The Human League are an English synthpop band best known for their 1981 global No. 1 hit “Don’t You Want Me.” Across two incarnations, they released six albums, four EPs, and twenty singles between 1979 and 1990 on Virgin Records.

They emerged on the Sheffield post-punk scene with the 1978 DIY release “Being Boiled” (b/w “Circus of Death”), a pioneering electro-pop single by co-founders Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh, and singer Phil Oakey.

With Adrian Wright as their slide-projectionist, the Human League recorded an instrumental EP, The Dignity of Labour, and the 1979–80 Virgin albums Reproduction and Travelogue, both comprised of icy minimal wave (“The Word Before Last,” “Toyota City”) and layered multi-movement epics (“Austerity / Girl One,” “Dreams of Leaving”). Early hits included “Empire State Human” and the Mick Ronson cover “Only After Dark.”

In late 1980, Ware and Marsh formed the breakaway British Electric Foundation, which spawned Heaven 17.

Oakey and Wright enlisted teenage club-goers Joanne Catherall and Susanne Sulley as vocalists for the 1981 Human League single “Boys and Girls.” With bassist–keyboardist Ian Burden and (ex-Rezillos) guitarist Jo Callis, they recorded Dare, an international chart-topper with the hits “Open Your Heart,” “Love Action (I Believe in Love),” “The Sound of the Crowd,” and the evergreen “Don’t You Want Me,” a call-and-response melodrama that ushered the Second British Invasion of the US charts.

The Human League remixed seven Dare tracks (and the b-side “Hard Times”) for the EP Love and Dancing, credited to the League Unlimited Orchestra. After the 1982–83 standalone hits “Mirror Man” and “(Keep Feeling) Fascination,” they returned with their fourth album Hysteria, which spawned the UK hits “Louise,” “The Lebanon,” and “Life On Your Own.” Meanwhile, Oakey collaborated with Giorgio Moroder on “Together in Electric Dreams” for the 1984 sci-fi comedy Electric Dreams.

The Human League re-conquered the US with “Human,” a ballad from their 1986 fifth album Crash. They scored further hits with “Heart Like a Wheel” and “Tell Me When” from their 1990–95 albums Romantic? and Octopus. Oakey, Catherall, and Sulley continue as a live act.

Members: Philip Oakey (lead vocals, synthesizer, keyboards), Martyn Ware (synthesizer, 1978-80), Ian Craig Marsh (synthesizer, 1978-80), Adrian Wright (visuals, keyboards, synthesizer, 1978-87), Joanne Catherall (vocals, 1980-present), Susanne Sulley (vocals, 1980-present), Ian Burden (keyboards, synthesizer, bass, guitar, vocals, 1981-87), Jo Callis (synthesizer, guitar, 1981-85), Jim Russell (drums, guitar, percussion, vocals, 1985-89)

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Background

The Human League assembled in 1977 when vocalist Phil Oakey joined The Future, a Sheffield-based electronic duo formed by Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, two early synth enthusiasts from the local theatre arts community.

Marsh (b. November 11, 1956) got his start in Meatwhistle, a local theatre group with performer Mark Civico (aka Trigae Thugg). In 1973, they formed Musical Vomit, a shock-rock act inspired by Alice Cooper. Singer Glenn Gregory led the band, which featured guitarist Paul Bowler and percussionist Ian Reddington, a future EastEnders star.

Musical Vomit performed at the Meatwhistle workshop and nearby Burngreave Church Hall. Their set included “Vomit Lost In Space,” a rock opera with primitive synth arrangements. Select shows featured stylophone by Ware (b. May 19, 1956), a King Edward VII School alumnus who formed the spinoff group Underpants.

In 1974, Musical Vomit confronted hostile attendees of the Bath Arts Festival, where they impressed teenage attendee Marianne Elliott, later known as X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene. They ceased when Reddington decamped for London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. By 1976, Marsh eschewed guitar for keyboards but championed punk’s arrival on the Sheffield scene.

By early 1977, Marsh and Ware worked as computer operators when they pooled their wages for a Korg 700S, one of the earliest budget analog synthesizers. In June, they teamed with singer Adi Newton in the Dead Daughters, a temp trio assembled for a friend’s 21st birthday, where they covered the Doctor Who theme. Satisfied, they continued the act under a new name.

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The Future

Marsh and Ware purchased a second synthesizer, the Roland System-100. They also worked with CARLOS, an early program for computerized lyric creation. In central Sheffield, they rehearsed at a derelict cutlery workshop and cut seven demos as The Future with Newton on vocals and tape loops.

“Looking for the Black Haired Girls” (3:40)
“Blank Clocks” (3:20)
“Cairo” (3:08)
“Dada Dada Duchamp Vortex” (5:49)
“Daz” (3:40)
“Future Religion” (3:44)
“Pulse Lovers” (4:02)

The Future pitched their material to multiple labels, which balked at the all-electronic arrangements. Dissuaded, Newton left the band and formed Clock DVA, a progenitor of the local indie/industrial scene.

In search of a singer, Marsh and Ware asked former Musical Vomit frontman Glenn Gregory, who currently led 57 Men, an unsigned new wave band with Jack Hues and Nick Feldman, the future nucleus of Wang Chung. Ware next invited Philip Oakey, an old classmate noted for his stylish presence on the Sheffield club scene.

Oakey (b. October 2, 1955; Hinckley, Leicestershire) was the son of a postal worker whose frequent moves included family stints in Coventry, Leeds, and Birmingham, where Phil attended Catherine-de-Barnes, a primary school in nearby Solihull. At fourteen, his family settled in Sheffield, where Oakey attended befriended Ware at King Edward VII School. He worked as a porter at Thornbury Annex Hospital when Martyn left a band-invite on his door.

