Geisha Boys And Temple Girls

I am a massive fan of Heaven 17, The Human League, BEF and (more generally), Ian Craig Marsh, Martyn Ware and Glenn Gregory. That's why I bought this. It really surprised me as the tracks on here are absolutely faithful to the originals, so much so that it is possible that only the vocals were re-recorded. Listening to the title track, if you haven't heard the Heaven 17 original on "Penthouse and Pavement" for a while you might even think you're listening to a poor quality recording of Glenn's voice. One for the big fan only I think.

nice disco

The music on this sounds terrific ,all travelogue/Penthouse and Pavement era synths from the BEF boys,just a shame the vocals are a bit lacking .Much better than I was expecting though ,worth a listen if you are a big fan of electronic music from the early 80's.

Seriously, what I first thought and expected to be disasterous affair, is nothing like I feared. If you had never heard the original versions (especially the League/H17 tracks) you'd find this to be something exceptionally special.Ignore the originals (in this day and age you may never have heard them) and this really is a treasure. The people slagging this off, are I suspect, people who know the originals from the day they were first released, which in honesty, will make it difficult for them to make an unprejudiced review.These versions are actually classic early 80s electronic/funk in their own right.Word Before Last is so tight (as a H17 Penthouse And Pavement style track), you'd never know it was from the first Human League album. Throughout the vocals are sweet (Alison Hierlehy better than the League girls could ever muster), and the male vox ultimately carry a black boy warmth, which is a nice twist on the Sheffield white boy coldness of the original. The music is heavier, far deeper and more glowing than the sparse, brilliant original.Geisha and Soul Warfare are both so near the original it's as good, if not better! The sound is definitely bassier and chunkier! I Don't Depend On You becomes a definite H17-sounding track and as opposed to the original disco version a full-funk number for the Young Guns generation that Wham sang about and celebrated. The backing vox somehow do let this down somewhat. Morale is surreal and haunted; the synth deeper and more expressive than before. The female vocal of Kim Leeson is like ice.Soul Warfare, a song I least liked by H17, here becomes something I really understand; a black boy/white girl call to arms. Perfect! Finally!Houses In Motion is amazing as Richard Lloyd King's vocal is far sexier and smoother than the coarseness of Byrne's and the backing vox are more chant than the original chorus. I Burn For You of which I've never heard the original Sting number is mind-blowing and I don't want to hear Sting's voice or orchestration; this heavy synth expedition with Roy Gale ripping the lyrics apart breaks my heart all on its own thank you very much.The white female vocals are expansive enough and the black male vocals take it into the deeper funkadelic/disco of the early 80's that was (and is now) an up and coming sound. But the real prizes here are the new synth interpretations by Ware/Marsh and the smooth liquid flow of Richard Lloyd King's vocal - smooth; somehow white English gent, somehow black Brooklynite. The perfect black/white mix that was the essence of Hot Gossip.And as for Circus Of Death... Well, every dance troupe needs a show piece to celebrate to, and this is it, with an array of jungle cries and vocals that are on pare with Sulley and Catherall.Worth a shot.

A lovely surprise that this is available on CD; I can let the vinyl go at last. A must for early Heaven 17/Human League, B.E.F. fans. Production is by Ware and Marsh of the aforementioned bands so songs are covers mostly better (sung/produced) than the originals. I'd love to hear this treatment of the early 'League track 'Marianne'.