Heaven 17

Heaven 17 formed in the early 1980s as a synth pop band and originated in Sheffield where there was a real hotbed of synth bands.

The band members were Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn Gregory. Ware and Marsh were previously in another Sheffield based band Human League which they formed but left the band and formed Heaven 17 With Glenn who was to be the lead singer but was not available.

Human League struck the first blow in getting mainstream success and Heaven 17 were lagging behind, they released the single 'this Fascist Groove thang' but the lyrics had a left wing style political feel and the song was banned by Radio 1 DJ Mike Reed. Subsequent single releases were not making any dent on the UK singles chart but the album 'Penthouse and Pavement' did break the top 20 in the UK.

During this period the band had set up a production company British Electric Foundation (BEF) and worked and produced for the likes of Tina Turner, Hank Marvin, Bernie Nolan and Paul Jones amongst others. The band still persevered with there own targets and they released a single in late 1982 called 'let me go' which failed by one place in hitting the coveted top 40.

However, success was only around the corner when they released 'Temptation' with guest vocalist Carol Kenyon and the song reached number 2 in the UK singles chart. The song was taken from the new album Luxury Gap which broke into the top 5 in the UK album charts. The album spawned two more singles with 'come live with me' a top 10 hit and 'crushed by the wheels of industry' which was a top 20 entrant.

The success of this album was gaining more airplay in America and the debut album was repackaged for the American audience plus the MTV generation were now seeing there video promos. They also provided under there BEF guise the backing vocals for Tina Turner comeback single 'Let's stay together'.

They released there third album 'How men are' which peaked at 12 in the UK album charts and featured the singles 'sunset now' and 'this is mine' which both made the top 40. The band also contributed to the Band Aid single at the tail end of 1984 but the band did not appear at Live Aid in 1985 it wasn't until 1986 that they played live and that was on the Channel 4 programme The Tube.

As the 1980s progressed the success declined and although albums and singles were produced they did not match the relative success of the early 1980s material. They released albums 'Pleasure One' and 'Teddy Bear, duke and Psycho' but the commercial popularity meant the band would not release any new material until the mid 1990s.

The band still go on today and made a huge comeback on ITV when they celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the First NOW album (Heaven 17 did appear on the first album with Temptation). During the 1980s the band released 5 Studio albums with a sole top 10 appearance with Luxury Gap in 1983. They also released 19 UK singles with two top 10 entries in 1983 with Temptation and Come live with me.