Penthouse and Pavement


Penthouse and Pavement is the debut studio album by the English synthpop band Heaven 17. It was originally released in September 1981, on the label Virgin.
" Fascist Groove Thang" was released as a single, but did not achieve chart success partly due to a ban by the BBC. The album sold reasonably well, but was not a great commercial success on release. It has since been regarded as "an important outing", is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and was re-released in 2010 in a three-disc special edition. The title track was included on the soundtrack of the 1993 erotic thriller film Sliver.

Reception

Whilst the singles charted poorly, the album charted at No. 14 and remained in the Top 100 for 77 weeks. It was certified gold by the BPI in October 1982. It was ranked at number 5 among the top ten "Albums of the Year" for 1981 by NME.
In a contemporary review, Paul Morley in NME said: "Penthouse and Pavement is fabulous and it won't deny your needs and you just put our faith in it because it is true."
In a retrospective review, Dan LeRoy in AllMusic felt that the album combined electropop with good melodies, and that Glenn Gregory was able to handle the "overtly left-wing political" lyrics without sounding "pretentious".
The album is included in the musical reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Track listing

;Additional tracks
;2010 3-disc special edition
The album was reproduced live in its entirety in a series of concerts the band held throughout 2010, one of which was filmed and shown on BBC Two on 16 May 2010. The following night a documentary about the making of the album was screened; this was later included on a new three-disc special edition of the album released in November 2010.
;Disc 1
  1. " Fascist Groove Thang"
  2. "Penthouse And Pavement"
  3. "Play To Win"
  4. "Soul Warfare"
  5. "Geisha Boys And Temple Girls"
  6. "Let's All Make A Bomb"
  7. "The Height of the Fighting"
  8. "Song With No Name"
  9. "We're Going To Live for a Very Long Time"
  10. "I'm Your Money"
  11. "Are Everything"
  12. "Decline of the West"*
;Disc 2
  1. "Penthouse And Pavement"
  2. " Fascist Groove Thang"
  3. "Play To Win"
  4. "Soul Warfare"
  5. "Are Everything"
  6. "BEF Ident" *
  7. "Decline of the West" *
  8. "Rise of the East" *
  9. "Music To Kill Your Parents By" *
  10. "Uptown Apocalypse" *
  11. "A Baby Called Billy" *
  12. "Rhythmic Experiment 1"*
  13. "Rhythmic Experiment 2"*
  14. "Boys of Buddha Experiment"*
  15. "At The Height of the Fighting"
  16. "Rhythmic Loop Experiment"*
  17. "Funky Experiment"*
  18. "Song Experiment"*
  19. "Heavy Drum Experiment"*
  20. "Play To Win"
* credited to B.E.F.
Disc 3
  1. The Story of Penthouse And Pavement

    Personnel

;Heaven 17
;Session musicians
;Production team
Album
Chart Peak
position		Certification
Australia 99−
Finnish Albums Chart 18−
New Zealand Albums Chart45−
Swedish Albums Chart 24−
UK Albums Chart14Gold

Singles
DateSingleChartPosition
March 1981" Fascist Groove Thang"UK45
May 1981"I'm Your Money"UK-
August 1981"Play to Win"UK46
November 1981"Penthouse and Pavement"UK57
February 1982"The Height of the Fighting "†UK-

† Released as a 12" single only.

In popular culture

The album song "Penthouse and Pavement" is featured in Rockstar Games video game where it is played on the fictional radio station Wave 103.