Tag: Glenn Gregory (Page 5 of 5)

HEAVEN 17 Interview

23 September 2012 /

HEAVEN 17 will be touring their platinum selling second album ‘The Luxury Gap’ this Autumn.

Featuring their classic hits ‘Come Live With Me’, ‘Let Me Go’, ‘Crushed By The Wheels of Industry’ and ‘Temptation’, the album’s resonant social commentary is wholly fitting in the current economic climate. Back in 1983 when the album was released, Glenn Gregory, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh flew the red flag for the Socialist Republic of Yorkshire with their witty observations of the greed and yuppie culture in the Thatcher era.

Perhaps more obviously pop oriented than its predecessor ‘Penthouse and Pavement’, ‘The Luxury Gap’ had a glossy sheen which combined synthesizer programming and digital drum computers with orchestrations, brass, jazz piano, rhythm guitar and paving slabs.

Glenn Gregory, who had been working as a photographer in London, was recruited into HEAVEN 17 following the split of THE HUMAN LEAGUE Mk1 in 1980. While Phil Oakey found two girls “in a cocktail bar”, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh formed BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION (BEF), a production company along the lines of THE CHIC ORGANISATION to best utilise their talents.

Among their first projects were the instrumental ‘Music For Stowaways’ cassette and the ambitious covers album ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Vol 1’. Although he was partly involved in both, Gregory became lead singer for what was to be BEF’s pop outfit, influenced by the soul funk fusion of THE JACKSONS as well as the electronic music technology that had now become more affordable and user friendly.

‘Penthouse and Pavement’ was a critical success with steadily increasing sales but with the mainstream appeal of ‘The Luxury Gap’, HEAVEN 17 eventually took priority over BEF.

The period between 1981-84 is often considered to be HEAVEN 17’s imperial phase but during this period, they didn’t actually perform live, save a few live vocal / playback appearances in clubs for promotional purposes.

Having successfully toured ‘Penthouse & Pavement’ in 2010 to great acclaim, it is now the turn of ‘The Luxury Gap’.

Glenn Gregory spoke about this classic album and also why HEAVEN 17 keep performing songs from the early phase of THE HUMAN LEAGUE like ‘Being Boiled’ and ‘The Black Hit Of Space’ in their live set…

There’s a 2CD/DVD box set of ‘The Luxury Gap’ about to be released– what can fans expect in terms of rarities?

We’ve dug around and there’s three tracks from ‘Night Of The Proms’ we’ve put on. That’s amazing because it’s a full orchestra and 75 piece choir. There are the extended remixes BUT we did forget to include the original demo of ‘Temptation’!!! *laughs*

That’s a shame because moving from that KRAFTWERK meets SOFT CELL demo to the electro-soul fusion…that’s quite a transformation?

Yes, quite a lot of our early demos were much more electronic and we were writing with similar equipment to THE HUMAN LEAGUE. It’s only afterwards when we went into the studio that we started to experiment and change the way we were conceiving and perceiving the songs.

For instance, it took us a long time to find a girl for ‘Temptation’. Martyn had the idea for the Motown backbeat but it’s still very electronic really… there was this part that built and we decided to try an orchestra. So we were in the studio with this massive orchestra and it was like “oh my god”, it was amazing because it was so different. It was a complete game changer.

Rusty Egan found us Carol Kenyon; we tried a couple of people including Josie James who sang on ‘Penthouse & Pavement’, but she was too soft, it wasn’t ballsy enough. So I phoned him up and explained what we needed and he went: “I GOT JUST THE GIRL FOR YA GLENN, COME DOWN THE WAG CLUB!” so that was it! He introduced us to Carol so big thanks to Rusty on that one *laughs*

What inspired ‘Come Live With Me’?

I was at that time I wrote it, seeing a young girl and I was getting a few jibes like “what time do you pick her up from school?”…it was half past three actually! *laughs*

So there was this “she’s half your age” thing and all that kind of stuff but it started to be about word play. “I was thirty seven – you were seventeen – you were half my age – the youth I’d never seen”… the words were making us laugh! It was all messing around!

That’s where it all came from and we were quite surprised we’d written quite a beautiful song by the end of it because we were laughing like mad.

We did this cancer charity gig with John Shuttleworth at the Bloomsbury Theatre and there was a version of one of his comedy songs ‘Dandelion of Burdock’ which I did in the style of ‘Vienna’… it was a showstopper! But we did ‘Come Live With Me’ as well and John  was on with us… as the lyrics went: “I was thirty seven – you were seventeen”, he replied: “Well, I don’t know if I approve of that!” That was fun. *laughs*

You and Martyn have always maintained that ‘Let Me Go’ is your favourite H17 song. It had that TB303 Bassline which was very innovative at the time…

It changed so much from the demo and we wrote it in my flat on a TEAC 4 track. We had a tiny Yamaha keyboard and we came up with that melody which was almost film soundtracky. It was beautiful but as the song steadily got bigger, it went through a whole heap of changes.

But we kept the TB303 Bassline.  It needed some balls so we put bass guitar on it but it didn’t work. Then we added these low piano notes like ‘Vienna’ and that didn’t work!

But then Martyn made this “wowww” sound on the Jupiter 8 with the delay, that was great and the start of it with the drums, that was me actually playing real drums. We got these toms in and I did this big Phil Collins fill. I did it twice and they all went “yeah, that’s brilliant” but I went “I wanna do it more! I’m enjoying this!”

When we finished ‘Let Me Go’, we realised we’d lost the original beauty of the demo so we did it again… so basically, ‘The Best Kept Secret’ is ‘Let Me Go’ but redone with an orchestra. So we got two songs out of it. It took a lot out of us but it gave us so much more back. We really do love that track, it’s a great song to sing. It’s very emotional and it’s great for my range, I can really belt it out. It gives a lot back that song.

You’ve talked about seeing ULTRAVOX play The Roundhouse and how vibrant the show was – did you draw inspiration from that when you put together the HEAVEN 17 / BEF weekend and debuted ‘The Luxury Gap’ live there?

Yes, that is absolutely true… Midge invited me and Martyn down.

I had never actually been to The Roundhouse before and I went not knowing what to expect from a revamped ULTRAVOX or The Roundhouse and how the sound would be.

