Sheffield computer operators Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware joined musical forces in June 1977 to play at birthday party, calling themselves Dead Daughters. Finding that they shared a vision of making pop music using only electronic instruments, they renamed themselves The Future for a while before finally settling on The Human League. Recruiting an old school friend, Phil Oakey, to be the singer, they spent the next three years fighting internally about the band’s direction. In October 1980, on the eve of a European tour, the band split in two: Oakey kept the name, and Marsh and Ware formed a production entity called the British Electric Foundation, or BEF. They soon recruited Glenn Gregory (who had been their original first choice for Human League vocalist) and formed a band to perform their songs, which they called Heaven 17 in reference to a fictitious band in A Clockwork Orange.

Heaven 17’s music is simultaneously awkward and brilliant. A basic, stripped down Linn-drum foundation and extremely rudimentary synth stabs are placed in the mix with almost no reverb, which has the effect of creating a dry, synthetic rhythm section. The instrument levels are often bizarrely mixed - a huge backing vocal might come in for a second and dwarf the drums, for example. But between Gregory’s Bowie-esque baritone and socio-politically conscious lyrics about class war, and the rubbery funk bass performances of John Wilson (especially on the song “Penthouse and Pavement”), the result is a unique blend of electropop, funk and disco. Their debut “Penthouse and Pavement” was Melody Maker’s 1981 album of the year.

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mp3: “Penthouse and Pavement (Original 12″ Extended Version)” - Heaven 17

“Let Me Go” (sampled by Yelle for “Ce Jeu”) is one of my favorite songs of all time - such a haunting melody, and the vocals in the final 30 seconds always give me chills.

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mp3: “Let Me Go (Original 12″ Extended Version)” - Heaven 17

Video: Heaven 17 - “Let Me Go”

Clearly subscribing to the Trevor Horn philosophy of version oversaturation, there are literally dozens of remixes, revisions and demos of the relatively small Heaven 17 catalog available on Amazon.

Marsh and Ware went on to produce a number of successful albums, including Tina Turner’s comeback and Terence Trent D’Arby’s debut. And as for the Sheffield electropop rivalry, all’s well that ends well: Heaven 17 have a UK tour with The Human League and ABC lined up for December.

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