A reputed ladies magnate, Ware recognized pop-star potential in Oakey, who harbored no prior musical inclinations. The duo handed him an untitled Future demo, which inspired Phil’s imagination about “the voice of Buddha.” He responded with lyrics for the tune that became “Being Boiled.”

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Early Human League Demos

Oakey’s baritone voice altered the band’s sound, which prompted a that could supersede The Future, a name soiled with label rejections. Ware proposed “The Human League,” taken from a 25-century intergalactic frontiers group in StarForce: Alpha Centauri, a sc-fi board game.

In April 1978, the Human League made a demo tape at their Devonshire Lane facility of “Being Boiled” and two additional songs, “Circus of Death” and “Toyota City,” an Eno-esque instrumental. Ware’s former Musical Vomit bandmate Paul Bower brought the demo to Bob Last, a Scottish music entrepreneur who recently signed Bower’s band, 2.3, to Fast Product, an Edinburgh post-punk indie label.

Meanwhile, the Human League cut multiple lo-fi demos, including Oakey’s “The Circus of Dr Lao” and covers of the Four Tops (“Reach Out (I’ll Be There)”) and Ennio Morricone (“Once Upon a Time in the West”) along with twelve group-credited originals:

“Dance Like a Star” (4:48)
“4JG” (4:36)
“Dominion Advertisement” (0:25)
“Disco Disaster” (5:06)
“Interface” (2:59)
“The Circus of Dr Lao” (3:58)
“Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” (3:55)
“New Pink Floyd” (2:14)
“Once Upon a Time in the West” (1:53)
“Overkill Disaster Crash (V.1)” (2:02)
“Year of the Jet Packs” (5:26)
“King of Kings” (1:56) Miklós Rózsa
“The Last Man on Earth” (10:01)

In 2002, the 1977–78 Future and early Human league demos appeared on The Golden Hour of the Future, a twenty-track archival disc on Black Melody Records.

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“Being Boiled”

On June 30, 1978, the Human League released their debut single: “Being Boiled” backed with “Circus of Death,” both lo-fi Ware–Marsh–Oakey originals comprised of synthesizers and voice.

A. “Being Boiled” (3:48)
B. “Circus of Death” (4:47)

“Being Boiled” appeared as the third release on Fast Product (catalog No. FAST 4) after titles by The Mekons (“Never Been In a Riot”), 2.3 (“All Time Low”), and ahead of the debut Gang of Four single “Damaged Goods.” All four singles reappeared with the Scars‘ debut (“Adult/Ery”) on the 1979 label comp Fast Product.

For this release, Fast billed the Human League with the prefix Electronically Yours…. The band recorded the single for £2.50 on a mono tape recorder in a makeshift factory studio. Along with 1978 singles by The Normal (“Warm Leatherette”) and Thomas Leer (“Private Plane”), “Being Boiled” was a pioneering minimal wave release.

“Being Boiled” found an early champion in BBC Radio One DJ John Peel, who first aired the song on his July 18 show along with cuts by The Germs (“Lexican Devil”), The Movies (“No Class”), Neon Hearts (“Answers”), Punishment of Luxury (“Puppet Life”), and Teenage Jesus & The Jerks (“Less of Me”).

On August 8, the Human League cut a session for Peel’s August 16 broadcast, which aired raw takes of “Being Boiled” and three songs earmarked for their eventual debut album: “Blind Youth,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” and “No Time,” an early version of “The Word Before Last.”

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Mk I Lineup

In advance of their single, the Human League made their live debut on June 12, 1978, at Bar 2, a campus venue at Psalter Lane Art College, which later made a plaque to commemorate the event. They shared the bill with Vice Versa, a fellow Sheffield minimal wave act composed of synth enthusiasts Mark White and Stephen Singleton, the future nucleus of ABC. On June 25, the Human League headlined over Adi Newton’s Clock DVA at Sheffield’s Limit club.

Concerned about the static nature of their all-electronic live act, Oakley requested the visual services of Philip Adrian Wright (b. June 30, 1956), a friend and show attendee who worked in photography. He joined the Human League as their Director of Visuals, tasked with slide-projections and lighting effects.

On August 17, the Human League played London’s Music Machine as openers for The Rezillos, an Edinburgh pop-punk band under Bob Last’s management. On September 1, the Human League played Eric’s Club, the hub of Liverpool’s new wave (Big In Japan, The ID, Echo & The Bunnymen).

On September 11, the Human League headlined a Sheffield multi-act set at The Limit, supported by heavy metal hopefuls Def Leppard and newcomers The Monitors and Graph, a synth-punk band with guitarist Ian Burden. On September 11, the Human League opened for The Stranglers at Sheffield’s Top Rank club. Meanwhile, Siouxsie & the Banshees tapped the Human League (along with Spizzoil) for a national tour that commenced on October 11 at the Milton Keynes Pavillion.

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1979

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Dignity of Labour

On April 16, 1979, the Human League released The Dignity of Labour, an instrumental EP in four parts, inspired by the April 1961 Earth orbit of the Soviet Vostok 1 spacecraft with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in outer space.

A1. “The Dignity of Labour (Pt. 1)” (4:21) — “The first part has the miners underground in Russia, digging up the coal to make steel.”
A2. “The Dignity of Labour (Pt. 2)” (2:46) — “The second part shows gantries being made from the steel, for Yuri Gagarin’s spaceship.”
B1. “The Dignity of Labour (Pt. 3)” (3:49) — “The third part is an instrumental tribute to Yuri Gagarin.”
B2. “The Dignity of Labour (Pt. 4)” (3:49)

The Dignity of Labour appeared on 12″ with the catalog number Fast 10, the final Fast Records release before Bob Last launched Pop Aural, an indie for Scottish post-punk talent (Boots for Dancing, Fire Engines, The Flowers, Restricted Code).

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The Men – “I Don’t Depend On You”

In July 1979, the Human League adopted the pseudonym The Men for the electro-disco single “I Don’t Depend on You.”