But I was absolutely blown away by the artistry and sincerity of ULTRAVOX and the audience were amazing. They didn’t milk anything or act like ‘comeback kids’…to me, it was like watching THE KILLERS!

I thought “this is an amazing place”, it was like a happening. I felt privileged to be there and that’s what put the idea in my head. And then Peter Price at William Morris Agency suggested doing the weekender with BEF thing which Midge loved the idea of.

That weekend must have been quite tricky to co-ordinate with all those high profile artists making an appearance?

That was just so much work to pull all that together. We got people to say yes and to turn up at odd times for rehearsals.

But we hadn’t really thought about the night itself. So there was all these people singing and we realised we’d need a stage manager!

So Martyn got this mate who worked at the Royal Opera House who does that. She made the backstage bit run really smoothly. At the end of the weekend, I needed four nights off!

Any tense moments for you or did you just let Martyn sweat it out alone?

Yeah, I was just helping it run smoothly and telling everyone they were going to be alright! *laughs*

What are you singing on the new BEF ‘Dark’ album incidentally?

I’m singing ‘It Was A Very Good Year’ which was made famous by Frank  Sinatra. Martyn has scored it, but using just System 100 and synths so it’s really odd and weird. He’s done a really good job of it. It’s slow and lumbering but quite obviously, dark as well *laughs*

So what’s the format for the upcoming tour – you’ll be playing ‘The Luxury Gap’ again – can we expect any surprises… more HUMAN LEAGUE songs?

It’s funny because it’s me that pushes that HUMAN LEAGUE thing and I love that early stuff. I was a massive fan even though I knew them all. I must confess that yes, I have programmed up a few more things already… I’ve been on at Phil Oakey every time I see him saying: “Please Phil; you, Martyn and Ian… go and do the first two albums, just do it once”. But he won’t have it! I would have my ticket and be at the front weeks in advance…

You and Claudia Brücken were in The Independent recently about how you both met and she’s was saying you should do new material…is there a chance of a new HEAVEN 17 album – how are the odds looking today with regards to going back into the studio?

We’ve got to take a different view of it and have a different head on… it’s partly me, and Martyn as well. We could easily write a couple of tracks, sing them and put them out…that’s fine but there’s something in us that thinks “if we’re going to do it, we would want to do it really well” and that might mean using an orchestra or working with other people. It’s going to take more effort. BUT it doesn’t have to be that, we could just do it. For instance, I did the track for John Shuttleworth in about 3-4 days and it’s sounded great, Martyn said it was “awesome”…and I was just messing about really!

I’m kind of coming round – Claudia’s winning I think… she’s always going on at me *laughs*

How was performing with Claudia Brücken at The Scala and Bush Hall?

It was great, Claudia and I just keep ending up working together. It’s always an absolute pleasure. She’s a lovely person and we get on well. I take the p*ss out of her because she’s German and she doesn’t understand so it’s great for me. *laughs*

You did ‘When Your Heart Runs Out of Time’ live with her. The original recording you did for ZTT was produced by Midge Ure under the alias Otto Flake Junior, have you any interesting memories of that?

The hilarity of that is, for this German TV documentary Midge and I did, I invited Claudia down to the studio so that we could do ‘When Your Heart Runs Out of Time’. So Midge said: “ok, can you send it to me?”. So I sent it to him and we were talking…he did not remember doing it!! He has no memory of it at all! Claudia was saying “Midge, we were in your studio!”; “Which studio?” Midge replied…Claudia goes: “In Chiswick” ! He had no idea, it was hilarious! *laughs*

Paul Morley got the gig for the ‘Insignificance’ film and had the idea of putting me and Claudia together to do this Country and Western track written by Will Jennings. It’s at the end of the film, it was just a very funny thing to do. The video for it was hilarious; Paul said “The premiere’s tonight in Haymarket, why don’t we get Claudia in a white dress all Marilyn Munroe-esque, you get your suit on and we just film you lip-synching to the song as people are leaving”.

Claudia was going: “Oh Paul, I cannot do that!”… so I gave Claudia some vodka! And gave her some more! So people would literally have just come out of the cinema as we were performing it! If you look at it on the video, I’ve got hold of her wrist really tightly, it looks like a love thing but it’s not, it’s to stop her running away! *laughs*

So this ‘Durch Die Nacht (Into the Night)’ documentary for German TV with Midge Ure…how did that come about? It looked a fun night!

It was a lot of fun, Hasko Baumann, the director, contacted Midge about it. The concept is they arrive at your house and follow you… they don’t say anything or interfere.

When I read about it in the email, I thought: “What? How does that work?” So there’s two crews, one with you and one on location plus cameras in the car. They just put two people together, film them and make an hour programme out of it. We filmed from 5.30pm until 12.45am constantly with me and Midge ranting about the state of play! *laughs*

Midge was also on the first BEF album as part of THE NANCY BOYS doing backing vocals on the Paula Yates sung track ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’…

…yes, it was me, Martyn, Midge and Bob Geldof… THE NANCY BOYS! *laughs*

You also did backing vocals on ‘The Gift’ track ‘Antilles’ and you co-wrote ‘Personal Heaven’ with Midge for X-PERIENCE which was a hit in Germany. Any chance of you doing you more work with him?

Yeah, it’s funny, I said that to him the other day. We get on really well and we’re good friends.

When he came round, I was playing ‘Wild Is The Wind’ on guitar and he said he loved it, we like the same things. So I said “You know what? We should just do something together”. Instead of half a day’s work, we should really consider doing something together… I think people would be interested. It’s never really occurred to us, we’re just friends outside of music really.

I’ll tell you a funny story about Midge… I was in Cornwall with my wife and parents. We were sitting in this bar and this girl walks past with a small girl and a guy; I thought “that looks like Sheridan (Midge’s wife) and that could be Midge… hang on, it is Midge!!”. So I shouted “MIDGE!” but he just ignored me! So I thought: “that can’t be Midge” but my parents went: “go and ask… he might be deaf”. So I ran after him! I went “MIDGE” and he turned round and saw me and went: “F***ing hell, I thought you were just some nutcase shouting my name!” I said: “I AM!” *roars of laughter*

There’s a book due out shortly by David Buckley called ‘Electric Dreams: The Human League, Heaven 17 and the Sound of the Steel City’. Are you involved in this?

I’ve done a couple of interviews for it, but there’s been a few delays for various reasons.

