"Heavenly Action" is a song by English

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

duo

Erasure Erasure may refer to: Arts and media * Erasure (duo), an English pop group * ''Erasure'' (album), 1995, by the British group Erasure * Erasure poetry, a form of found poetry created by erasing words from an existing text * ''Erasure'' (novel), ...

, released in November 1985 as their second single. It is a mid-tempo pop song, written by Erasure members

Vince Clarke Vincent John Martin (born 3 July 1960), known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously ...

and Andy Bell as a straightforward ode to love. Issued by

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller (music producer), Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure (duo), Erasure, Einstürze ...

in the UK and

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...

in the US, the single proved to be the second commercial failure for the duo (following " Who Needs Love Like That"). The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song was directed by John Scarlett Davies and produced by Nick Verden for Aldabra. It features Clarke and Bell in an outer space/celestial setting, with several young children appearing as

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

s. To this day, "Heavenly Action" remains Erasure's lowest-charting single on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 100. In the United States, "Heavenly Action" was paired with "Who Needs Love Like That" on the

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compa ...

and, as a double-sided hit, climbed to number eight on the US

Hot Dance Music/Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart. It was later included on the duo's debut album '' Wonderland'', released in June 1986.

Critical reception

In his review of '' Wonderland'', Ned Raggett from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said that "Who Needs Love Like That" and "Heavenly Action" "aren't quite as strong but work in the general formula quite well regardless".

Track listings

; 7", Mute / MUTE42 (UK) # "Heavenly Action" # "Don't Say No" ; 12", Mute / 12MUTE42 (UK) # "Heavenly Action" (12" Mix) # "Don't Say No" (Instrumental) # "My Heart... So Blue" (Incidental) ; 12", Mute / L12MUTE42 (UK) # "Heavenly Action" (Yellow Brick Mix) # "Don't Say No" (Ruby Red Mix) ; 2x12", Mute / D12MUTE42 (UK) # "Heavenly Action" (12" Mix) – 6:03 # "Don't Say No" (Instrumental) – 3:20 # "My Heart... So Blue" (Incidental) – 3:36 # "Who Needs Love Like That" (Mexican Mix) – 6:08 # "Push Me Shove Me" (Tacos Mix) – 5:46 ; CD, Mute / CDMUTE42 (UK) # "Heavenly Action" # "Don't Say No" # "Heavenly Action" (12" Mix) # "Don't Say No" (Instrumental) # "My Heart... So Blue" (Incidental)

Charts

Cover versions

*In June 2011, Maurice Harris, a singer, songwriter and music producer from Cincinnati, Ohio, released a country-themed, pop raggaeton cover version. Harris' version can be heard on his personal

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

page.

References

{{authority control 1985 singles Erasure songs Songs written by Vince Clarke Songs written by Andy Bell (singer) Song recordings produced by Flood (producer) Mute Records singles 1985 songs