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The Human League
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
The Human League are an English synth-pop band from Sheffield, formed in 1977. Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, two computer operators who knew each other from a youth project, bought a synthesizer together and combined pop music such as glam rock and Motown with avant-garde electronics. They brought in their old school friend Philip Oakey as singer, even though he had never sung before. He worked as a hospital porter and stood out for his clothes. The name comes from the board game StarForce: Alpha Centauri. Adrian Wright joined the group as projectionist and visual director.
Music and breakthrough
In 1979 the group signed with Virgin Records. Reproduction was released in 1979 and Travelogue in 1980. Marsh and Ware then left to start Heaven 17. Oakey and Wright rebuilt the group, with female singers Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, bassist Ian Burden and guitarist Jo Callis. This produced Dare in 1981, with The Sound of the Crowd, Love Action (I Believe in Love), Open Your Heart and Don't You Want Me. The last was a number one in the United Kingdom and in the United States. In 1982 they received a Brit Award for best British breakthrough act. Later came Mirror Man, Fascination and The Lebanon, and in 1986 Human, again an American number one. Tell Me When from 1995 was a later hit.
Influence
Philip Oakey has been the only constant member since 1977. Today the group is in effect a trio of Oakey, Catherall and Sulley. As an early technopop band The Human League received a lot of airplay on MTV, and they are regarded as a leading name of the second British invasion of the United States. Their music showed that synthesizers did not have to be cold machines, but could also carry warm, danceable pop songs.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
- 1979Reproduction
- 1980Travelogue
- 1981Dare
- 1984Hysteria
- 1986Crash
- 1990Romantic?
- 1995Octopus
- 2001Secrets
- 2011Credo
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 7: The 1980sNL Reader
Mentioned in other articles
- Synthpop Genre
Synth-pop is the most poppy branch of new wave: Kraftwerk was the example for Gary Numan, OMD and The Human League, and later for the Pet Shop Boys.
- Linn LM-1 Technology
The machines can be heard on countless hits of the 1980s, from The Human League and Michael Jackson to Prince, who often used the drums unusually tuned and processed.