About Me
As punk flourished in 1977, two computer programmers (Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware) who called themselves The Dead Daughters rebelled by experimenting with instrumental electronic music. In June, Adi Newton joined and they renamed themselves "The Future". They recorded more instrumental material which Philip Oakey quoted after hearing it as, "ahead of their time". Only one track by The Future has been used "Dancevision". However, it is possible that an album by The Future exists. On the inner sleeve of the original album of Penthouse And Pavement by Heaven 17 the album "The Future Tapes" by The Future is pictured and has a catalogue number of OVED 4. If this album was actually released as listed (October 1981) then it would be worth at least 40. It probably only exists on either promo or test pressing in which case the value would be doubled.By the end of 1977 Adi Newton had left to form Clock DVA and The Future became the past. It was in January 1978 that an old school friend of Martyn's, then working as a hospital porter, Philip Oakey joined the band (bringing his unused saxophone with him). The three of them chose the name The Human League from the science fiction board game "Starforce". Right from the word go they opted for total use of electronics on the grounds that they were the only instruments they could play and the general consensus amongst the band was that conventional guitars and drums were deemed too tedious to even consider. Their early influences were Kraftwerk and Donna Summers, amongst others.1978As The Human League they went into the two track Devonshire Lane studios on the outskirts of Sheffield and recorded "Being Boiled", "Circus Of Death" and "Toyota City". Bob Last, the manager and owner of Fast Products, noticed the band and helped them to release their first single on his own label. "Being Boiled" was released in June 1978 with the cover designed by one time ice cream salesman and art student Philip Adrian Wright. After seeing the band live, he liked the "weird electronic sounds" but thought they looked like a mobile rubbish tip on stage, so he joined as Director Of Visuals. Bringing a rather large collection of science fiction slides with him, he revolutionised their presentation on stage.The single was viewed with confusion by all, what with its strange lyrics, catchy beat and simplistic tune. In June, Being Boiled, is released as a single, but does not fulfill the bands hopes that it will zoom to Number One. In fact, neither zooms nor even staggers anywhere at all. Unsuccessful, it sold only 2000 copies and the rest may have been destroyed making the original release very collectable. The originals have black and white picture labels. It was later reissued with red and yellow labels. The League go on tour, supporting Siouxie and the Banshees.From the next year, while they toured, comes a highly collectable Human League item in the form of a bootleg cassette with no real title. It contained four instrumentals which were to appear later as the second official Fast release, "The Dignity Of Labour Parts 1 to 4", and some other tracks whose titles were "Blind Youth", "Year Of The Jet Packs", "Toyota City" and "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" (from a session recorded for the John Peel radio show). Although the cassette was an official bootleg (you had to write to a classified advert to get it), since you had to send a blank tape to them there is no way of telling an official version to a copy, so there can be no value placed on it - it is simply very collectable.1979In April a 12 inch E.P. is released, called The Dignity Of Labour - it repeats the failure of the previous record release. Nevertheless, the group manage to secure a signing with Virgin Records and they go on a European tour with Iggy Pop. On their return they release I Don't Depend On You under the assumed name "The Men". (Virgin felt uncomfortable at the time about the band's synthesizer only stance and wanted the band to record using somewhat more 'traditional' instruments A compromise was reached : the band would accede to the record labels wishes, but only under a pseudonym). With financial assistance from Virgin, The Human League opens "Monumental Pictures", their own recording studio in their home of Sheffield. They record an album, Reproduction (which bizarrely features the legs of a man and two women : strange because in three years time these legs would become Joanne and Susanne) and a single, Empire State Human. Once again these records succeed in attracting an extraordinarily low level of public interest.1980In May The Human League go on a nationwide tour to promote their second album, Travelogue, which enters the top twenty album charts, peaking at the No. 16 slot. During the summer, a single, Holiday '80, is released, featuring a synthesized version of Gary Glitter's '"Rock and Roll". It reaches No. 56 in the charts. Later in the year, Empire State Human is re-released but