Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - A to K»Artists - H
    Artists - H Music - 1980s 2 Mins Read

    Heaven 17

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Glenn Gregory, the only son of a steelworker, was born in Sheffield and grew up on the Flower Council Estate in Shire Green, one of the poorest and roughest areas of Sheffield.

    As a frustrated 16-year old he found salvation at the Meatwhistle theatre/arts workshop, where he met Phil Oakey, Adi Newton, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, with whom Gregory embarked on his pop star career in his first band, Musical Vomit.

    heaven17_3

    Martyn and Ian went on to form The Human League.

    In 1980, Ware and Marsh were told by Oakey that they were surplus to requirements in Human League.

    So they travelled down from Sheffield to London to ask Glenn to sing in their new band, which they were thinking of calling Heaven 17 (the name of a fictional pop group in the classic Anthony Burgess novel A Clockwork Orange).

    The disjointed sequenced rhythms of debut single (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang was received warmly in the press and on the dancefloor, and received much support from DJ John Peel, yet chart success proved elusive after the single was banned by the BBC for implying that recently elected US president Ronald Reagan was a fascist.

    Their debut LP, Penthouse and Pavement (1981), was a quintessentially 80s pop ‘n’ politics confection, back when every dancefloor had a soapbox in the corner.

    Recorded simultaneously at the same Sheffield veterinary surgery turned recording studio as The Human League‘s Dare, the album’s lyrics and image intelligently parodied the emergence of global corporations.

    The album’s first side is dominated by the title track’s Latin funk rhythms and Play To Win‘s call and response routine. Side Two is much more avant-garde territory, developing on the earlier electronic innovations of their previous incarnation and fellow Sheffield natives Cabaret Voltaire, most effectively on the post-apocalyptic nightmare Let’s All Make A Bomb.

    Temptation (1983) became Heaven 17’s biggest hit single. Come Live With Me and Crushed By The Wheels of Industry followed, but the band’s tendency to shun the limelight meant that they had almost vanished from public view by the mid-80s.

    Glenn Gregory 
    Vocals
    Ian Craig Marsh 

    Synthesizers
    Martyn Ware 

    Synthesizers

    Video

    Related Posts

    • Morrissey
      Morrissey
      Stephen Patrick Morrissey was 13 when he fell in love for the first time - with The New York Dolls. He…
    • Shriekback
      Shriekback
      Shriekback was formed in 1981 by former XTC keyboardist Barry Andrews and ex-Gang Of Four bassist Dave Allen. Joined by guitarist Carl Marsh…
    • Original Mirrors
      Original Mirrors
      Original Mirrors formed in Liverpool in 1980 after the demise of vocalist Steve Allen's art rock group Deaf School. Guitarist Ian…
    • Jimmy & The Boys
      Jimmy & The Boys
      There were moments on stage when vocalist Ignatius Jones ceased to be human; when his bloodied face, bondage mask, obscene…
    • Band Aid
      Band Aid
      Bob Geldof (ex-Boomtown Rats) was watching television in October 1984 when he saw the news reports on the famine crisis…
    • Farm, The
      Farm, The
      The band formed in Liverpool in 1983 and initially comprised singer Peter Hooton, guitarists Steve Grimes and John Melvin and…
    • Flesh For Lulu
      Flesh For Lulu
      Formed in Brixton, London, in 1982, Flesh For Lulu brought a warmer rock sound to Goth. No doomy vocals or…
    • Tears For Fears
      Tears For Fears
      School friends Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith formed Tears For Fears after they had spent their teenage years in bands…

    New Romantic
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleHeatwave
    Next Article Hedgehoppers Anonymous