They recorded the song at the behest of Virgin, which doubted the band’s potential as an all-synthesized band. The members obliged, provided the single appear under an alternate name.

“I Don’t Depend on You” features a standard rhythm section and backing vocals by sessionists Katie Kissoon and Liza Strike, famed for her contributions to The Dark Side of the Moon and titles by Bryan Ferry, John Cale, Murray Head, Hummingbird, Russ Ballard, and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

A. “I Don’t Depend on You” (4:36)
B. “Cruel” (4:41) is the backing track of “I Don’t Depend on You” without Oakey’s vocals.

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Reproduction

The Human League released their debut album, Reproduction, on October 10, 1979, on Virgin. Singer Phil Oakey plays synthesizers along with keyboardists Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, who both provide backing vocals. Their new fourth member, Adrian Wright, takes credit here as a film technician.

Reproduction contains ten Ware/Marsh composition with lyrics by Oakey, including “The Path of Least Resistance,” “The World Before Last,” and “Zero as a Limit.”

Side A includes their third single, “Empire State Human,” and a new version of “Circus of Death,” the b-side of their Fast debut. Side B contains two suites: the epic “Austerity/Girl One (Medley)” and “Morale,” a rhythmless minimal wave number that segues into “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling,” an electronic take on the Righteous Brothers classic.

A1. “Almost Medieval” (4:43)
A2. “Circus of Death” (3:55)
A3. “The Path of Least Resistance” (3:33)
A4. “Blind Youth” (3:25)
A5. “The World Before Last” (4:04)
A6. “Empire State Human” (3:17)

B1. “Morale…You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” (9:39) Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Phil Spector
B2. “Austerity/Girl One (Medley)” (6:44)
B3. “Zero as a Limit” (4:13)

Sessions took place at the Human League’s Workshop Studio in Sheffield, where they co-produced the album with Colin Thurston, a prior Ramases and Ross soundman famed for his involvement with David Bowie and Iggy Pop as part of the Bewlay Bros. team behind their respective late-1977 albums “Heroes” and Lust for Life. He worked on Reproduction in sequence with Virgin titles by Interview (Big Oceans) and Magazine (Secondhand Daylight).

For the Reproduction cover art, the Human League requested a dystopian image of a nightclub with a glass floor above a newborn nursery. Virgin handed the task to Auxiliary Images, which produced an image of three dancers on a cracked floor above a room full of babies. The cover went to press before the band could voice their objections. The inner-sleeve contains the first public Human League photo: a distant, shaded group shot under zoomed projections of their shadowy faces.

The Human League lifted “Empire State Human” as their second single (third counting The Men), backed with “Introducing,” an experimental wordless piece.

B. “Introducing” (3:19)

Music video pioneer Russell Mulcahy directed videos for “Empire State Human” and the re-recorded “Circus of Death,” both filmed with a roaming fish-eye lens on a dark soundstage with flashing red/white lights and slide screens. Mulcahy also directed 1979 clips for The Buggles (“Video Killed the Radio Star”), The Stranglers (“Duchess”), and XTC (“Making Plans for Nigel”).

The Human League performed “Empire State Human” and “The Path of Least Resistance” for Mainstream, a BBC2 music program hosted by Brian Clarke.

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1980

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Holiday ’80

On April 18, 1980, the Human League released Holiday ’80, a double 7″ with one new Marsh–Ware–Oakey original (“Marianne”) and a rerecording of their 1978 debut “Being Boiled.”

Holiday ’80 also includes “Dancevision,” a 1977 Marsh/Ware Future demo (not included on the later Golden Hour comp). Side B contains a medley of Gary Glitter (“Rock ‘n’ Roll”) and Iggy Pop (“Nightclubbing”).

A. “Marianne” (3:17)
B. “Dancevision” (2:21) is a Sony 2-track recording from November 1977.
C. “Being Boiled” (4:22)
D. “Rock ‘n’ Roll / Nightclubbing” (6:22) combines Gary Glitter’s 1972 transatlantic No. 1 hit with a song from The Idiot, Pop’s first of two 1977 Bowie-produced albums.

The Human League made the three new recordings with John Leckie, who produced 1978/79 albums by Magazine (Real Life), XTC (Go-2), Simple Minds (Real to Real Cacophony), and Bill Nelson’s Red Noise (Sound-On-Sound). Leckie made his name with Nelson’s prior band, Be-Bop Deluxe, whose 1978 swan song Drastic Plastic presaged the burgeoning electro-pop movement.

The Holiday ’80 appeared in a two-fold sleeve with a carnival image. The inner-fold displays four image/logo combinations to entertain the notion of each song as a separate a-side.

Virgin re-sequenced Holiday ’80 as a three-track single with “Rock ‘n’ Roll” as the a-side (3:25). This version dropped “Marianne” and “Nightclubbing.” The Human League mimed “Rock ‘n’ Roll” for the May 8 broadcast of the BBC music program Top of the Pops, which also featured in-studio numbers by Dexys Midnight Runners (“Geno”), Prelude (“Platinum Blonde”), Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark (“Messages”), and The Ruts (“Staring at the Rude Boys”).

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Travelogue

The Human League released their second album, Travelogue, on May 16, 1980, on Virgin. The album includes the re-recorded “Being Boiled” and six new songs credited to singer/synthesists Phil Oakey, Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh, and film technician Adrian Wright.

Travelogue balances experimentation (“The Black Hit of Space”) and melodrama (“WXJL Tonight”) with moments of dance (“Life Kills”) and blue-eyed soul (“The Touchables”).

Side A contains “Dreams of Leaving,” an epic with two interludes. “Toyota City” is an instrumental by the core trio from April 1978 (though co-credited to Wright). The album also includes covers of Mick Ronson (“Only After Dark”) and Jeff Wayne (“Gordon’s Gin”).

