I Hear You Singin' In The Wires

I couldn't have failed to notice that Flea's album Honora was out, but it was pretty much on the periphery until I came across this beautiful cover of Wichita Lineman, featuring Nick Cave,

It's a wonderfully restrained and understated version, delicately constructed around upright bass, tender guitar and gentle percussion, underpinning Nick's world weary voice. Flea's musical contribution is the flumpet, which I'd never heard of before now and had to look up, which eases in during the break and drifts back out again, to great effect.

The original narrative, of a lineman perched high up a telephone pole in the middle of nowhere, on a call to his girlfriend, takes on an extra dimension with the gravitas of Cave's vocals. I can now imagine the titular character as a career lifer, been doing this all his life, doesn't know anything else, aches to be at home with his wife but is afraid of the void that giving up his job would create.

Or maybe it resonates because it's striking a chord with my own life right now. Either way, a compelling cover and a reason to check out Honora in full.

It would be remiss of me not to include the very first version of Wichita Lineman that I heard (or at least remember hearing), on the 1982 compilation Music Of Quality And Distinction: Volume One by B.E.F. aka British Electric Foundation aka two thirds of Heaven 17, namely Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh.

For their version, they roped in their H17 colleague Glenn Gregory and, for me, it hit the spot, on-point vocals and a duet of saxophone (actually two, played by Glenn and Ian) and acoustic guitar, courtesy of David Lockwood.

That was enough to encourage me to seek out the original version of Wichita Lineman, written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by Glenn Campbell. Vastly different in arrangement from the covers in 1982 and 2026, but an astonishing performance from Glenn. 

Wichita Lineman was released as a single in 1968 and, as this performance from 1972 demonstrates, only grew in impact as the years passed. 

Possibly Webb and Campbell's finest moment, in already illustrious respective careers and one of my favourite songs of all time.

I am a lineman for the county

And I drive the main roads

Searchin' in the sun

For another overload

I hear you singin' in the wires

I can hear you through the whine

And the Wichita lineman

Is still on the line

I know I need a small vacation

But it don't look like rain

If it snows that stretch down south

Will never stand the strain

And I need you more than want you

And I want you for all time

And the Wichita lineman

Is still on the line

And I need you more than want you

And I want you for all time

And the Wichita lineman

Is still on the line

WareHouse

Happy 69th birthday to Martyn Ware, born 19th May 1956.

Founder member of both The Human League, The British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.) and Heaven 17, Martyn has also had a hugely successful career as a production, working with the likes of Tina Turner, Erasure and Terence Trent D'Arby.

Today's selection pulls together some extended examples of Martyn's production prowess, which pretty much speak for themselves. 

Have a good one, Martyn!

1) Those First Impressions (Extended Version): Associates (1984)

2) Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (Parts One And Two) (Uninterrupted Single Version): Heaven 17 (1983)

3) Medley: Rock 'n' Roll / Nightclubbing: The Human League (1980)

4) Wishing Well (Three Coins In The Fountain Mix): Terence Trent D'Arby (1987)

5) I Don't Depend On You (Extended Re-Edited Version By gkugno): The Men (1979/2011)

6) Brilliant Creatures (Album Version): Marc Almond (1996)

7) Party Fears Two (Album Version): B.E.F. ft. Glenn Gregory (2013)

1980: Holiday '80 EP: 3

1983: Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry EP: 2

1984: Those First Impressions EP: 1

1987: Wishing Well EP: 4

1996: Fantastic Star: 6

2011: I Don't Depend On You EP: 5

2013: Music Of Quality And Distinction Volume 3: Dark: 7

WareHouse (47:00) (GD) (M)

Let's Celebrate And Vaporise

I first heard Let's All Make A Bomb on my brother's copy of Heaven 17's debut album, Penthouse And Pavement. 

 

I think it was one of a bunch of cassettes of albums that our uncle had borrowed from his local library and taped on his fancy hi-fi so we didn't have the artwork though I remember it well from ads in Smash Hits at the time. 

 

I loved this song but I only discovered a few days ago that an official video had been made. Unsurprisingly, it's predominantly black and white, with the band walking through an abandoned, rubbish-strewn London. You can probably guess the reason for the short segment in colour at the end... Of it's time but a brilliant if on-the-nose visual accompaniment to the song.

 

The first time the song was in my collection was not through my own purchase of Penthouse And Pavement but when a 'new version' popped up as the B-side of Come Live With Me in 1983. Although the A-side turned out to be their second UK Top 5 hit (after Temptation, which did it again in 1992), personally this was one of those examples of the B-side being a better song that the A-side.

 

In 1998, Heaven 17 released the Retox/Detox album, a double CD comprising 23 reworks of (mostly) songs from their first three albums. Let's All Make A Bomb got two 'retoxes', both quite different.

