the work of all these bands. Martyn said of the album’s creative process
“It was like opening a giant tap for a hose and it was just blasting out”
And it was controversial too. "We don’t need that) fascist groove thang” was banned by the BBC because they thought Reagan could sue them for the lyric “Reagan’s President Elect/fascist god in motion” and it still carries loads of clout in these days of Trump who we definitely don’t need! They rebooted Tina Turner’s career with Private Dancer and their creativity remains as potent as ever.
They play live as a 5 piece and we are, frankly, astonished that they are headlining Wick Street. They are, in every sense, electrifying live.
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