70. Human League

 

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This Sheffield act were originally highly influenced by the synthesiser based Kraut rock acts including Kraftwerk, but later became more commercial to initial great success in the early 1980s.

 

ALL MUSIC GUIDE BIOGRAPHY

 

Key Studio Album: Dare! (1981)

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Key Compiliations: The Very Best Of (2005)

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Career Defining Song:

Don't You Want Me (1981 UK#1; 1982 USA#1)

Some Other Key Songs:

 

Being Boiled (1978 did not chart; 1982 UK#6)

 

Love Action (I Believe In Love) (1981 UK#3)

 

(Keep Feeling) Fascination (1983 UK#2, USA#8)

 

Human (1986 UK#8, USA#1)

 

Were any of you fans of the Human League, or did you prefer the bigger UK pop acts that followed them (Duran, C Club, Spandau, etc)?

I'm a fan of Human League, and the others you've mentioned, as well as Bananarama, The Eurythmics,....a lot of good music, in my opinion, and, some of it questionable, but, that can be said for any period of music, that there was the good, the bad, and the abysmal.....

I was a huge fan of them from Dare onwards,Dare is still one of my favourite albums of all time, not a bad track on it.

 

The Sound of the Crowd, Seconds,The things that dreams are made of,Love Action, Open your heart, Don't you want me, Mirror Man,Keep feeling Fascination, The Lebanon,Human, Heart like a wheel, Louise and Life on your own are the ones I liked best.

 

Still play Dare now and again

an act of basically two halves.... i liked pre 'dont you want me' (being boiled, empire state human, were hits after being re-released post dywm), but wasnt a fan of post dywm, which was p*** poor compared to their ground breaking sounds.

 

dare is one of my all time fav albums and it still sounds good today.

I know it's really awful lyrically and it is not a patch on dare but I do have a bit of a soft spot for Hysteria.

 

But then Dare is one of the best albums of the 80s (possibly all time)

Human League were my favourite of all the 80s electronic acts.

 

The first record I bought of their's (and still have) is Being Boiled on the short lived Fast Record Label and also on this label I have a copy of Empire State Human - both of these were from the late 70s.

I also have their pre-Dare albums Reproduction and Travelogue.

 

Here's a few of my favourites that no one else has already posted on this thread

 

Empire State Human

 

Sound Of The Crowd

 

Things That Dreams Are Made Of - Album track

 

Love Action

 

Only After Dark - Their first chart success reaching #62

 

 

 

 

Their fanbase is so diverse, it's incredible. My parents went to see them last year-ish and raved on about how great they sounded. I do like them, but I can't stand "Don't You Want Me".

 

"Sound Of The Crowd" is my personal favorite.

Was never a big fan, thought they were ok but only real tracks that did anything for me was The Lebanon, Life On Your Own and Mirror Man

Edited May 22, 200916 yr by B.A Baracus

I think that anything post-'Dare' is a bit cack tbh, "The Lebanon" in particular just makes me laugh :lol:.... Don't You Want Me is one of the defining pop songs of my childhood, I'll never forget it being the Christmas No1 back in the day.... It' really pretty much the ONLY Christmas No 1 that I've liked.....

 

I liked Phil Oakey's self-deprecating sense of humour, I remember him saying in an interview "That's all we are really, a poofy synth group"..... :lol:

a truly great band whose only real crime at the time was the dreadful 'Crash' album with Jam and Lewis. Travelogue, Hysteria and Dare were brilliant. 'Being Boiled' is just astonishingly superb - even now.

 

It's just a shame they've ruined a superb, iconic legacy by rubbishing their act appearing on tacky 1980s revival tours.... surely they can't be THAT brassic?

 

I saw them in the 80s...and I have to say they were abysmal... the 2 girls looked like ropey drag queens with trowelled-on slap and cheap outfits, danced like they had club feet and ruined the show (their 'dramatic' entrance down 2 flights of stairs at opposite ends of the stage ruined by them coming down at different times when they were supposed to be in sync :cry: ) and of course with their frankly terrible 'singing'. I suppose Oakey discovering the 2 girls, was it, dancing in a nightclub or working in a supermarket and transforming them into stars kind of pre-dated Cowell by many years.... but Oakey was, is and always will be, far cooler :lol:

 

 

a truly great band whose only real crime at the time was the dreadful 'Crash' album with Jam and Lewis. Travelogue, Hysteria and Dare were brilliant. 'Being Boiled' is just astonishingly superb - even now.

 

It's just a shame they've ruined a superb, iconic legacy by rubbishing their act appearing on tacky 1980s revival tours.... surely they can't be THAT brassic?

 

I saw them in the 80s...and I have to say they were abysmal... the 2 girls looked like ropey drag queens with trowelled-on slap and cheap outfits, danced like they had club feet and ruined the show (their 'dramatic' entrance down 2 flights of stairs at opposite ends of the stage ruined by them coming down at different times when they were supposed to be in sync :cry: ) and of course with their frankly terrible 'singing'. I suppose Oakey discovering the 2 girls, was it, dancing in a nightclub or working in a supermarket and transforming them into stars kind of pre-dated Cowell by many years.... but Oakey was, is and always will be, far cooler :lol:

 

tbh i think the girls 'earthiness' (being kind) was part of their appeal, great names too! susan sulley, joanne catherall, i liked them ...:) not sure though was was fashionably worse, their make up/fashion/dancing crimes or phil oakeys daft half a haircut :lol:

tbh i think the girls 'earthiness' (being kind) was part of their appeal, great names too! susan sulley, joanne catherall, i liked them ...:) not sure though was was fashionably worse, their make up/fashion/dancing crimes or phil oakeys daft half a haircut :lol:

 

Phil Oakey's "daft haircut" is iconic mate..... :lol: It's one of the things that defines the 80s.....

 

The girls certainly were "earthy" alright, to the point of being a bit rough..... :P

 

Only bought Dare recently, Great CD.

Yep, appreciate Don't You Want Me for what it achieved but the true greats are Being Boiled, Open Your Heart, The Lebanon,The Things That Dreams Are Made Of and basically the Travelogue LP.

Human League were my favourite of all the 80s electronic acts.

 

The first record I bought of their's (and still have) is Being Boiled on the short lived Fast Record Label and also on this label I have a copy of Empire State Human - both of these were from the late 70s.

They are also pre-Joanne & Susan

I also have their pre-Dare albums Reproduction and Travelogue.

 

Here's a few of my favourites that no one else has already posted on this thread

 

Empire State Human

 

Sound Of The Crowd

 

Things That Dreams Are Made Of - Album track

 

Love Action

 

Only After Dark - Their first chart success reaching #62