A1. “The Black Hit of Space” (4:11)
A2. “Only After Dark” (3:50) originated on Slaughter On 10th Avenue, the debut solo album by ex-Spiders from Mars guitarist Mick Ronson.
A3. “Life Kills” (3:07)
A4. “Dreams of Leaving” (5:49)
A5. “Toyota City” (3:24)

B1. “Crow and a Baby” (3:43)
B2. “The Touchables” (3:21)
B3. “Gordon’s Gin” (2:58) originated as a 1976 jingle for Gordon’s, a London dry gin brewed since 1769.
B4. “Being Boiled” (4:21)
B5. “WXJL Tonight” (4:40)

Sessions took place in Sheffield at Monumental Pictures Studio, where the Human League co-produced Travelogue with Richard Manwaring, a prior Budgie and Status Quo soundman with credits on recent titles by The Rezillos, Fischer-Z, Zones, Mike Oldfield, and Martha + The Muffins.

Travelogue coincided with a release of “Empire State Human,” which reached No. 62 on the UK Singles Chart. The first 15,000 copies appeared as a double-7″ with “Only After Dark” (b/w “Toyota City”).

Travelogue reached No. 16 on the UK Albums Chart. Canadian copies sport the Holiday ’80 cover and a shuffled tracklist that moves “Being Boiled” to the front (retitled “Voice of Buddha”) and substitutes “Toyota City” with “Rock ‘n’ Roll / Nightclubbing.” In the US, Travelogue appeared on the short-lived Virgin International imprint.

For the album’s promotional tour, Wright added keyboards to his arsenal. Their setlist included an arrangement of “Take on the World,” a Judas Priest song from the metal band’s 1978 album Killing Machine.

In August 1980, Fast Product issued a stereo remix of the band’s 1978 single “Being Boiled” (b/w “Circus of Death”).

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Breakup | Human League Mk II

By the late summer of 1980, tensions erupted in the Human League over creative and commercial concerns. Ware insisted on a pure electronic sound while Oakey favored a more song-based synthpop style. Their manager, Bob Last, struggled in vein to broker a peace deal. After multiple arguments about their musical direction, Ware quit the Human League that September, followed by Marsh.

Ware and Marsh recorded Music for Stowaways, an instrumental cassette-album credited to the British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.), their production brand. Concurrently, they re-connected with Glenn Gregory, their original choice for the Human League. The trio became Heaven 17, which debuted with the March 1981 Virgin single “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang,” followed by the album Penthouse and Pavement.

Meanwhile, Oakey retained the Human League name along with its label debts and looming tour obligations. News of their split leaked to the press, which noted the talent disparity between the defectors (the two instrumentalists) and the remaining half (the singer and slide projectionist).

Ten days out from the upcoming tour, Oakey and Wright dropped by the Crazy Daisy Nightclub on Sheffield’s High Street, where Phil spotted a pair of teenage girls, Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall. Point blank, he asked them to sing and dance for the group.

Sulley (b. March 22, 1963) spent her childhood in the nearby suburb of Gleadless. In 1974, she enrolled at Frecheville Comprehensive School, where she befriended Catherall (b. September 18, 1962). Neither had any professional song or dance experience. Oakey and Wright visited the girls’ fathers for permission to take them on the UK/European tour. The fathers, in turn, convinced Frecheville staff that the tour would be an educational experience. Around this time, Sulley modified her forename to Susanne, a portmanteau of her first two names.

In October 1980, the Human League commenced their tour at the Doncaster Top Rank, supplemented on keyboards by Ian Burden (b. December 24, 1957), whose prior band, Graph, recorded an unreleased album. The tour finished unscathed, despite press blow-back over the radical lineup overhaul. Impressed by their on-stage energy, Oakey made Sulley and Catherall permanent band members.

Amid the newfound press attention, Virgin pressed Oakey and Wright for a new Human League single.

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1981

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“Boys and Girls”

On February 20, 1981, the Human League released “Boys and Girls,” a stark synth/vocal number backed with “Tom Baker,” a wordless experimental piece. Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright wrote and recorded both songs as a duo.

Wright debuted as an instrumentalist on this single, which concluded the avant-garde phase of their two prior albums. Singers Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall appear on the sleeve but not on the recording, which occurred during their brief return to Frecheville.

A. “Boys and Girls” (3:12)
B. “Tom Baker” (3:58) is an English actor (picture on the back-sleeve) who portrayed the Doctor in the 1974–81 run of the BBC sci-fi program Doctor Who.

“Boys and Girls” reached No. 47 on the UK Singles Chart. Upon its release, Oakey summoned Ian Burden for a permanent slot in the band.

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“The Sound of the Crowd”

On April 24, 1981, The Human League released “The Sound of the Crowd,” an electro-dance track co-written by Phil Oakey and new member Ian Burden. The standard 7″ contains a dub version subtitled “Add Your Voice.” The 12″ contains an elongated “Sound of the Crowd,” backed with an instrumental version.

“The Sound of the Crowd” is their only single from this period as a quintet; recorded between the introductions of Burden and subsequent recruit Jo Callis. Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall make their singing debuts on this song.

The Human League denoted the single ‘Red’ — the first in a color-coded marketing series to distinguish the bands dance material (Red) and pop material (Blue).

A. “The Sound of the Crowd” (3:55 / 6:32)
B. “The Sound of the Crowd (Add Your Voice)” (3:01)

“The Sound of the Crowd” was produced by Martin Rushent, a soundman on Seventies classics by Curved Air and Gentle Giant with credits on punk-era titles by The Buzzcocks and The Stranglers. Rushent formed an ongoing relationship with the Human League, who welcomed his newfangled studio approach.

