Fiction Factory were a Scottish new wave band from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. Formed in 1982, they are best known for their single "

(Feels Like) Heaven "(Feels Like) Heaven" is a song by Scottish band Fiction Factory, which was released in 1983 as the second single from their debut studio album ''Throw the Warped Wheel Out''. The track was a hit in Switzerland, reaching #2 on the singles chart. ...

", which peaked at #6 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The song was written by Eddie Jordan and Kevin Patterson.

History

Before they began Fiction Factory in 1982, Kevin Patterson (vocals), Eddie Jordan (keyboards), Grant Taylor (trumpet) and Chic Medley (guitar) played in

skinhead A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

band The Rude Boys (later shortened to The RBs). Asked by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

to create a concert-playing band, they enlisted Graham McGregor (bass) and

Mike Ogletree Mike Ogletree (born 1 May 1956) is a Scottish drummer and guitarist of Afro-European descent. A founding member of the Scottish rock band Café Jacques, he is best known for his work in the new wave bands Fiction Factory and Simple Minds.Larki ...

(drums and percussion), a former member of

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...

and

Café Jacques Café Jacques are a progressive rock band originally formed in Edinburgh, Scotland and most active in the 1970s. An early version of Café Jacques numbered seven musicians, but the most successful line-up was a trio, consisting of Chris Thomso ...

. Influences on Fiction Factory included

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

, and

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Wirral Peninsula, Wirral, Merseyside, in 1978. The group consists of co-founders Andy McCluskey (vocals, bass guitar) and Paul Humphreys (keyboar ...

(OMD), whom Patterson described as "a big favourite". Patterson's vocal style was influenced by

the Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an United States, American pop music, pop musical ensemble, group of the 1960s and 1970s which included Noel Scott Engel (eventually known professionally as Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker), John Walker (musician), Jo ...

Sparks Sparks may refer to: Places *Sparks, Georgia * Sparks, Kansas *Sparks, Kentucky *Sparks, Maryland * Sparks, Nebraska *Sparks, Nevada *Sparks, Oklahoma *Sparks, Texas * Sparks, Bell County, Texas * Sparks, West Virginia Books * ''Sparks'' (Raffi ...

, and Magazine's

Howard Devoto Howard Devoto (born Howard Andrew Trafford, 15 March 1952) is a retired English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, one of the first post-punk bands. After M ...

. The band frequented Bandwagon Music Supplies in Perth. "They would come into my shop wanting to hear their recording on my wee cassette recorder that turned out to be a number six single that still gets played today," said Pete Caban, the shop's owner. "I still see the guys, they still come in." The shop closed in 2020 after 37 years in business. The band's single "

" became a UK Top 10

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in 1984 (also reaching the Top 10 in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ireland and Switzerland); it was their only success in the UK. The follow-up single " Ghost of Love" only reached no. 64 on the singles chart, while the parent album ''

Throw the Warped Wheel Out ''Throw the Warped Wheel Out'' is the debut studio album by the Scottish New wave music, new wave band Fiction Factory. It was released in 1984 and included the UK and European hit single "(Feels Like) Heaven". The album failed to chart in the UK ...

'' did not reach the chart at all. Fiction Factory had more success in Europe with "(Feels Like) Heaven" reaching no. 2 in Switzerland and the Top 20 in several countries, "Ghost of Love" spending 11 weeks on the German singles chart and ''Throw the Warped Wheel Out'' charting in Switzerland (no. 23), Sweden (no. 34) and Germany (no. 57). In 1984 Fiction Factory toured Europe as support for OMD, but the same year Jordan, McGregor and Ogletree departed from the band. Patterson and Medley recorded the next album with session musicians, including keyboardist Paul Wishart and brothers Graham and Neil Weir of OMD. Fiction Factory disbanded in 1987 after the release of their second album '' Another Story'' had become a commercial flop. Patterson left the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

soon afterwards. He now works in IT and is married with two children. Patterson and Jordan reunited to perform "(Feels Like) Heaven" with a backing band at the latter's wedding in August 2007. Medley went on to work with the Scottish world music project, Mouth Music. In 2011, the original line-up reformed for the first time since 1984 for their performance at that year's

Rewind Festival The Rewind Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Temple Island Meadows, Remenham, Berkshire near Henley-on-Thames, England, Capesthorne Hall, Cheshire, England, and Scone Palace, Perthshire in Scotland. It was first held in Au ...

. In 2016,

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

covered "(Feels Like) Heaven" for the album ''BBC Radio 2 Sounds of the 80s, Volume 2''. In 2019, "(Feels Like) Heaven" was used in Episode 5 of Netflix's ''

The Umbrella Academy ''The Umbrella Academy'' is an American comic book series created and written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. The first six-issue limited series, '' The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite,'' was released by Dark Horse Comics betwee ...

''. In 2022, They performed at the Belgian "W-Festival" in Ostend.

Line-up

*Kevin Patterson: vocals (1982–1987, 2007, 2011) *Chic (Charles) Medley: guitars (1982–1987, 2011) *Graham McGregor: bass (1982–1984, 2011) *Eddie (Edward) Jordan: keyboards (1982–1984, 2007, 2011) *

: drums and percussion (1982–1984, 2011) *Grant Taylor: trumpet (1983–1984) (played on first album) *Paul Wishart: keyboards (1985–1987) (played on second album) *Graham Weir: trombone (1985) (played on first & second album) *Neil Weir: trumpet (1985) (played on first & second album) *James Locke: drums and percussions (1985) (played on second album) *Pim Jones: guitar (1985) (played on second album) *Marwenna Laidlaw: (1985) (backing vocalist on second album) *Fiona Carlin: (1985) (sang on second album)

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musicians from Perth, Scotland Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1987 Musical groups reestablished in 2007 Musical groups disestablished in 2007 Musical groups reestablished in 2011 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 Scottish new wave musical groups British synth-pop new wave groups CBS Records artists