Editing Heaven 17 (section)

===1980s===
====Origin and formation====
[[Ian Craig Marsh]] and [[Martyn Ware]] were the founding members of pioneering Sheffield synthpop group [[the Human League]]; Glenn Gregory (who had previously been in a punk band called Musical Vomit with Marsh) had been their original choice when seeking a lead singer for the band but as he had moved to London to work as a photographer at the time, they chose Ware's school friend [[Philip Oakey]] instead.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.classicpopmag.com/2022/03/glenn-gregory-heaven-17/ |title=Heaven 17: Glenn Gregory interview |publisher=Classic Pop Magazine |date=15 March 2022 |access-date=20 May 2022 }}</ref> When personal and creative tensions within the group reached a breaking point in late 1980, Marsh and Ware left the band, ceding the Human League name to Oakey. They formed the production company [[British Electric Foundation]] (B.E.F.).<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book| first= David| last= Roberts| year= 2006| title= British Hit Singles & Albums| edition= 19th| publisher=Guinness World Records Limited | location= London| isbn= 1-904994-10-5| pages= 248–249}}</ref>

====1981: B.E.F. and ''Penthouse and Pavement''====
B.E.F.'s first recordings were a cassette-only album called ''Music for Stowaways''<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years">{{cite book| first= John| last= Tobler| year= 1992| title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years| edition= 1st| publisher=Reed International Books Ltd | location= London| page= 352| id= CN 5585}}</ref> and an LP called ''Music for Listening To'', which was re-released on CD in 1997 with two extra tracks. Shortly after, they completed their line-up when they recruited their friend, photographer Glenn Gregory, as vocalist. Taking their new name from a fictional pop band mentioned in [[Anthony Burgess]]'s [[Dystopian fiction|dystopian]] novel ''[[A Clockwork Orange (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.<ref>David Buckley ''Electric Dreams: the Human League, Heaven 17, and the Sound of the Steel City'', Aurum Press 2012</ref>

Like the Human League, Heaven 17 used synthesisers and [[drum machine]]s heavily (the [[Linn LM-1]] programmed by Ware). [[Session musician]]s were used for bass guitar and guitar (John Wilson) and [[grand piano]] (Nick Plytas). Whereas the band's former colleagues the Human League had gone on to major chart success in 1981, Heaven 17 struggled to make an impact. Their debut single "[[(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang]]" attracted some attention and was banned by the [[BBC]] due to concerns by [[BBC Radio 1|Radio 1]]'s legal department that it libelled [[Ronald Reagan]], who had recently been elected President of the United States.<ref name="Banned">{{cite book| title=Banned: Censorship of Popular Music in Britain: 1967-1992|first=Martin|last=Cloonan|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|year=1996|isbn=1-85742-300-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?as_isbn=9781857423006|page=117|quote = Radio 1 remained wary in the political arena and in 1981 its legal department advised Heaven 17 that their hit 'We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thing' libelled American President Ronald Reagan by calling him a 'fascist'. So the BBC dropped it...}}</ref> Neither "Fascist Groove Thang" nor any of the three other singles taken from the band's debut album ''[[Penthouse and Pavement]]'' reached the [[UK Top 40]].<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> The album itself proved to be a success, however, peaking at Number 14 on the [[UK Albums Chart]], and was later certified [[music recording sales certification|gold]] by the [[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]] in 1982.

[[File:Glenn Gregory.jpg|thumb|left|Glenn Gregory on stage in 2021]]Around this time, Ware and Marsh produced two further albums as B.E.F., the first being ''Music of Quality & Distinction Volume One'' featuring Glenn Gregory, [[Tina Turner]], [[Paula Yates]], [[Billy Mackenzie]], [[Hank Marvin]], [[Paul Jones (singer)|Paul Jones]], [[Bernie Nolan]], and [[Gary Glitter]]. The tracks were [[cover version]]s of songs that Ware, Marsh and Gregory had grown up listening to. The album peaked at number 25. The second album was ''[[Geisha Boys and Temple Girls]]'' for the [[dance troupe]] [[Hot Gossip]], which used songs formerly recorded by the Human League and Heaven 17, and a track each from [[Sting (musician)|Sting]] and [[Talking Heads]]. B.E.F. took over production duties when [[Richard James Burgess]] of the band [[Landscape (band)|Landscape]] was unable to complete the album.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.diskpol.com/product_info.php?products_id=30756&language=en|title=Hot Gossip: Geisha Boys and Temple Girls|publisher=Diskpol|access-date=5 November 2015}}</ref>

====1982–1983: ''The Luxury Gap'' and commercial success====
In October 1982, Heaven 17 released their new single "[[Let Me Go (Heaven 17 song)|Let Me Go]]", which charted just outside the UK Top 40<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> (but reached the Irish Top 30). However, in 1983 the band's fortunes changed. Their next single, "[[Temptation (Heaven 17 song)|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.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire/content/articles/2005/06/07/glenn_gregory_interview.shtml |title=South Yorkshire&nbsp;– Entertainment&nbsp;– Glenn Gregory interview |publisher=BBC  |access-date=11 May 2011}}</ref> The song was taken from their second album, ''[[The Luxury Gap]]'', which featured further chart hits "[[Come Live with Me (Heaven 17 song)|Come Live with Me]]" (UK #5) and "[[Crushed by the Wheels of Industry]]" (UK #17).<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> The album itself charted at number 4 on the [[UK Albums Chart]], their highest ever position,<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> and was certified platinum by the BPI in 1984.

