Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory on his favourite David Bowie songs
Arriving at the crest of the so-called new wave, Sheffield‘s Heaven 17 comprised former Human League members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh and frontman Glenn Gregory. Marsh and Ware created the band’s instrumental soundscapes using drum machines, synthesisers and keyboards, ensuring their place alongside Depeche Mode, OMD and Ultravox as one of Britain’s leading synth-pop acts.
Like most of its contemporaries, Heaven 17 was pivotally influenced by David Bowie. During the Starman’s emphatic rise to global fame in the early 1970s, most synth-pop-era musicians were still navigating high school and establishing musical identities distinct from their parents’ ripened tastes.
Glenn Gregory certainly didn’t buck this trend. “I was obviously searching for music that wasn’t from my mum and dad’s era, you know? Because they were very Beatles and Stones, which I liked, but you want your own music, really,” he told Far Out in a 2021 interview.
Gregory revealed that his favourite Bowie albums were Aladdin Sane, as his first introduction to the musician in 1973, and 1975’s Young Americans for its soulful groove. While admitting that Young Americans is “not a lot of people’s favourite and a lot of people [at the time] thought Bowie had lost his way a little,” Gregory said, “I think that’s my favourite Bowie album.”
Discussing Aladdin Sane, Gregory singled out the title track as a “fantastic” highlight. He reserved particular praise for pianist Mike Garson, who seemed so fluid and virtuosic as he was “dancing all over the piano”. Garson also made an arresting contribution to the album closer, ‘Lady Grinning Soul’.
Gregory’s vocal style has been compared to Bowies. Hence, when the legendary producer and frequent Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti assembled his Bowie tribute band, Best of Bowie, in the 2010s, he approached the Heaven 17 singer. Naturally, Gregory obliged and had the honour of tributing one of his musical heroes over several successful tours.
“I really love singing ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’; there’s something about it that just kind of takes me,” Gregory said, discussing his favourite Bowie tracks to cover on stage. “Another one that does it for me is ‘Life On Mars?’. I kind of choke up quite a lot during that one.” When Glenn played his first Best of Bowie tribute gig in Toronto following Bowie’s death in 2016, ‘Life On Mars’ seemed to resonate with the audience on an emotional level. “Everyone was sobbing … it’s a powerful sound, isn’t it?” Gregory reflected.
“I absolutely adore singing ‘Quicksand’… it’s just beautiful,” Glenn added, picking out a more obscure favourite. “I’m closer to the Golden Dawn / Immersed in Crowley’s uniform / Of imagery,” he sang. “It’s weird, it doesn’t really make sense, and yet it kind of touches you as if it’s real, and living … I think it must be his voice because that’s pretty out there and if you read the lyrics, you just think ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ But when you’re there, and certainly for me when I’m singing it, it just sounds like one of the most beautiful pieces of poetry you’ve ever heard.”
Listen to a playlist of Glenn Gregory’s favourite David Bowie songs below.
Glenn Gregory’s favourite David Bowie songs:
- ‘Young Americans’
- ‘Win’
- ‘Fascination’
- ‘Right’
- ‘Somebody Up There Likes Me’
- ‘Across the Universe’
- ‘Can You Hear Me?’
- ‘Fame’
- ‘Watch That Man’
- ‘Aladdin Sane (1913–1938–197?)’
- ‘Drive-In Saturday’
- ‘Panic in Detroit’
- ‘Cracked Actor’
- ‘Time’
- ‘The Prettiest Star’
- ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’
- ‘The Jean Genie’
- ‘Lady Grinning Soul’
- ‘Life On Mars?’
- ‘Quicksand’
- ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’
