The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981 after restructuring their lineup. The album produced the hit singles "The Sound of the Crowd", "Love Action (I Believe in Love)", "Open Your Heart" and the UK and US number one "Don't You Want Me". The band received the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982. Further hits followed throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, including the non-album singles "Mirror Man" (1982) and "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" (1983), "The Lebanon" from the album Hysteria (1984), "Human" (a second US number one) from the album Crash (1986) and "Tell Me When" from the album Octopus (1995).
The only constant band member since 1977 has been lead singer Philip Oakey. The original lineup comprised Oakey, synthesizer players Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, and slide projectionist and visual director Adrian Wright. After releasing their second album Travelogue in 1980, both Marsh and Ware left the band to form Heaven 17. Oakey and Wright assembled a new lineup with singers Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, bassist/synthesizer player Ian Burden, and guitarist/synthesizer player Jo Callis. Wright, Burden and Callis all left the band by the end of the 1980s, since which time the Human League has essentially been a trio of Oakey, Catherall and Sulley with various sidemen.
The Human League have had six top-20 albums and 13 top-20 singles in the UK and had sold more than 20 million records worldwide by 2010. As an early techno-pop act that received extensive MTV airplay, they are regarded as one of the leading artists of the 1980s Second British Invasion of the US.
History 1977–1980: Early years, Reproduction, and Travelogue In early 1977, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, who had met at youth arts project Meatwhistle, were both working as computer operators. Their musical collaboration combined pop music (such as glam rock and Tamla Motown) with avant-garde electronic music. With the price of electronic components dropping in the mid-1970s, equipment became more affordable for the average consumer; Marsh and Ware purchased a Korg 700S synthesizer together and learned how to play it. Their musical reputation spread, and they were invited to play at a friend's 21st birthday party. For the party, Marsh and Ware formed themselves into an informal band called The Dead Daughters. After a few more low-key, private performances, Marsh and Ware decided to officially form a band. Joined by their friend Adi Newton and another synthesizer (a Roland System-100), they formed The Future and began to create music in their own rehearsal facility in a disused cutlery workshop in the centre of Sheffield. The association with Adi Newton was short; Newton left The Future and went on to form Clock DVA. Ware at this point decided that they needed a singer rather than a third synthesizer player.
Marsh and Ware's first choice, Glenn Gregory, was unavailable (Gregory eventually became the lead singer of their later band Heaven 17). Ware then decided to invite an old school friend, Philip Oakey, to join the band. Oakey was working as a hospital porter at the time and was known on the Sheffield social scene for his eclectic style of dress. Although he had no musical experience, Ware thought he would be ideal as lead singer for The Future as "he already looked like a pop star". When Ware called on Oakey, he found he was out, so asked him to join The Future by leaving a note stuck to his front door. He accepted the invitation, but early sessions were awkward. Oakey had never sung in front of an audience before, could not play keyboards and only owned a saxophone (which he could barely play). Listening to one of Marsh and Ware's demos, Oakey was inspired to write some lyrics which later became the single "Being Boiled".
With a new line-up, sound, and vocalist, Ware decided that the band needed a new name. It would also allow them to approach record companies again from a different angle. Ware suggested "The Human League", after a group in the science-fiction board game StarForce: Alpha Centauri. In the game, the Human League arose in 2415 A.D. and were a frontier-oriented society that desired more independence from Earth. Oakey and Marsh agreed on the new name, and in early 1978 The Future became The Human League.
Using Future-era material, The Human League released a demo tape to record companies under their new name. The tape contained versions of "Being Boiled", "Toyota City" and "Circus of Death". Ware's friend Paul Bower of Sheffield new-wave band "2.3", who had just recorded a single for Bob Last's Edinburgh-based independent label Fast Product, took their demo to Last and he signed the band.
The band released their first single, "Being Boiled", in June 1978, which became Fast Product's third release. Although a limited release—because it was unique and at odds with everything else on the market—it was picked up on by NME, who championed the band, although one guest reviewer, John Lydon of Public Image Limited, condemned the band as "trendy hippies".New Musical Express, 22 July 1978 Boosted by critical praise, on 12 June 1978, the band played their first live gig together at Bar 2 in Sheffield's Psalter Lane Art College (latterly Sheffield Hallam University); a plaque commemorated the event until the Psalter Lane site officially closed on 31 August 2008.
With their reliance on technology and tape machines, the band had been nervous about playing live. After the Psalter Lane performance, they worried that they had appeared static and uninspiring. A friend of Oakey's who had been in the audience, Philip Adrian Wright, who also had an art and photography background, was invited to become the band's Director of Visuals, with a remit to "liven up" the stage performance with slides, film clips and lighting.