Geek aka Neale Johnson delivers a stripped back 'synthapella' version, which highlights just how good Glenn Gregory's voice is. I don't know anything else about Geek and they don't appear to have released more than a couple of singles and remixes around the same period, but this is a winner in my book.

Not an obvious choice perhaps, the other retox has ON-U Sound maestro Adrian Sherwood at the controls. As you might expect, it's a bass-booming dub behemoth, although heavier on the vocals than you might usually expect. Not to everyone's taste and perhaps won't be considered up there with Sherwood's best even by his fans. I like it a lot, of course.

I've also found and listened to three live versions of Let's All Make A Bomb, which I've enjoyed. The first is from 2010's Penthouse And Pavement tour, though no info on the location or date. It looks and sounds great.

The second is from 20th September 2022, with the band doing an impromptu version of Let's All Make A Bomb during a soundcheck VIP Meet And Greet at The Magic Bag in Ferndale, which is self-described as "Detroit's Premier Nightlife, Comedy & Concert Venue". The song was apparently prompted by a 17 year-old fan who said it was their favourite Heaven 17 song. Looking at the shuffling, mobiles-aloft audience in the video, I'd suggest that the 17 year-old was (a) in the minority and (b) possibly the grandchild of another VIP ticket holder. A good performance though and Glenn made good on his promise that the song would not be performed again in that evening's headline set.

 

Bang up to date with the final live version of Let's All Make A Bomb, performed seven weeks ago at the Kubix Festival in Sutherland. I'd never heard of this festival but interested to see that Glenn and Martyn were sharing the bill with the likes of Marc Almond, The Boo Radleys, Derek Forbes, The House Of Love, EMF, Squeeze, Terrorvision, Inspiral Carpets and - not a name I expected to see again - The Armoury Show.

These days Martyn Ware seems to be living his best life, wardrobe-wise, suggesting that he had a sideways glance at what Vince Clarke was wearing on-stage in the mid-to-late 1980s and wishing he could have some of that. And now he can. Martyn and Glenn respectively celebrated their 67th and 65th birthdays in May and all I can say is, more power to them.

I've never seen Heaven 17 live in concert and (I think) there are tickets left for an upcoming gig in Bristol in November, which is also a Friday night. The only downside is that it's the O2 Academy, a venue that I'm not a particular fan of. Mrs. K likes the music but also dislikes the venue. Decisions, decisions...

No surprise that the news of two desperate male despots meeting and talking potential arms deals called this song to mind and growing up at a time when mutually assured destruction was a bandied around with resigned abandon. There's a good interview with Martyn Ware from 2021 on 909 Originals which mainly focuses on (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang but also touches on Let's All Make A Bomb and other songs from the period. Well worth a few minute sof your time.

And as the low aggress the high
All you can do is sit and cry
You've only got yourself to blame
Don't try to stop me it's too late
My mind's made up, this job won't wait
There's nothing left for me to say

 

Hey! There's no need to debate
It's time to designate your fate
Take the M out of M.A.D.
Let's all make a bomb

 

 Take one hundred scientists or more
Place in a room and lock the door
Let them confer for half their lives
Unlock the door, go in and see
What they have made for you and me
A brand new toy to idolize

 

Hey! There's no need to debate
It's time to designate your fate
Take the M out of M.A.D.
Let's all make a bomb

 

 Although the war has just begun
Ignore the sirens, let's have fun
Put on your best, go out in style
Although our future's looking black
We'll go down town and join the pack
Let's celebrate and vaporise

The Kindest Cut's The Cruelest Part

The Lexicon Of Love by ABC regularly features in "Greatest Albums Of The 1980s", usually to be found in the Top 10, often in the Top 5. I loved the singles, I loved Martin Fry's gold lamé suit, I loved the lush orchestration of the songs. All that and I didn't own the album until I bought the 30th anniversary deluxe CD of The Lexicon Of Love in 2012. 

 

It was buying belated sequel The Lexicon Of Love II in 2016 that finally prompted me to catch up with ABC's back catalogue, seven further albums in the 34 years between each Lexicon.

 

Through the 1980s, the stable core of a revolving line-up was Martin Fry and Mark White. White retired from music after 1991's Abracadabra album and ABC has continued with Fry as the sole founding member ever since.

 

It's been an interesting ride: second album Beauty Stab tried so hard not to be The Lexicon Of Love II and was a relative commercial failure, but the album reveals some great pop songs nevertheless. How To Be A... Zillionaire! and Alphabet City brought back some of the more familiar ABC sounds whilst being more firmly rooted in the 1980s than their arguably timeless debut. I remember being appalled by how awful When Smokey Sings was when I first heard it. The UK record buying public disagreed and I'll admit that I've grown to like the song over subsequent years.