Photo by Virginia Turbett

With all the recent HEAVEN 17 activity of the last few years, do you miss Ian Craig Marsh being around at all?

We are still really close… I say “are” even though we’ve not spoken to him for several years. He just very slowly stopped being in contact with Martyn first, then me. And then Lindsay, my wife who was always the one who could get him to answer, he stopped with her too. He then just totally disappeared.

And when we started to do stuff again, we emailed him and asked if he would like to be involved… we didn’t hear back, so we asked again… nothing. Then we said “If we don’t hear back, we’re just going to do it anyway and presume that you don’t want to do it”.

But I still feel completely the same about him, although he’s never explained why he went. Y’know, there’s still all the love there and he’s a brother but it’s weird, we’re all Facebook friends! *laughs*

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Glenn Gregory

Special thanks to Sacha Taylor-Cox at Impressive PR

The double CD+DVD box set of ‘The Luxury Gap’ is released on 22nd October 2012 by Virgin/EMI Records

‘The Luxury Gap’ UK and German 2012 Tour includes:

Liverpool 02 Academy (23rd October) , Glasgow 02 Academy (24th October), Newcastle 02 Academy (26th October), Sheffield 02 Academy (27th October), Birmingham 02 Academy (29th October), Bristol 02 Academy (Tue 30th October), Aschaffenburg Colos-Saal (10th December), Hamburg Fabrik (11th December), Berlin C-Club (12th December), Köln Live Music Hall (13th December), Leipzig Anker (14th December)

https://www.heaven17.com/

https://www.facebook.com/heaven17official/

https://twitter.com/heaven17bef

Text and Interview Chi Ming Lai
Live photos by Richard Price, Steve Gray and Chi Ming Lai
23rd September 2012, updated 21st October 2018

MARTYN WARE: The BEF Interview

20 May 2011 /

This Autumn sees the reissue of BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION’s ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Volumes 1 & 2’.

Ambitiously conceived as a high-tech covers project with HEAVEN 17’s Martyn Ware as musical director and in a production partnership with bandmate Ian Craig Marsh, ‘Volume 1′ featured guest vocalists such as the late Billy MacKenzie from ASSOCIATES, MANFRED MANN’s Paul Jones, HEAVEN 17’s Glenn Gregory, Bernie Nolan, Sandie Shaw and Paula Yates. There were also cameo appearances from Midge Ure and Bob Geldof under the pseudonym of THE NANCY BOYS.

There was an impressive supporting cast of musicians who included THE SHADOWS’ Hank Marvin, MAGAZINE’s John McGeoch, I LEVEL’s Jo Dworniak, Nick Plytas and John Foxx. However most notably, ‘Volume 1′ saw the recorded return of Tina Turner on a blistering reworking of THE TEMPTATIONS’ ‘Ball Of Confusion’.

Although impressively co-ordinated, Volume 1 did not sell in huge numbers but the working relationship with Tina Turner gelled which led to Martyn Ware producing her comeback single, a magnificently moody version of Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’. Becoming a massive worldwide hit, it effectively revived her career.

For 1991’s ‘Volume 2’, she reciprocated by singing the Sam Cooke classic ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ while this collection also saw the return of  Billy MacKenzie on Denise Williams’ ‘Free’. The album featured a greater emphasis on Ware’s love of soul which was highlighted by guest vocalists such as Green Gartside, Chaka Khan, Terence Trent D’Arby, Lalah Hathaway and Billy Preston.

Now, a ‘Volume 3’ entitled ‘Dark’ is being completed while the work of BEF is to be celebrated in a live extravaganza at London’s Roundhouse this October that will feature the live premiere of HEAVEN 17’s ‘The Luxury Gap’ in 3-D sound on Friday 14th and a BEF concert on Saturday 15th with guest vocalists Andy Bell, Midge Ure, Boy George, Kim Wilde and Sandie Shaw already confirmed.

Following his interview last year, Martyn Ware was kind enough speak about the whole BEF production concept, ‘The Luxury Gap’ and the forthcoming live weekender.

It’s amazing to think now that back in 1981, Virgin Records were prepared to finance such an ambitious project by a then comparatively unknown musician / producer…

There were visionary people, it’s only in the fullness of time that you realise how visionary. I have to give Virgin a lot of respect because initially when I left THE HUMAN LEAGUE, I signed to them as BEF, not HEAVEN 17. They were really bought into the idea, big style. I said if I was really going to make it real as opposed to some fancy marketing fluff, I wanted to really organise it as a proper production company and make it work by bringing forward lots of different projects. And the manifesto for that was the ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction’ album, it was like a calling card really for our production style. I was ridiculously gung ho I think… I’d just ring people up, they didn’t know who the hell I was!

How did the idea first come about?

I really wanted to get up to speed in terms of putting myself and Ian Marsh up on the map as a production team that people would be interested in. I couldn’t think of a better way of doing it than appealing to people’s artistic nature.

Was the seed of this in THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s live act when you used to do covers?

Yeah, there’s always been the element of the curator in me I suppose, wanting to reinterpret things and try to change people’s perceptions through the medium of reinterpretation… and that’s a very pretentious way of saying “doing cover versions”! The point is, applying the skills and palette of sounds that we’d used with THE HUMAN LEAGUE, adding some real instruments in there and seeing what would come out. And it turned out to be the palette of sounds that we used for ‘Penthouse and Pavement’.

At the time, many were expecting the songs to be arranged in the style of HEAVEN 17 but with other vocalists. But the arrangements were quite varied from glam rock to big ballads plus a variety of conventional instrumentation. How did decide how the recordings would actually sound?

It started out with the idea that it was going to be electronic really, and then it quickly became apparent that it was just restricting ourselves too much. It turned into something that in the same way I wanted to put ourselves on the map in terms of vocalists, I also wanted to do it in terms of musicians as well. Hence getting people like John McGeoch who I had massive respect for, Neville ‘Breeze’ McKreith and David ‘Baps’ Baptiste from BEGGAR & CO and other musicians from the funkier end of the spectrum.

These weren’t old session players we were using, these were young guys with an average age of 22. We had older musicians too like Paul Jones from MANFRED MANN playing harmonica on ‘Ball Of Confusion’ just generally mixing and matching and mashing styles up. It all seems straightforward now because that sort of thing has been done so much in the last few years but at the time it was pretty cutting edge. It was like being a demented puppet master, but a friendly Northern version.

