Before the retool.
Influences: Heaven 17, The Human League
Fiction Factory' was a Scottish New Wave-New Romantic-Synth-Pop band from the 1980s. Today, they are only known for one of their two hit singles, "(Feels Like) Heaven", but there's a tad more to them than that. Taking influence from fellow little-known New Wave band Heaven 17, their records featured a dreamy sound that blurred the lines between New Wave, New Romantic & Synth-Pop. Featuring Kevin Patterson on vocals, Chic Medley on guitars, Graham McGregor on bass, Eddie Jordan on keyboards, and Mike Ogletree as drummer and percussionist, their first album Throw the Warped Wheel Out was released in 1984. It spawned two hit tracks, the aforementioned song and "The Ghost of Love". They split up in 1985, but not before releasing one more album, Another Story.
Discography:
- Throw The Warped Wheel Out - 1984
- Another Story - 1985
Fiction Factory provides examples of:
- Break-Up Song: "(Feels Like) Heaven". Not that most people noticed...
- Central Theme: To be blunt: Love sucks.
- Darker and Edgier: Their lyrics compared to most other New Romantic/New Wave/Synth Pop bands around the same period.
- End of an Age: Their breakup signalled the end of the New Wave/New Romantic movement in the U.K., as most of the other groups were close to disbanding (Culture Club) or switched over to Synth Pop (Ultravox).
- Genre-Busting: Their music was a blend of New Wave, New Romantic, and Synth Pop at the same time, putting them at stark contrast to other bands at the time, which worked solely in one of those genres.
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: Kevin Patterson, who went from having two hit singles to working at the IT department at the University of Dundee.
- Irony: The anti-true love lyrics in their songs, given that Kevin is now Happily Married.
- Isn't It Ironic?: "(Feels Like) Heaven" was used in a 2009 telly advert for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Yes, really.
- Love Hurts: "(Feels Like) Heaven", "Panic", "All Or Nothing"...Pattersonnote sure wasn't keen on painless love.
- Lyrical Dissonance: One of the most unfortunate examples, as it inadvertently led to the band's breakup. "(Feels Like) Heaven" was a tragic breakup song set to a rather cheery backing track, featuring lyrics such as "Twisting the bones until they snap" & "That lingered but turned sour". Most listeners, however, didn't bother to listen to the lyrics and assumed it was just another Silly Love Song. Due to this misconception, people assumed they penned sappy love ballads, and kept requesting them to make them, which lead to their
disillusionment with their listeners and subsequent breakup in 1985.- Hell, nearly all their songs were this. They were not happy chappies.
- New Romantic: One of the last surviving acts; once they faded away, the movement was essentially over.
- New Wave Music: Albeit a non-organic, synth-heavy example.
- Poor Communication Kills: If only people had listened carefully to "(Feels Like) Heaven"...
- Retool: Before the release of Another Story, Eddie Jordan, Mike Ogletree and Graham McGregor left the band, leaving Kevin Patterson and Chic Medley as the only members left. Session musicians filled in the remaining roles.
- Short-Runners: Only lasted around a year and eight months.
- Silly Love Songs: Averted; "The Ghost of Love" was the closet thing they had to one, yet even that had rather wistful lyrics, as well. Needless to say, they weren't happy when people misinterpreting "(Feels Like) Heaven" wanted them to make only songs like this.
- Sincerest Form of Flattery: They were totally honest about the influence Heaven 17 had on them.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: The Central Theme of their discography.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Completely on the cynical side, but the upbeat accompaniments tend to mask it.
- Synth-Pop
- The Masochism Tango: Almost every song about love, to the point where it's easier to list the exceptionsnote .
