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. 

The All Seeing I - "Pickled Eggs & Sherbet" CD, Album, 1999 (London Records)

The All Seeing I is an obscure music project from the town Sheffield, and its existence is really due to the honor and being proud of one's town.   The feeling here is a group of musicians who asked for volunteers to help out on Sheffield Proud Day.  The good thing is that Sheffield is very rich in talent, and therefore you have the Human League's Phil Oakey, Tony Christie (the Jack Jones of Sheffield, and that's a compliment), the electro-DJ- team All Seeing I, with Sheffield's leading citizen of 1999, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp.  

The All Seeing I is the foundation for this album, and pretty much wrote most of the music with Jarvis writing the lyrics.  There is also a cover of Sonny Bono's great "The Beat Goes On," and the other vocalists Lisa Millett, Steve Edwards are also very much part of the Sheffield world.  In a sense, this album is an aural documentary on Sheffield the city and its culture.  It is also a great album.

Jarvis Cocker is the chief reason why I purchased this CD, and I was intrigued that he wrote a song for Phil Oakey to sing, "1st Man in Space" which sounds more like Human League than any thing else.  Which is fantastic.   Human League is very much a band that is clearly from Sheffield. It's outer space music, and sort of treat their home town as if it was a city on another planet.  A great technique to write about one's world, as something outer-worldly.   Cocker at times appears to be an alien as well, but one who was grounded by the city's character.  Which comes to Tony Christie, who is obscure, underrated, and fantastic.  His songs on the album "Happy Birthday Nicola," "Stars on Sunday," and the single from the album "Walk Like A Panther" are brilliant.  Christie has that lounge aesthetic but with something extra.   Perhaps hooking up with these misfits has given Christie a unique edge.  "Pickled Eggs & Sherbet" is a great one-off project, and for me, puts Sheffield into my consciousness, just like Hollywood or vintage Manhattan. 

The Human League - "Reproduction" Vinyl, LP, UK, 1979 (Virgin)

If J.G. Ballard had a soundtrack to his novels, it would more likely be the early edition of The Human League.   If Kraftwerk represented a "Germany" that is both realistic and what we think as German, then surely the League is British in that same fashion.  Very electronic and minimal with respect to their arrangements, it is basically synths, and Philip Oakey's always distant, yet heartfelt singing.  It's music that is very much part of the Industrial English cities landscape, but with insight into the future or a sense of dread that things are not that hot.  It does have a relationship with glam rock, but almost a scholarly view of that music from the recent past.   Its roots are Gary Glitter, but as listened to by someone in the future who is looking back to a much more cynical point than their present time.  Which is shit.  But when you have nothing, great things can happen upon you.

"Circus of Death" makes reference to "Hawaii 5-0" and its exotic culture via an American TV show is redefined by Oakey and company.   There is no fear of technology of what the future will bring, because The Human League looks back at old culture junk, and somehow make it all new again.  This is the sound of four guys in a group, or collective, that are commenting and reshaping their world.  Listening to their music you can feel the English damp weather, and their electro-glam sound is hypnotic with catchy beats and sublime melodies.  "Empire State Human" is a masterpiece.  And their version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" feels just right in their hands.  Ian Marsh, Martyn Ware (future Heaven 17), Philip Adrian Wright (responsible for their slides & film, and yet, a full-time member of The Human League) and of course, Oakey served a bleak, cold world, but I could live there.