[[File:Martyn Ware 2014.jpg|thumb|right|Martyn Ware on stage in 2014]]In the United States, their self-titled ''Heaven 17'' album was a re-working of ''Penthouse and Pavement'' with three songs deleted and replaced by "Let Me Go", "Who'll Stop the Rain", and "[[I'm Your Money]]" (along with a different mix of "[[The Height of the Fighting (He-La-Hu)|The Height of the Fighting]]"). American and Canadian [[New wave music|new wave]] audiences were most familiar with "Let Me Go", which received high rotation [[airplay]] on [[alternative rock]] and new wave format radio stations such as Los Angeles, California's [[KROQ-FM]], and [[Long Island]], New York's [[WLIR]], an [[CKOI-FM]] (Montreal), a regular Top Ten station, and additionally, frequent MTV exposure.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/martyn_ware_of_heaven_17|title=Martyn Ware of Heaven 17|publisher=Songfacts|access-date=5 November 2015}}</ref>

====1983–1985: Collaborations and ''How Men Are''====
Towards the end of 1983, the band (under their B.E.F. guise and assisted by Greg Walsh) helped relaunch [[Tina Turner]]'s career, producing, and providing backing vocals on her hit "[[Let's Stay Together (Al Green song)|Let's Stay Together]]", a cover of the [[Al Green]] song. 1984 saw the release of Heaven 17's third studio album, ''[[How Men Are]]'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/how-men-are-mw0000742447|title=''How Men Are''|author=Badgley, Aaron|author-link=Aaron Badgley|website=AllMusic|access-date=5 November 2015}}</ref> which reached number 12 in the UK Albums Chart and was certified silver by the BPI. The album featured the [[Earth, Wind & Fire]] [[brass section]], and two singles from the album ("[[Sunset Now]]" and "[[This Is Mine]]") both reached the UK Top 40, but would be the band's last singles to do so until various remixes were released in the 1990s.

The band also worked on the [[Band Aid (band)|Band Aid]] single "[[Do They Know It's Christmas?]]" at the end of 1984,<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 2">{{cite book| first= John| last= Tobler| year= 1992| title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years| edition= 1st| publisher=Reed International Books Ltd | location= London| page= 399| id= CN 5585}}</ref> with Gregory supplying vocals alongside [[Midge Ure]] and [[Sting (musician)|Sting]], after a personal request from Ure that he attend. However, the band did not perform at [[Live Aid]] the following year. Heaven 17's first "live" performance was in 1982 on the UK television programme ''[[The Tube (1982 TV series)|The Tube]]'' (though the band made use of backing tapes during this performance).

In 1985 Heaven 17 joined the [[Red Wedge]] collective.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rachel|first=Daniel|title=Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge|year=2016|publisher=Picador|location=London|isbn=9781447272687}}</ref>

====1986–1988: Critical and commercial decline====
After the [[remix album]] ''Endless'' peaked at number 70 in July 1986, the band's fourth studio album ''[[Pleasure One]]'' was released in November 1986 and featured the single "[[Trouble (Heaven 17 song)|Trouble]]" (UK No. 51, Germany #17). The album contained a number of songs that were originally intended for a French film project that never came to be. This was also the first Heaven 17 album to not mention production credits for B.E.F. and the abbreviation would not appear again until the ''[[Bigger Than America]]'' album in 1996. It was followed up in 1988 with the album ''[[Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho]]'' (featuring the singles "[[The Ballad of Go Go Brown]]" and "[[Train of Love in Motion]]"), although these two albums were poorly received and had little commercial success. In September 1988, the band appeared on the bill at the [[Sport Aid]] event in Sheffield.<ref name="NME Rock 'N' Roll Years 3">{{cite book| first= John| last= Tobler| year= 1992| title= NME Rock 'N' Roll Years| edition= 1st| publisher=Reed International Books Ltd | location= London| page= 448| id= CN 5585}}</ref> Heaven 17 were managed by Keith Bourton<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/artist/Keith+Bourton|title=Keith Bourton|publisher=discogs|access-date=5 November 2015}}</ref> for Heavenly Management Ltd. during much of this period.