Heaven 17 “Heaven 17”

sfilzen — Tue, 07 May 2024 16:21:15 +0000

Heaven 17 “Heaven 17” 1982. US-only release with tracks from the band’s first LP Penthouse And Pavement (1981) plus two singles that would appear on their second album The Luxury Gap (1983). New wave plink-plunk synthpop with a heavy dose of funk and r&b, Heaven 17 emerged from the dissolution/reformation of the more experimental 70’s variant of Human League – both bands ended up taking a significant pop detour from the earlier Human League sound. The singles from Penthouse And Pavement all appear on Heaven 17: their debut single “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang” which made barely a ripple on the charts due its banning by BBC 1 because of the concerns over libel from the lyric referencing Ronald Reagan as a “fascist god in motion.” The other singles were the funky “Play to Win,” the title track “Penthouse and Pavement” (I’m not sure either charted) and “The Height of Fighting” which only charted in New Zealand. Despite the lackluster singles’ success, Heaven 17’s debut actually did pretty well overall, hitting #14 on the UK album chart. The best tracks on Heaven 17 are the tracks that would appear on The Luxury Gap: the non-single “Who Will Stop the Rain” and “Let Me Go.” “Let Me Go” was the lead single from their second album and went to #41 in the UK (the subsequent singles did much better) and to #74 on the US singles chart but to #4 on the US dance chart.

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Heaven 17 “Heaven 17”