The Human League mimed “Sound of the Crowd” amid smoke machines and jagged mint fixtures for the April 20 TotP broadcast, which also featured in-studio numbers by The Beat (“All Out to Get You”), Department S (“Is Vic There?”), Sheena Easton (“When He Shines”), Spandau Ballet (“Musclebound”), Teardrop Explodes (“Treason (It’s Just a Story)”), and Thin Lizzy (“Are You Ready?”). They encored the song amid red-lit chrome and dry ice for the May 21 broadcast, which featured in-studios by Duran Duran (“Careless Memories”) and Toyah (“I Want to Be Free”). Susanne has dark shoulder-length hair in both appearances, which feature Adrian’s multi-track reel-to-reel recorder as a visual prop.

“The Sound of the Crowd” reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart. They subsequently remixed the song for their third studio album.

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Sextet Lineup

As the now-five-piece Human League gathered steam, manager Bob Last suggested one further member: Jo Callis, the guitarist of Last’s earlier client, The Rezillos.

Callis (b. John William Callis; May 2, 1951) hailed from Rotherham, Yorkshire, and attended the Edinburgh College of Art. He played in the Knutsford Dominators before the 1976 formation of The Rezillos, which scored a 1978 UK hit with “Top of the Pops” but splintered after their debut album, Can’t Stand the Rezillos.

While frontal Rezillos Fay Fife and Eugene Reynolds reconfigured as The Revillos, Callis formed Shake with (future Teardrop Explodes) guitarist Troy Tate and the former Rezillos rhythm section, Simon Templar and Angel Paterson.

Shake released the 1979–80 Sire singles “Culture Shock” and “Invasion of the Gamma Men.” Just prior to the Human League call, Callis cut the solo sides “Woah Yeah!” and “Sinistrale,” released as a split-single with the S.H.A.K.E. Project. He also did a brief stint in Boots for Dancing, a Scottish post-punk band.

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“Love Action (I Believe in Love)”

On July 31, 1981, the Human League released “Love Action (I Believe in Love),” a sprightly synthpop song co-written by Phil Oakey and Ian Burden. The 7″ contains the rare b-side “Hard Times,” a lurching co-write by Oakey, Adrian Wright, and Jo Callis. The single was the second in their Red series.

A. “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” (3:50 / 5:00)
B. “Hard Times” (4:53 / 5:10)

In Canada, “Love Action” appeared as an EP with the longer mixes (Side A) backed with instrumental versions of both.

The Human League mimed “Love Action” on a multi-level stage amid green-lit, cross-bar, fiberglass fixtures for the August 6 and 20 TotP broadcasts, which also aired in-studio numbers by Dexys Midnight Runners (“Show Me”), Tenpole Tudor (“Wunderbar”), U2 (“Fire”), and UB40 (“One In Ten”). “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and reached No. 11 in Ireland and No. 12 in Australia.

In July 1982, after the Human League scored their US breakthrough with “Don’t You Want Me,” A&M issued “Love Action” stateside as a followup single. The band made a music video of the song for the US market, where the cable channel MTV ran 24/7 as an outlet for the new medium.

In the “Love Action” video, Ian weds Joanne to the anguish of Phil (leather pants, rolled denim jacket), who watches the nuptials officiate through the window of the church balcony (ala The Graduate). The camera zooms on Joanne’s reluctant face, then cuts to a video-editing room with Jo and Adrian, who reviews the wedding film along with footage of Susanne in a fit of household rage. As Phil confides in the viewer, a leather-clad Joanne walks about an apartment balcony and gives him a wink while Susanne continues her rampage. The parties converges in Adrian’s film room, where spy footage of Jo intercuts with Susanne, who stands beside him in the shade while Joanne cozies up to Phil as they watch vintage home movies of Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller.

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Dare

The Human League released their third album, Dare, on October 16, 1981, on Virgin. Dare includes their two recent hits (“The Sound of the Crowd,” “Love Action”) and the follow-up singles “Open Your Heart” and “Don’t You Want Me,” a transatlantic chart-topper that spearheaded the Second British Invasion.

Veteran members Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright co-wrote the two side openers: “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of” and “I Am the Law,” an eerie minimal wave number prefixed with the theme from the 1971 Michael Caine vehicle Get Carter. New member Jo Callis collaborated with the pair on “Seconds” and “Don’t You Want Me” and partnered separately with Oakey (“Open Your Heart”) and Wright (“Darkness”).

Oakey, Callis, and (sometimes) Wright play synthesizers on Dare alongside Phil’s recent co-writer, Ian Burden, who also collaborated with Oakey on “Do or Die.”

A1. “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of” (4:14)
A2. “Open Your Heart” (3:53)
A3. “The Sound of the Crowd” (3:56)
A4. “Darkness” (3:56)
A5. “Do or Die” (5:25)

B1. “Get Carter” (1:02) originates from composer Roy Budd’s score for the 1971 gangster film Get Carter by director Mike Hodges.
B2. “I Am the Law” (4:09)
B3. “Seconds” (4:58)
B4. “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” (4:58)
B5. “Don’t You Want Me” (3:56)

Sessions spanned March through September 1981 at Genetic Sound Studio in Streatley, Berkshire, where the Human League co-produced Dare with Martin Rushent, who handled the album in sequence with Homosapien, the solo debut of former Buzzcocks frontman Pete Shelley. The engineer on Dare, Dave Allen, hailed from Pinpoint, a new wave trio that cut a 1980 album on Ariola.

Dare appeared in a gatefold sleeve designed by Ken Ansell, who also created 1981 Virgin sleeves for Japan and DAF. The layout mimicked the May 1981 issue of Vogue (Deutsch), which features a white-frame closeup of model Paulina Porizkova. Dare displays zoomed photos of Phil (front), Adrian (back), Susanne and Joanne (inner-gates), Ian and Jo (inner-sleeve) by photographer Brian Aris, whose imagery also graces 1981 covers for Dramatis, Duran Duran, Generation X, and Sheena Easton.

