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The Human League

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The Human League

The Human League are an English synthpop/New Wave band formed in 1977, who, after a change in line up, achieved great popularity in the 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success in the 1990s and 2000's. Originally a synthesizer-based group from Sheffield, England, the only constant band member since the Human League formed in 1977 is vocalist and songwriter Philip Oakey. Today The Human League are still recording and performing. The group is now presented as a trio of Oakey together with long serving female vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Gayle

Original line-up

The original Human League July 1980

Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh were both working as computer operators in 1977, and combined a love of pop music (such as glam rock and Tamla Motown) with avant garde electronic music. They acquired a Roland System 100 synthesizer and began to create music in their own rehearsal facility. Initially they formed a group called The Future with Adi Newton. Newton left to form the outfit Clock DVA. Ware and Marsh searched for a vocalist, but their first choice, Glenn Gregory (who would be the lead singer of their later band, Heaven 17), was unavailable. Ware instead decided to invite Philip Oakey, an old school friend, and a hospital porter at the time to join the band, "apparently by leaving a note stuck to his door". Oakey accepted the invitation, despite never having been in a band before. Shortly after, they decided to call themselves The Human League. A collection of demos from this period was released on CD in 2002, titled The Golden Hour of The Future, compiled by Richard X.

The original line-up released two LPs that were mildly successful: Reproduction in 1979 and Travelogue in 1980. Both reached the Top 40 of the UK Album Charts. They were then perceived as an arty post punk band, whilst Oakey saw them as a modern commercial pop.

The name "Human League" derived from the game Starforce: Alpha Centauri, which was the second professionally published science fiction wargame, by SPI. In the game, the Human League arose in 2415 A.D., and was a frontier-oriented society that desired more independence from Earth and the terraforming of systems not naturally habitable.

1980s

The Human League (Mk2) 1981

Following the split of the original line-up, Wright and Oakey released another fringe single, "Boys and Girls". In order to fulfil their European tour commitments, they recruited bass player Ian Burden, and fronted the band with two singers, Susanne Sulley (now called Susan Gayle) and Joanne Catherall, schoolgirls whom they had met in a Sheffield nightclub, and managed to complete the tour.

In 1981, Virgin records paired them with former Stranglers producer Martin Rushent, and the first result was the single "The Sound of the Crowd", which saw them at last achieve success in the singles chart. Guitarist Jo Callis (formerly of The Rezillos) was now recruited to the band, and with Rushent at the helm, The Human League recorded their most successful album to date, Dare. It achieved huge success, fuelled by its further hit singles, "Open Your Heart", "Love Action"/"Hard Times" and most famously "Don't You Want Me", which reached number one in the UK charts during the Christmas of 1981 and was one of the biggest selling singles of that year, and it also charted at number one in the US during the summer of 1982. These three releases were accompanied by striking promo videos ("Love Action" based on the movie The Graduate). In the summer of 1982, a remix album of Dare entitled Love and Dancing was released under the group name League Unlimited Orchestra, reaching number three on the UK album chart. During their Dare phase, the Human League were often associated with New Romantic movement.

In November 1982, the Motown influenced electro pop single "Mirror Man" reached number two in the UK chart. The follow-up single released during April 1983, "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" similarly peaked at number two. The following months proved to be difficult ones for the band as they struggled to record a follow up to Dare. A six song EP called Fascination! compiled the singles "Mirror Man" and "Fascination" together with the new track "I Love You Too Much" from the original recording sessions of the Hysteria album was released in America as a stop-gap and also became a strong seller as an import in the UK.

The band spent many expensive months agonizing over each and every sound recorded as the band tried to follow up Dare, and as things became ever more stressful the producer Martin Rushent left the project, at which point the band ditched much of the material recorded so far and started over again with new producers Hugh Padgham and Chris Thomas (though some of Rushent's contributions to certain tracks from the earlier sessions were included on the released album). Finally in May 1984 the band released the politically charged single "The Lebanon". Its rock guitar-driven harder edge was a considerable and surprising departure from their previous material, and the single peaked at number eleven in the UK. This was followed shortly after by the album Hysteria, so called because of the difficult and tense recording process, it entered the UK charts at number three however it climbed no further and critics and fans were divided by the new direction the band had taken. The second single was the rather downbeat "Life on Your Own", with its opening line of "winter is approaching, there is snow upon the ground" making it a strange choice of single to be released in the middle of summer. Again the single missed the UK top ten reaching number sixteen, and with the parent album Hysteria failing to live up to expected sales thoughts of a third single were put on hold.

However,later that year, success outside of the Human League came for Oakey in the shape of the huge hit single "Together in Electric Dreams", a collaboration with one of his idols, synth pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The track was taken from the film soundtrack to Electric Dreams and was to prove a massive hit. The pair then recorded an album for Virgin, Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder, but this met with rather less success and the following two singles failed to make the UK Top 40. However the success of the Oakey and Moroder track encouraged the Human League's record label to release one final single from Hysteria in November 1984, the ballad "Louise" (UK number 13).