The one that stands out for me is Bowie’s ‘The Secret Life Of Arabia’. Not only was Billy MacKenzie amazing but so were the funk musicians juxtaposing with your Linn Drum programming and Roland Vocoder choral pads…

I love that! What an incredible talent, I loved what he did and how he appeared right from the second I heard ASSOCIATES’ ‘Party Fears Two’ on some late evening music show. He just looked like a Hollywood star. I am not gay but if I was… I thought he was utterly beautiful and stellar! *laughs*

What was he like to work with?

We got on really well, he was the first on the list of people that I rang up. Everybody knows he was bonkers and had a particular take on things but musically, we fitted together very well. He lacked a little in terms of understanding the production process and how sound fitted together but what he lacked in that respect, he made up for in his arrangement ideas.

I was, if you like, kind of filling in the missing parts for him. But he turned round to me after we’d done a couple of tracks on the ‘Perhaps’ album and he said “Martyn, you’ve got a pop heart” which I though was the nicest compliment anyone’s ever paid me.

There was a group called THE HEREAFTER credited with backing vocals on Volume 1. Was that you and Glenn Gregory?

Yeah! I just love the name… HEAVEN 17 and THE HEREAFTER… c’mon! I might revive that for the live show *laughs*

What inspired the Volume 1 album artwork?

We always liked the whole notion of packaging for different types of goods. So Ian Marsh had a shirt box which said “shirts of quality & distinction”. It was literally a box in black and white of people getting out of an E-Type Jag in front a big posh hotel. So I thought “we’re going to recreate that photo and call the album Music Of Quality & Distinction”!

You used the Synclavier 2 quite a bit on the album but when HEAVEN 17 eventually acquired a computer musical instrument, you settled on a Fairlight. What were your operational reasons for this?

The operational reasons for moving to the Fairlight were that Ian had bought one without asking anyone and with his own money… £40,000! I was going “Are you sure about this Ian?”, it seemed a little extreme but he was keen so… those days have gone! But I was very keen on the Synclavier from the point of view in that the purity of the sounds was so amazing. There was also another machine, I can’t remember what it was called now but it had a green computer screen built-in. It was like an early graphic visual representation programmer.

We also used a PC called an Osborne which we used for programming sequence parts just before we got into Macs and everything. We just hired stuff in and tried different things, it was being in a giant toy store. The LinnDrum was just brilliant, we wanted everything to be as good that was at rhythm. We thought that merging it with the human aspects of live players was pretty unique at the time.

Did you use the Synclavier on ‘The Luxury Gap’?

No, we’d moved on by then to programming using the Roland MC4 Microcomposer, so there was a lot of numeric programming on that album. That drove my System 100 and Ian’s System 100M. The original demos are really just the programmed parts which then got layered over with real instruments. The programmed parts, as you’d expect, combined with the LinnDrum sounded extremely robotic and not necessarily in a good way, it sounded too ‘white bread’ for me.

By that time, I’d moved into a different headspace. It was the idea of programmed parts inspiring musicians who weren’t used to listening to programmed material to syncopate off them and that was interesting. On ‘The Luxury Gap’, Simon Phillips came in and played on ‘Lady Ice And Mr Hex’. He played the most amazing syncopated, polyrhythmic thing on a giant drum kit with three bass drums and twenty toms… that was all inspired by the nuts nature of the original LinnDrum programme.

Volume 2 finally appeared in 1991 and had much more of a soulful live feel didn’t it?

It was more aiming for the mainstream market , it wasn’t really meant for the cognoscenti. It was almost Trans-Atlantic rather than European, it’s got quite an American feel but not in a detrimental way. I saw Green Gartside from SCRITTI POLITTI the other day who did ‘I Don’t Know Why I Love You’ which I really like, I still play it.

He said he really likes it now but he wasn’t so sure at the time. I had to push him hard to do that track because he doesn’t really see himself as a soul singer. And I think he’s got an incredibly soulful voice, although it’s not necessarily in the purist genre based sense of soul. I always think that about Kate Bush as well. Essentially, some people have got soulful voices whether they choose to sing what we regard to be soul music or not. Peter Gabriel fits into that bag as well.

What are your favourites from the first two volumes?

‘Secret Life Of Arabia’ was very successful as far as I was concerned. I really like ‘Wichita Lineman’, that’s an interesting version of that song and Glenn sings it really well. I also really like ‘It’s Over’ with Billy MacKenzie, it’s so completely over the top and kind of operatic. Of course ‘Ball Of Confusion’, it was very successful and led to me working with Tina Turner.

On the second album, I like the Green track. I personally, although I’ve never heard anyone else say it, really like ‘Someday We’ll All Be Free’ sung by Chaka Khan and I’m very fond of ‘Family Affair’. Lalah Hathaway’s got a great voice, I don’t know what really happened to her. I also loved Mavis Staples doing ‘A Song For You’.

When we last spoke, you revealed that you’d just finished the backing track to DELFONICS’ ‘Didn’t I Blow Your Mind?’ for ‘Dark’. Are you able to reveal any more of the other tracks that will be on the finished album and any of the vocalists?

Andy Bell’s going to do ‘Breathing’ by Kate Bush; Kim Wilde is going do a minimalist System 100 only arrangement which I’ve done with Brian Duffy of MODIFIED TOY ORCHESTRA of a song called ‘Everytime I See You I Go Wild’ by JJ Barnes, it’s a classic Northern Soul tune co-written by Stevie Wonder.

Billie Godfrey who sings with HEAVEN 17 has done a version of the BRONSKI BEAT song ‘Smalltown Boy’ which is really interesting, it’s like an epic eight minute version and quite cinematic. Polly Scattergood who’s on Mute has done a version of Dusty Springfield’s ‘The Look Of Love’. With Glenn, I’m going to be working on ‘It Was A Very Good Year’ by Frank Sinatra, an electronic soundscape version of it. If you think about the original fantastic orchestral arrangement, it’s like a series of little episodes of a short story and I want to do the same but using electronics instead. I think it will work really well.

So is ‘Dark’ much more of an electronic album than any previously in the BEF covers series?

Yes, the basic premise is dark, minimalist electronic versions of previously normal songs. It’s expanded a bit since that original theory because I realise now is that what I really want to do is either minimalist or soundtrack-ish type things but none of it is going to be normal, just pure electronic.