Dare reached No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart and eventually went triple-Platinum (900,000+ units sold). Abroad, the album reached No. 1 in Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and No. 2 in Finland. Dare also went Top 10 in Australia (No. 3) and Norway (No. 6) and Top 20 in Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands.

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“Open Your Heart”

Two weeks before Dare, the Human League lifted “Open Your Heart” as a third advance single, backed with the exclusive “Non-Stop,” an uptempo Callis/Wright instrumental. The 12″ presents the two songs as a medley (8:15) backed with an instrumental “Open Your Heart” (8:41 conjoined) in the band’s Blue series.

B. “Non-Stop” (4:15)

In reference to the sleeve (and the Dare cover), the “Open Your Heart” video opens with a two-row/three-column grid of the member’s zoomed faces. Scenes commence in shaped-off split-screens and soft-focus slow motion against white and colored backdrops. Members appear from odd, cropped angles (sometime silhouetted) amid random actions, zoomed features, and shadow transfers. Phil cuts to a somber Susanne, who cuts to Jo and then Ian, whose chest cuts away to a keyboard.

“Open Your Heart” was an early credit for future filmmaker Brian Grant, who used similar period effects in videos for M (“Pop Muzik”), Sparks (“Beat the Clock”), and Queen (“Calling All Girls”).

The Human League mimed “Open Your Heart” amid pink/teal fixtures and dry ice for the October 8 TotP broadcast, which also featured in-studio numbers by Depeche Mode (“Just Can’t Get Enough”), Japan (“Quiet Life”), Madness (“Shut Up”), Slade (“Lock Up Your Daughters”), and Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin (“It’s My Party”). TotP employed blurred camera effects on the Human League segment, which featured the final appearance of Phil’s split haircut.

“Open Your Heart” reached No. 12 in Belgium, No. 8 in Ireland, and No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.

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“Don’t You Want Me”

On November 27, 1981, Virgin lifted “Don’t You Want Me” as the fourth Dare single (b/w “Seconds”). The 12″ contains an extended dance mix (7:30). Virgin issued the single despite complaints from Oakey, who didn’t perceive its commercial potential. In lieu of the Red/Blue code, the sleeve and label sport a pink/teal “100” stamp, a reference to Sheffield’s 100 Club restaurant (not the London rock venue).

The “Don’t You Want Me” video opens after dark on a backstreet in Slough, Berkshire, where a mink-coated Joanne boards a car with a mystery driver. They’re trailed by another car driven by Jo, a hitman who follows them to the driver’s residence, where Joanne retrieves something from the trunk, then runs back inside at the sound of gunfire: the cliff-hanger of a film in-progress.

The video cuts to an editing room where Adrian reviews the footage as Phil looks on with a somber face, perturbed by its similarity to his situation with Susanne, who sits apart in the viewing room as the chorus unfurls. As Joanne wraps her scene, Susanne walks from the film set and tells her side of the story while Phil traces her steps from behind. Their faces trade light and shade as they sit apart for a subsequent screening, somberly watching as art imitates life.

Irish filmmaker Steve Barron directed “Don’t You Want Me” and the subsequent “Love Action” video in sequence with clips for Heaven 17 (“Penthouse and Pavement”) and Sheena Easton (“For Your Eyes Only”). For the two Human League videos, Barron took inspiration from Day for Night, a 1973 French metafiction film that follows the on-set drama of a film crew during the production of a melodrama.

“Don’t You Want Me” entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 9 and shot straight to No. 1 for five weeks through the 1981 holiday season. Top of the Pops aired the video three times before the Human League mimed the song for the December 24 broadcast, which also featured in-studio numbers by Altered Images (“I Could Be Happy”), Dollar (“Mirror Mirror (Mon Amour)”), Elvis Costello & The Attractions (“Sweet Dreams”), and The Police (“Spirits In the Material World”). The Human League made an encore appearance under a flashing vaulted stage-set for the January 7, 1982, TotP broadcast, which also featured in-studios by Mobiles (“Drowning In Berlin”), Jon & Vangelis (“I’ll Find My Way Home”), and videos by Foreigner (“Waiting for a Girl Like You”), Hall & Oates (“Kiss On My List”), Kim Carnes (“Bette Davis Eyes”), and Rick Springfield (“Jessie’s Girl”).

“Don’t You Want Me” became the best-selling UK single of 1981, ahead of hits by Soft Cell (“Tainted Love”), Adam & the Ants (“Stand and Deliver”), and Ultravox (“Vienna”). Abroad, the single reached No. 1 in Ireland, Belgium, Norway, Israel, Canada, and New Zealand. “Don’t You Want Me” peaked at No. 2 in South Africa, No. 3 in Sweden, No. 4 in Spain and Switzerland, and No. 5 in the Netherlands and West Germany.

In the United States, where Virgin International folded months earlier, Virgin licensed “Don’t You Want Me” and its parent album to A&M, which issued the album in February 1982 as Dare! The video entered high rotation on the fledgling cable music channel MTV, which helped break Human League in the US, a market long-averse to UK new wave music.

On the week of July 3, 1982, “Don’t You Want Me” reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it overtook the Paul McCartney/Stevie Wonder duet “Ebony and Ivory” and held the summit for three weeks until Survivor took the reins with “Eye of the Tiger.” The Human League followed this success with a stateside release of “Love Action (I Believe In Love),” accompanied by a newly made video (filmed one year after the song’s UK release).

Dare! reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and signaled the Second British Invasion of the US charts, which soon welcomed hits by A Flock of Seagulls, ABC, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Eurythmics, The Fixx, Haircut One Hundred, Naked Eyes, Spandau Ballet, Talk Talk, Thompson Twins, and Yazoo.

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1982–1983

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Love and Dancing

On July 2, 1982, the Human League released Love and Dancing, a remix album billed to the League Unlimited Orchestra, named in ode to the Love Unlimited Orchestra, the Seventies-era big band of producer/singer Barry White.

