He’s been talking about his autobiography ever since he started his podcast, and now, Martyn Ware has made good on his words. As published by Constable of Little, Brown in hardcover and eBook, “Electronically Yours vol. 1” will be published on August 25th, 2022. It’s a must read for fans of Ware from his quadruple threat careers in: The Human League, Heaven 17, The British Electric Foundation, and his career in production [Associates, Scritti Politti, Erasure, Tina Turner, Terrence Trent D’Arby].
His passion for both Pop and left-field electronic music marked him as being one of the foundational icons of both the Post-Punk and New Pop movements. He’s got an admirable songbook of hits with two radically different versions of “Temptation” that each reached number two in the British charts a decade apart! And yet he also gave us the BBC Radiophonic Workshop freakout-slash-geek-out that was “The Black Hit of Space!”
Ware’s determination to succeed in Pop without studying music [or playing a guitar until his fingers stopped bleeding] showed that he had a strong Eno influence to his creativity. He and his cohort Ian Craig Marsh saw that technology was their key to this future as they began The Human League in the late 70s Sheffield at a point just prior to the viability of Synthpop.
Through it all, Ware has remained a steadfast Socialist who if nothing else, has gifted the world the perceptive and [sadly] always relevant “[We Don’t Need this] Fascist Groove Thang.” I look forward to reading his tales as his raconteur’s turn on his podcast where he takes the conversation off-road have proved to be among my favorite moments of the episodes I have heard.
The tome will exist as hardcover, eBook, and audiobook. I much prefer physical books, but the Record Cell is straining under the weight of too many objects. Maybe it’s time to embrace the eBook as I am striving to eliminate one of my bookshelves in an effort to make my tiny home more livable. The last music bio I read was an eBook [“Stairway To Nowhere” by Luke James] so maybe this is a trend whose time has come.
Hardcover Edition
eBook Edition
-30-
Post-Punk Monk 
i don’t normally go for such nonsense but i bit the bullet and got the signed one from Rough Trade… it does have postcards with it though !!
https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/martyn-ware/electronically-yours-vol-1-my-autobiography/hardback-plus
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Nick – Nice one! I had not yet uncovered that one yet! I should have known that Rough trade would be a thing, though I don’t think of them for books. I see that Rough Trade US doesn’t list the book. Grrrr. Blackwell’s had a discount for pre-order and free shipping to the us with $21.22 being the full cost. A great deal from a UK bookseller!
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good grief, free to the US ??? That’s pretty amazing seeing as it would probably cost the same in shipping as the book itself !
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Nick – I was certainly astounded!
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“Volume 1” ? This makes me wounder if there ever will be a Volume 2, perhaps by Glen Gregory ?
Or will he live for a very long time ?
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slur – The big question is where in the timeline does the first book end? And if vol. 1 sells poorly… then what?
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I’m pretty sure Martyn said in one of his podcasts that this first volume ends in the early 80s.
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Blackwell’s is also generously offering free shipping to Canada (!). I would have liked a signed copy but from Rough Trade the cheapest shipping option (which is still pretty fast, to be fair) adds another £20 to the £20 cost, meaning I would pay more than double what I can get the unsigned tome for in Canada via Blackwell’s.
I’ll just have to hope that I have another encounter with H17 again someday … and have the book with me at the time …
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chasinvictoria – Yeah, Blackwell’s shipping policy was why I picked them to link with. I had my copy of “If I Was,” the Midge Ure autobio with me the second time I saw him!
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