You’re going to celebrate the legacy of BEF with a two day live event featuring HEAVEN 17’s ‘The Luxury Gap’ on day one and BEF on day two. How are the arrangements coming along?

It’s a massive amount of work, it all seems very simple when you’re talking about it in a meeting. Just contacting people and getting them to respond to emails, these generally aren’t people you can just ring up out of the blue however much you get on with them, they’re just not available a lot of the time.

It slows the whole process down. I’m doing this and the BEF album with no finance or record company support. You’re asking for people’s faith and for them to approach it as a good idea from an artistic point of view, and therefore trying to leverage my reputation over thirty years amongst people who know.

It’s tricky but it’ll all come out in the wash. I’m sure that it’s going to be an extraordinary night. I’m very happy that people have agreed to do it so far in advance. There’s already been three months of hard work from all concerned to try and get this together. I’m lucky to be getting these people for one night. It’s genuinely not going to happen anywhere else, it is a one-off!

What are your sound challenges for these two shows at The Roundhouse?

The challenge for the HEAVEN 17 Luxury Gap performance is to create a show that’s never been created before which is equipping the entire auditorium in 3-Dimensional sound. I do with my other hat on with Illustrious so I’m not freaking out as it’s what we do for a living. But I don’t think people are going to be quite ready for it, they’re going to be gobsmacked. No rock band has ever done this before and that includes PINK FLOYD… they’ve done quadraphonic but this is the next level up. So that in itself plus programming in an entire album. And we’ll be doing songs that aren’t on ‘The Luxury Gap’, like with the ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ show.

And then the challenges for the BEF night are just the logistics, programming it all, getting everybody in and there at the right time, and the rehearsals… can you imagine that? *laughs*

Are the HEAVEN 17 regulars like Billie Godfrey, Asa Bennett and Joel Farland going to be the house band for the BEF show?

Yes, and we’re getting a great looking girl keyboard player Berenice Scott, because there are a lot more parts on ‘The Luxury Gap’ and the BEF albums than on ‘Penthouse and Pavement’.

That’s an impressive line-up of guest vocalists you’ve gathered so far. Can you say who will be doing what song?

Andy Bell’s going to do ‘Secret Life Of Arabia’, I can’t think of a better person to take it on. Sandie Shaw will do ‘Anyone Who Had A Heart’ and Glenn will do ‘Wichita Lineman’.

For the live show, the idea is that each of the artists on ‘Dark’ will do one of the tracks of their choice from Volumes 1 and 2, and then the new track that they’re doing.

Any chance you could get Phil Oakey to do ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’ or ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Part 1′ for old times sake?

I’m working on it, that’s all I can say!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Martyn Ware

Special thanks also to Peter Noble at Noble PR

BEF ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Volumes 1 & 2’ are due for release as a remastered boxed set by EMI in Autumn 2011

HEAVEN 17 perform ‘The Luxury Gap’ on Friday 14th October 14th 2011, followed by BEF ‘Music of Quality & Distinction Live ‘on Saturday 15th October 2011 – the event takes place at The Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, London. Day tickets cost £23.50 while weekend tickets are £42.50 subject to booking fee.

http://martynwareblog.blogspot.com/

https://www.heaven17.com/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
20th May 2011

CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN & FRIENDS Live at The Scala

13 March 2011 /

“Sooner or later, one has to take sides in order to remain human” CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN 2005

Claudia Brücken is the original first lady of cinematic electronic pop. Successfully maintaining an icy but approachable aura that draws from Germanic divas as varied as Marlene Dietrich, Nico, Nina Hagen and Gina Kikoine, one aspect that stands out about her is how she’s maintained her values and artistic integrity over the years.

For her, it is all about quality rather than quantity. She could so easily have been trudging around the dreaded ‘Here & Now’ and ‘Rewind’ circuit singing ‘Duel and ‘Dr. Mabuse’ accompanied by an unsympathetic house band. But thankfully, she is much better than that.

Her varied back catalogue as a solo artist and with PROPAGANDA, ACT and ONETWO (as collected on her recent retrospective ‘ComBined’) has captured the essence of her thoughtful imagination and focussed aspirations. It’s a testament to the strength of her musical reputation that she’s been able to gather the ComBinations of very special guests who join her tonight to celebrate her illustrious career.

The list reads like a who’s who of avant pop: Paul Humphreys, Glenn Gregory, Martyn Ware, Andy Bell, Susanne Freytag, Ralf Dörper, Andrew Poppy. And together, they gather to perform a cross section of her Eurocentric classics for an eager audience that has waited years for a solo CLAUDIA BRÜCKEN concert.

Taking to the stage, the glamorously attired Claudia is joined by her ONETWO partner Paul Humphreys who acts as the evening’s musical director plus the regular live band of guitarist James Watson and MANHATTAN CLIQUE’s Philip Larsen. With the addition of one time PET SHOP BOYS percussionist Dawne Adams, they are the core musicians for this unique live event.

The loyal Claudia faithful, who have travelled far and wide to here on this cold March night, are rewarded with ‘Kiss Like Ether’ as the show’s opener, its squelchy ‘State Of Independence’ bass driving alongside the ethereal voices of Claudia in harmony with backing singers Melissa D’Arcy and Dave Watson.

‘Sequentia’ follows and fills The Scala with the chilling widescreen spectre of the ASSOCIATES. Many have said Claudia duetting with the late Billy MacKenzie would have made a dreamboat pairing. Both songs act perfectly as a two movement overture to the stylish proceedings.

The first guests of the night arrive in the shape of a three quarters reunion of PROPAGANDA for ‘Dr Mabuse’. Ralf Dörper reprises his stern role from the original while Susanne Freytag completes the trio by concurring with Claudia in her distinct Teutonic tone.

Watching this reunion reminds everyone that not only were the Düsseldorf based quartet the “ABBA in Hell”, but they were also the proto-LADYTRON. ‘Dr Mabuse’ sounds magnificent and loses none of its mystery and magic.

It’s all lovingly recreated using laptops and Roland Fantom workstations… and to think this could have only been produced in 1984 using Trevor Horn’s £40,000 Fairlight… a new Toyota MR-2 (as emblazoned on the cover of LA ROUX’s ‘In For The Kill’) would have cost around £10,000 then! How technology has moved on!

