History Music / Heaven17

Taking their name from a fictional pop group in Creator/AnthonyBurgess's ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'', Heaven 17 is a British SynthPop group formed after the disbanding of the first incarnation of Music/TheHumanLeague. While singer Philip Oakley kept the Human League going with a new lineup, departing members Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware formed a trio with singer Glenn Gregory, attempting to start anew with their work (while retaining elements of their original work).

Compared to the Music/YellowMagicOrchestra-influenced style of the Mk. II League, Heaven 17 incorporated more funk and brass rhythms compared to other bands of the era, and used various sampling computers but still maintained a disco-soul feel. Their debut, ''Penthouse and Pavement'', was a mish-mash of older Human League material and newer songs which featured higher-tempo funk-disco songs; in stark contrast to the Rushnett/Ure sound many artists copied. Despite their debut album being overshadowed by the commercial success of Dare (and the BBC banning their debut single ''We Don't need this Facist Groove Thang'' due to political undertones), the album still sold moderately well and gave them enough funding to make a second (and third) album, with their second being a breakthrough hit in the US and UK.

Despite their popularity in the UK they were never as popular as the Human League in the US, and because of this they were mostly forgotten in the 1980s for being a one hit wonder.

Compared to the Music/YellowMagicOrchestra-influenced style of the Mk. II League, Heaven 17 incorporated more funk and brass rhythms compared to other bands of the era, and used various sampling computers but still maintained a disco-soul feel. Their debut, ''Penthouse and Pavement', was a mish-mash of older Human League material and newer songs which featured higher-tempo funk-disco songs; in stark contrast to the Rushnett/Ure sound many artists copied. Despite their debut album being overshadowed by the commercial success of Dare (and the BBC banning their debut single ''We Don't need this Facist Groove Thang'' due to political undertones), the album still sold moderately well and gave them enough funding to make a second (and third) album, with their second being a breakthrough hit in the US and UK.

Taking their name from a fictional pop group in Creator/AnthonyBurgess's ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'' Heaven 17 is a British SynthPop group formed after the disbanding of the Mk. I incarnation of Music/TheHumanLeague. While singer Philip Oakley kept the League going with a new lineup, departing members Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware formed a trio with singer Glenn Gregory and decided to make their own continuation of their past work.

Compared to the Music/YellowMagicOrchestra-influenced style of the Mk. II League, Heaven 17 incorporated more funk and brass rhythms compared to other bands of the era, and used various sampling computers but still maintained a disco-oriented feel. Their debut, ''Penthouse and Pavement', was a mish-mash of older Human League material and newer songs they produced alongside the new lineup of the League, which featured higher-tempo funk-disco songs which didn't use many synthesizers at all. Despite this (and the debut single of the album being banned by Creator/TheBBC), the album was still a hit and gave them enough leadway to make their second and third album, the former being a hit in the US and the UK.

Despite their popularity in the UK they were never as popular as the Human League in the US, and because of this they were mostly forgotten in the 1980s for being a one hit wonder.

* BrokenRecord: Played literally with "We're Going To Live For a Very Long Time" on the vinyl edition of ''Penthouse and Pavement'', where it ends in a locked groove, indefinitely looping the lyric "for a very long time".
* LastNoteNightmare: Averted slightly in the first track of ''How Men Are'', with what appears to be a sampled scream which then cuts to silent, which after a few seconds the next song fades in.

* TropeCodifier: While not really becoming a household name in the vein of Music/TheHumanLeague, their debut album is well known as an established Synth-Pop album.

Compared to the Music/YellowMagicOrchestra-influenced style of the Mk. II League, Heaven 17 incorporated more funk and brass rhythms compared to other bands of the era, and used various sampling computers but still maintained a disco-oriented feel. Their debut, ''Penthouse and Pavement', was a mish-mash of older Human League material and newer songs they produced alongside the new lineup of the League, which featured higher-tempo funk-disco songs which didn't use many synthesizers at all. Despite this (and the debut single of the album being banned by the BBC), the album was still a hit and gave them enough leadway to make their second and third album, the former being a hit in the US and the UK.

* ProtestSong: "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" is a vicious tirade against the growing far-right sentiments in the Eighties, and even name-checks Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan as spearheaders of such movements.
* ShoutOut: Their name is an obvious shout-out to the movie Clockwork Orange, in where a similar-name band is seen in a record store.

* TitleDrop: Done in the first track of ''How Men Are''
* TropeCodifier: While not really becoming a household name in the vein of {{Music/TheHumanLeague}}, their debut album is well known as an established Synth-Pop album.

Taking their name from a fictional pop group in Creator/AnthonyBurgess's ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'' Heaven 17 is a British Synthpop group formed after the disbanding of the original human league, who formed a trio with singer Glenn Gregory and made similar synth-music.

The band was noted to incorporate more funk and brass rhythms compared to other bands of the era, and used various sampling computers but still maintained a disco-oriented feel. Their debut, ''Penthouse and Pavement', was a mish-mash of older Human League material and newer songs they produced alongside the new lineup of the League, which featured higher-tempo funk-disco songs which didn't use many synthesizers at all. Despite this (and the debut single of the album being banned by the BBC), the album was still a hit and gave them enough leadway to make their second and third album, the former being a hit in the US and the UK.

* TheRival: To the Human League, as noted.

Heaven 17 is a British Synthpop group formed after the disbanding of the original human league, who formed a trio with singer Glenn Gregory and made similar synth-music.

* ProtestSong: "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" is a vicious tirade against the growing far-right sentiments in the late Eighties, and even name-checks Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan as spearheaders of such movements.

Heaven 17 is a British Synthpop group formed after the disbanding of the original Human League. While the remaining Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright continued with their already existing brand of electronic pop music, the remaining Ian Marsh and Martyn Ware decided to split and create their own form of electronic music.

While the Human League made easily accessible pop music which dominated the charts, Heaven 17 was much more low-profile and instead focused on electronic funk rhythms inspired by urban culture and various forms of soul music. Adding to their band, they recruited singer Glenn Gregory to replace the duties of Phil, and thus, the full formation of Heaven 17 was created. Their music was mostly inspired by the 50s and 60s, also poking fun of pop-culture references of the decade and using more 'different' instrumental setups such as acoustic guitars and real brass sections for their more pop-oriented songs. They also used sampling for horns and ditched purely electronic sounding music in some segments, aching for a more sincere sound compared to their previous work with the Human League.

While failing to achieve success with their debut album 'Penthouse and Pavement', their later albums gave them numerous spots on the UK top charts and even the Billboard Hot 100. While forgotten today in the realm of electronic music compared to the Human League, they're known as a cult-classic by many enthusiasts and are well known for their few notable singles of the era.

* ''Naked as Advertised'' (2008)

While the Human League made easily accessible pop music which dominated the charts, Heaven 17 was much more low-profile and instead focused on electronic funk rhythms inspired by urban culture and various forms of soul music. Adding to their band, they recruited singer Glenn Gregory to replace the duties of Phil, and thus, the full formation of Heaven 17 was formed. Their music was mostly inspired by the 50s and 60s, also poking fun of pop-culture references of the decade and using more 'different' instrumental setups like acoustic guitars and real brass sections for their more pop-oriented songs. They also used sampling for horns and ditched purely electronic sounding music in some segments, aching for a more sincere sound compared to their previous work with the Human League.