The Human League to Release a Four Disc Anthology

Earlier this month, the Human League have announced th release of 'A Very British Synthesizer Group: The Anthology', a career spanning anthology on four discs. Covering almost 40 years in music, the first two CDs will include the single releases all the way from "Being Boiled" up to "Sky". The third CD is packed with previously unreleased early versions of 17 songs, and the DVD which completes this set is crammed full with promo videos and, more interestingly, twenty-one their appearances on the BBC. 'A Very British Synthesizer Group: The Anthology' will be released on 18 November 2016. They will support this release with a UK tour in December. 

Track list and more

Best of 1981 - Top 50 Singles List

Following the tragic death of John Lennon in December 1980, the world was still in mourning after the loss of one of the most influential musical masterminds of all time. All this did also had impact on the charts as where his biggest hits "Woman" and "Imagine" could be found again. Even Roxy Music paid tribute to him by covering "Jealous Guy".

Apart from this, the charts were still dominated by the rising stars of 1980, Adam and the Ants, while The Police had more hits. Human League re-formed this year, exiting the dark phase and releasing "Don't You Want Me Baby" which together with Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" helped to emblem the music style which would in the coming years be known as Synth-pop.

Along with the increasing popularity of synth driven music, the New Romantic movement slowly grew to fame as new kids adopted synths and started wearing lipstick. Perhaps the biggest event of the year was the launch of MTV, which aired "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles. The song became a huge hit and a symbol for the new platform, which would give the music industry a new face and dimension.

 

01. Ultravox- Vienna 
02. The Cure- Charlotte Sometimes 
03. The Human League- Don't You Want Me 
04. Siouxsie and the Banshees- Spellbound 
05. New Order- Ceremony 
06. Soft Cell- Tainted Love 
07. Talking Heads- Once in a Lifetime 
08. Duran Duran- Planet Earth 
09. Ultravox-The Voice 
10. Japan- Quiet Life 
11. Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough 
12. Simple Minds- Love Song 
13. Kraftwerk- Computer Love 
14. The Specials - Ghost Town 
15. Heaven 17 -We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang 
16. David Bowie - Up The Hill Backwards 
17. Kim Wilde - Kids in America 
18. Depeche Mode- New Life 
19. Men At Work - Down Under 
20. Soft Cell - Memorabilia 

Books: Electric Dreams: The Human League, Heaven 17 and the Sound of the Steel City

"Electric Dreams', the long awaited super book by David Buckley which tells the story of how a band, a city and a lot of synthesizers provided the ultimate soundtrack to the Eighties. David Buckley, the acclaimed author of 'Strange Fascination: David Bowie – The Definitive Story', charts the Human League’s unlikely rise from avant-garde veterans of the punk wars to international pop sensations and reveals how a small number of bands in Sheffield created the music that came to define an era: electro-pop. The release of the book also marks the thirtieth anniversary of 'Dare', the Human League’s seminal third album. Pre-order your book here.  

More about the Author: /www.david-buckley.com/

Best of 1981- The Albums List

The year 1980 was marked by a profound sense of loss with the tragic death of John Lennon in December. The music world mourned the passing of one of its most influential figures, and Lennon's iconic hits like "Woman" and "Imagine" reappeared on the charts as a tribute to his enduring legacy. Roxy Music also paid homage with a cover of "Jealous Guy."

Despite the somber atmosphere, the charts were still lively with the sounds of rising stars like Adam and the Ants, while The Police continued to dominate. Human League made a notable return, emerging from a dark phase and releasing "Don't You Want Me Baby." This, coupled with Soft Cell's "Tainted Love," played a crucial role in defining the emerging genre known as Synth-pop.

Simultaneously, the New Romantic movement began to gain traction, with young artists embracing synthesizers and distinctive fashion choices, including lipstick. A groundbreaking moment in the music industry occurred with the launch of MTV, featuring "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles as its inaugural video. This song became a symbol of the new platform that would reshape the music industry, ushering in a new era of visual storytelling and musical dimension.

Martin Rushent Dead At 63

The English musician and record producer Martin Rushent has passed away today in the age of 63. Martin entered the music business in the early 1970s as an engineer working on records by T. Rex, David Essex, Fleetwood Mac and Shirley Bassey amongst others. In the early 1980s, he started his own record label, 'Genetic' and he was producing albums for The Stranglers, Pete Shelley, Altered Images and many more. He's biggest success was Human League's album 'Dare' which gave the band the international breakthrough and which established him as a producer.
RIP Martin.

