Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh set up B.E.F., otherwise known as British Electric Foundation, immediately after departing the original lineup of the Human League; the outfit operated as the production wing for early synth-pop act Heaven 17 while also occasionally functioning as a standalone recording project. Ware and Marsh had launched the Human League in 1977 strictly as an electronic synthesizer outfit. Following the addition of vocalist Philip Oakey and Adrian Wright, the ensemble issued the landmark 1978 single "Being Boiled" together with a pair of albums: Reproduction in 1979 and Travelogue the next year. Both Ware and Marsh nevertheless exited the group late in 1980 amid disputes concerning its artistic course. Intent on sidestepping what they viewed as the Human League's ongoing missteps, the two men established British Electric Foundation as a dedicated production unit rather than another performing band.
Across 1980-1981, B.E.F. put out two instrumental mini-LPs titled Music for Stowaways and Music for Listening To, which shared several tracks. The sole selection on either release to incorporate any vocals, albeit placed low in the mix, was "Groove Thang," featuring fellow Sheffield resident and friend Glenn Gregory. By 1981 the trio had assembled Heaven 17, reworked "Groove Thang" into the more vocal-driven "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang," and reached the British charts despite the BBC's ban on the single.
Although Heaven 17's breakthrough seemed to eliminate the need for B.E.F. to operate as recording artists, Ware and Marsh resurfaced in 1982 with the first full-length B.E.F. album proper, Music of Quality and Distinction, Vol. 1. The set presented synth-pop renditions of soul classics boasting guest vocals from Tina Turner, Gary Glitter, Sandie Shaw, Billy Mackenzie, and Gregory himself. One year later Heaven 17 achieved major commercial success via the single "Temptation" and the follow-up album The Luxury Gap. Ware and Marsh subsequently concentrated on Heaven 17, setting B.E.F. aside except for production credits on the group's albums.
During the lengthening intervals between Heaven 17 releases, Martyn Ware took on outside work that included production duties for Tina Turner's 1984 breakthrough Private Dancer and Terence Trent D'Arby's Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby. Heaven 17 formally disbanded by 1988. Three further years passed before Ware and Marsh issued another B.E.F. album, Music of Quality and Distinction, Vol. 2. Far less synthesizer-centric than prior Heaven 17 or B.E.F. material, the record featured vocal contributions from Turner and D'Arby along with Chaka Khan, Mavis Staples, and Billy Preston. Virgin reissued an expanded edition of Music for Listening To in 1997, after which B.E.F. stayed inactive alongside Heaven 17 for more than a decade. Following Heaven 17's 2010 reunion without Marsh for a U.K. tour, Ware reactivated B.E.F. independently. The project resurfaced in 2013 with Dark (Music of Quality and Distinction, Vol. 3), a collection of pop standards performed by Boy George, Kim Wilde, Green Gartside, and additional artists.
