"Let Me Go" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Heaven 17 | ||||
from the album The Luxury Gap / Heaven 17 (in the U.S.) | ||||
B-side | "Let Me Go (Instrumental)" | |||
Released | 22 October 1982 [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:19 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | British Electric Foundation | |||
Heaven 17 singles chronology | ||||
|
"Let Me Go" (stylised as "Let Me Go!" on the sleeve of the single) is a song by English synthpop band Heaven 17, released on 22 October 1982 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. [2]
In 1983, the song also spent five weeks at #4 on the American dance chart and entered the US Billboard Hot 100.[ citation needed ]
Allmusic cites the song as "a club hit that features Glenn Gregory's moody, dramatic lead above a percolating vocal and synth arrangement." [3]
Band member Martyn Ware has acknowledged "Let Me Go" as Heaven 17's finest song: “There’s a certain sonata form to it as well where it builds and then it dies down towards the end. You end with the same chord as the first chord. It feels like an integrated piece of art to me.” [4]
The song was recorded at AIR Studios, London, and made heavy use of its expansive facilities; the opening chord of the song, for instance, consists of 118 multi-tracked voices singing in fourteen-part harmony. [4]
"Let Me Go" was one of the first commercial releases to feature the Roland TB-303, a bass synthesiser which would play a pivotal role in the acid house movement that emerged in Chicago and Manchester later in the decade. [5]
A music video was produced to promote the song. [6] Directed by Steve Barron, the video was primarily filmed in black and white, and starts at Lothbury showing a deserted London. [7] Filming also took place at Marylebone station, which was filmed during the night after the station had closed to passenger services. Behind the scenes footage from the filming at the station featured in an edition of the BBC arts series Riverside, which was broadcast on 29 November 1982. [8] [9]
The song appeared at #81 on Q101 Top 500 Songs of "All Time". [10]
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes and the original single back cover. [11]
Heaven 17
Additional personnel
Chart (1983) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [12] | 78 |
Canadian Singles Chart [13] | 41 |
Finnish Singles Chart (Suomen virallinen lista) [14] | 24 |
Irish Singles Chart [15] | 26 |
UK Singles Chart [16] | 41 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [17] | 74 |
U.S. Dance/Club Play Singles [18] | 4 |
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart [18] | 32 |
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.
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".
Vincent John Martin, known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously the main songwriter for several groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and the Assembly. In Erasure, he is known for his deadpan and low-key onstage demeanour, often remaining motionless over his keyboard, in sharp contrast to lead vocalist Andy Bell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics.
Dare is the third studio album by English synth-pop band The Human League, first released in the United Kingdom in October 1981 and then subsequently in the US in mid-1982. The album was produced by Martin Rushent and recorded between March and September 1981, following the departure of founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, and saw the band shift direction from their previous avant-garde electronic style toward a more pop-friendly, commercial sound led by frontman Philip Oakey.
Penthouse and Pavement is the debut studio album by English synth-pop band Heaven 17, released in September 1981 by Virgin Records.
Hints Allegations and Things Left Unsaid is the debut studio album by American rock band Collective Soul, it was originally released on an indie label in Atlanta called Rising Storm Records in 1993, Collective Soul later signed on with Atlantic Records and the album was rereleased in 1994 under the Atlantic label. The track "Shine" gained the band attention thanks to college radio.
The Best of Blondie is the first greatest hits album by American rock band Blondie. It was released in October 1981, by Chrysalis Records. The album peaked at number four in the United Kingdom and number 30 in the United States, while becoming the band's only number-one album in Australia.
"Somebody Told Me" is a song by American rock band the Killers. It was released as the second official single from the group's debut studio album Hot Fuss (2004), and was written by band members Brandon Flowers, Mark Stoermer, Dave Keuning and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Brandon Flowers said: "This is the story of trying to meet someone in a club." It is written in the key of B-flat minor.
"Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" is a song recorded by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie as the title track of the 1982 erotic horror film Cat People. Bowie became involved with the track after director Paul Schrader reached out to him about collaborating. The song was recorded at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland in July 1981. Bowie wrote the lyrics, which reflected the film, while the Italian producer Giorgio Moroder composed the music.
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.
"Never Let Me Down" is a song recorded by the English singer David Bowie, serving as the title track for his 1987 studio album Never Let Me Down. It was released as the third and final single from the record in 1987 and served as his last original solo single until 1992's "Real Cool World"; a remix of "Fame" was released in 1990. "Never Let Me Down" was a writing collaboration between the artist himself and Carlos Alomar, while production was handled by Bowie along with David Richards. The lyrics are about Bowie's relationship with his longtime personal assistant, Coco Schwab.
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.
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.
"Temptation" is a single by British band Heaven 17 featuring Carol Kenyon, originally released on 8 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.
"Mr. Writer" is a song by Welsh rock band Stereophonics, taken from their third album, Just Enough Education to Perform (2001). It was released on 19 March 2001, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart, number seven in Ireland, and number 53 in Sweden, where it was the band's first and only single to chart.
There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. is the third studio album by British rock band Bring Me the Horizon. It was released on 4 October 2010 by Visible Noise. The album was produced by Fredrik Nordström and Henrick Udd at IF Studios in Gothenburg, Sweden, with additional work at Sunset Lodge Studios in Los Angeles, California. It features guest vocals from Canadian singer Lights, British singer Josh Franceschi, and American vocalist Josh Scogin.
"(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.
"Come Live With Me" is a song by the British synthpop band Heaven 17, released on 17 June 1983 as the fourth single from their second album The Luxury Gap. It was written by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, and produced by Marsh and Ware and Greg Walsh. "Come Live with Me" peaked at number 5 in the UK Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for eleven weeks. It would be the band's last UK top 10 hit until the Brothers in Rhythm remix of "Temptation" in 1992.
"This Is Mine" is a song by the British new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, released on 15 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 "
"Rip It Up" is a song by Scottish indie pop band Orange Juice, released in 1983 as the second single from their 1982 album of the same name. The song became the band's only UK top 40 success, reaching No. 8 on the chart. "Rip It Up" signalled a departure from the sound of the band's earlier singles, with Chic-influenced guitars and using a synthesiser to create a more disco-oriented sound.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)