| "Temptation" | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Heaven 17 | ||||||||
| from the album The Luxury Gap | ||||||||
| B-side | "We Live So Fast", "Who'll Stop the Rain" |
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| Released | 11 April 1983 | |||||||
| Format | 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, 3" CD, 5" CD, Cassette |
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| Recorded | 1983 | |||||||
| Genre | Synthpop, New Wave | |||||||
| Length | 3:08 (7" version) 4:37 (12" version) |
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| Label | Virgin | |||||||
| Writer(s) | Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh, Martyn Ware | |||||||
| Producer | B.E.F., Greg Walsh | |||||||
| Heaven 17 singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Temptation" is a single by Sheffield band Heaven 17, originally released in April 1983, peaking at number 2 in the UK charts.[1] This was the second single to be taken from their second album The Luxury Gap, after November 1982's "Let Me Go".
The guest vocals are provided by Carol Kenyon, who continued to work with the band on the Pleasure One and Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho albums. The song also featured an orchestra, arranged and conducted by John Wesley Barker, which was also heard for the single "Come Live With Me" and in various tracks on the parent album.
Heaven 17 were featured on Top of the Pops' 1000th edition in 1983, performing this track.
In 1992, the song was remixed and re-released by the Brothers in Rhythm, whose new mix charted at number 4 in the UK Top 40, and hitting number 1 in the UK dance charts.
In 2008 the song was re-recorded for Heaven 17's album Naked as Advertised with vocalist Billie Godfrey performing guest vocals. On 19 October 2010, Heaven 17 performed the song on the Later... with Jools Holland show on BBC Two in the United Kingdom.
The single was rated at number 273 on Manchester's All Time Favourite Top 500 Dance Tunes (compiled December 1995).[2]
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The original Heaven 17 video, directed by Steve Barron featured the band dressed in black, in drab, grey surroundings in a style of German expressionism and had segments of (what looks like) an abstract office interview of some kind between vocalists Glenn Gregory and a Carol Kenyon lookalike interspersed throughout. Kenyon herself does not feature in the video.
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[1] | 2 |
| Dutch Top 40[3] | 27 |
| French Singles Chart[4] | 20 |
| German Singles Chart[5] | 11 |
| GfK Dutch Charts[6] | 25 |
| Irish Singles Chart[7] | 3 |
| US Billboard Club Play Singles[8] | 34 |
| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[9] | 4 |
| Irish Singles Chart[7] | 9 |
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
| Dutch Top 40[10] | 16 |
| German Singles Chart[5] | 42 |
| GfK Dutch Charts[11] | 18 |
The song was covered by Cradle of Filth in 2006 for the album Thornography.
At the NME Awards 2007, Jarvis Cocker and Beth Ditto performed "Temptation", and released it as a charity single.[12]
Heaven 17 did a collaboration cover with La Roux at Maida Vale on 26 January 2010 for BBC6 Music. Further to this, Glenn Gregory was invited on stage to perform this song again with La Roux during their set at Glastonbury on 25 June 2010.
"Temptation" was featured in the 1996 film Trainspotting. It is also featured on the second volume of the official soundtrack. It is also used in the Plus Net Advert
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