From pavement to penthouse - interview with Glenn Gregory from Heaven 17

WITH albums called Penthouse and Pavement and The Luxury Gap, Heaven 17 may seem intrinsic to the decedent ’80s, but dig a little deeper, and they had something serious to say about the decade of excess. GLENN GREGORY reminds CATRIONA REEVES of the message behind the music.

CATRIONA REEVES: Heaven 17 had a rather suave image, but the band actually came out of the Sheffield electro-pop scene, which as depicted in the 2010 BBC Two documentary Heaven 17: The Story of Penthouse and Pavement, all looked a bit gritty. Were you a band on a mission to escape that?

GLENN GREGORY: Not at all: Sheffield has been really good to us. Back in the ’70s, Sheffield was in economic decline, with the steelworks and cutlery industry collapsing, so it was quite a depressed place. There were no music venues, so we used to travel to Manchester, Leeds and even Liverpool to see bands. 

We were all living in the closed-down cutlery factories because they were so cheap. The Human League [originally featuring future Heaven 17 members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh] had their first studio in the one of the factories, and we also used them to start putting on our own little club nights. In a way, because the city was on its knees and falling apart, out of the ashes came a new verve and excitement.

Sheffield is quite a left wing city - it’s sometimes called the Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire - so there was a political slant to what was going on as well, especially when Thatcher stuck the knife in to the steelworks.

Lyrically, The Human League were guided by Phil [Oakey], who liked things a bit strange and sci-fi, a little bit odd. So when I joined up with Martyn and Craig to form Heaven 17, we knew that we wanted to do things differently - to say something political, but not in a preachy way; we wanted to make something you could dance to.

CR: Do you think that your fans realised that was what you were doing? Did they listen to the lyrics, or did they just look at the slick album covers and take them as face value?

GG: It was probably a 50-50 split: some people understood the irony of our message, but then City boys came into being, and they thought it was all about them.

CR: Basically, you unintentionally invented Yuppies, didn’t you.

GG: Nooooo! Please not!

CR: You and Martyn Ware continue to record as Heaven 17, and also as British Electric Foundation [BEF]. Do you still aim create the original electro-pop synth sound on your records?

GG: Some sounds we love and are comfortable with, and we’ve still got some of the old synths, including the one that Being Boiled  [The Human League’s first single] was written on - they still work, and we still use them. But there are some excellent new synths available now, and computer programs which can recreate the sounds of the classic old synths, which are amazing. They sound just like they did in Martyn’s studio all those years ago.

We’re currently writing new BEF material, and working on it with lots of different artists, including Green Gartside from Scritti Politti, Sandi Shaw and Boy George. We’re very privileged, and proud of everything we do.

CR: You’ve never actually disbanded - although Ian Craig Marsh has now left - but there was definitely a resurgence in interest around the time of Penthouse and Pavement’s 30th anniversary in 2010. Have you been discovered by a new generation?

GG: Definitely - It’s not all 40-somethings at our gigs now. La Roux’s support of us around the same time helped bring us to the attention of younger fans. We did a BBC session with them, and then I sang Temptation on stage with them at Glastonbury. 

Waiting backstage, I wasn’t sure if the crowd would know who I was, but when Elly [Jackson, La Roux’s singer] brought me on, the whole place erupted - it was great. I came off stage and Florence Welch from Florence + the Machine gave me a big hug - she wanted me to come out on stage again and sing with her!

I never mind singing Temptation - it’s one of those songs that always raises the roof, no matter where we play it. We really enjoy revisiting our old songs - when we started reworking Penthouse and Pavement in the studio in preparation for performing it live in its entirety for the 30th anniversary tour, we were surprised how contemporary and fresh it sounded.

CR: You’re playing the Rewind festival this weekend - do you enjoy meeting up with other acts from the ’80s?

GG: In the old days we were almost rivals, fighting for the number one spot or slots on Top of the Pops or The Tube; but these days it’s like a big school trip; we’re all there to make people happy. I always go out the front to watch some of the other acts. I love watching ABC. Martin Fry is a star performer, and part of the Sheffield crew like me.

We’ve done Rewind a couple of times, and it’s one of the best festivals of its type. The venue’s fantastic - I was stunned the first time I saw it, although I think it’s grown massively since then. My mum and dad came to the first Rewind, and they want to come again. It’s such good fun.

CR: You were good friends with the late Billy Mackenzie from The Associates, and you often perform his song Party Fears Two in your set. Is that an important song for you to perform.

GG: It certainly is. When I sing it, I have fantastic memories and pictures of Billy in my head. It gets me quite emotional. I have a whippet called Bill, who is named after Billy, because he bred them, and gave me my first puppy. He loved dogs even more than he loved his music. 

Rather confusingly, our female singer is also called Billie [Godfrey] - no, she’s not named after the whippet!

