Classic "stupid line" in classic single
I was feeling nostalgic during my four-day weekend, so I hauled out several of my old 12-inch singles, including the funky 1981 release "(WE DON'T NEED THIS) FASCIST GROOVE THANG" by Sheffield trio HEAVEN 17.I love the story of the band writing and recording the single, as reported in a contemporary interview in Britain's NME music newspaper.
"We were going through the disco charts in Record Mirror picking out all the words from those absurd disco titles," Heaven 17's MARTYN WARE told the paper. "We were laughing at those phrases, thinking they're pretty good and then we just chucked in 'How Much Longer Must We Tolerate This Fascist Groove Thang.' We were pissing ourselves for days. (Heaven 17 vocalist) GLENN (GREGORY) has to sing it line by line in the studio. We've got loads of out takes of him cracking up whilst singing. It was (the line) 'hot you ass I feel your power' that did him... a classic stupid line."
I would love to hear those out takes some day. They would be a perfect addition to some expanded edition CD.
posted by erik hogstrom at 7:18 AM
1 Comments:
Gotta love the first two Heaven 17 records. I think they've already been re-released a couple times with bonus tracks. If they had more of a following, a la the Cure or Depeche Mode, then I could see them getting the same kind of deluxe 2CD Rhino set that those bands got with outtakes, videos, documentaries, etc.
I think I like these guys better than the post-breakup Human League, even tho HL was the bigger success.
Oh, on "Fascist Groove Thang," I love how they pronounce "Reagan." You know--"Reeegen is the President-elect...Fascist god in motion." Brilliant stuff!
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