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    You May Also Like
    • Monkey (Monkey Magic)
      1 9 7 8 – 1 9 8 2 (Japan) 39 x 54 minute episodes Buddha […]
    • Traffik
      1 9 8 9 (UK) 1 x 120 minute episode 4 x 60 minute episodes This […]
    • Bounder, The
      1 9 8 2 – 1 9 8 3 (UK) 14 x 30 min episodes Howard Booth […]
    • Don’s Party (1976)
      When you mix a left-wing teacher, a loud-mouthed philanderer, a […]
    • Cost of Living in Australia in 1977
      Average Weekly Wage (male): $149.93 Average Weekly Wage […]
    • Ethel and Albert
      1 9 5 3 – 1 9 5 6 (USA) Few shows captured the everyday, […]
    Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

    OUR LATEST FACEBOOK POSTS

    edition.cnn.com/2023/01/30/entertainment/cindy-williams-dead/index.html

    More sad news 😢
    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    'Laverne & Shirley' star Cindy Williams dead at 75 | CNN

    edition.cnn.com

    Cindy Williams, the dynamic actress known best for playing the bubbly Shirley Feeney on the beloved sitcom "Laverne & Shirley," has died, according to a statement from her family, provided to CNN by a...
    2 hours ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64442824 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Television frontman Tom Verlaine dies at 73

    www.bbc.co.uk

    His band rose to fame in the 1970s New York punk scene, scoring UK hits including Marquee Moon.
    2 days ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64418847 ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Mr Blobby costume sells for more than £62,000 on eBay

    www.bbc.co.uk

    The character, made famous by BBC show Noel's House Party, had been in storage since the 1990s.
    3 days ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Put some beefiness into your mid-week menu with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the Radio Times on 30 September 1965.

    Put some "beefiness into your mid-week menu" with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the "Radio Times" on 30 September 1965. ... See MoreSee Less

    1 week ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 3
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    They were awful. An overpowering savoury flavour that lingered in your mouth for hours. Heaven knows what unmentionable parts of a bull went into making them 😳

    More sad news 😪

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    US rock legend David Crosby dies aged 81

    www.bbc.co.uk

    Crosby, who co-founded both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, had been ill for some time.
    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 1
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened? 

All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened?

    All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .
    ... See MoreSee Less

    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 54
    • Shares: 22
    • Comments: 7

    Comment on Facebook

    I thought we would have moving pavements by now when I was a kid 😂

    Totally agree!!!

    The new Tesla, 4.6 next century.

    We got transvestite story hour instead

    We appear to be going backwards

    There's actually a very good David Graeber essay on this very topic: thebaffler.com/salvos/of-flying-cars-and-the-declining-rate-of-profit

    The Jetsons strike again.

    View more comments

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

    nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/
    ... See MoreSee Less

    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 0
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    That is so sad to hear 😥 rest in peace 🙏 🕊 xx

    Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64292026

    Gina Lollobrigida: Italian screen star dies at 95
    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64292026
    ... See MoreSee Less

    2 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 4
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 1

    Comment on Facebook

    😍😍😍😍

    Vale Jeff Beck. Dead at 78. 😢

    ... See MoreSee Less

    Link thumbnail

    Jeff Beck: British guitar legend dies aged 78

    www.bbc.co.uk

    One of rock's most influential guitarists, he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 1
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 0

    Comment on Facebook

    Hi everyone. Were in the process of moving www.nostalgiacentral.com to new dedicated servers to better cope with the volumes of traffic. Please ignore any SSL security errors you may receive when visiting the site over the next 24 hours while the move completes.

    Hi everyone. We're in the process of moving www.nostalgiacentral.com to new dedicated servers to better cope with the volumes of traffic. Please ignore any SSL security errors you may receive when visiting the site over the next 24 hours while the move completes. ... See MoreSee Less

    3 weeks ago
    View on Facebook
    · Share
    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
    View Comments
    • Likes: 5
    • Shares: 0
    • Comments: 2

    Comment on Facebook

    Ironically, this post has jumped off the page at me. You'll probably get most traffic today because everyone will want to see what they might be missing!

    Martin Platt

    Load more
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Sport Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.