* Heaven 17 play Rewind, The 80s Festival on Saturday, August 17 at Temple Island Meadows, Henley-on-Thames. For information, visit www.rewindfestival.com

• First published on www.newburytoday.co.uk

Loving her happy holidays - interview with Sonia

PERKY popstrel SONIA still loves performing her hits to crowds at festivals and retro gigs most weekends - and now she gets to take her daughter along on her “happy holidays”. CATRIONA REEVES spoke to her ahead of the Henley Rewind festival.

CATRIONA REEVES: Of course I love all your hits - I’m just the right age - but don’t you get a bit bored of singing them?

SONIA EVANS: Not at all! Gigging is my life, and I’m very lucky to have a job I love. My husband is my tour manager, and our little girl, who has just turned three, comes with us to gigs, wearing her ear defenders. She loves our weekends touring the country - she calls them our “happy holidays”.

Festivals such as Rewind are like a massive party. I did my first one in Bradford in May, and it was amazing; thousands of people singing my songs word-for-word.

CR: You were part of the Stock Aitken & Waterman Hit Factory - do you have fond memories of those years?

SE: I was only 17 when I got signed and 18 when I had my first hit. I had an amazing time travelling the world and staying in the best hotels. My first time on Top of the Pops was a dream come true. I was part of a team with Kylie, Jason and Rick Astley - of course I loved every minute of it!

CR: What did you think of Dawn French’s ultra-bubbly impression of you in a French & Saunders sketch?

SE: At the time I was a bit embarrassed, but now I’m quite cool with it - they only did impressions of people who were mega famous, so it was actually very flattering, and she looked like me! I actually met Dawn sometime later - I was at a Stonewall gig, and Paul O’Grady told me that Dawn was hiding from me in the toilets because she was scared of what I’d say!

CR: Ah yes, Paul O’Grady - as “Bunty” you are the daughter of his alter-ego Lily Savage. Are you two really good buddies?

SE: Oh yes - Paul is such a lovely guy; we can talk for hours, and I adore his dog buster. I once went on his Radio Two show - we were so busy gassing that we got told off by his manager! We’d almost forgotten that we were on the radio, and no one else would have a clue what we were on about; we were just catching up!

I had a ball with Lily Savage. It all started with a four-month run in Blackpool - I wasn’t a character, it was just Lily, and then I came on and sang during the show. But during that run, Bunty was born.

We went on to do a tour, and a show for the BBC with Lily and Bunty. I really enjoyed it - I did a drama degree, so I love acting. I do panto every Christmas - I’ve done 14 altogether. This year I’m going to be the Good Fairy in Jack & the Beanstalk in New Brighton, on the Wirral. I think my favourite was Peter Pan. I took to flying really quickly! 

I’d like to get into TV drama in the future, maybe have a part in a soap. I’d love to play a real cow - a character that people wouldn’t expect!

* Sonia plays Rewind, The 80s Festival on Sunday, August 18 at Temple Island Meadows, Henley-on-Thames. For information, visit www.rewindfestival.com

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on August 15, 2013

Ever the Rebel - interview with Steve Harley

Photo by Mike Callow

FORTY years after the release of their debut album, STEVE HARLEY and his band  are still going strong and playing live. CATRIONA REEVES discovers if the decades have mellowed the Cockney Rebel.

CATRIONA REEVES: It has been suggested that your second album, 1974’s The Psychomodo, is your masterpiece - would you agree?

STEVE HARLEY: I don’t like to think that I’ve painted my masterpiece yet - there’s always a new canvas! I still strive to create it, and I think it’s still within me. I wouldn’t consider any of my songs or albums to be perfect, I’m a born worrier apart from when I’m in the spotlight and playing.

I know that Psychomodo is cited as an influence on a lot of people. We played it in its entirety November with an orchestra and choir, alongside the whole of the first album, The Human Menagerie, and it felt pretty huge.

While I was performing those early songs, I started to wonder who that young me was, and where those songs came from. It doesn’t particularly impress me that I created them, but they’re from so long ago that it does feel like someone else wrote them. These are the words and emotions of an angry young man, which is fine, but you can’t carry on like that when you get older.

CR: So, you don’t feel that you still have the same anger within you these days?

SH: Angry old men are pub bores. Anyway, I’m settled down now, I’ve got lovely children, and I get to travel the world. I’m not “Sting” rich, but I have paintings on the wall and beautiful things around me. It’s hard to write an angry song when you’re fairly content with life.

We played at the Isle of Wight Festival last month, and I went out front after our set to watch the Boomtown Rats - Bob Geldof still performs as an angry teenager, all angst and aggression. I don’t want to be like that. It’s rather ill-fitting, and also looks quite exhausting. I’ve got kids of 30 and 27; I don’t want to be the oldest teen on the block. I can’t be bothered with all that attitude and looking like a rock star. It’s not becoming at my age. 

CR: It seems like the music press gave you a bit of a hard time in the ’70s. As a former journalist yourself, did that bother you?

SH: I didn’t mind all the jibing in the music press, it was just a bit of fun and it didn’t bother me. For all the criticism there was plenty of praise. I still feel the same - there are a couple of performers out there who seem to be universally adored, and that’s just sycophantic. 