The only disappointment is that the mics cut in and out with Susanne Freytag particularly being unable to be heard at times. Apart from this slight glitch, the music comes over loud and clear throughout the evening. Interestingly, ‘Absolut(E)’ almost steals the show in this early section, the beefy house rhythms that drive it are further enhanced by some finely tuned programming and a crystal sound.

Despite the all-star cast, one person who doesn’t appear tonight is DEPECHE MODE’s Martin Gore. On his co-write ‘Cloud Nine’ though, James Watson acts as a worthy substitute recreating Gore’s distinct six string rhythm textures before finishing with a layer of pretty infinite guitar to enhance one of the highlights from ‘Instead’.

Claudia then introduces HEAVEN 17’s Glenn Gregory who returns the compliment of Claudia’s appearance at last year’s triumphant Sheffield Magna gig to take over Thomas Leer’s vocal duties on ACT’s ‘Snobbery And Decay’. Poor Thomas was unable to take part due to a hospitalised illness and was sadly missed. But Mr Gregory did a superb job on one of the great lost ZTT singles that lyrically has now become relevant again, thanks unfortunately to a return to the unpleasant social economic climate of 1987.

Following on, Martyn Ware joins his erstwhile HEAVEN 17 colleague to tackle the demo version of ‘Temptation’. Much starker than the soul fusion of the famous hit single, Claudia gives it a sexy deadpan delivery over the backing like a more sinister electronic take on SOFT CELL’s version of ‘Tainted Love’.

HEAVEN 17 remain for the debut recital of country and western cover ‘When Your Heart Runs Out Of Time’ from the film Insignificance. This cult favourite narrowly missed inclusion on ‘ComBined’ but was luckily dusted off for inclusion on ZTT’s ‘The Art Of The 12 Inch’ collection. Tonight, it soars with its synthesized instrumentation arranged like an ULTRAVOX ballad, almost in tribute to the recording’s producer Midge Ure.

Everything takes a breather when ZTT’s arch minimalist Andrew Poppy accompanies Claudia on solo piano for a stark cover that was first premiered on their ‘Another Language’ album. The audience are respectfully attentive as the pair tackle a touching rendition of KATE BUSH’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ before following with an emotional take on ROY ORBISON’s ‘In Dreams’.

Claudia then steps out of the spotlight for a moment as Susanne Freytag re-emerges next to the microphone stand and announces “all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream”.

Written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1849, that segment of poem initiates an unexpected but breathtaking rendition of the epic opener from ‘A Secret Wish’. Textured with real trumpet, it is magnificent and brooding with the incessant backing sounding like a cross between PET SHOP BOYS and prime SIMPLE MINDS that builds to the massive percussive break.

Dawne Adams is a total star here, frantically doing justice to original exponential template on this most special of moments.

The audience then get even more secret wishes as Ralf Dörper returns and shouts “PROPAGANDA” over some bleepy mechanics to launch ‘P.Machinery’. The second instalment of the 3/4 reunion is full of motor, power, force, motion and drive. The machine funk and synthetic brass stabs are all faithfully recreated, testament to Paul Humphreys’ engineering and programming skills.

‘Night School’ is the first of Claudia’s new songs tonight and the groove laden shuffle keeps the momentum going. “What are you waiting for?” monologues Claudia during the song… it turns out it’s actually Susanne Freytag who almost doesn’t make it on stage for ‘Light My Way’ when it inadvertently starts without her! But it turns out to be a fine live debut of what in 1993 was originally the first recorded return of the PROPAGANDA ladies since ‘A Secret Wish’.

The brilliant ‘Home (Tonight)’ from ONETWO’s ‘Instead’ appears in blistering remix form steered by Philip Larsen to compliment the superb collection of dancier numbers that make up this second half of the show.

Andy Bell arrives fresh faced for their energetic duet ‘Delicious’ with the playful chemistry between Claudia and himself very apparent on stage. Friends since collaborating on his 2005 MANHATTAN CLIQUE produced solo debut ‘Electric Blue’, Andy Bell stays on for a superb airing of ACT’s ‘Absolutely Immune’. Amusingly requiring a lyric sheet and a trendy pair of spectacles to complete the task, he is on good form throughout and all bodes well for Mute’s Short Circuit 2011 concert at The Roundhouse in May and the new ERASURE album due later this year.

For the last song ‘Duel’, Claudia’s best known song is joined by Susanne Freytag on keyboards while Paul Humphreys does rather a good job hammering away for the song’s mad piano solo!

Meanwhile, Melissa D’Arcy treats everyone to a marvellous dance routine in semi-literal fashion that sparkles and shines. ‘Duel’ is such a classic, it can’t do any wrong and is a fitting end for the main set.

Sending a little sign of Claudia’s continued excellence after over 25 years in the business, the encore is the Stephen Hague co-write ‘Thank You’. Like A-HA’s 2009 hit single ‘Foot Of The Mountain’, ‘Thank You’ brings Claudia’s sound up-to-date while retaining all the classic qualities of the past. It acts as a perfect finale with its JOHN BARRY-esque vibes and wonderfully moody percussive textures.

This was a once in a lifetime experience. With a well paced set, the song choice tonight couldn’t be faulted. Love and a million other things could certainly be felt with Claudia quite visibly moved by an ecstatic response from the crowd.

In fine voice throughout, she captured the hearts of all who were present and was humbly appreciative in return. It was an outstanding evening, delightfully performed and presented… almost perfect in fact.

For those who missed this special occasion, the concert was filmed and is due to be released on DVD later this year.

‘ComBined’ is released by ZTT/Salvo and available now

http://www.claudiabrucken.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaBruckenMusic

https://twitter.com/claudiabrucken1

Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Richard Price
13th March 2011

GLENN GREGORY Interview

14 May 2010 /

BBC2 will be broadcasting HEAVEN 17’s 30th Anniversary ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ concert in Sheffield and a special documentary on the album this weekend.

The documentary is the story of the band, the city and the album that gave birth to British new wave of electronic pop in late 70s Sheffield. It also follows the band as they prepare to perform the album entirely live for the very first time.

With economic recession decimating their industrial heartland, aspirational computer operators Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh experimented with newly affordable synthesisers from Korg and Roland to create sounds in their first band THE HUMAN LEAGUE that would eventually form part of a new musical movement.