Love and Dancing contains remixed versions of seven songs from Dare and the rarity “Hard Times,” the b-side of “Love Action.” The album got its name from the original working title of “Do or Die.”

Dare producer Martin Rushent created Love and Dancing across ten days from over 2,200 edits where he cut, spliced, and re-sequenced the pre-existing tracks. Made before the arrival of samplers, Rushent used analog phasers, pitch shifters, and delay lines to process the sounds.

The stop/go style of Rushent’s remixes took inspiration from New York rap musician Grandmaster Flash, a pioneer in scratching and turntable-ism.

1. “Hard Times” (5:40)
2. “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” (5:12)
3. “Don’t You Want Me” (7:18)

4. “Things That Dreams Are Made Of” (5:10)
5. “Do or Die” (4:36)
6. “Seconds” (2:25)
7. “Open Your Heart” (2:35)
8. “The Sound of the Crowd” (2:55)

Marketed as a stopgap and retailed at the price of an EP, Love and Dancing reached No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 20 in New Zealand. Its appearance followed Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing, an album comprised largely of remixed Soft Cell tracks from the duo’s 1981 album Non Stop Erotic Cabaret.

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“Mirror Man”

On November 12, 1982, the Human League released “Mirror Man,” an updated Motown-style number backed with “You Remind Me of Gold,” a glistening electro-dance track with psychedelic guitar work.

Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall have prominent parts on both tracks, which Phil Oakey co-wrote with Jo Callis and Ian Burden. The original single lacked a Red or Blue code but did feature blue labels (the ‘pop’ indicator).

A. “Mirror Man” (3:48)
B. “You Remind Me of Gold” (3:36)

The “Mirror Man” video opens in a night alley where Susanne and Joanne (fur coated) encounter Adrian, Ian, and Joe (leather jacketed). Meanwhile, Phil (monochrome) sits alone before a vanity mirror, where the women soon arrive to check their hair while Adrian and gang ready their equipment on a soundstage. After the women arrive, the five members stand with their instruments and wait for their frontman, who appears from the dark as a silhouette in a shining corridor. The video ends with vintage footage of a speed-boating accident. Fashion photographer Brian Duffy directed “Mirror Man” and videos for ABC (“All of My Heart”) and Spandau Ballet (“Gold”).

Martin Rushent produced “Mirror Man” in sequence with Love and Dancing and albums by Altered Images (Pinky Blue), Lene Lovich (No Man’s Land), and The Members (Uprhythm, Downbeat). For the picture sleeve, the Human League posed for Simon Fowler, whose photography appears on contemporary sleeves for Classix Nouveaux, Diamond Head, Eddie Grant, and Iron Maiden.

The Human League mimed “Mirror Man” against a flashing rhombus backdrop for the November 18 TotP broadcast, which reaired the track amid in-studios by Blancmange (“Living on the Ceiling”), Dexys Midnight Runners (“Let’s Get This Straight (From the Start)”), Duran Duran (“Rio”), The Jam (“Beat Surrender”), Modern Romance (“Best Years of Our Lives”), Tears For Fears (“Mad World”), Wham! (“Young Guns (Go For It)”), and Whitesnake (“Here I Go Again”).

“Mirror Man” reached No. 1 in Ireland and No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, where it lodged under “Beat Surrender,” The Jam’s swan song. Abroad, “Mirror Man” reached No. 4 in Australia, No. 7 in Canada, and No. 10 in Spain.

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“(Keep Feeling) Fascination”

On April 15, 1983, the Human League released their sixth non-album single: “(Keep Feeling) Fascination,” a neon-powered harmony pop song by Jo Callis and Philip Oakey. The song features electric bass by Ian Burden, who co-wrote the instrumental b-side, “Total Panic.”

The “Fascination” 12″ contains an extended version (5:00) and an ‘improvised’ version (6:15). This was the third and final single in their Red series (dance).

A. “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” (3:39)
B. “Total Panic” (3:23) is a prototype of the subsequent album track “Don’t You Know I Want You.”

The “Fascination” video spoofs red geo dots (an indicator of “you are here”) with a circle that covers a (condemned) three-sided residential building, painted red from roof-to-base (windows included) along with the surrounding sidewalk, street, and parked car (an Austin 1800). When a child enters the circle to retrieve his ball, his clothes turn red. The camera pans down through an open window to an ivory room where the Human League perform in black formal attire.

“Fascination” was the Human League’s third video with director Steve Barron, who had the marked area painted red for the video. The building (at First Avenue, London E13 8AP) remained red until its demolition that summer.

Martin Rushent produced “Fascination” amid 1983 titles by Altered Images and Pete Shelley. Pretenders soundman Chris Thomas remixed the song pre-release. The sleeve shows Burden caught off guard by his gravity-defying bandmates.

The Human League stood side-to-side and mimed “Fascination” in spunky attire for the May 7 TotP, the program’s 1,000 episode, which mixed classic Sixties clips with current in-studio numbers by The Beat (“Can’t Get Used to Losing You”), Fun Boy Three (“Our Lips Are Sealed”), Spandau Ballet (“True”), Thompson Twins (“We Are Detective”), and ex-colleagues Heaven 17 (“Temptation”).

“(Keep Feeling) Fascination” reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, where it lodged under “True,” Spandau’s sole chart-topper. “Fascination” also reached No. 2 in Ireland, No. 3 in New Zealand, and No. 8 in Australia.

In the US, the extended song and its improvisational version appeared on Fascination!, a six-song EP with both sides of the “Mirror Man” / “You Remind Me of Gold” single and the earlier UK-only b-side “Hard Times,” plus “I Love You Too Much,” a then-exclusive song by Burden, Callis, and Wright, later redone for the fourth Human League studio album.

