A project from the UK production company B.E.F., this featured the synthesizer duo Ian Craig Marsh (born 11 November 1956, Sheffield, UK) and Martyn Ware (born 19 May 1956, Sheffield, UK) and vocalist Glenn Gregory (born 16 May 1958, Sheffield, UK). Heaven 17’s first UK hit was the dance-orientated ‘(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang’, which reached number 45 in the UK singles chart.

In late 1981, they released their debut album ‘Penthouse and Pavement’, which sold well. Alternating with BEF projects and various guest appearances, Heaven 17 recorded intermittently. In May 1983, they achieved their moment of glory when the single ‘Temptation’ shot to the highest regions of European charts. The track featured guest vocalist Carol Kenyon.

A series of albums followed, but Heaven 17 always appeared a predominantly studio group, whose group name was used irregularly as a brand name to experiment with various new ideas. As producers, they helped Tina Turner and Terence Trent d’Arby scoring hits like ‘Let’s Stay Together’ and ‘Dance Little Sister’.
In the 1990’s Heaven 17 were less productive but did achieve some success with remixes of their old hits.

In November 2001 they joined Kim Wilde and others in the Here & Now Tour 2001. This was reprised two years later in the Here & Now Greatest Hits Tour.

Founded by Max Thornell and Johan Liiva, the Swedish metal band Hearse got completed when the duo recruited guitarist Mattias Ljung. He hadn’t actually played any metal for several years, which was actually viewed as an advantage.
The band’s first demo was sent to some magazines and labels, and attracted interest from Hammerheart Records. After signing a contract, the first single ‘Torch’ was released in 2002. After this, the debut album ‘Dominion Reptilian’ was released in March 2003. In the summer of 2003 Hearse started recording their second album titled ‘Armageddon Mon Amour’. It was finally released in April 2004 on Karmageddon Media (ex. Hammerheart Records). The album contains a cover of Kim Wilde’s track Cambodia. According to Max, the band are all big Kim Wilde fans.

Born on 23 November 1962 as the son of Mickie Most, Calvin Hayes was drummer on Kim Wilde’s first self-titled album. They remained good friends eversince.
When Calvin joined the band Johnny Hates Jazz he asked Kim to perform backing vocals on their song Turn Back the Clock, which she did. She even performed the song along with Johnny hates Jazz in the BBC TV programme Wogan.

In 1988 the relationship between Calvin and Kim was reported to have evolved into love, and Kim in fact confirmed that she was in love with Calvin in various magazines. Rumours that Calvin Hayes was to marry Kim Wilde in 1989 soon proved to be unfounded. Some sources even stated that Calvin spread the rumour himself in an attempt to save his band. This attempt failed, because Johnny Hates Jazz collapsed soon after the release of their second album, which by the way also contained some backing vocals by Kim.

Kim about Calvin Hayes

I’ve known Calvin since I recorded ‘Kids in America’, so more than seven years. We got involved at a family party, because Calvin is a good friend of my brother Ricky. (1)

We have fallen for each other totally. I can tell everybody that it’s the most wonderful feeling in the world. He is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I have never really liked talking about my love life but there have been so many rumours about me recently that I decided it was best to get it all out in the open. We always got on well, ever since he played drums in my first band seven years ago. And that’s why our love affair is stronger than most couples. We KNOW that we have got a lot in common. I think that’s why we both know it will last. (2)

The split coincided with my album being unsuccessful. I lost all motivation then. And I think the most important thing at that point in my life was there wasn’t really a balance. Whereas now if anything bad happens, whatever it might be, there’s an equilibrium and I can deal with it. Hitting 30 was also a difficult time for me. I’d been in the business ten years and it felt like a long time. (3)

Interview sources

(1) Snapshot: Kim Wilde, Popcorn (Germany), 1988
(2) I’m just Wilde about Calvin!, The Sun (UK), 1988
(3) My Wilde days are finished says Kim, The Sun (UK), 21 July 1993

Hausmylly was founded in Viitasaari (Finland) in 1989 by DJ’s Enzo (Hannu Pulkkinen), Micky (Mika Kauppinen) and Psycho (Pekka Mykkänen). Psycho left the band a year later, when the line-up changed to include Drome (Jari Karjalainen), Lowland (Petri Alanko) and Jakke (Jarmo Valkeinen). They released their debut album ‘Schysteeemi’ in 1990. It was a hit in Finland, reaching number 11 in the albums chart. A remix album followed the next year. The next album, ‘Sä oot jees’ featured more ‘serious’ songs, although one of the tracks featured band member Drome imitating a coffee machine. In 1993, they released ‘Rakasta – ei rakasta’, a third album of original material.

The year 1994 brought ‘Peilipallo’ (‘Mirror ball’), an album of cover versions plus two original compositions by the band. Cover versions include ‘I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ (Nik Kershaw), ‘The Look of Love’ (ABC), ‘Girls on film’ (Duran Duran) and Kim Wilde’s You Came. All of the tracks are in Finnish, and Kim’s song appears here as ‘Niin Tein’.

Two further albums of original material followed: ‘Tahdonvoimaa’ (1995) and ‘Speedway’ (1997), after which the band went on hiatus. They reunited in 2002, until they broke up again in 2007. In 2015 they reunited once again. They continue to tour in a line-up featuring new member Tero with Enzo and Jakke.

Second album of Scottish group The Blue Nile. Contains the singles ‘The Downtown Lights’, ‘Headlights on the Parade’ and ‘Saturday Night’.
During an online chat organised by Freeserve, Kim mentioned this album as her favourite.

Kim about ‘Hats’

The Blue Nile are a band that I introduced to my husband who had never heard of them before. ‘The Downtown Lights’ is a song that I would have to say is ‘our tune’. We fell in love to this song, as we drifted off into each other’s eyes… (1)

(…) My favourite album is ‘Hats’ by the Blue Nile. (2)

Interview sources

(1) Not Fade Away, ITV (UK), 16 September 1996
(2) Freeserve chat, 1 March 2001