Kraftwerk- A New Publication

"Kraftwerk: Publikation" is a new and major biography of the first-ever all-electronic pop group and one of the most influential bands in popular music history. David Buckley examines the cult enigma that is Kraftwerk, including their beginnings in the avant-garde musical terrain of late-Sixties Germany and their Anglo-American breakthrough with "Autobahn" in 1975, as well as their astonishingly prescient work, which drew the musical template for techno, ambient, dance and all manner of electronic pop.

The inner workings of this most secretive of bands are revealed through interviews with friends and close associates, whilst the story of their incredible impact on modern music is traced up to the present day using interviews with a host of musicians, from original electro pioneers such as Gary Numan, the Human League, OMD and John Foxx, to contemporary acts still in awe of the original Man Machines.

Source info

http://www.david-buckley.com/news.html

The Human League Hysteria

The Rise of Human League (1/3)

The Golden Hour of the Human League (2/3)

Hysteria

After the huge success of their third album, the Human League enjoyed huge international success on both sides of the Atlantic. They soon went on to record new material. The band spent many months agonizing as they tried to make a successor to Dare, and as things became ever more stressful, producer Martin Rushent left the project and the album was finished by producer Hugh Padgham. Three years had passed since Dare and the album met with relatively lacklustre success in comparison to its multi-platinum predecessor. Three singles from the album made the top-twenty of the UK singles chart but first single "The Lebanon" was the only song to chart in the U.S.

Moroder & Oakey

Outside of  The Human League, Oakey teamed up with one of his idols, synth pioneer Giorgio Moroder and they had a massive hit with a single "Together In Electric Dreams”. The track was taken from the film soundtrack to 'Electric Dreams'. Following the big international success, Oakey and Moroder then recorded an album together for Virgin, Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder, but this met with rather less success and the following two singles failed to make the UK Top 40. However, the success of the original Oakey and Moroder track encouraged Virgin to release one final single from Hysteria in November, 1984, the ballad "Louise" was released and reached #13 in the UK.

The “Human” League

In 1986, the group found themselves in creative stagnation, struggling to record material to follow up on their previous success. Key songwriter Jo Callis departed, replaced by drummer Jim Russell, and Virgin paired the Human League up with cutting-edge American R&B producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who had just scored a huge worldwide hit earlier that year with Janet Jackson's ‘Control’. The result was the Crash album. The album featured much material written by Jam and Lewis' team, and showcased their distinctive DX7-led sound, making it quite a departure from previous Human League material. It did provide an American number-one single, "Human", but other singles made a smaller chart impact. In November 1988, a greatest hits compilation album was released which reached number 3 in UK.

90's

During the 90’s The Human League released two albums. Romantic? was the last album the Human League recorded for Virgin Records in 1990. The album did not re-capture the group's huge commercial success of 1981 and Virgin chose not to renew their recording contract with little warning causing great animosity between the company and the band that lasts to this day. The Human League returned in 1995, now signed to EastWest, with the single "Tell Me When" giving them their first major hit since 1986's "Human", and the accompanying album Octopus going silver. On the album credits, cover artwork and in videos, the group was now presented simply as a trio of Oakey/Catherall/Sulley.

The Human League Credo
After more than 30 years of existence and many successful singles and album releases, the Human League remains as one of the most influential bands of all time which shaped the late 70’s electronic and early 80’s synth-pop music scene. Even in the 80’s music revival today, they continue to produce their unique music style. 2011 sees their big comeback in ten years with their new album Credo already in shops creating the new Human League-o-mania.

Source (Wikipedia Edit)

80's Duets: Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder- "Good-Bye Bad Times"

In 1985 Philip Oakey took a break from the Human League and teamed up with Giorogio Moroder to record a collaborative album. The album is most notable for containing the song "Together in Electric Dreams", which was the title track for the movie Electric Dreams and a major hit single. "Good-Bye Bad Times" was released during the same year, never reached the success of the first single, but the video for the song was quite a high budget production filmed in black and white, directed by Steve Barron set in 19th century London.

 

The Golden Hour Of The Human League

The Original Human League

In April, 1979 The Human League released their first EP under Fast Record entitled ‘The Dignity of Labour’, which contained four experimental instrumentals. Although the EP barely charted, major record labels began approaching the band. Eventually in May 1979, the band accepted an offer by Richard Branson's Virgin Records. The band recorded and released their first full studio album Reproduction in August, 1979. Both the album and the single "Empire State Human" failed to make any impact on the charts.
In 1980, the band released their second album Travelogue and made their first TV appearance on BBC TV Top of the Pops. The re-release of “Empire State Human" failed to make any good chart impacts and due to their lack of commercial success, Virgin refused to release further singles from Travelogue and the general discontent among the members led to internal conflict within the band. Oakey and Ware often quarreled over creative and personal matters. Ware insisted the band maintain their pure electronic sound while Oakey wanted to emulate more successful pop groups. In the same year Ware decided to quit the band with Ian Craig Marsh joining him. Ware and Marsh became Heaven 17.

