Heaven 17 | Artist

Heaven 17 is an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed 1980 in Sheffield by Martyn Ware (synthesizer, percussion, backing vocals), Ian Craig Marsh (synthesizer, percussion, saxophone) and Glenn Gregory (vocals). Marsh left the band in 2007 and Ware and Gregory continued to perform as Heaven 17. Ware and Gregory started out as founders of influential electro-pop band The Human League but left after that band's first two albums to for Heaven 17 and set up British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.) music production company. Their debut single "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" attracted some attention but was banned by the BBC due to its overtly left-wing political condemnation of newly elected American president Ronald Reagan. The debut album Penthouse and Pavement was a success, peaking at Number 14 on the UK Album Chart and later achieving Gold status in 1982. The band released a total of eight studio albums, standouts are the early works, Penthouse and Pavement, The Luxury Gap and How Men Are, plus the 1983 compilation Heaven 17. The name "Heaven 17" comes from the fictional pop band mentioned in Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange.

Artist Website: heaven17.com

Featured Albums: Heaven 17

Related Artists: The Human League, British Electric Foundation