HEAVEN 17 – CHALK, BRIGHTON 25.525
Tonight was the first time I saw the 1980-formed New Wave/Synth-Pop band, Heaven 17, perform. They’ve played Brighton on many previous occasions, with Concorde 2 being their usual venue. Tonight was the first time they played Chalk in Pool Valley. With the doors opening just after 6:30pm and no support act, there was a lot of waiting around for the audience before the band took to the stage.
At 8:15pm the stage lights dimmed, and The Human League’s B-side ‘Introducing’ was played. A minute later, all band members, bar lead vocalist Glenn Gregory, took to the stage with synth player and founding member of The Human League, Martyn Ware, wearing a snazzy silver jacket with matching trousers and a sparkling silver-topped hat. The audience gave a rousing cheer and a couple of minutes later, Glenn appeared on stage, dressed in black with a white jacket. There was a quick “Hello, Brighton”, and we were underway with the Top 20 hit ‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry’. Once the song was over, Glenn removed his jacket.
During this gig, there was plenty of between-song banter between Glenn and Martyn, with the jovial crowd also joining in. Many fans in the audience, I’m sure, would have heard a lot of what was being said before, but it was all good fun. What we learnt before the next song was that the first thing the band wrote was their debut single ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’. They started writing it at Monumental Studios in Sheffield on a Monday, and it was finished by the next Friday. Despite the song being banned by the BBC (due to concerns by Radio 1’s legal department that it libelled Ronald Reagan, who had recently been elected President of the United States), it still charted just outside the Top 40 at number 45. For this song, the backing singers, Rachel Meadows and Hayley Williams, come down from their usual positions at the side of the stage to join Glenn at the front.
Next, we hear ‘Play To Win’, which was Heaven 17’s third single and the first to be played on the popular BBC1 primetime show, ‘Top of the Pops’. Glenn said jokingly, “You won’t be able to find a recording of it on YouTube as it was introduced by Jimmy Savile”. Despite the exposure of the song on ‘Top of the Pops’, it also missed the Top 40, fairing one position worse at 46.
Glenn then says, “We have a very special announcement. Someone in the audience is appearing at their 250th Heaven 17 show tonight”. He then unveiled a black t-shirt with three lines of white lettering on it. The words Heaven 17 at the top, a larger 250 in the middle, and Sumo underneath. Sumo, who was standing front centre of the audience, was then handed the t-shirt. Sumo appeared to be a bit overwhelmed. The audience gave Sumo a round of applause and a few chanted his name. Glenn joked that Sumo had been to one more show than he had, as Sumo once turned up to a show in Canada that had been cancelled.
The next song we hear is ‘Geisha Boys And Temple Girls’, from their 1981 debut album ‘Penthouse And Pavement’. Then it was time for their second biggest hit ‘Come Live With Me’, which peaked at number 5 in June 1983. The crowd loved this one, as you would expect. After ‘We Live So Fast’, a song that was inspired by Giorgio Moroder, Glenn mentions that he’s known Martyn since he was 15 and they had previously been in some crap bands together back in Sheffield. They then sang a cover of The Human League’s version of ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’’, which previously topped the UK Singles Chart in 1965 for The Righteous Brothers, beating off the challenge of another version of the song by Cilla Black. Cilla made it to number 2.
Then we get to hear a couple of songs from their 1984 third album ‘How Men Are’. Firstly, number 23 hit ‘This Is Mine’ and then a shortened version of ‘And That’s No Lie’. The single clocks in at over 10 minutes, which Glenn claims was not a good marketing ploy. It was another single that missed the Top 40 but one they did get to play on Channel 4’s The Tube.
‘I’m Your Money’, which features a snippet of Donna Summer’s 1981 hit ‘I Feel Love’, is next on the setlist. This one was a non-album track; it was the follow-up to their debut single and was only released as a 12” single. It failed to chart. They follow this with ‘Let Me Go’, which Glenn points out is his favourite song of theirs. The demo was recorded in a flat he was staying in, in Ladbroke Grove, and then re-recorded at Ayr Studios in London with a 70-piece orchestra. Unfortunately, it was another that missed the Top 40 when released in October 1982, this time by just one position.
‘Penthouse And Pavement’ is next up. “This is a song about going out in Sheffield,” claims Glenn. We are then introduced to the band. Both backing singers are from Worthing, and keyboard player Florence Sabeva is from Belgium. Glenn then says, “It’s time for a very special Brighton temptation”. Unlike the recorded version of their biggest hit ‘Temptation’ (reached number 2 in 1983), the backing singers start things off and get the crowd going before Glenn joins in. It has to be pointed out here that Rachel’s vocals on this one are top class and match the singles’ backing vocals by Carol Kenyon. It’s no surprise to learn that Rachel teaches vocals and is a Principal Lecturer at Brighton’s BIMM Music Institute. She has also previously provided tour support for Beverley Knight.
It’s now time for the encore. With the show already overrunning due to so much mid-song banter, there is no time to go off stage and come back again. We start with a cover of David Bowie’s ‘Let’s Dance’. The crowd go wild and once the song finishes, Martyn says, “This is what weekends are like in Brighton”. We then hear Martyn use the first synth he bought as they cover The Human League’s debut single from 1978, ‘Being Boiled’. As the song finishes, there is more applause from the audience as all band members take a bow. Before they walk off stage, Glenn says, “What a lovely gig. If you make a lot of noise, we might come back and do something a little bit special.”
After a short time, both Glenn and Florence return. Glenn looks quite choked up after telling us of a story about David Bowie before he goes on to sing an amazing version of ‘Life On Mars’ with excellent keyboard work from Florence. Florence comes down to the front centre of the stage to join Glenn. There is further applause from the onlookers with Glenn and Florence applauding back. It’s now 10.11pm and a great evening was over, just four minutes shy of two hours.
Heaven 17:
Glenn Gregory – lead vocals
Martyn Ware – synths, backing vocals
Florence Sabeva – keys, laptop
Rachel Meadows – backing vocals
Hayley Williams – backing vocals
Heaven 17 setlist:
‘Introducing’ (The Human League cover originally 1979 B-side of ‘Empire State Human’ single)
‘Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry’ (from 1983 ‘The Luxury Gap’ album)
‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘Play To Win’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘Geisha Boys And Temple Girls’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘Come Live With Me’ (from 1983 ‘The Luxury Gap’ album)
‘We Live So Fast’ (from 1983 ‘The Luxury Gap’ album)
‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’’ (cover of The Human League’s 1979 cover from ‘Reproduction’ album of the Righteous Brothers 1964 single written by Phil Spector, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil)
‘This Is Mine’ (from 1984 ‘How Men Are’ album)
‘And That’s No Lie’ (full version) (from 1984 ‘How Men Are’ album)
‘I’m Your Money’ (inc 1977 ‘I Feel Love’ Donna Summer snippet) (from 1981 single)
‘Let Me Go’ (from 1983 ‘The Luxury Gap’ album)
‘Penthouse And Pavement’ (from 1981 ‘Penthouse And Pavement’ album)
‘Temptation’ (from 1983 ‘The Luxury Gap’ album)
(encore)
‘Let’s Dance’ (David Bowie cover from 1983 ‘Let’s Dance’ album)
‘Being Boiled’ (The Human League cover originally 1978 single)
‘Life On Mars?’ (cover of 1971 David Bowie tune from ‘Hunky Dory’ album)