The Human League 'Mk2'

After Ware and Marsh departed from the Human League, Phil Oakey carried on with the name and he was responsible for all Human League debts and commitments. The Human League also had to pay Ware and Marsh one percent of royalties of the next Human League album under the Virgin contract. With the tour only ten days away promoters started threatening to sue Oakey if the tour was not completed as contracted. To complete the tour, Oakey had to recruit new people in a matter of days. Oakey and his then girlfriend went into Sheffield city centre on a Wednesday night with the intention of recruiting a single female backing vocalist. After looking in various venues, they visited the Crazy Daisy Nightclub on High Street where Oakey spotted two teenage girls dancing together on the dance floor. Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall were just schoolgirls on a night out together. Neither had any experience of singing or dancing professionally. With no preamble, Oakey asked both girls to join the tour as dancers and incidental vocalists. Phil said that having two female vocalists/dancers would also add potential glamour to the band. Another two band members joined the band Ian Burden from Sheffield synth band Graph who was covering the keyboards for the tour due to departure of Ware and Marsh. In April 1981, the fifth final member of the group was joining the band, another professional musician who used to play in the band called the Rezillos. The Mk2 Human League formation was now complete.

Dare!

Dare is considered as the Human League’s most successful album to date. The musical style of the band has rapidly changed with the new Human League formation leaving the experimental e avant-garde electronic style to the past and welcoming the new commercial synth pop sound. ‘Dare!’ was recorded between March and September 1981 and first released in the UK on 20 October 1981, then subsequently in the U.S. in mid-1982. The album was produced by none other than the veteran producer Martin Rushent who was an expert on emerging music technologies of the time. During 1981 the group enjoyed huge commercial success with both the album and the singles. The fourth single “Don’t You Want Me Baby” reached the top positions in the UK and USA. Dare became critically acclaimed and has proved to be a genre-defining album, whose influence can be felt in many areas of pop music today.

"Don’t You Want Me"

"Don't You Want Me" is a single by British synthpop group The Human League, released from their third album: Dare on 27 November 1981. It is the band's best known and most commercially successful recording to date, and was the Christmas number one in the UK where it sold over 1,400,000 copies, making it the 25th most successful single in UK Singles Chart history.

The lyrics were originally inspired after lead singer Philip Oakey read a story in a "trashy US tabloid" and the very expensive and elaborate promotional video for the song was created by filmmaker Steve Barron. The Music video was a very new phenomenon and cable TV station MTV had only just started up to capitalize on this new media but had very little material to work with. Virgin Records syndicated the video to MTV which was played around the clock. The video is credited for making Oakey, Sulley and Catherall visual icons of the early 1980s.

Source: Wikipedia (edit)

The Rise of Human League (Part I)
The Human League- Hysteria (Part III)

(All media is copyrighted by their respective copyright owners)

WAW: The Human League- Never Let Me Go

"Never Let Me Go" full length Official Video is here for your viewing pleasure. One week until 'Credo' album release!

The Human League's 'Credo' Preview

The new Human League album 'Credo' is available as a stream via the Human League official Facebook page. This is the first official streaming of the album which will be available until Sunday. The official album release date is set for March 21, 2011 in the UK.

http://www.facebook.com/thehumanleague

The Rise of The Human League

Philip Oakey

It was a note from a friend left on his door that would change his life forever. This is where Philip Oakey’s story in music began back in 1977 when he joined a band which would transform in the synth pop super group called the Human League. Also known as Phil, he is a singer, composer and producer and his music and his style made him an iconic figure of the early 80’s music scene and fashion trend setter with his unique styles to dress. From avant-garde to commercial synth pop, the sound and vision of Human League has changed throughout the years with Phil remaining the group’s only constant member and group leader since 1978 up to date, when the Humane League are releasing their first album in ten years.

