In Fagan’s pub, two of Sheffield’s most beloved artists are about to sit down to hash things out for the first time in nearly half a century. Or at least, that’s the plan. Martyn Ware, one half of Heaven 17 is present and ready, but The Human League’s Philip Oakley has yet to walk through the door. A panicked film crew is starting to wonder if he is going to show at all.
When he does, full of apologies, he seems nervous for a man who has spent his life in front of the camera and performing on stage. But this is a very different kind of audience. Sipping an orange juice and still wearing his leather jacket, Oakley is perched opposite Ware, his childhood best friend and ex-bandmate, who has just asked the crucial question. “Why do you think we broke up?”
In between them is Ware’s current bandmate, Heaven 17 singer Glenn Gregory, quietly in shock. He is witnessing something he thought he might never see: a reconciliation between the two estranged friends. This meeting has only taken place at the behest of the team behind a new documentary – Heaven 17: The Last Temptation – directed by BAFTA-winning director, James Strong.
“In that meeting, there were tears in my eyes,” recalls Gregory, as we chat over Zoom. “I genuinely loved watching Martyn and Phil talk and complement each other. It was almost like who can complement the other one the most.” It provided a much-needed moment of closure and, as a result, the pair have reconnected and even collaborated on a new song, their first time working together in 46 years. “When you get to a certain age, it's pointless and petty to hold grudges,” Ware admits.
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