Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League) and Glenn Gregory (vocals, keyboards). Ian Craig Marsh left the band in 2007 and Ware and Gregory continue to perform as Heaven 17.
Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware were the founding members of the pioneering British electro-pop group the Human League, Glenn Gregory had been their original choice when seeking a lead singer for the band but he was unavailable at the time, so they chose Phil Oakey instead. When personal and creative tensions within the group reached a breaking point in late 1980, Marsh and Ware left the band, ceding the Human League name to Oakey. They formed the production company British Electric Foundation. B.E.F.’s first recordings were a cassette-only album called Music For Stowaways and an LP called Music For Listening To, which was re-released on CD in 1997 with two extra tracks. Shortly after, they completed their line-up when they recruited their friend, photographer Glenn Gregory, as vocalist. Taking their new name from a fictional pop band mentioned in Anthony Burgess’s novel, A Clockwork Orange (where The Heaven Seventeen are at number 4 in the charts with “Inside”), Heaven 17 was intended to be just one of the musical projects for British Electric Foundation.