"(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.
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]
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 BillboardDance 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]
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.
Cover versions
Scottish post-punk band The Fire Engines covered the song for a 23 February 1981 Peel session on BBC Radio 1.
German dark wave project Deine Lakaien featured a cover on the 1999 CD Maxi "Into My Arms" (as "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing").[17]
American synth-pop band Information Society covered the song in 2016 for their album Orders of Magnitude. It was remixed by Inertia and The Crusher for the DEF CON 24 music compilation that same year, featuring multiple voice samples of American president elect Donald Trump.
American post-punk band 100 Flowers covered the song in 2017 for release as a digital single.
American rock band LCD Soundsystem released a cover of the song on 2 November 2018, with the lyrics altered to reference Donald Trump instead of Reagan, and included it on their live album Electric Lady Sessions (2019).[18]
Philadelphia punk rock band The Dead Milkmen released a cover August 21, 2020 on a limited-release 7", with proceeds to benefit the charity Girls Rock Philly.[19]
↑ Cloonan, Martin (1996). Banned: Censorship of Popular Music in Britain: 1967-1992. Ashgate Publishing. p.117. ISBN1-85742-300-3. 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...
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