is even less successful that Holiday '80.Even though they were about to tour in October, pressures of an imminent tour, breakdown of communications on a personal level and hidden musical differences finally came to the fore when Ian and Martyn left. An amicable split, there were the obligatory arguments over the name but Marsh and Ware passed it over in exchange for a small share of future royalties while they set up the British Electric Foundation (B.E.F. as it is more commonly known). Even so, the music press was filled to the brim with bitching between the two sides. Meanwhile, Phil is left as the only performing member of The Human League. In spite of this, he is determined to take the proposed European tour on the road. To help him out, Adrian begins learning to play the synthesizer and Ian Burden is hired as a temporary group member.Philip and Adrian, determined to carry on, recruited two school girls from a local disco. Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall, two teenagers who frequented the Sheffield futurist nightclub called The Crazy Daisy Disco, were the surprise choice as new members when Philip and Adrian had admitted not being able to play keyboards. Recruited as temporary dancers, they livened up what would have been a dull stage show.1981The post-split League made their vinyl debut in February 1981 with the single "Boys And Girls" revealing an altogether more commercial approach. It reverberates as an emotional retrospective piece, a spooky transition to The Human League mark three. Another instrumental, non-album track appeared on the B side.The single itself only had a 7" release of which initial quantities had a gatefold sleeve. Although the girls were not on the track they did appear on the sleeve. Philip's friend, Ian Burden, was drafted in from Graph to help out on that dreaded tour and Philip asked him to stay on permanently.Very soon he co-wrote "The Sound Of The Crowd" with Phil and it became the next single. The initial batch of the 7" singles had laminated picture sleeves and the initial 12" singles had a sticker on the sleeve but these are only of interest to the die hard collectors. The single was very successful reaching number twelve. Philip was looking for a producer and had heard Martin Rushent's work with the group 999 and asked him to produce for them. Rushent took over as a father figure to the band and these changes turned the League's fate. Punk had led the way, a group made up of amateurs and misshapes with success guaranteed. Marsh and Ware, meanwhile, were finding their own fame and fortune as Heaven 17, charting with the album "Penthouse And Pavement". On the track "We Are Going To Live For A Very Long Time", we find Marsh and Ware mocking their betters, the drum track being identical to "Marianne", right down to the last bleep. Little did they know what was to come.Very soon he co-wrote "The Sound Of The Crowd" with Phil and it became the next single. The initial batch of the 7" singles had laminated picture sleeves and the initial 12" singles had a sticker on the sleeve but these are only of interest to the die hard collectors. The single was very successful reaching number twelve. Philip was looking for a producer and had heard Martin Rushent's work with the group 999 and asked him to produce for them. Rushent took over as a father figure to the band and these changes turned the League's fate. Punk had led the way, a group made up of amateurs and misshapes with success guaranteed. Marsh and Ware, meanwhile, were finding their own fame and fortune as Heaven 17, charting with the album "Penthouse And Pavement". On the track "We Are Going To Live For A Very Long Time", we find Marsh and Ware mocking their betters, the drum track being identical to "Marianne", right down to the last bleep. Little did they know what was to come.Two weeks later on October the 16th "Dare" appeared on the shelves of every major record store. It was an instant success and went gold in the first few weeks of sales. Ten slices of pure pop and totally synthesised, the album contained, amongst other things, sentiments of eternal optimism, crisp synth riffs and love songs which were continually applicable to everyone. The following month saw a picture disc version of the album appear in a black sleeve. This picture disc was later reissued with a white sleeve thus making the original worth more to collectors.Music history in the making, "Don't You Want Me" was finally culled from the album. It was clear that just as everyone had wanted Adam And The Ants "Stand And Deliver" earlier in the year, the very same people wanted "Don't You Want Me" and in two weeks it graced the number one slot, staying there for five. The accompanying video, unlike most videos of the day, was a glossy promo with a plot and helped boost sales a great deal. The single had a 7" and 12" release with the 12" containing an extended dance remix which went down well with the punters. This single actually had a limited edition release in