The Future

In the late 70’s Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh were working as computer operators. They met at youth arts project Meatwhistle. Their musical collaboration combined pop music of that time with avant-garde electronic sound. They used to perform private performances under the name The Dead Daughters and after a few more low-key, private performances, Ware and Marsh decided to officially form a band. Joined by their friend Adi Newton, 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 he needed a singer rather than another keyboard player. This was the time when Ware’s old school friend Phil Oakey joined the band. With a new line-up, sound and vocalist, Ware decided that the band needed a new name. He suggested a quote derived from the game Starforce: 'Alpha Centauri', a science fiction wargame and in early 1978 The Future became The Human League. They however managed to release one avantgare and experimental album under The Future moniker entitled The Golden Hour of the Future

The Men

The Men was an alias used by The Human League as a result of Virgin pressing the group to record material which used more 'conventional' instruments, rather than just synthesizers. Virgin were afraid that the general public would not accept a synthesizer-only group at that time. Martyn Ware had previously declared that the League would certainly consider recording material using non-electronic instruments, but "not under the name Human League". So, to appease their new label, they recorded "I Don't Depend On You", with session musicians providing bass guitar and drums, and Katie Kissoon and Lisa Strike providing backing vocals.

(All media is copyrighted by their respective copyright owners)

 

Source: Wikipedia (edit)
The Golden Hour of the Human League (Part II)
The Human League- Hysteria (Part III)

The Human League March

Thirty years ago the Human League had a huge international success with the song "Don't You Want Me Baby" and their third album 'Dare!" went platinum in the UK. This month, they are releasing their first album in ten years and they will be the featured as the band of the month, this March, on Burning Flame Blog. Here is another hit form the album 'Dare!' which announced the New Human League Era. It was performed live on 'Top of the Pops' back in 1981.

The Human League's 'Credo' on pre-order

The new Human League album 'Credo' is scheduled to be released on March 28, 2011. The album which features the single "Night People" is available to pre-order now. Check out the New Human league Facebook official fan-page for more info about where you can buy it as well as the most recent Human League press shots.

www.facebook.com/thehumanleague

The Rewind Festival- 80's Supernova

Rewind – The 80s Music Festival is to launch a new weekend event at Scone Palace in Perthshire, Scotland from 29th-31st July 2011. The festival will boast the biggest live outdoor line-up of 80s recording artists and performers ever! Tickets go on sale to the general public at 9am on Friday January 21st. For further ticket outlet info and prices visit: www.rewindfestival.com.The all-star 80s line-up will perform at the historic setting of Scone Palace in Perthshire; the home of The Earls of Mansfield and the crowning palace of the Kings of Scotland. 

More info:
http://www.noblepr.co.uk
Ticket Info

WAW: The Human League- Night People

As already reported, the Human League have released their first single "Night People" from the upcoming album 'Credo'. The song is available as a remix version through http://www.thehumanleague.co.ukand on iTunes. Don't miss the official music video.

Waiting for Human League's Night People

The Human League have updated their brand new official site with the sound sample from the new Human League track "Night People" which is going to be released soon. The countdown clock is currently 17 days away from the release. Enjoy Phil's sample in the meanwhile!

http://www.thehumanleague.co.uk/

Instant Hit: The Human League- Marianne (Alt. Version)

"Marianne" was a principal track on Human League's 'Holiday 80' EP. Two versions of "Marianne" were completed for this EP, but this alternate version has only appeared in remixed and re-edited form on the Australian release of the 'Travelogue' album. Of this version, Philip said, "We did a nice version of Marianne - much better than the 'Holiday '80' one. I think it was great - one of the best things we've ever done - but Virgin wouldn't put it out because they didn't like it."

The Human League- Marianne (Alternate Version)

Human League's Credo

The UK's premier synth innovators The Human League have announced the details of their forthcoming single and album on the Wall of Sound record label. The first single will be called 'Night People". There is no confirmed date yet for the ''Night People" and it will be released before the tour begins in Norwich on Monday 29th November. The title of THL's ninth studio album will be titled 'Credo' and it will be released next year shortly after the second single.

http://www.league-online.com/

Best of 1980- The Album List

The year 1980 marked a fascinating intersection, straddling the influences of the 1970s while gradually embracing the emerging trends of the new decade. Chart-toppers like Blondie, ABBA, The Police, and The Jam continued to dominate the music scene. Notable achievements included David Bowie securing his second number one hit, and Kate Bush becoming the first British female artist to claim a No.1 album.

However, amidst the musical successes, 1980 also witnessed tragic losses that left an indelible mark on the industry. Ian Curtis of Joy Division tragically took his own life just before the band's scheduled US Tour, while John Lennon, an iconic figure in music, was shot dead outside his New York City apartment. These losses left families and legions of fans grieving.

The year concluded with John Lennon's posthumous release, "{Just Like) Starting Over," topping the UK charts, serving as both a poignant farewell and a herald of the new decade.