"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" | ||||
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Single by Heaven 17 | ||||
from the album Penthouse and Pavement | ||||
B-side | "The Decline of the West" | |||
Released | 13 March 1981 [1] [2] | |||
Studio | Maison Rouge (Sheffield) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:20 [6] | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | British Electric Foundation | |||
Heaven 17 singles chronology | ||||
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Official audio | ||||
"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" on YouTube |
"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" is a song by British synth-pop band Heaven 17. It was their debut single, released on 13 March 1981, and the lead single from their debut studio album, Penthouse and Pavement (1981). It was a minor hit in the UK in 1981, despite being banned by the BBC. It was also a minor dance hit in the US. It developed from an instrumental, "Groove Thang", that Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh created earlier that year for Music for Stowaways , an album they released as British Electric Foundation.
"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" was written by Heaven 17 members Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn Gregory and included on their 1981 debut album Penthouse and Pavement . [7] It was the first single released by the band. [6]
AllMusic reviewer Stewart Mason describes the song as "clattering and jangled", with multiple electronic rhythm tracks played simultaneously making the song seem faster than its nominal tempo. [6]
In the lyrics fascism and racism are described in an ironic fashion, using the lexicon of funk music. The lyrics of the song also reference the recent election of Ronald Reagan as President of the United States; [6] [8] the song was banned by the BBC due to concerns by Radio 1's legal department that it libelled Reagan by describing him as a "fascist god in motion". [9] [10]
Despite the BBC ban, "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" reached number 45 on the UK singles chart. [11] It debuted on that chart on 21 March 1981 and peaked one week later. [11] The single peaked at number 72 in Australia, [12] and was a minor dance hit in the U.S., reaching number 29 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart in 1981. [13] The song was ranked at number 4 among the top 10 "Tracks of the Year" for 1981 by NME . [14]
Heaven 17:
with:
A Rapino Brothers remix of "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" was released as a single in 1993, reaching number 40 in the UK Singles Chart. [16] The remix and original version of the song were included on the compilation album Higher and Higher – The Best of Heaven 17 , released in the same year.
Radio 1 remained wary in the political arena and in 1981 its legal department advised Heaven 17 that their hit 'We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thing' libeled American President Ronald Reagan by calling him a 'fascist'. So the BBC dropped it...