When the band split in Autumn 1980, Martyn and Ian formed a production company called the BRITISH ELECTRIC FOUNDATION (BEF) and released ‘Music For Stowaways’, an instrumental album only available on cassette that foresaw the advent of modern day iPod headphone culture.

One of the BEF projects was a pop group named HEAVEN 17 after the fictitious band in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and for this they recruited singer and old friend Glenn Gregory. ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ was their first album released in 1981. It was a landmark achievement, combining electronics with pop hooks and funky disco sounds while adding witty social and political commentary.

Due to technological constraints the band were unable to perform the album live but also had no desire to join the touring circuit. However, with the advances in technology, the album was performed for the first time to a sell-out gig of over 2000 people at the Sheffield Magna on 6 March 2010. As well as performing ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ in its entirety, they played several BEF tracks from the period such as their cover of LOU REED’s ‘Perfect Day’ as well as their hits ‘Temptation’ and ‘Let Me Go’.

During a short break from the editing suite at the BBC, Glenn Gregory took time out to talk to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about this seminal album, playing live and doing acoustic HUMAN LEAGUE covers…

After playing a couple of British dates and undertaking a European tour earlier this year, HEAVEN 17 are taking the ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ show on a full UK jaunt in the Autumn. You went through the beginning of your career of not playing live at all. You’re a great live act but do you ever wish you’d done this much sooner and do you think HEAVEN 17’s career might have turned out differently if you had?

It’s almost impossible to say really… things I’m sure would have been different but for better or worse, who can say? I have no regrets about not playing live back in the day. We had a great time making records, making videos, travelling around the world doing television shows, working with interesting people it was a dream… maybe the dream might have been enhanced by touring, but then again it may have turned into a nightmare.

‘Penthouse and Pavement’ had quite a unique sound with the synthesizer technology combined with the American influenced funk on one side and what appeared to be a development of THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Travelogue’ on the other. Had this been a conscious decision or had this been forced on you as you were maybe unsure about which direction to pursue?

It was a definite decision.

We wanted a little distance between what THE HUMAN LEAGUE had been and probably were still going to be, and what HEAVEN 17 were about to become. The balance in any group is obviously changed when anyone leaves or joins… things were naturally heading in a different direction just by the very fact that the dynamic of the group had changed.

I suppose the real turning point was when we had written ‘Fascist Groove Thang’ (only about ten days after THE HUMAN LEAGUE had split) and Martyn had suggested we put a bass guitar solo in the middle breakdown… a great idea but we didn’t know any bass players. A little bit of fortune later and in walked the young John Wilson to our studio… the rest is history. The new sound was found and we were on our way to making a unique album.

How do you feel about your baby still having such a powerful resonance in today’s world after all this time, particularly songs like the title track, ‘Let’s All Make A Bomb’, ‘Height Of The Fighting’ and ‘We’re Going To Live For A Very Long Time’?

Some things will always be relevant. We wrote about subjects that touched our lives and our souls, things that mattered not just to us as individuals but also to us as a part of a political or social system. We never preached and always (I hope) ranted with wit and humour. They were political times (as indeed is now) and the album reflected those times and I believe as you say, some of those songs are still very relevant today.

The Sheffield Magna gig really was something special and has been filmed for prosperity, along with a BBC2 documentary on the band. How does it feel to finally get this kind of recognition for your contribution to popular culture?

Well the gig I don’t know if I shall ever see, because I really find it very hard indeed to watch myself perform! I’m ok listening but doubt I could watch…

However I am very proud of that night and the show we put together and am grateful for all the hard work and love that our friends put into it to make it happen. And I suppose when I’m 106 and sitting in a sedan chair on the balcony of my Italian villa in Umbria, I may well gesture to my young and pretty nurse to bring forth the 3D television and finally sneak a peak at the ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ show.

The documentary I have already seen as I have been involved with the editing and I love it… its honest, funny and true. Watch it, you’ll like it I promise.

The live renditions of the BEF ‘Music Of Quality and Distinction’ covers were great and it was fantastic to hear ‘I’m Your Money’ live at last. How was it for you to perform these cult HEAVEN 17 classics?

It was great to perform those BEF songs and some of the rare never ever to be played live tracks… I have been trying to work out a way to perform ‘I’m Your Money’ for ages with no success and when Martyn suggested doing in the ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ set, I said “can’t be done”… clever bastard did though, I loved it.

Are there any other songs you’d like to feature in the live set at some point that haven’t been performed before?

Ooo lots… ‘And That’s No Lie’, Elly from LA ROUX insists we must do the full album version of this one day, I promised her we will… ‘Sunset Now’, oh my god all the tracks off ‘The Luxury Gap’ that we have never done… ‘Lady Ice And Mr Hex’, one of my all time favourites.Really now we have started, I don’t think anything will stop us… all donations gratefully received

I understand Phil Oakey was watching you do ‘Being Boiled’ in Sheffield! Has he ever told you what he thought of your take on it?

He was and he has actually said he liked it. I wished Phil would have come on stage. I would have loved to hand him the mike and sang BVs. I love THE HUMAN LEAGUE.

I thought the acoustic rendition of ‘Don’t You Want Me?’ in Cologne after the electronic drum kit broke down was hilarious! I didn’t know you could even play guitar; you kept that well hidden in the past!

Yes… a little known secret now out in the open, I hope it doesn’t harm my electronic credentials too much! It was a fantastic night in Cologne, the longest set by far. I think I did 3 or 4 acoustic songs… the guitar’s a definite must from now on… that bloody electronic drum kit is a bit fragile! Still it made for a very unique show.

You’re headlining the first night of Bestival for ‘Back To The Phuture’ in September. HEAVEN 17 aren’t known as a festival act so are you ready for it? Will you approach Bestival differently to your own shows? And will you be camping for the night?

First of all, No Camping! I am really looking forward to it though and may well do the gig in fancy dress… Mart said he might do it as Roy Wood from Wizzard and I might go as Noddy Holder! Please let the sun shine

The BBC6 Music ‘Back To The Phuture’ live session with LA ROUX was brilliant; you looked like you were really enjoying it. ‘In For The Kill’ really did sound like a lost HEAVEN 17 song with you singing it. How do you feel about the success of the new generation of electronic based acts and are they’re any others who you like? 

