Digital Campfire presents Big Boost Mondays – Part 2 – Martyn Ware – BEF, Heaven 17 and beyond
Following our first instalment of Digital Campfire with Martyn Ware back in April, Martyn joined us again to kick off June for ‘Part 2 – Martyn Ware – BEF, Heaven 17 and beyond’ – a highly anticipated discussion into The Human League founder’s music career. We explored Heaven 17 and production company British Electric Foundation, how Martyn revitalised Tina Turner’s career and produced other artists, as well as his sound design company Illustrious. We also had an insight into Martyn’s involvement across the entire music industry as Board Member of The Ivors Academy, Visiting Professor and Hon DSc – Queen Mary College, University of London and much more! Attendees also enjoyed joining and meeting Martyn during a live Q&A session in a digital hangout after the talk.
We’ve gathered all the material and content from Part 2 of ditto’s discussion with Martyn. Explore this page to follow the journey of one of the U.K’s most prominent figures in synth music – with real audience responses & questions!
Heaven 17 - Temptation
‘Temptation’ is single by Heaven 17, originally released in April 1983 – reaching No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. This was the second single to be taken from their second album ‘The Luxury Gap’. In its first year, record sales of ’Temptation’ exceeded 250,000 copies and the single was certified as a silver by the British Phonographic Industry.
Tina Turner - Lets Stay Together
‘Let's Stay Together’, originally a track by Al Green, was covered by Tina Turner, in her second collaboration with the Heaven 17 and British Electric Foundation (BEF) after "Ball of Confusion" in 1982. Produced by BEF, this was the biggest selling 12” in America at the time and also hit number 1 on the US Dance Chart.
Erasure - Always
‘Always’ is from Erasure’s Number 1 album ‘I Say I Say I Say’, produced by Martyn Ware. Originally released in April 1994, the single reached number 4 in the UK charts. The video was directed by Jan Kounen, who also produced the Abba-esque videos, ‘Lay All Your Love On Me’ , ’S.O.S’ and ‘Voulez Vous’
Sea Inside us All - a coastal soundscape by Martyn Ware
This coastal soundscape was created by Martyn using sounds submitted as part of the 'sounds of our shore' project in 2015 - a partnership between the National Trust, British Library and National Trust for Scotland. Martyn has created a rich sonic journey around the 10,800 miles of the UK coastline. The soundscape includes Gabriel Ware’s beautiful orchestral compositions.
Martyn’s Career highlight track - Terence Trent D’Arby - Sign your name
‘Sign Your Name’ was written and performed by Terence Trent D'Arby (now known as Sananda Maitreya). Released on his 1987 album ‘Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby’, produced by Martyn Ware, it was an international success reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart in early 1988 and number four on the US Billboard Hot 100.
SUPPORTING WEBSITES
For more ‘Heaven 17’, ‘BEF’ and Martyn Ware content, please check out the links below. From fan pages to dedicated band sites, join the growing online communities celebrating electronic synth music.
Audience comments:
Campfire // Martyn Ware Podcast
Listen to Radio ditto’s Part 1 of ‘Campfire // Martyn Ware’ podcast. In this episode, had an honest chat with Martyn about his journey from humble beginnings in Sheffield, dropping out of school to help support his family, and how his downtime between working night shifts gave him the opportunity to experiment with electronic music – creating the track ‘Being Boiled’ which sold 5000 copies by word of mouth and gained airtime from John Peel, attracting the attention of Virgin Records and EMI. We asked how Martyn dealt with the transition of art to business and what happens to creativity when commercials come into play. Martyn also shares how he wrote, recorded and produced The Human League’s first two albums ‘Travelogue’ and ‘Reproduction’, along with tensions that arise within a creative enterprise, and how to bounce back with vigour.
Martyn Ware
Mike Wilson
Related Posts
