Martyn Ware has a lot of history to recount
It’s a slow Tuesday. Got 2:30:00 with nothing else to do? Why not watch Martyn Ware being probed about his storied history as a founding member of Human League, B.E.F., and the Heaven 17? Not to mention a successful music producer and now, soundscape designer? We actually saw these as part of the original webinars held online for the events in the last few months, but they have been archived now for anyone to watch without an invite. The program was held in two parts. The first telling of the early days of Human League up to the point where he and Ian Craig Marsh left the band. Ware, along with moderator and Ditto.tv co-founder Mike Wilson, regales us with tales of the Post-Punk era as writ by one of its movers and shakers. Part one is below.
Martyn Ware – Big Boost Mondays from ditto.tv on Vimeo.
Then the follow up happened last month and covered what Ware did after he was excised from Human League. This second half covered the foundation of the British Electrical Foundation as a production company, along with the concurrent development of Heaven 17 as an ongoing concern that rapidly took all of his time. Also his big time production career, and his founding of environmental sound company Illustrious, with fellow traveler Vince Clarke. I had included links in a comment earlier, but these should stand alone as a post to make them easier to find. Part two is below.
Martyn Part 2 from ditto.tv on Vimeo.
While I was well versed in the history of Mr. Ware, I managed to learn quite a few new wrinkles by watching these and I felt that it was worth my time. Before covid-19, the first of these was scheduled as a physical event to tie in with the Heaven 17 show of the first two Human League albums that was delayed until September 14th, and very probably, won’t even take place then. Then as Ditto.tv are tech oriented, they re-envisioned the events as online webinars and now they’ve been edited into succinct videos for our enjoyment.
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Post-Punk Monk 
Hi Mr. Monk,
Thanks for the links. Was very interested when these
were announced, and never got back to them. Now,
we can all check them out. I look forward to the
interviews, been a long time fan, so seeing where
they are heading is a great topic, and also where
they’ve been.
later
-1
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So nice to have them both handily linked for later viewing! I didn’t get to attend the first “part” so that link is invaluable! The second part was also interesting, though I think Mr. Monk would have made a much better moderator!
For anyone wondering why the new album has taken a perfectly ridiculous number of years … the answer is revealed (at least somewhat) towards the end of Part 2!
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I look forward to luxuriating in these…I had invites for both but didn’t attend at the time.
Martyn has always been such a natural raconteur in interviews.
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Thanks for linking those here, always been waiting for a chance to watch the first part since I missed it when it went live and finally found the time. As interesting as it is what Martyn went on after the 80’s the stories and reflections on the first HL albums are great. I always thought the ultra-clean sound of Reproduction was what they where aiming at to make it more surreal. And the Cover was meant to be so bewildering. After all this years now I know a little more even if I can’t really imagine the original idea as outlined.
BTW Can you tell if the remastered Travelouge Edition from 2003 worth to invest in compared to the original 1988 CD I own ?
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slur – Glad to be of service. I have no idea on “Travelogue” as I also bought the 1988 pressing as soon as it was available. I would guess that the 2002 might be brickwalled. 1988 was still a little early, but they would have had a better handle on mastering than from, let’s say, 1985.
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