I loved singing with LA ROUX, Elly is a star… she is so charismatic to watch on stage… she’s hypnotic…

It was a honour to perform with her. I would love to work with her and Ben Langmaid in the future… we got on so well. I have always loved electronic music and there are too many bands to mention really… I’m just pleased the movement is so strong and productive.

Apart from the ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ UK shows in the autumn, what else is happening with HEAVEN 17? Are there any plans for any new material?

We’re playing quite a few gigs through the summer then we have the ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ tour at the end of the year so for this year, that’s gonna keep us quite busy. But I could never say there will never be another HEAVEN 17 album… in fact if I were a betting man I’d get down the bookies and have a tanner on another one coming this way one day soon!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to Glenn Gregory

With special thanks to Peter Noble and David Stanbury

‘HEAVEN 17 Live in Concert’ will be broadcast on BBC2 on Sunday 16th May 2010 at 11.30pm while ‘HEAVEN 17: The Story of Penthouse and Pavement’ will be broadcast on BBC2 on Monday 17th May 2010 at 11.20pm

HEAVEN 17’s 30th Anniversary Penthouse And Pavement Tour
Dates include Edinburgh HMV Picture House (Nov 22), Glasgow O2 ABC (Nov 23), Manchester Ritz (Nov 25), Birmingham HMV Institute (Nov 26), London HMV Forum (Nov 28), Oxford O2 Academy (Nov 29), Brighton Corn Exchange (Nov 30), Bristol O2 Academy (Dec 1)

Please visit www.heaven17.com for details of the forthcoming ‘Penthouse & Pavement’ UK Tour in Autumn 2010

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Tracy Welch
14th May 2010

HEAVEN 17 Penthouse & Penthouse Live

15 March 2010 /

To celebrate the upcoming 30th anniversary of the recording of ‘Penthouse And Pavement’, HEAVEN 17 returned home to play at the local renovated symbol of the Industrial Revolution which is the Magna Science Park and perform this seminal album in its entirety.

Doing away with the standard support act, the audience were instead presented an audio/visual art installation using LED screens featuring the companion instrumental BEF album ‘Music For Stowaways’.

Produced by HEAVEN 17 founders Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh after they left THE HUMAN LEAGUE in 1980, it predicted iPod culture (‘Stowaway’ was the original name of the Sony Walkman) by illustrating the concept of mobile headphone music as a rolling film soundtrack to one’s day-to-day life.

Not only that but some of the titles like ‘Uptown Apocalypse’, ‘Rise Of The East’ and ‘Decline Of The West’ couldn’t be more relevant 30 years on. With echoes of THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s aborted support slot for the 1979 TALKING HEADS tour which was intending to feature “specially taped songs and rhythms with synchronised moving pictures and snapshots instead of The League”, this esoteric start to proceedings was lost on some of the crowd who sadly got a bit impatient and rudely started slow hand clapping et al!

But arriving to the sinister percussive tones of ‘Music To Kill Your Parents By’, the backing band of guitarist Asa Bennett, Joel Farland on electronic percussion and funk bassist Julian Crampton took to the stage before being followed by HEAVEN 17’s live nucleus of Martyn Ware, Glenn Gregory and their forever gorgeous backing vocalist Billie Godfrey to launch into a rousing ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’.

Playing the ‘Pavement’ A-side of the original vinyl release in order, this electro-funk hybrid sounded magnificent, particularly with Julian Crampton’s slap bass runs coming to the fore.

Billie Godfrey gave the title track barrels of sumptuous passion as she would throughout many of the numbers tonight, also adding a touch of soulful warmth to many of the predominantly synthetic backing tracks on the ‘Penthouse’ flipside.

But before tackling this, four tracks from BEF’s ambitious if slightly flawed ‘Music Of Quality & Distinction Volume 1’ covers album formed the musical interlude. Originally billed by some observers as a Hi-Tech K-Tel album, although it sold poorly, it kick started Martyn Ware’s association with the legendary Tina Turner and ultimately relaunched her career in the process.

Tonight though, it’s Billie Godfrey who understudies for the former Miss Anna Mae Bullock on ‘Ball Of Confusion’ while special guest Claudia Brücken of PROPAGANDA and ONETWO joins proceedings to replace the late Paula Yates’ catty whine with a more assured teutonic tone for ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’.

Big Glenn of course adds his two contributions from the album ‘Wichita Lineman’ and ‘Perfect Day’ which are great to hear live for the first time but not before he straps on an acoustic guitar to give an impromptu solo version of ‘Geisha Boys & Temple Girls’ which also gets a strum during the ‘Wichita Lineman’ coda. “Don’t tell Phil Oakey, he’ll kick me out of the electronic club” he laughed! Returning to the ‘Penthouse And Pavement’, the crowd finally gets ‘Geisha Boys…’ proper while the remaining four electronically driven pieces do not disappoint.

Songs such as ‘Let’s All Make A Bomb’, ‘Height Of The Fighting’ and that ode to the dangers of religious fundamentalism ‘We’re Going To Live For A Very Long Time’ sound even more poignant than ever despite their Cold War origins. Indeed, some of these numbers even become powerful singalongs, quite incongruous for what are basically a set of avant-pop compositions with not a hit single among them! At times, it sounds like the roots of modern electronic dance music.

For the encore, the crowd are treated to something special in both sides of HEAVEN 17’s second (and non-album) single. BUZZCOCKS’ ‘Are Everything’ possesses a snarly cyber-punk edge, enhanced by Glenn staring at the ground to glance at a lyric sheet while the vastly underrated ‘I’m Your Money’ is delivered in its full brilliance with its sub ‘Trans-Europe Express’ mechanical rhythm structure and rousing refrain. The various ‘Linguaphone’ business phrases recall an age when traveling to Europe was still a major logistical undertaking and the internet only had military applications!

Closing with ‘Let Me Go’, ‘Temptation’ and THE HUMAN LEAGUE’s ‘Being Boiled’, the whole presentation is an outstanding statement of musical and social values. Although ‘Come Live With Me’ and ‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry’ are missing tonight, for the same reasons that THE HUMAN LEAGUE dropped ‘Human’ from the ‘Steel City’ tour, it is appropriate every now and then to follow one’s artistic motivations rather than commercial ones to restore artistic integrity. The evening really did prove to be music of distinct quality.

‘Penthouse & Pavement’ is available on CD and download via Virgin Records

https://www.heaven17.com/

Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
15th March 2010

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