the form of a 7" with poster and this item is now quite collectable. Also of interest to collectors is the German 12" maxi single which included the extra track "Do Or Die" taken from the album.19821982 came along and with it yet another reissue of the original "Being Boiled" single and this time it managed to chart and even reached number six. The only reason for this reissue appears to be EMI cashing in on the recent success of the new album. Virgin retaliated a month later, while the Dare tour was in full flow, by rereleasing the "Holiday '80" EP. These reissues having the standard Virgin green and red labels. Released in two forms, a normal double pack and a limited edition double pack in a gatefold sleeve (more collectable due to arty photographs not included on previous releases). For those interested in tour material a tour book was made available.In June, they began the trend for the rudimentary remix album. Virgin released "Love And Dancing" which consisted of five tracks taken from previous 12" singles and three other tracks. There are two issues of this album, an original, housed in a full printed sleeve and a reissue with a rather bland sleeve and red and green labels. New material appeared in the form of "Mirror Man" their next single. Telling the retrospective tale of Adam Ant, and even then not completely synthesised, it marked a departure from their brand of clinical pop, adopting instead a jaunty Motown sound.Ian Burden returned to his first instrument of bass guitar, relinquishing his post as primary keyboard player. The single's only limited edition was a 7" picture disc. None of the releases are particularly rare as the single managed to reach number two in the charts. The flipside of the Mirror Man Picture Disc features the band in a lovely portait pose.1983Five months later "(Keep Feeling)Fascination" got to number two with its optimistic chant. Predictably, it was produced by Mr. Rushent, remixed by Chris Thomas, but of what is it a remix? Are there acetates or test pressings of original versions? If so these would be worth a lot to collectors. Though warmly received by the fans there were no limited editions which was unusual. The material available on this and the previous single did not appear on an album making the singles collectable from that point of view. Continually in the studio, the band spent more than a year recording the next album. They would find themselves in front of the pool table, rather than in front of a mixing console. This undisciplined approach to work was costly to say the very least, escpecially when you are recording in one of Britains most expensive recording studiosThis gap in releases hinted at what was to become a regular occurrence in the Human League legend. Having only released a couple of singles and a remix album in over two years, the album was much awaited. During this time rumours spread that the band were having problems working with Martin and so switched to Hugh Padgham and Chris Thomas. Out of these final sessions with Mr Rushent only one track survived. I Love You Too Much appeared, rough and ready, complete with selected tracks from the last two singles on a Canadian 12" called Fascination. Collectors should note that this track is only available on this disc.1984So, thirteen months after Fascination, the first single from the forthcoming album Hysteria appeared. The Lebanon was a complete surprise to those who thought of the band as an unthinking pop group. A rock song in its approach, it all but abandoned synthesisers throwing the "synthesisers and vocals only" adage out of the window. Severely topical, the track told a pitifully unaggressive tale of the horrors of Beirut. Oakey admitted that he was more or less pressurised into releasing it. To not have released it would have meant that Human League fans weren't intelligent enough to either understand it or respect it. Which they were of course. No limited editions issued for the single though.With a blast of absolutely no promotion whatsoever, Hysteria was overstocked in every major music store in Britain. Incomparable to Dare, the album lacked the level of overall perfect poppiness that their previous album reached. Opposed to the trend of epic, grandiose production techniques employed by their contemporaries, The League intended to produce a clean, sparse album. But although the female vocals were used to their full advantage the walls of funky bass on gems such as the James Brown cover "Rock Me Again And Again And Again And Again And Again And Again (Six Times)" are unnecessarily egotistical.It has its moments, such as the singles and the lavish reworking of "I Love You Too Much" benefiting from the wonderfully simplified production. It shows how powerful pure, freshly synthesised instruments can sound in the hands of talented amateurs. After all, and lets not kid ourselves, that's all they were. When "Life On Your Own" was lifted from "Hysteria" in July, it moodily clawed its way to a respectable number