British Electric Foundation - "Music of Quality & Distinction, Volume 1" Vinyl, LP, 1982 (Virgin)

In the late 70s and early 80s, there was this procedure where bands like Public Image LTD and Heaven 17's British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.) were into the corporate identity.  Not only a group but also a company.  I imagine in those days that there were no band meetings, but instead, and in its place, a board meeting took place.   I'm a massive fan of Heaven 17's first album "Penthouse and Pavement," which at its heart is a synth-pop soul sound, but also mixing in real instruments as well. When Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware left Human League to form Heaven 17/B.E.F., it was an ambitious move on their part.  Through Virgin Records, they clearly wanted to have their separate identity as a production house, songwriting group, as well as having a radical approach to corporation life, which I suspect was in itself a critique of that world. 

With that in mind, and also playing the game of marketing an image/music for the consumer, B.E.F. put together "Music of Quality & Distinction, Volume 1" which is a collection of 1960's Motown soul music with 70's Glam era rock.   Each song had a guest singer, and it was usually an iconic figure in the music world.  You have Tina Turner covering the Temptations' "Ball of Confusion," Sandie Shaw doing "Anyone Had a Heart," and Gary Glitter doing a pretty great glam version of Elvis' "Suspicious Minds."  The brilliant aspect of this project is having singers who were fading out in the mainstream music world at the time, and giving them a decent song, as well as a commentary on their era of music making.   The great Paul Jones of Manfred Mann fame does a remarkable version of Northern Soul "There's a Ghost in My House." 

In 1982, the pop singers on the album that were happening at the moment like the excellent Billy MacKenzie (Associates), Heaven 17's Glenn Gregory, and TV announcer Paula Yates (tragic life that one) making mostly classic music from the 60s.  Gregory does the Jimmy Webb song "Witchita Lineman" as well as Lou Reed's "Perfect Day," which is from the 70s.  Ware and Marsh attempt to freeze an era through music, but the brilliant part is their choice of artists doing the material, yet working in the B.E.F. mode of production and vision. 

For me, MacKenzie never fails.  His version of Bowie's "The Secret Life of Arabia" and Roy Orbison's "It's Over" are magnificent due to Billy's voice and approach to these songs.  Having the Shadows' Hank Marvin on the Orbison song is a nice touch as well.  Again, it's the mixture of electronics with real instrumentation, as well as choosing the right iconic singer doing the material makes this album a real joy. 

Heaven 17 - "Penthouse and Pavement" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1981 (Virgin)

A bit of social-analysis seen through the noise and head of Sheffield's Heaven 17.  One of the great (and smart) synth-funk- pop albums ever.  One of the beauties of the album is that it's under-cooked with respect to production.  In its own fashion, the 'sound' is minimal, and not fussy.  Very straightforward and in one's face.  Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware were members of The Human League who made two great albums (with them in it) that pioneered the electro-experimental-pop sound. Very urban in a JG Ballard landscape that one imagines Sheffield as in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  They left Phil Oakley (lead singer/co-writer) of the League to form B.E.F. with the singer Glen Gregory,  and in theory, Heaven 17 is an off-shoot of this company/production house/art collective.  In many ways, a pop version of Public Image Ltd.  "Penthouse and Pavement" is an album about Capitalism and everything wrong with it, yet, done with beautiful melodies and a steady dance beat. 

This edition is very vinyl aesthetic.  Side one is the Pavement side (probably Situationist minded), and two is Penthouse side.  As the album format goes, this is very much thought out work of pop music making.  The first song on the Pavement side is "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang," a song that by all means should be the rallying cry in every demonstration against the corporate and political world.  Written in the Reagan/Maggie era, this song still holds up in today's environment. It's impossible not to shake your hips or move your hands up and down when this record is being played. The "Pavement" side is very groove orientated, compared to the pop leanings of the Penthouse, which has five incredible songs in a row.  Starting off with "Geisha Boys and Temple Girls" (a play of gender in that song) that lead to "Let's All Make a Bomb" which is probably the catchiest song about bomb-making ever in the pop music world.  "The Height of the Fighting" is a glam electro song, that also serves as an anthem, made perfectly for the local Football match or a political rally.  The entire side two is extremely focused on this type of music, where one feels 'action' is taking place instead of talking.  The album ends with "We're Going To Live For A Very Long Time" which never ends if you have a turntable that doesn't turn itself off.  The song continues in the runout until one picks up the record needle.    Fantastic end to a perfect album of its time and place (the early 1980s).

The one persistent style or influence that goes through Heaven 17 and early Human League is glam rock.   The Human League covered Mick Ronson's "After Dark" and Gary Glitter's "Rock n' Roll Part 2" and "Penthouse and Pavement" is very much soul meets glam.  Heaven 17 continued to make  good records, including their work with B.E.F. (British Electronic Foundation), but never came close to the brilliance and great songwriting of "Penthouse and Pavement." Also note that the album is engineered and co-produced by Peter Walsh, who worked on the later Scott Walker masterpieces.   And advice to the buyer, do get the British edition of this album on vinyl, just for the fantastic endless groove of "We're Going To Live For A Long Time." 

The Associates - "Perhaps" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1985 (WEA)

Billy MacKenzie's passions were in this order:  His dogs,  his family, and then music.  And I suspect he hated the music business. Which explains why he didn't go for the gold when it was evident that his talents were placed above so many others in the music world.  Without a doubt, his greatness was magnified by his work with Alan Rankine.  The first three Associates albums were magnificent in its scope, design and of course, the voice of MacKenzie.  When Rankine left the partnership, MacKenzie lost the driver, yet, he still made gorgeous pop music. 

