Glenn Gregory

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Glenn Gregory
Glenn Gregory.jpg
Gregory performing live with Heaven 17, in July 2021
Background information
Birth nameGlenn Peter Gregory
Born (1958-05-16) 16 May 1958 (age 66)
Origin Sheffield, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • multi-instrumentalist
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • keyboards
  • saxophone
  • bass guitar
Years active1979–present
Labels

Glenn Peter Gregory (born 16 May 1958) [1] is a British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of the new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, which released several UK chart hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including “Temptation”, “Let Me Go”, “Come Live with Me”, “Crushed by the Wheels of Industry”, “Sunset Now”, “This Is Mine”, and “(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang”

Contents

Early years

Glenn Peter Gregory was born on 16 May 1958 in Sheffield, England. His father, Howard, was a steel worker. As a teenager, he wanted to be an actor, but he worked in London as a photographer. [2]

Music career

In 1977, Gregory was part of the band 57 Men, formed by Jack Hues and Nick Feldman, who both later formed the band Wang Chung. [3]

Gregory knew the founding members of the Human League for many years. He had been singing and playing bass guitar in bands with Ian Craig Marsh since 1973. In early 1981, he was contacted by Martyn Ware after the original incarnation of the Human League broke up, and was asked to join Heaven 17, a new band resulting from the break-up. [4]

The band Heaven 17 included the trio of Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh, and Gregory as lead singer. The band released eight studio albums, and had many hits in the UK. However, by the late 1980s their popularity had declined. The band broke up in 1988, but reunited in 1996, [5] and played their first ever live concert in 1997. Marsh left the band in 2007, but Ware and Gregory continued to perform as Heaven 17.

In 1984, Gregory contributed to the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", singing the line "No rain nor rivers flow". [6]

Outside Heaven 17, Gregory has been a member of the bands Ugly and Honeyroot, as well as working with ABC, Tina Turner, Grace Jones, Propaganda, Terence Trent D'Arby, Ultravox, La Roux and John Lydon. [4] He was a member of the "supergroup" Holy Holy. [7] He has also established a career in soundtrack music, writing for radio, TV and film. He creates scores in a private studio built at the bottom of his garden. [2]

Personal life

In 1983, Gregory married singer Sarah Osborne of the Belgian pop group Allez Allez, but the two divorced after about three years. Gregory then married his second wife Lindsay who works for a design company. The couple have a son, Louis. [8] [9]

Discography

Heaven 17

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heaven 17</span> English new wave and synth-pop band

Heaven 17 are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of founding Human League members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) with vocalist Glenn Gregory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Human League</span> English synth-pop band

The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981 after restructuring their lineup. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit "Don't You Want Me". The band received the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982. Further hits followed throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, including "Mirror Man", "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", "The Lebanon", "Human" and "Tell Me When".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wang Chung (band)</span> British new wave band

Wang Chung is an English new wave band, formed in London in 1980 by Nick Feldman, Jack Hues and Darren Costin. The name Wang Chung is Chinese, meaning "yellow bell" in English, and is the first note in the Chinese classical music scale. The band found their greatest success in the US, with five top 40 hits there, all charting between 1983 and 1987, including "Dance Hall Days", "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and "Let's Go!".

<i>Penthouse and Pavement</i> 1981 studio album by Heaven 17

Penthouse and Pavement is the debut studio album by English synth-pop band Heaven 17, released in September 1981 by Virgin Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martyn Ware</span> English musician

Martyn Ware is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer, and music programmer. As a founding member of both the Human League and Heaven 17, Ware co-wrote hit songs such as "Being Boiled" and "Temptation".

B.E.F. was a band/production company formed by former Human League members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh which became largely eclipsed by its best-known project, Heaven 17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Let Me Go (Heaven 17 song)</span> 1982 single by Heaven 17

"Let Me Go" is a song by English synthpop band Heaven 17, released as the lead single from their second album The Luxury Gap. It reached #41 on the UK Singles Chart, the lowest chart placement among the singles from that album but their highest at the time of its release.

<i>The Luxury Gap</i> 1983 studio album by Heaven 17

The Luxury Gap is the second studio album by English synth-pop band Heaven 17, released on 25 April 1983 by Virgin Records. It is the band's best-selling studio album, peaking at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart – eventually becoming the 17th best-selling album of the year – and being certified platinum by the BPI in 1984.