sixteen in the national chart. Once again the style was deliberately Motownish despite the loneliness of the lyrics. The video was equally as lonely, placing Oakey in the Charlton Heston role from the post-holocaust, sci-fi thriller "The Omega Man".Following Jo Callis' premature departure, due to an uncompromising urge to be with his family, "Louise" was unleashed. An optimistic tale, "Louise" supplied the listener with the definitive synthetic ballad. The B-side, a radical remix of "The Sign", was further remixed on the twelve inch, though "Louise" itself remains in album form. A twelve inch with poster was issued, but mint condition copies are hard to find. Also an extremely rare seven inch picture disc was subsequently released. As final and clinching proof that there is no correlation between band upsets and chart positions, the single reached number thirteen. Useless Fact #30165 : Thirteen is also the title of the B-Side of "The Lebanon"1985The film "Electric Dreams" spawned the Oakey/Giorgio Moroder single "Together In Electric Dreams". Collectors should be wary of the seven inch picture disc. A fan of Moroder's work with Sparks in the seventies, Oakey was eager to initiate the collaboration. Immensely successful, the duo decided to further the project by recording an album. Oakey sent lyrics to Moroder, while he in turn sent the bare musical essentials back. Unlucky for some, with the aponymously titled Oakey/Moroder album imminent, "Goodbye Bad Times" was unceremoniously chosen as the promoting single. Ironically, with the single only managing to crawl to number forty four. It was very much hello old times. The album was received just as warmly, as was the "Be My Lover Now' single.1986During a vinyl silence which was to last two years, work progressed on the bands studio, Philip bought a C5 and The League went to America to record Crash. It is not clear which is the most important fact out of the above. The studio wasn't used for the next album, the C5 broke down within a month and the album itself? Well, the consensus of the band was that the next album should be as applicable to the nightclubs as "Dare" had been to the disco. The Minneapolis duo, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were chosen as the production team most likely to succeed in updating The Human League legend. With Jim Russell on drums, the band set off to America in search of originality, style and most of all, a good cup of tea.During recording, Jam and Lewis presented The League with their archetypal late-eighties ballad. "Human" employed the very latest sampling technology but localised it to the drum machines. Pure elegance, a classy smoocher written to eradicate the pain of past mistakes. Still synthesised a great deal, it seemed that The League had taken to their new sound with relative ease.With the album "Crash" following close behind it, "Human" was lifted from the Minneapolis sessions and peaked at number eight. Though the album reached number seven, it only stayed in the chart for six weeks. The world gasped. The beginning of the end?Either fed up or in disagreement with the musical direction that Oakey had his heart set on, Philip Adrian Wright left after eight years devoted visual directorship. When the clinically funk/soul "I Need Your Loving" clawed at the bottom edges of the chart (number seventy two for one week), their fate seemed sealed. Adding insult to injury, it was their worst selling single since the "Dignity of Labour EP" but no one expected that to chart.1987For another silent two years, the music press continually published rumours that a new album was almost finished and that it was in the final mix down phase. "Love Is All That Matters" contradicted these rumours completely. Hacked from "Crash', the single was a mere promotional taster for a forthcoming `best of' album. It was slightly remixed and backed with a dub version of the Rushent produced "I Love You Too Much". A fold-out sleeve seven inch was made available but isn't very rare. However, the CD single is quite difficult to get hold of now.1988Out in time for Christmas 1988, "Greatest Hits" failed to represent The League as a whole. Omitting anything from before Dare, apart from a speeded up version of the original "Being Boiled", the album was a purely commercial venture for the casual fan. For the die hard fan though, there were no redeeming features whatsoever. Of course it sold well reaching number three and remained on the chart for nineteen weeks.1989In February 1989, after unexplained delays, "Travelogue" was finally issued on CD and not without its surprises. Containing a staggering eight extra tracks from the era, including The Men single and "Boys And Girls", it sells at mid-price. Two months later, the "Reproduction" CD duplicated the marketing ploy. Issued with seven extra tracks and at mid-price, it contained, amongst other things, "The Dignity Of Labour EP" and the accompanying interview previously only available on the flexi-disc free with the