 

Up and Abracadabra were blatant attempts to tap into the dance/pop crossover, 1991's Unlock The Secrets Of Your Heart name checking Shoom and The Hacienda (808 State's Lift, anyone?) At the time, I considered ABC past their sell-by date. Martin Fry already seemed old as the hills - he was actually in his early 30s - and it was hard to imagine him throwing shapes in a club. These songs have perhaps dated the most but on reflection, Fry and White's knack for a good tune and lyrics was pretty spot on.

 

The 'solo' albums Skyscraping (1997) and Traffic (2008) are lost gems, familiar ABC characteristics intact, both recalling Beauty Stab's (synth) guitar-heavy sound. Something that I'd missed/forgotten until returning to write this post was that much of Skyscraping was co-written with Heaven 17's Glenn Gregory, who also contributes keyboards. On Traffic, Fry reunited with former ABC drummer David Palmer, one of two co-writers and performers on the album, the other being Rod Stewart collaborator Chuck Kentis.

 

So, here's my first ABC selection, a C90-friendly side of eleven songs, spanning all nine albums providing a healthy dose of sunshine pop, grit and glitter, strings and tears. 

 

The title for today's selection is a line from All Of My Heart. The cover photo is from a school trip to Paris, circa 1986, and I'm guessing is a view atop the Arc De Triomphe. As the photo was taken on an (even at the time) crappy old camera and is blurred, dull and out of focus, I've applied a Leonardo Da Vinci filter from LunaPic to zhuzh it up a bit.

 

1) The Love Inside The Love (2016)

2) When Smokey Sings (7") (Remix By Bernard Edwards & Julian Mendelsohn) (1987)

3) Unlock The Secrets Of Your Heart (1991)

4) That Was Then But This Is Now (1983)

5) All Of My Heart (Album Version By Trevor Horn & Gary Langan) (1982)

6) Ocean Blue (Pacific Mix By Julian Mendelsohn) (1985)

7) One Better World (Album Version By ABC, Graeme Park & Mike Pickering) (1989)

8) Think Again (1987)

9) Life Shapes You (2008)

10) Ask A Thousand Times (1997)

11) Be Near Me (Album Version By ABC, Martyn Webster & Julian Mendelsohn) (1985)

1982: The Lexicon Of Love: 5

1983: Beauty Stab: 4

1985: How To Be A... Zillionaire!: 11

1985: Ocean Blue EP: 6

1987: Alphabet City: 8

1987: When Smokey Sings EP: 2

1989: Up: 7

1991: Abracadabra: 3

1997: Skyscraping: 10

2008: Traffic: 9

2016: The Lexicon Of Love II: 1

The Kindest Cut's The Cruelest Part (46:25) (KF) (Mega)

Time For Another Party!

I don't often post about an artist in quick succession, but I had unfinished business with Heaven 17. Wednesday's post of Heaven 17 12" mixes was originally intended as a single, 15-track, 90 minute behemoth. I just had one problem: much as I love and wanted to include This Is Mine, I've never been satisfied with any of the 12" versions. 

This Is Mine was originally released on 7", 12" (with fold out poster) and limited remix 12". Across the formats you'll find the Single Version, Extended Version, Mine (an instrumental version), Filmix and Cinemix. The version of the latter on the European 12" is nearly 3 minutes longer than it's UK counterpart, but none of them really do it for me. 

 

One of my early music blog discoveries in the early 2000s was Dreamtime, picking up the baton of Razormaid, Art Of Mix and their ilk and producing new, ultra-extended re-edits of 1980s classics. I liked the idea, even if the execution was often only as good as the variable source material. The blog was retired in 2012, the victim of numerous DMCA notices, but a few edits subsequently resurfaced on Dreamtime's Soundcloud page and various YouTube places, including this one.

The Dreamtime Mix of This Is Mine is nearly 10 minutes long and starts off brilliantly, switching between different mixes. Ultimately, it's let down by a couple of jarring changes in vinyl source and playing speed and it was far too long for this selection. I ended up creating a very simple edit of my own, essentially taking the Album Version and, inspired by the Dreamtime Mix, overlaying a couple of elements from the end of the Filmix to create a longer intro. In reverse, I also created a reprise to close this selection by taking the Album Version intro and splicing that with an offcut of the Filmix outro. I'm not going to pretend it's any better than the others, but I do at least get a version of This Is Mine that I like and a selection that more or less matches the C90-friendly run time of Wednesday's part 1.

Sandwiched between the coffee-fueled re-edits, you'll find another bunch of Heaven 17 favourites, including a few album tracks that received the remix treatment and appeared as 12" B-sides, as well as 1986's Endless compilation. 