There’s a lot of sycophants among reviewers - I just wish some of them were on my side! To be fair, there are a few reviewers who do like me. But most people who come along to see us know who we are and what we do, and aren’t influenced by a review. Of course I like to read good, kind words, but I’ve been going so long that I’m indestructible.

CR: There’s a story that the reason that your single Black Or White failed to chart in late 1975 was that EMI had put all its marketing budget behind Bohemian Rhapsody. Do you think there’s any truth in that?

SH: Black Or Wight and Bohemian Rhapsody were released very close to each other, but I’ve never heard that speculation! EMI were always very good to me, and I can’t see why they wouldn’t want a band signed to them to have a hit just because another is doing so well. I’m a fatalist, and if a song isn’t a hit, that’s just the way it is. We played Black Or White with the orchestra last year  - the first time I’ve ever performed it on stage - and it sounded wonderful. It certainly felt like a hit then.

CR: You’re playing the Rewind Festival in Henley next month - will you be playing your fist single, Sebastian? It’s rather good.

SH: We only get to do a very short set at Rewind - about half an hour, so we’ll just be doing the hits, getting off stage, and getting an early dinner. I would love to do Sebastian, as it’s enormous on stage, but it’s about eight minutes long, so don’t hold me to it! Make Me Smile, is about seven minutes, so if we did Sebastian as well, we’d only fit in about three songs!

Of course we’ll do Make Me Smile, as it was our number one hit - although it puts pressure on our guitarist to get the solo right note for note, because the audience sing along. There’s no room for interpretation on that one - deviate from the original, and you’re sacked!

We do a lot of outdoor shows in the summer - we’re doing two others that weekend. They may only be short sets, but I enjoy them, because it always feels like you start off playing to strangers and end up winning friends.

* Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel will be performing at the Rewind, The 80s Festival, at Temple Island Meadows, Henley-on-Thames, on Saturday, August 17. Visit www.rewindfestival.com for ticket information.

They will also be playing a full band show at The Anvil in Basingstoke on November 19. Visit www.anvilarts.org.uk for tickets.

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on August 8, 2013

The one and only - interview with Nik Kershaw

FORMER jazz-funk guitarist NIK KERSHAW became a teen idol in the ’80s before going on to write hits for other singers, including Chesney Hawkes’ number one, The One And Only. Now he’s preparing to re-live his own time as a pop star at the Rewind Festival.

CATRIONA REEVES: You’re still writing new songs for yourself and other people - but do you enjoy getting back on stage and singing your old hits?

NIK KERSHAW: I love it. I went through a period of resisting playing them, but they’re great songs, and I’m not ashamed of them. It’s amazing to think that it’s 30 years since I wrote Wouldn’t It Be Good. I still remember that the tune came into my head, and wouldn’t leave me alone - it was demanding to be written. I never thought that I nailed the lyrics though, until it was a massive hit. Then I decided that it was probably alright!

CR: Talking of lyrics, your song The Riddle remains an unsolved mystery. What is the answer?

NK: The Riddle actually started off as a guide lyric - just nonsense I wrote down while writing the song. My second album [also called The Riddle] was released in a hurry on the back of the success of my first album, Human Racing [they were both released in 1984], and in the end, we just had to get the song recorded as it was! I did try changing the lyrics, but nothing else worked.

My record label loved it though - they made it into a competition for people to solve The Riddle, but I don’t think anyone ever won - how could they, when even I don’t know the answer! It’s great that the song still gets radio play. It’s what the Americans call an “earworm”.

CR: You spent a long time away from performing, to write and produce music for other people, but now you’re doing it for yourself again. What made you decide to give it another go?

NK: I feel like I’m a different person to who I was 30 years ago. Music is a weird business, you often have your biggest success when you’re still serving your apprenticeship, and then over the years you improve your craft, but by then your fans have moved on and they’re not interested anymore.

When I play a set at somewhere like Rewind, I often tease the crowd with “this is a song from my new album.... only joking!” At somewhere like Rewind, I know what the crowd want, and I’m happy to give it to them.

CR: Seeing as Chesney Hawkes is also on the Rewind bill, will you be performing your own version of The One And Only?

NK: Certainly not! We’re close friends; I’ve seen Chesney perform it many times, and to do it myself would be a bit rude!

CR: Back in the ‘80s, you were a bit of a style icon, and pretty much launched the fashion for snoods. Do you consider that your biggest cultural impact?

NK: Around that time, I did an awful lot of photo sessions - I must have only worn a snood about four times, but each time I was photographed, and that’s what I became known for! A couple of years ago, there was a big thing in the press about footballers wearing snoods, and I was called up by TalkSport to come on the radio and talk about it. I declined - I don’t really consider myself a snood expert.

CR: It was also documented at the time that you mainly bought your clothes in girls’ fashion shops. Is that still the case?

NK: Certainly not - these days I shop in Gap Kids!

* Nik Kershaw plays Rewind, The 80s Festival on Saturday, August 17 at Temple Island Meadows, Henley-on-Thames. For information, visit www.rewindfestival.com

• First published in the Newbury Weekly News on July 25, 2013