In 1986, the group found themselves in creative stagnation, struggling to record material to follow up on their previous success. Key songwriter Jo Callis departed, replaced by drummer Jim Russell, and Virgin paired the Human League up with cutting-edge American R&B producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who had just scored a huge worldwide hit earlier that year with Janet Jackson's Control. The result was the Crash album. The album featured much material written by Jam and Lewis' team, and showcased their distinctive DX7-led sound, making it quite a departure from previous Human League material. It did provide an American number-one single, "Human", but other singles made smaller chart impact.

1990s

In 1990, the band released their last album for Virgin Records, Romantic?. Longstanding members Adrian Wright and Ian Burden, together with newer recruit Jim Russell, had by now left the band (although Jo Callis did return to play on some of the sessions and co-wrote two songs, including the minor hit single "Heart Like a Wheel"). New to the line-up were keyboardist Neil Sutton (who co-wrote over half the album's songs), and guitarist/keyboardist Russell Dennett, who (along with Oakey) made a cameo appearance in Reeves & Mortimer's 1992 comedy TV pilot The Weekenders, playing in a club as "Electric Russell". The Romantic? album did not re-capture the group's huge commercial success of 1981 (with its second single "Soundtrack to a Generation" barely charting), and Virgin chose not to renew their recording contract with little warning causing great animosity between the company and the band that lasts to this day.

The Human League returned in 1995, now signed to EastWest, with the single "Tell Me When" giving them their first major hit since 1986's "Human", and the accompanying album Octopus going silver. On the album credits, cover artwork and in videos, the group was now presented simply as a trio of Oakey/Catherall/Sulley. In reality however, half a dozen other musicians had input to the record, including producer Ian Stanley (former Tears for Fears keyboard player), continued playing and songwriting contributions from Neil Sutton and "Electric Russell" Dennett, and Oakey co-writing one track with Jo Callis. The next single from the album, "One Man in my Heart" (sung by Sulley), and a remix of "Don't You Want Me", were also UK hits, however the subsequent "Filling up with Heaven" and the non-album "Stay with me tonight" (from the greatest hits compilation in 1996) barely made the UK Top 40. A follow up to Octopus was slow to materialise and a subsequent change in management at EastWest saw the cancellation of the band's contract.

2000s

The band did not release their next album, Secrets, until 2001. The band was still presented as the "Phil & the girls" trio, although Neil Sutton was credited with keyboards, and co-wrote most of the material with Oakey. Despite being extremely well received by critics (the music climate at the time seeing a new interest in electronic pop music with the electroclash movement), the band's new record label, Papillion (a subsidiary of Chrysalis Records), was closed by the parent company shortly after the album's release, leading to poor promotion and sales. UK radio stations also refused to play "All I Ever Wanted" because, now in their 40s, the band didnt match the radio stations' self-imposed demographic target audience[citation needed]. Secrets hit number 44 on the UK album chart in its first week but was absent from it the following week. Susan Gayle is on record as saying that the rejection of Secrets was the lowest the band had been since 1991 and nearly caused them to call it a day.

Throughout the years following, the band have continued to tour, enjoying success as a live act, and releasing a DVD of Brighton show in 2003. In the last few years they have participated in a couple of '80s revival tours, whilst more often going out on the road on their own, playing their many top-ten hits to packed houses throughout the UK and frequently further afield.

On September 22, 2006, the band performed on the ABC television show, Jimmy Kimmel Live.The highlight of 2006 was the band playing to an audience of 15,000 at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles in October, this was followed up by an 11 venue tour of the UK and Europe in November and December.

In the free UK newspaper Metro in December 2006, Phil Oakey stated the band's project for 2007 would be to record new material.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album UK U.S. Zusätzliche Informationen
1979 Reproduction 34 - Later re-released with The Dignity Of Labour Pts 1-4 EP, the B-side of the "Empire State Human" single (called "Introducing"), the Fast Product label "Being Boiled" single and an in-studio conversation titled "Flexi Disc". Charted in the UK in 1981.
1980 Travelogue 16 - Later reissued with the "Only After Dark" single, Holiday '80 EP, "I Don't Depend on You" and other tracks including "Tom Baker" and "Boys and Girls"
1981 Dare 1 3 Reissued in 2002 with the Love and Dancing album on a single CD.
1982 Love and Dancing 3 135 Remix album of mostly dub mixes of Dare tracks, credited to "League Unlimited Orchestra".
1984 Hysteria 3 62 Reissued on CD in 2005 with extended versions of singles.
1986 Crash 7 24 Reissued on CD in 2005 with extended versions of singles
1990 Romantic? 24 -
1995 Octopus 6 -
2001 Secrets 44 - Japanese version has three bonus tracks.