 

Today's selection is dedicated to Mike and Echorich...East Side, West Side, the world moves on!

1) This Is Mine (Dream Within A Dreamtime Streamix Re-Edit By Khayem) (2022)

2) We Live So Fast (Special Dance Mix) (1983)

3) Play To Win (B.E.F. Disco Mix) (1981)

4) Who'll Stop The Rain (Special Dance Mix) (1983)

5) Penthouse And Pavement (12" Mix) (1981)

6) Trouble (U.S. Club Mix By Bruce Forest) (1987)

7) Let's All Make A Bomb (New Version) (1983)

8) This Is Mine (Filmix Reprise Re-Edit By Khayem) (2022)

 

1981: Penthouse And Pavement (12"): 5

1981: Play To Win (12"): 3 

1983: Come Live With Me (12"): 7

1983: Temptation (12"): 2, 4 

1987: Double Trouble (limited edition double pack 12"): 6

2022: This Is Mine (Khayem Re-Edits) (MP3): 1, 8

Time For Another Party! (44:53)

Time For A Party!

After slowing it down yesterday, time to pump it back up today with some Heaven 17. Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware had known each other previously, but formed Heaven 17 when the latter two split from The Human League, initially launching production entity B.E.F. aka the British Electric Foundation.

I think I first took notice of Heaven 17 in 1981 when they performed Play To Win on Top Of The Pops. One of those frequent TOTP oddities in that the single only managed #46 in a 7 week run. However, it left a lasting impression because I found Glenn Gregory's facial expressions both alarming and hilarious and I couldn't work out what Ian Craig Marsh was leaning into the mic to mime. And the ponytails...! I've just found and watched it again on YouTube and it's every bit as entertaining as I remembered.

 

I probably got into Heaven 17 with either K-Tel's Modern Dance compilation, which featured both Play To Win and Penthouse And Pavement (and which I wrote about last year) or my brother's cassette of the Penthouse And Pavement album. Either way, once I had a Saturday job and some money, I got that and The Luxury Gap on vinyl, plus 12" singles when I could get them. Whilst I enjoyed Sunset Now and ..(And That's No Lie), I'd lost interest by third album How Men Are and only bought a couple more singles (Contenders and Trouble) and the Endless remix cassette compilation during the rest of the 1980s.

 

Heaven 17 enjoyed a brief resurgence of interest in the early 1990s with a trio of remixed singles and a best of compilation. Brothers In Rhythm's remix of Tempation attained #4 (two places lower than the original) and a (pretty ropey) remix of debut (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang by Rapino Brothers just bettered the original UK chart placing of #45 by scraping to #40. Penthouse And Pavement, arguably the best of three remixes, only managed 1 week and #54, three places higher than it's previous attempt at global domination in 1981.

 

The trio reunited in the late 1999s and produced new music. Ian Craig Marsh stopped touring with Heaven 17, left the band around 2007 and subsequently became a music teacher. Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware have continued as a touring concern and - pandemic permitting - will resume live performances during 2022.

 

I've approached today's selection as the first of a series, dip sampling some of the 12" versions from their 1980s heyday. It's been done before and - with the exception of the Let Me Go! / Temptation segue, I wanted to avoid a slipshod retread of the Endless compilation. I had the limited edition box set cassette, which looked lovely and (Heaven 17 Megamix aside) was an almost perfect compilation. Unfortunately, living in a very damp and cold bedsit in Derby in the mid-1990s did for it, the outer box becoming mouldy and the cassette unplayable, so I had to ditch it. 

 

This selection misses some personal favourites, including the aforementioned Play To Win and Penthouse And Pavement as well as Let's All Make A Bomb, and adds a post-Endless track with the best remix of Contenders. There will be more to come, hopefully this year!

 

In the meantime, the official Heaven 17 website still appears to be offering a free 3-track EP from 2011, if you join the mailing list.

1) ..(And That's No Lie) (Re-mixed To Enhance Its Danceability) (1985)

2) Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (Extended Dance Version) (1983)

3) Contenders (U.S. Club Mix By Bruce Forest) (1987)

4) I'm Your Money (Special Fortified Dance Mix!) (1981)

5) Let Me Go! (12" Extended Version) (1982)

6) Temptation (Special Dance Mix) (ft. Carol Kenyon) (1983)

7) (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (Full Length Version) (1981)

8) Sunset Now (Extended Version) (ft. Afrodiziak) (1984)

 

1981: I'm Your Money (12"): 4 

1981: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (12") / Penthouse & Pavement: 7

1983: Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry (12"): 2

1983: Temptation (12"): 6

1984: Sunset Now (12"): 8

1985: ..(And That's No Lie) (12"): 1 

1987: Double Trouble (limited edition double pack 12"): 3

Time For A Party! (46:28)