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Heavenly | |
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![]() Heavenly performing at the Emerald Centre | |
Background information | |
Origin | England |
Genres | Twee pop, indie pop, indie rock |
Years active | 1989–96, 2023–24 |
Labels | Sarah Records, K Records, Wiiija |
Members | Amelia Fletcher Mathew Fletcher Peter Momtchiloff Robert Pursey Cathy Rogers |
Heavenly are a twee pop band, originally forming in Oxford, England in 1989. Amelia Fletcher (vocals/guitar), Mathew Fletcher (drums; Amelia's brother), Peter Momtchiloff (guitar) and Robert Pursey (bass) had all been members of Talulah Gosh, [1] a key member of the C86 scene.
Heavenly debuted with the 7" single "I Fell in Love Last Night", followed by another 7", "Our Love Is Heavenly", both released in 1990 on Sarah Records. [1] Heavenly vs. Satan , the group's debut album, came out in 1991. [1] At this stage in their career, the instrumentation remained very much the same jangly guitar style used by Talulah Gosh. [2]
Before releasing the critically acclaimed Le Jardin de Heavenly , Cathy Rogers (keyboard, back-up vocals) joined the band. [1] Her harmony vocals and keyboards became an integral part of the group's sound. Another strikingly different element of the group's second album was the inclusion of the track, "C is the Heavenly Option," featuring the guest vocals of K Records founder Calvin Johnson, who released Heavenly's records in the US.[ citation needed ]
Before their next long-player, Heavenly released two non-album 7" singles, "P.U.N.K. Girl" and "Atta Girl." These signalled a growing complexity in Fletcher's songwriting, particularly "Atta Girl," in which Fletcher and Rogers sung in rapid-fire trade-off vocals. A broadening (and darkening) of lyrical subject matter was shown in the B-side, "Hearts and Crosses," which told the story of a date rape, with an upbeat keyboard riff providing an ironic counterpoint.[ citation needed ]
The band's third LP was The Decline and Fall of Heavenly (1994). In 1995, the band contributed the song "Snail Trail" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Bothered produced by the Red Hot Organization.
The group's last album was Operation Heavenly (1996). Arriving in the middle of the Britpop boom, the album contained a cover of the Serge Gainsbourg-penned and France Gall-performed "Nous ne sommes pas des anges," sung entirely in French by Fletcher.[ citation needed ] Despite the closing of Sarah Records and release on Wiiija, the album was still recognisably the Heavenly sound, and even included a second Calvin Johnson guest spot on the track "Pet Monkey." However, shortly before the release of Operation Heavenly, Mathew Fletcher, took his own life [3] The remaining members announced that the band name Heavenly was to be retired, but that they would continue, using the name Marine Research, a moniker under which they released a single album, 1999's Sounds from the Gulf Stream, on K Records (it was not released separately in Britain). Afterwards, Marine Research dissolved. The band's core members reformed in 2002 as Tender Trap, releasing four albums before calling it a day in 2013. As of 2024, Fletcher and Pursey are both in The Catenary Wires and Swansea Sound, while Momtchiloff plays in Would-be-goods and Tufthunter.
Heavenly reunited for a concert at Bush Hall in London in May 2023, with Ian Button replacing Mathew Fletcher on drums. In 2024, the band will play further dates in Spain, France and the US. [4]
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Talulah Gosh were an English guitar-pop group from Oxford, and one of the leading bands of the indiepop movement, taking their name from the headline of an NME interview with Clare Grogan. They supposedly formed in 1986 when Amelia Fletcher and Elizabeth Price, both wearing Pastels badges, met at a club in Oxford. Their original line-up comprised Amelia Fletcher, her younger brother Mathew Fletcher (drums), Peter Momtchiloff, Rob Pursey (bass) and Elizabeth Price (vocals). Pursey left early on, to be replaced by Chris Scott.
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Marine Research were an indiepop group, based in Oxford/London (UK), formed in 1997 by four of the five members of Heavenly, following the death of Heavenly drummer Mathew Fletcher. The band were joined on drums by DJ Downfall, who is also a solo recording artist.
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"Good Fruit" is a single by British indie rock band Hefner. Released in 2000 by Too Pure, it was the first single from their album We Love the City.
Scarlet's Well were a British pop band formed in 1998 by Bid of The Monochrome Set, after the latter band amicably split for the second time.
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The Decline and Fall of Heavenly is the third studio album by British indie pop band Heavenly. It was released in September 1994 by Sarah Records in the UK and K Records in the United States.
Heavenly vs. Satan is the first album by British twee pop band Heavenly. It was released by Sarah Records in January 1991, as SARAH 603. No producer is listed in the sleevenotes, although Richard Haines is credited with engineering.
September Girls were a five-piece noise pop band from Dublin, Ireland. The band formed in September 2011 and performed their first gig in Dublin in November 2011. Having released singles under various labels between 2012 and 2013, the band signed to Fortuna Pop! in 2013 and released their debut album in January 2014.
P.U.N.K. Girl, also known as Atta Girl in the UK, is an EP by British twee pop band Heavenly, released by K Records on 11 July 1995. In 2005, Pitchfork Media's Nitsuh Abebe wrote that it was "so bouncy and full of hooks that it can take a while to notice it's kind of a concept record about date rape." This release combines the band's 1993 singles P.U.N.K. Girl and Atta Girl, which were released on Sarah Records.
Swansea Sound are an indie pop band from Kent and Swansea, formed in 2020. The group reunites Amelia Fletcher and Hue Williams, who previously sang together in 1990s indie band The Pooh Sticks. The songs are written by Rob Pursey, Fletchers's husband and long-term musical partner in Heavenly, Marine Research and Tender Trap. Ian Button, formerly of Death in Vegas and Thrashing Doves plays drums. Bob Collins, of The Dentists, plays guitar.