EPs

Year Album UK U.S. Zusätzliche Informationen
1979 The Dignity of Labour - - EP, 12" vinyl only, instrumental. The cover depicts cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
1980 Holiday '80 - - Double EP, later reissued as two single EPs. Includes new version of "Being Boiled".
1983 Fascination! - 22 Six-song EP
2002 Dance Like a Star - - EP of early recordings

Compilations & live albums

Year Album UK U.S. Zusätzliche Informationen
1988 Greatest Hits 3 - Hits package with one new track.
1995 Greatest Hits 28 - Re-issue of 1988 Greatest Hits with three extra tracks and new cover art.
1996 The Very Best of the Human League - - Issued by Ark 21, not EMI. Compilation from 1981-1985 tracks.
1998 Soundtrack to a Generation - - Compilation with mostly album tracks and a few singles.
2002 The Golden Hour of the Future - - Compilation of early recordings, credited to "The Future + The Human League".
2003 The Very Best of the Human League 24 - Two disc hits package issued by EMI. The second disc contains remixes comissioned for this release.
2005 Live at the Dome - - CD containing tracks from same concert as DVD; contains three video clips.
2005 Original Remixes and Rarities 24 - CD with extended versions from 12" singles and CD singles, and some B-sides.

Singles

Year Song UK singles U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Dance AUS singles Album
1978 "Being Boiled" - - - - -
1979 "I Don't Depend on You" (as "The Men") - - - - -
1980 "Holiday '80 E.P." 56 - - - Travelogue
1980 "Empire State Human" 52 - - - Reproduction
1980 "Only After Dark" - - - - Travelogue
1981 "Boys and Girls" 48 - - - -
1981 "The Sound of the Crowd" 12 - 27 - Dare!
1981 "Love Action (I Believe in Love)/Hard Times" 3 - 37 12 Dare!
1981 "Open Your Heart" 6 - - 33 Dare!
1981 "Don't You Want Me" 1 1 3 4 Dare!
1982 "Being Boiled" (Re-boiled) ¹ 6 - - - Travelogue
1982 "Holiday '80 E.P." (Re-issue) 46 - - - Travelogue
1982 "Mirror Man" 2 30 - 4 Fascination!
1983 "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" 2 8 1 8 Fascination!
1984 "The Lebanon" 11 64 19 24 Hysteria
1984 "Life on Your Own" 16 - - - Hysteria
1984 "Louise" 13 - - - Hysteria
1985 "The Sign" - - - - Hysteria
1986 "Human" 8 1 1 26 Crash
1986 "I Need Your Loving" 72 44 - - Crash
1987 "Love Is All That Matters" 41 - - - Crash
1990 "Heart Like a Wheel" 29 32 - - Romantic?
1990 "Soundtrack to a Generation" 77 - - - Romantic?
1995 "Tell Me When" 6 31 - - Octopus
1995 "One Man in My Heart" 13 - - - Octopus
1995 "Filling up with Heaven" 36 - - - Octopus
1995 "Don't You Want Me" (remix) 16 - - - The Very Best of the Human League
1996 "Stay With Me Tonight" 40 - - - The Very Best of the Human League
2001 "All I Ever Wanted" 47 - - - Secrets
2001 "Love Me Madly?" - - - - Secrets
  • 1 Reissue released by EMI. Same version as the 1978 single, but runs for an extra 35 seconds and fades out rather than cutting out abruptly as on the original release.

Video and DVD releases

Year Titel Format/s Zusätzliche Informationen
1983 The Human League Video Single VHS/Beta Contains videos for Mirror Man, Love Action and Don't You Want Me
1991 Human League Greatest Hits VHS/LD Tie-in with 1988 Greatest Hits, containing videos for all tracks on that album except Being Boiled and Love is All That Matters, plus Circus of Death
1995 The Human League Video Greatest Hits VHS Tie-in with 1995 Greatest Hits, containing videos for all tracks on that album except Stay With Me Tonight, Being Boiled, Together in Electric Dreams and the Don't You Want Me Snap 7" Remix. Track listing includes Love is All That Matters, but video actually used is Heart Like a Wheel
2003 The Human League The Very Best Of DVD Tie-in with 2003 The Very Best Of, including TV performances on Top of the Pops and Later With Jools Holland
2004 The Human League Live at The Dome DVD Tie-in with album of the same name

Additional releases

  • "Together in Electric Dreams" was a "solo" single for Philip Oakey (though credited jointly to Oakey and producer Giorgio Moroder) rather than the Human League. It has been included on Human League albums as if it were by the whole band, as it is popularly associated with the band, broadly mimics their traditional sound, and was in fact a bigger hit than many of the League's own singles of the period. It was originally recorded for the movie Electric Dreams, and eventually included on a joint album from Oakey and Moroder recorded much later. It is often played live by the band as an "honorary" Human league single with Sulley's and Catherall's unique interpretation of the backing vocals.

Awards

See also

References

  • Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
  • The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits - ISBN 0-85112-250-7
  • Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
  • Guinness Rockopedia - ISBN 0-85112-072-5
  • The Great Rock Discography - 5th Edition - ISBN 1-84195-017-3
  • Susan Gayle speaking on Interview for The Raft.com


The Human League does not have an official website, but there are a number of unofficial sites on-line:

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