(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang

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"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang"
Heaven17FascistGrooveThang.jpg
Single by Heaven 17
from the album Penthouse and Pavement
B-side "The Decline of the West"
Released13 March 1981 [1] [2]
Studio B.E.F.–Maison Rouge (Sheffield)
Genre
Length4:20 [6]
Label Virgin
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) British Electric Foundation
Heaven 17 singles chronology
"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang"
(1981)		"I'm Your Money"
(1981)
Official audio
"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" on YouTube

"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" is a song by the English synth-pop band Heaven 17. It was their debut single, released on 13 March 1981 by Virgin Records, 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.

Contents

Details and ban by the BBC

"(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 debut studio album Penthouse and Pavement (1981). [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 suffered reluctance from UK radio stations to play it and it 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] The BBC also informed Heaven 17 that the Reagan reference would need to be changed if they wished to appear on Top of the Pops . To promote the single, Virgin commissioned radio advertisements at a cost of £3,000, but these were initially banned by the Independent Broadcasting Authority for breaching its guidelines that no advert "may show partiality regarding political, religious or industrial controversy". The band responded by recording an altered set of lyrics for it, which changed "Reagan, fascist guard" to "Stateside cowboy guard". [11]

Reception and chart performance

Despite the BBC ban, "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" reached number 45 on the UK singles chart. [12] It debuted on that chart on 21 March 1981 and peaked one week later. [12] The single peaked at number 72 in Australia, [13] and was a minor dance hit in the US, reaching number 29 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles chart in 1981. [14] The song was ranked at number 4 among the top 10 "Tracks of the Year" for 1981 by NME . [15]

Personnel

Heaven 17

Additional musicians

Remix

A Rapino Brothers remix of "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" was released as a single in 1993, reaching number 40 on the UK singles chart. [17] 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.

Cover versions

See also

References

  1. ↑ "BUILDING AN ELECTRIC FOUNDATION (British Electric Foundation press release)". Discogs .
  2. ↑ "Record Mirror, March 14, 1981" (PDF). p. 3.
  3. 1 2 Borthwick, Stuart; Moy, Ron (2004). Popular Music Genres: An Introduction. Routledge. p. 129. ISBN   9780415973694.
  4. ↑ Evans, Richard (6 August 2024). "1981.3". Listening to the Music the Machines Make: Inventing Electronic Pop 1978-1983. Omnibus Press. pp. 284–285. ISBN   978-1-915841-45-2.
  5. ↑ Reynolds, Simon (1 January 2005). "Play to Win: The Pioneers of New Pop". Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. Faber & Faber. p. 372. ISBN   0-571-21570-X . Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Mason, Stewart. "Heaven 17: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang". allmusic . Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  7. ↑ LeRoy, Dan. "Heaven 17: Penthouse and Pavement". allmusic . Archived from the original on 10 December 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  8. ↑ Clark, Tristan (1 November 2007). Stick this in your memory hole. aduki independent press. p. 38. ISBN   978-0-9803351-2-5 . Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  9. ↑ Cloonan, Martin (1996). Banned: Censorship of Popular Music in Britain: 1967-1992. Ashgate Publishing. p. 117. ISBN   1-85742-300-3. 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...
  10. ↑ Heaven 17 – (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang , retrieved 25 May 2023
  11. ↑ Derek Johnson, ed. (4 April 1981). "'Fascist Groove' - IBA put the jackboot in". New Musical Express . p. 3. ISSN   0028-6362.
  12. 1 2 "Official Charts > Heaven 17". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 137. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  14. ↑ "Heaven 17: Billboard singles". AllMusic . Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  15. ↑ "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  16. ↑ "We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang". Song facts. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  17. ↑ "HEAVEN 17 | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
  18. ↑ "Deine Lakaien - Into My Arms". Discogs. 1999.
  19. ↑ Yoo, Noah (11 January 2019). "LCD Soundsystem Detail New Live Album Electric Lady Sessions". Pitchfork . Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  20. ↑ Blistein, Jon (20 August 2020). "The Dead Milkmen Drop Punchy Cover of Heaven 17's '(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang'". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 25 December 2020.
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