Synopsis

Heaven 17's video turns the song's critique of work and unemployment into a surreal industrial tableau. Glenn Gregory appears in office-like surroundings, while Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware are associated with more physical labor. Hamster-wheel imagery, stark studio sets, animated green-screen effects, and a towering Atlas figure create a visual contrast between repetitive toil, human potential, and the empty routines of modern employment. The band performs within this strange world as the imagery shifts between comic, mechanical, and deliberately artificial scenes.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Crushed by the Wheels of Industry" was released on August 29, 1983, as part of the promotion for Heaven 17's second album, "The Luxury Gap."

• The single reached No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 10 in Ireland.

• The video uses hamster-wheel symbolism to echo the song's central image of people trapped in repetitive work and economic pressure.

• The Atlas figure provides a visual counterpoint to the workers and the band, suggesting strength and human potential in contrast with routine and passivity.

• Its animated green-screen effects and deliberately artificial studio environments reflect the experimental visual language common in early-1980s synth-pop videos.

• Heaven 17 performed the song on "Top of the Pops" in September 1983, using a sunken stage and flashing neon spheres rather than recreating the video's narrative.

• The track became Heaven 17's last UK Top 20 hit until the 1992 remix of "Temptation."