"Perhaps" is the first album without Rankine, and it's produced by various people on different tracks. Martin Rushent did half, and Martyn Ware of Human League/Heaven 17/B.E.F. did the others, with some self-production by MacKenzie.  As a whole, the album sounds like a bunch of singles with the additional b-sides added to the package.   It doesn't have a consistency as the other Associates' albums.  On the other hand, you're going to get pop perfection in all its glory with songs like the title cut "Perhaps," "Those First Impressions," "Breakfast," "Thirteen Feelings," and others.  For one, the songwriting of Billy MacKenzie doesn't falter.  As a lyricist he's superb, but also he can sing the text off a cereal box and make it magnificent sounding.  For sure, with Rankine, he was pushing boundaries, and here he's singing magnificent pop.  The production makes the record sound very 1985, but if you go beyond that, there are incredible songs on this album.   In fact, over time in 1985, MacKenzie did a live concert with just his voice and a piano player.  Hardcore Billy music.  One of the great figures from the Post-Punk world, this album is essential to the Associates' world.  If for nothing else, for the comparison of the two sides of The Associates and just a reminder how great the Rankine/MacKenzie team were. 

British Electric Foundation - "Music Of Quality and Distinction Volume 3

British Electric Foundation - Music of Quality and Distinction Volume 3

16 x File, MP3, Album, UK, 2013

Wall of Sound

I thought the chances would be very slim that this would even be listenable, but alas, it’s a fantastic album.   It guess it took British Electric Foundation 20 some odd years to recover from Volume 2, which, without a doubt,  I tremendously disliked with a certain amount of passion.  But Volume 3 which came out of nowhere, well basically a typing mistake on Spotify, it came up upon my eyes. 

Like the other two volumes, British Electric Foundation (Heaven 17) chose specific artists to cover a song, and usually the song choices are really good, but sometimes I feel there is a subtext to their choices as well.  Nevertheless we Boy George doing Lou Reed’s “Make Up” and surprisingly The Stooges’ “I wanna Be Your Dog.”  Now that sounds like a strange mash-up of singer and song, but George does it well, and its a great track on this album.  

The one that really made me go gaga is someone named Maxim, who is a Russian pop singer.  He does the fantastic “The Day Before You Came” a masterpiece song from late ABBA.  His performance of the song resembles Joel Gray’s character in Cabaret.  Campy as hell and it works.  Glenn Gregory, who is the Heaven 17 singer comes up quite nicely with Frank Sinatra’ middle-age angst “It Was A Very Good Year” and a beautiful piano version of Billy MacKenzie’s (Associates) “Party Fears Two.”   And do we need another version of “God Only Knows?”  Sure, why not.  It is such a beautiful ballad, a Brian Wilson piece of genius work.  Overall this is a great collection of songs re-thunk by Martyn Ware.  In other words New Wave’s revenge.

British Electric Foundation - "Music Of Quality and Distinction Volume 2"

British Electric Foundation - Music of Quality and Distinction Volume 2

CD, Album, UK, 1991

10 Records

No.  Just plain no.  Compared to volume one, this is a major disappointment.  Not due to the talent that is involved with the album, but the arrangements and the song choices I feel are mediocre at best.  Even the great Billy MacKenzie comes off so-so, and a man of his talent should never ever be in that taste bracket.   The album reeks of middle-age thinking with a great lack of passion.  Imagine going to the worst yuppie bar on the planet, and this album being played - it will be the perfect soundtrack for that environment.    In theory this could have been an interesting album, with the Heaven 17 guys doing their take on soul music, but alas, it is passionate music done un-passion like.  No.  

British Electric Foundation - "Music Of Quality & Distinction Volume 1"

British Electric Foundation - Music Of Quality & Distinction Volume 1

I-Tunes, British, 1981

Virgin

For a brief time in my world, Heaven 17 were a very important band.   For one I was totally caught up in their juxtaposition of politics and pure electro-pop music.  To me they were an updated version of folk-music from Greenwich Village New York, but with suits and keyboards strapped on.  Also I liked their concept that their parent company was or is called British Electric Foundation, that sort of issues the Heaven 17 brand.  At the time they were in theory sort of the more commercial version of Public Image LTD.    One of the projects from the British Electric Foundation was their Music Of Quality & Distinction series, and this being number 1.  

When I got this album, I was totally intrigued on numerous levels.  On one level, it is Heaven 17 with interesting cast of characters doing their favorite songs.  But knowing their political point of view, I also saw it as a political statement of some sort, which to this day is very vague.  Nevertheless this album recorded in 1981, features songs from the ’60’s to the early ’70’s.   The ’70’s work being David Bowie and Lou Reed songs.  So there is a glam aspect to the package, with Reed, Bowie, and having Gary Glitter (the king of  glam?) doing an Elvis cover.  

I get the feeling that B.E.F. chose their artists for this album for both musical reasons as well as a cultural iconic stance.  A statement of some sort.  Tina Turner’s recording of “Ball of Confusion” started her even bigger career in the ’80’s and also brought forward ’60’s icon Sandie Shaw as well to the soup that is this album.  The Shadows’ legendary guitar player Hank Marvin plays on “It’s Over,” the great Roy Orbison song, here sung by the equally fantastic Billy MacKenzie.  

The talents of Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware (with their singer Glenn Gregory) made an interesting observation on music-past.  All the song selections are very much in-tuned to the world of Human League as well as Heaven 17 (of course).    A fascinating record of its time that still sounds good.