<i>How Men Are</i> 1984 studio album by Heaven 17

How Men Are is the third studio album by English synth-pop band Heaven 17, released on 24 September 1984 by Virgin Records. The album peaked at No. 12 in the UK and was certified Silver by the BPI in October 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temptation (Heaven 17 song)</span> 1983 single by Heaven 17

"Temptation" is a single by British band Heaven 17 featuring Carol Kenyon, originally released in April 1983 by Virgin Records, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart. This was the second single to be taken from their second album, The Luxury Gap (1983), after "Let Me Go" in November 1982. It was written by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, and produced by B.E.F. and Greg Walsh. The music video for the song was directed by Steve Barron. "Temptation" was certified silver by the BPI in May 1983, for sales exceeding 250,000 copies, subsequently listed by the Official Charts Company as the 34th best-selling single of 1983 in the UK.

Ian Craig Marsh is an English musician and composer. He was a founding member of the electronic band the Human League, writing and playing on their first two albums and several singles, until leaving in 1980 to form the British Electric Foundation and later Heaven 17.

<i>Before After</i> 2005 studio album by Heaven 17

Before After is the seventh studio album by the English synth-pop band Heaven 17. It was originally released in September 2005, on the label Ninthwave, nine years after their previous album, Bigger Than America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang</span> 1981 single by Heaven 17

"(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 6 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Ballad of Go Go Brown</span> 1988 single by Heaven 17

"The Ballad of Go Go Brown" is a song by the British new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, released on 15 August 1988 as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho. The song was written and produced by band members Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware. "The Ballad of Go Go Brown" reached number 91 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for two weeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Contenders (song)</span> 1986 single by Heaven 17

"Contenders" is a song by the British new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, released on 6 October 1986 as the first single from their fourth studio album, Pleasure One. It was written and produced by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware. The song reached No. 80 in the UK and spent four weeks on the chart. It also reached No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard Dance/Club Play Singles Chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunset Now</span> 1984 single by Heaven 17

"Sunset Now" is a song by the British new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, released on 20 August 1984 as the first single from their third studio album, How Men Are (1984). It was written by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, and produced by Marsh and Ware and Greg Walsh. It reached No. 24 in the UK, remaining on the charts for six weeks on. A music video was filmed to promote the single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">This Is Mine</span> 1984 single by Heaven 17

"This Is Mine" is a song by the British new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, released on 19 October 1984 as the second single from their third studio album, How Men Are (1984). It was written by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, and produced by Marsh and Greg Walsh. The song reached No. 23 in the UK, remaining in the charts for seven weeks. It would be the band's last Top 30 single until 1992's "Temptation "

<span class="mw-page-title-main">...(And That's No Lie)</span> 1985 single by Heaven 17

"...(And That's No Lie)" is a song by the British new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, released on 7 January 1985 as the third single from their third studio album, How Men Are (1984). The song was written by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, and produced by Ware and Greg Walsh. It reached number 52 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for five weeks. A music video was filmed to promote the single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Foolish Thing to Do</span> 1986 single by Heaven 17

"The Foolish Thing to Do" is a song by the British synthpop band Heaven 17, featuring American singer Jimmy Ruffin. It was released by Virgin on 21 April 1986 as a non-album single. The song was written by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh, Martyn Ware and Nick Plytas, and produced by Marsh and Ware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Designing Heaven</span> 1996 single by Heaven 17

"Designing Heaven" is a song by the British new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, released in 1996 as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Bigger Than America. It was written by band members Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, and was produced by Marsh and Ware under their production company British Electric Foundation. The song peaked at number 128 in the UK Singles Chart. It was the band's first release of new material since 1988.

References

  1. ↑ Glenn Gregory at AllMusic . Retrieved 1 September 2009.
  2. 1 2 Hall, Stef (20 January 2013), Stef Hall interviews singer Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17, archived from the original on 4 March 2016, retrieved 5 November 2015
  3. ↑ "An EXCLUSIVE Interview With WANG CHUNG's Jack Hues!". Discussions Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 April 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Glenn Gregory interview". BBC South Yorkshire. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
  5. ↑ Henderson, Alex, Honeyroot, Allmusic, archived from the original on 21 September 2016, retrieved 5 November 2015
  6. ↑ Band Aid 30 years on: Where are the original stars three decades after the 1984 song was released?, 10 November 2014, archived from the original on 27 March 2019, retrieved 5 November 2015
  7. ↑ "Tony Visconti – David Bowie and Holy Holy". The Strange Brew. 5 February 2019. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Gourley, Bob (2018). "Glenn Gregory interviewed about Afterhere, his new collaboration working with Berenice Scott." Chaos Control Digizine (27 September 2018). Archived 29 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  9. ↑ Benyon, Lucy (2018). "Glenn Gregory: 5 things I can't live without." Express 10 September 2018. Archived 29 December 2018 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 28 December 2018.
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