original 12". "The Path Of Least Resistance" has a completely different beginning and puts Oakey's voice through some vocoder device or other in the second half of the song. With "Travelogue" running in at 68 minutes and "Reproduction" at a whopping great 75 minutes both CD's are very desirable indeed.Throughout 1989, the rumours of a new album continued. When Ian Burden left, it was the only thing that the music papers missed. Honed down to a trio, it was inconceivable that Oakey could write an entire album on his own. Yet when "Heart Like A Wheel" was announced in August and the world didn't explode, the faithful waited with bated breath. Heralding a return to the clean pop of "Dare", it backs up the optimism from earlier compositions. Having reached the top thirty, The Human League have obviously retained the admiration of the general public.With this admiration of the general public intact, we find that Mandy Smith ( Girlfriend of Rolling Stones' Keith Richards ) has released a cover version of "Don't You Want Me Baby" produced by none other than Stock / Aitken / Waterman fame. Producers of such luminaries as Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Mel & Kim, Divine, Sonia, Lonnie Gordon, Rick Astley and Sinnitta, amongst a thousand others.Virgin records also approaches PWL Productions, regarding the possibilty of having S/A/W produce an album for The Human League. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) S/A/W are unable to produce the album, due to time contstrains and commitments.Let us pause for a moment here. What if The Human League had been produced by S/A/W? I've no doubt whatsoever that the record would have been a great success, given that S/A/W fans buy records sometimes regardless of who the actual artist is! Also, the album would have stood up for itself, without comparison to other S/A/W artists. But what of the aftermath? Many artists never recovered from the stigma of being produced by S/A/W, but then again, Kylie Minogue is still alive and kicking (in the musical sense). Whatever the case, It's most likely that a S/A/W produced album may have fared better, chartwise, than "Romantic?".1990Summarising the album "Romantic" in a single song, "Heart Like A Wheel" represents what The League have become. Using nineties technology and integrating it with The League's distinctive compositions, the album shows the direction which pop music should travel. Tracks like "The Stars Are Going" and "Rebound" prove that although Oakey is reluctant to return to the simplicity of previous incarnations, he has compromised, combining "Crash" with "Hysteria". With Callis back as temporary writer (he co-wrote "Heart Like A Wheel") and two new members, The League have shown that they are back with a vengeance toward the chart that snubbed them so unnecessarily.1991During this hiatus period, Phil Oakey takes time out to produce some tracks for well known British comedian "Vic Reeves" (Remember the song - Dizzy). The album is called "I Will Cure You". It's a pastiche of musical styles. Remember, this guy is a comedian. Phil Oakey produces a track called 'Black Night', a track that was originally recorded by Deep Purple. Joanne and Susanne also contribute backing vocals to this track. A single from Vic Reeve's album is released called "Abide With Me", and the B-Side to this is "Black Night"1992During this dry spell for The Human League, Phil Oakey is flexing his acting abilities. He makes a brief appearance on a TV Comedy Pilot called "The Weekenders". This Pilot is produced by Vic Reeves. Phil plays a small part, in which he is selling meat products. Russell Dennet also makes a guest appearance1993An EP is released titled 'YMO versus The Human League'. This features The Human League singing 'Behind The Mask', and another track called 'Kimi Ni Mune Kyun'. This last track was written by Yellow Magic Orchestra, a revolutionary synthesizer band from Japan that could well be considered the Asian equivalent to the League, in terms of pioneering synthesis. One member of YMO is well known performer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who has also collaborated with Madonna, David Bowie and David Sylvian. These tracks were recorded at FON Studios in Sheffield, the same studio that Romantic? was recorded in. It was at this time that The Human League and Virgin Records parted company, due to some A&R and label managers reviewing the bands prior chart success and current status, and the pile of demos that the band had presented.No sooner had the dust settled, than The Human League signs a contract with EastWest Records. They begin work on a new album, with producer Ian Stanley, whose previous work includes "Tears For Fears", "Pretenders" and "Sisters Of Mercy" . The first single is "Tell Me When" and does quite well, entering the UK Top 20. The Human League are back (again)1995Octopus is released in January 1995 and does reasonably well in the charts. It seems as though The Human League are back on track again. The