“Fascination” received generous MTV rotation and reached No. 7 on the Cashbox Top 100 and No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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1984

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Hysteria

The Human League released their fourth album, Hysteria, on May 7, 1984, on Virgin.

Hysteria contains the band’s just-issued single “The Lebanon,” a co-write by Phil Oakey and Jo Callis, who collaborated on the two following singles, “Louise” and “Life on Your Own,” with input by Adrian Wright. Ian Burden teamed with Oakey on “So Hurt” while Callis helped the pair write “The Sign” and “Don’t You Know I Want You.”

As on Dare, Oakey and Wright co-wrote the new album’s side openers, “I’m Coming Back” and “Betrayed.” Side A includes a new version of “I Love You Too Much” (first heard on the US Fascination! EP) and the Lyn Collins cover “Rock Me Again… (Six Times).”

Burden plays bass on Hysteria and splits guitar and keyboard parts with Callis. Oakey handles the album’s programming and plays additional keyboards with Wright.

1. “I’m Coming Back” (4:07)
2. “I Love You Too Much” (3:26)
3. “Rock Me Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again (Six Times)” (3:32) originated as a 1974 Lyn Collins single, one of three James Brown co-writes on her 1975 album Check Me Out If You Don’t Know Me By Now.
4. “Louise” (4:55)
5. “The Lebanon” (5:03)

6. “Betrayed” (4:02)
7. “The Sign” (3:46)
8. “So Hurt” (3:53)
9. “Life on Your Own” (4:06)
10. “Don’t You Know I Want You” (3:09)

Sessions commenced in mid-1983 at London’s AIR Studios with Chris Thomas and Martin Rushent, who handled drum programming on “I Love You Too Much,” “So Hurt,” and “Don’t You Know I Want You.” The production proved difficult, hence the album’s title.

After Thomas and Rushent resigned from the project, work continued at Townhouse Studios with Hugh Padgham, a longtime soundman for Genesis, The Police, and XTC. Padgham produced and engineered Hysteria between Genesis and Tonight, David Bowie’s followup to his 1983 mega-seller Let’s Dance. “The Sign” features drum programming by Mummer sessionist Jim Russell, also credited on 1984 titles by The Associates, Hazel O’Connor, Level 42, and Madness.

Hysteria appeared in a logo-dominated gatefold designed by Ken Ansell with an inner-sleeve interior shot of the Human League by Simon Fowler, whose photography also graces 1984 sleeves for Clannad, Freur, Howard Jones, Paul Young, and Swans Way.

“The Lebanon” appeared two weeks ahead of Hysteria as a single backed with “Thirteen,” a non-album group-write by the four men. The 12″ contains a longer “Lebanon” (5:52) and an instrumental version (5:07). “The Lebanon” peaked at No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart.

B. “Thirteen” (4:10 / 5:00)

The “Lebanon” video takes places on a theater stage where Human League perform against a blue backdrop before a select audience.

On June 18, the Human League lifted “Life on Your Own” as the second single; backed with “The World Tonight,” a non-album Burden/Oakey number. The 12″ includes an extended “Life on Your Own” (5:43), which peaked at No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart.

B. “The World Tonight” (4:09)

For “Life on Your Own,” the Human League filmed a video reminiscent of “Let Me Go” by Heaven 17, in which the singer is the last man standing in a lifeless city after an unspecified cataclysm.

The video follows Phil (unkempt hair, dilapidated jeans) as a man adrift and disheveled, post-breakup. As he wanders the littered streets of Battersea in Southwest London, his bandmates stand motionless and vanish beside a bus. At the Plaza Hotel, he sits alone at a cobwebbed table, where Susanne and Joanne appear as momentary apparitions.

Outside, when he sees their motionless ghosts in front of a boutique window, he throws a brick through the glass to prove they’re not real. He grabs a shirt from the unattended store and gazes at the mannequins, all with living dead expressions. After dark, he powers the red tower light of Arding & Hobbs, then enters an uninhabited living room to watch old video footage of his band. By morning, he crosses Battersea bridge and walks through lifeless subways and stadiums. In a cinema, he drifts off to old band footage, then walks off from the empty, littered starting point.

In November, “Louise” became the third single, backed with an extended remix of “The Sign.” It reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart.

Hysteria reached No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart, No. 6 in Sweden, No. 9 in New Zealand, and etched the Dutch and Australian Top 20s.

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1985–1986

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Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder

On July 29, 1985, Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder released their self-titled collaborative album on Virgin. It features the UK No. 3 hit “Together in Electric Dreams,” included on the soundtrack to the 1984 sci-fi comedy Electric Dreams.

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Crash

The Human League released their fifth album, Crash, on September 8, 1986, on Virgin.

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Discography:

• Reproduction (1979)
• Travelogue (1980)
• Dare (1981)
• Hysteria (1984)
• Crash (1986)
• Romantic? (1990)
• Octopus (1995)

Non-album shortplayers:

• “Being Boiled” / “Circus of Death” (1978)
• The Dignity of Labor (1979, EP)
• “Introducing” (1979 — “Empire State Human” b-side)
• “I Don’t Depend on You” / “Cruel” (1979 — as The Men)
• “Boys and Girls” / “Tom Baker” (1981)
• “Hard Times” (1981 — “Love Action” b-side)
• “Non-stop” (1981 — “Open Your Heart” b-side)
• “Mirror Man” / “You Remind Me of Gold” (1982)
• “Keep Feeling Fascination” / “Total Panic” (1983)
• “The World Tonight” (1984 — “Life on Your Own” b-side)
• “Thirteen” (1984 — “The Lebanon” b-side)

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Sources:

• Discogs: The Human League
  
• 45cat: The Human League
• TVRDb: Top of the Pops – The Human League
• English H Albums Directory
• MusicBrainz: The Human League
• John Peel Wiki: The Human League