Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang

Heaven 17, "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (LP Version)" (YSI link)

Heaven 17,. "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (Full Length 12" Mix)" (YSI link)

Back with a bang, a classic 80s synth pop dance classic. Heaven 17 were a new wave-y band that was intimately connected to the amazing electronic rock music coming out of the UK in the early 80s. The band was formed by Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware when they split from their group called Human League. Perhaps you've heard of them? The duo formed a production company called British Electric Foundation (BEF), eventually adding Glenn Gregory on vocals and becoming Heaven 17. They never quite broke into the big-time, although they did enjoy a few songs that charted, including this one above.

"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang," the band's first single, hit #45 on the UK Charts, despite the fact that it was banned by Radio 1 DJ Mike Read. I love this song so much, it makes me want to start a dance party with Emma Goldman in a huge warehouse with lots of love and organizing and fun. You get all here: rad political lyrics about the horrible political landscape of the 80s with Reagan and Thatcher, that great UK drum machine and synth sound, clattering percussion, some nice keys and horns filling out the sound. I cannot begin to explain how great it is to hear dance music with such an explicit political edge; as much as I love the booty shit and the disco and house calls for love and sex and happiness, there's something inspiring about hearing dudes who understand just how radical it is to make people dance. That abandon, that mixing of bodies, that's a revolution every night people! Download this! Organize! Yeah!