material is still reminiscent of their synth days, but in a more up-to-date form (These Are The Days is a song about reminiscing about the past and 'the good ole days). Follow up singles include the rather brilliant ballad 'One Man In My Heart' which features a great vocal performance from Susan-Anne, with Joanne and Phil on backing vocals. This single doesn't enter the UK Top 20 though. This CD is also released in 2 parts, CD1 and CD2. CD1 Includes the single and the obilgatory remixes, including an 'Ace Of Base' sounding remix, quite good actually. CD2 includes some great mixes of 'These Are The Days'. The Human League go on a promo tour in October.The Human League go on a promo tour in October. There is also an Interview CD released (Promotional Only) that features and hour long interview with Phil, Susan-Anne and Joanne. It is full of insights into the band and their current material and is interspersed with old and new Human League songs, as well as a few surprise tracks.The last single to be released from Octopus is 'Filling Up With Heaven'. A quirky song, that takes a few listens to digest, but once disolved you understand that it another crafty Human League pop song. God bless 'em. This one hovers around the nether regions of the charts, once again showing that even the best of songs may not necessarily be the best of sellers. This CD Single follows the trend of double CD's, with CD2 including more remixes. Don't You Want Me is plucked from the archives at Virgin, given a good dusting, remixing and released due to the resurgence in popularity of The Human League. It features remixes by Snap and Red Jerry (JX). The video clip is a collage of Human League clips, and has been time stretched (sped up) to accomodate the faster tempo of this new remix. The Human League perform at Albert Hall (UK) in November'Stay With Me Tonight' is released and it follows the style laid out by Octopus, and surprisingly - Dare. Make no mistake though, the Human League are not stuck in the past, this song stands right alongside current chart singles of the day (after all, analog is making a comeback, don't you know). The CD Single is accompanied by some rather brilliant remixes, adding to the mystical, romantic quality of the song. This song was not on Octopus, so it seems as though it may be coming from a forthcoming album, and if so...It must surely be their best one yet. In Holland a Record Label called 'Disky' release a somewhat low-budget compilation featuring an eclectic assortment of Human League hits (and misses). What is refreshing is that it doesn't just re-hash and re-release the same old tracks, ther is actually some variety and songs that you wouldn't normally expect to see on a Human League compilation (hence - eclectic).1997Another trend at this point in time is to release cover versions, and indeed whole CD's including cover versions. The Human League don't escape the trend, and this CD features their songs all gussied up in a techno style. Some of the tracks are faithfull to the instrumentation and arrangement of the originals, whilst others tend to veer off in a certain direction and never find their way home. It's good to see a Human League release though, so we shouldn't get too picky. It's also at this point in time that the Human League part company with East West Records.19981998 finds us bombarded with more compilations. Frist cab off the rank is 'The Best Of The Human League' This is a budget release CD that is only released in the UK. Not to be outdone is Ark21 Records release of 'The Very Best Of The Human League'. It is at this stage that the Human League sign a distribution deal in USA with ARK21 Records. Riding on the success of the last few years, in addition to a certain new appreciation of most things 80's, the Human League embark on 'The Big Rewind Tour' with fellow contemporaries Culture Club, Howard Jones, ABC. They tour the UK, USA and Europe to favourable, and not-so-favourable reviews. As always, The Human League put on a great show and get a lot of good press and publicity from the tour.1989It's now 1999 and there's no sign of an album on the way. Not surprsing really, seeing as though the band aren't signed at the moment. St Ettiene, Boy George and The Human League headline London's major gay festival the London Mardi Gras at Finsbury Park on July 3, 1999 to rave reviews. There is a release scheduled in August which features Phil Oakey in collaboration with "All Seeing I". The song is called "The First Man In Space" and is written by Jarvis Cocker of Pulp. It's scheduled to be released late August. In the meantime, The Human League do a PA at Ibiza, Spain in August to ecstatic crowds (naturally). 1st Man In Space is released in September, 1999. It climbs to 28 in the UK charts, then down to 40 then next week. A shame, considering that it's such a good song, but at this stage the charts are full of either candy-floss songs, Mambo songs, or rock'n'rawl. We still have to wait for The Human League Album though.