In August 1978, the band recorded a session for John Peel, including a re-worked version of "Being Boiled". The band's live performances began to gain momentum and acclaim, and they were asked to support first The Rezillos (featuring future band member Jo Callis), then Siouxsie and the Banshees, as early as September 1978. In December 1978, David Bowie appeared in the audience and later declared to NME that he "had seen the future of pop music".
Following the "Being Boiled" single, The Human League's second and last release on the Fast Product label was The Dignity of Labour EP, issued in April 1979, which contained four experimental instrumentals. Although the EP barely charted, major record labels began approaching the band in an attempt to lure them away from Fast. In May 1979, the band accepted an offer by Richard Branson's Virgin Records. Because of his label's early support, the band offered Bob Last the position as band manager. In June 1979, The Human League supported Iggy Pop on his European tour, before settling into recording their first single for Virgin. Despite promising them creative freedom, Virgin demanded sweeping changes to the band's style for their first single, in order to make it more commercial. The label required the band to use conventional instruments and vocals as well as synthesizers. Because the League had accepted a large financial signing advance, Ware was in no position to refuse but insisted that any releases in this style be credited to a pseudonym. The resulting single, their first under Virgin Records, was the disco influenced "I Don't Depend on You", released in July 1979 under the pseudonym "The Men". The single did not chart and had very little in common with the previous work of the Human League. It did, however, feature female vocals by guests Lisa (Liza) Strike and Katie Kissoon, sounding like the yet-to-be-formed future Human League of 1981.Maconie, Stewart: NME, 1990
Because the imposed style had not worked, Virgin permitted the band to return to their original style. The Human League's full studio album Reproduction was released in August 1979. The album and the single "Empire State Human" failed to make an impact on the charts. After these flops, Virgin cancelled the band's December 1979 tour. By this time, The Human League's role as UK electronic pioneers was usurped by Gary Numan, when his single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" became a huge hit in the UK in mid-1979. In March 1980, the band—which had not yet hit the singles charts—was namechecked in a UK hit song by The Undertones. The track "My Perfect Cousin", which would peak at #9 on the UK charts in May, contained a dig at the perceived "arty" Human League in the lyric:"His mother bought him a synthesiser / Got the Human League in to advise her / Now he's making lots of noise / Playing along with the art school boys"In April 1980, the band was able to release an EP entitled Holiday '80, containing the principal track "Marianne", covers of Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part 2" and Iggy Pop's "Nightclubbing", a re-recording of "Being Boiled", and the 1977 Future recording "Dancevision". Holiday '80 did well enough to get the band their first TV appearance on BBC TV's Top of the Pops on 8 May 1980 opening a Peter Powell presented show with "Rock and Roll Part 2". This was to be the second and last high-profile appearance by the original Human League on British television, the first having been BBC2's Mainstream programme in late 1979, organised and presented by the artist Brian Clarke, an early supporter of the band. A performance in the studio, complete with slideshow, was broadcast of the tracks "The Path of Least Resistance" and the then-current minor hit "Empire State Human".
In May 1980, the band toured the UK. Adrian Wright was now playing incidental keyboards in addition to his visuals role. The Human League featured a cover version of Judas Priest's heavy metal anthem "Take On the World (Judas Priest song)" on their 1980 tour. It was the last time all four members performed together live. Also in May, the band released their second studio album Travelogue. More commercial-sounding than Reproduction, it peaked at #16 in the UK, giving the band their first real success. As a result, "Empire State Human" was re-released, though it only reached #62 in the singles chart.
Equipment used in this period were: Roland Jupiter 4, Korg 770, Roland System 100 consisting of 1 × 101 keyboard, 2 × 102 expanders, 2 × 104 sequencers and 103 mixer, plus taped backing for rhythm and drum parts.
1980–1989: Lineup changes, commercial success, Dare, Hysteria, and Crash
The relationship between Oakey and Ware had always been turbulent, and the pair often quarrelled over creative and personal matters. Their lack of success compared with the success of Gary Numan at that time had brought matters to a head. Ware insisted the band maintain their pure electronic sound, while Oakey wanted to emulate the more conventional sound of more successful pop groups. The two clashed continually and Ware eventually walked out in 1980. Taking Ware's side, Marsh joined him in quitting the band. Manager Bob Last tried to reconcile both parties, and when that proved impossible, various options were suggested, including two new bands under a Human League sub-label. Eventually, it was agreed that Oakey and Wright would continue with the Human League name, while Marsh and Ware would form a completely new band, which became Heaven 17 with singer Glenn Gregory, who had been their first choice for Human League singer back in 1977.