Since 1978, the Human League have released 9 studio albums, a remix album, a live album, 6 EPs, 29 singles and 13 compilation albums. They have had 6 top 20 albums and 13 top 20 singles in the UK and had sold more than 20 million records worldwide by 2010. [3] [4] As an early techno-pop [5] act that received extensive MTV airplay, they are regarded as one of the leading artists of the 1980s Second British Invasion of the US. [6] History [ edit ] 1970s: Early years [ edit ] Capitalising on the success of the album and their recent No.1 hit single, " Being Boiled" was re-released and became a Top 10 hit in early 1982. The band toured for the first time together internationally. Concurrently, Dare (later renamed Dare!) was released in the US by A&M Records and "Don't You Want Me" also reached No.1 there in the summer of 1982. A remix album of Dare entitled Love and Dancing was released under the group name " The League Unlimited Orchestra" (a tribute to Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra), reaching No.3 on the UK album chart. A 12" single remix of " Things That Dreams Are Made Of" (originally from the Dare! album) was released in the UK in January 2008, by Hooj Choons. It peaked at No.2 on the UK Dance chart.

a b c Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.262. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. On 11 December 2009, the Human League signed a new recording contract with UK based Wall of Sound. [37] They also have their own studio in Sheffield [38] and are managed by Sidewinder Management Ltd. The band continue to record and play live, with regular appearances at music festivals worldwide, at many of which they are among the headliners. Susan Sulley said that the rejection of Secrets was "the lowest the band had been since 1992 and, after putting in so much time and effort in to an album that then failed, nearly causing them to call it a day." [31] 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". [7] [11] [ unreliable source?]Because the imposed style had not worked, Virgin permitted the band to return to their original style and the band recorded and released their first full studio album Reproduction 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. [7] [ unreliable source?] After Hysteria, the group found themselves in creative stagnation, struggling to record material to follow up on their previous successes. Key songwriter Jo Callis departed, replaced by drummer Jim Russell. Bob Last quit as manager and was not replaced. In 1985, the band spent several months working on a new album with producer Colin Thurston (who had produced "I Don't Depend on You", Reproduction, and the first two Duran Duran albums), but yet more clashes in the recording studio ensued and the project was shelved in September 1985. [27] Travelogue entered the UK album chart at #16, which was also its peak, and remained on the chart for nine weeks in 1980 – a vast improvement on their debut album, Reproduction, which failed to chart at all the year before. However, that did not prevent the departure of founding members Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, who went on to form Heaven 17. Remaining members Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright moved The Human League in a new direction with a new lineup. When they began to make a commercial impact the following year, Travelogue re-entered the chart in August 1981 for a further 33 weeks, and was certified Gold by the BPI in May 1982. BBC – Radio 1 – Keeping It Peel – 08/08/1978 The Human League". www.bbc.co.uk . Retrieved 12 May 2022. In March 2014, "Don't You Want Me" re-entered the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart, thanks to a social media campaign from the fans of Aberdeen F.C., who won the Scottish League Cup the previous weekend. They have adopted the song as a terrace chant, citing their midfielder Peter Pawlett with the lyrics changed to "Peter Pawlett Baby". [42]

Although the group has been retrospectively identified with the New Romantic movement of this period, [21] according to Dave Rimmer, author of New Romantics: The Look, "at the time [they] were no such thing." [22] The band themselves have also consistently and strenuously rejected the label. The Sheffield scene in which the Human League formed predated New Romanticism and took more influence from Kraftwerk. Bands in the Sheffield scene were also referred to as Futurists, [23] although Oakey himself has said: "We thought we were the punkiest band in Sheffield." [24] The band has been the subject of, and appeared in, various TV documentaries and features, including Channel 4's Made in Sheffield and the BBC's Young Guns: The Bands of the Early 1980s. In June 2007, Sulley and Catherall presented a documentary on Sheffield's pop music history entitled The Nation's Music Cities for VH1.a b c d e f g h i j k l Turner, Sean. "Complete guide to The Human League 1977–1980". Blindyouth.co.uk . Retrieved 30 January 2014. The next single from the album was the ballad " One Man in My Heart", which features Sulley on lead vocals. It reached No.13 in the UK and was unique in that it was the only single by the Human League to feature a female only lead vocal until "Never Let Me Go" in 2011. Travelogue is the second full-length studio album released by British synthpop group The Human League, released in May 1980. It was the last album with founding members Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, as they would leave to form Heaven 17 later that year. In 2003, a second single from Secrets, " Love Me Madly?", was released independently as a private venture by Nukove, a small independent label especially set up to release Human League material, but it did not have funds for promotion and the single did not chart. [33] Also in 2003, Virgin records released The Very Best of The Human League, a DVD of most of their previously recorded music videos. The DVD sold well in the UK and US and was accompanied by a compilation album of the same name.

The only constant band member since 1977 has been lead singer and songwriter Philip Oakey. Keyboard players Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh both left the band in 1980 to form Heaven 17, leaving Oakey and Adrian Wright to assemble a new line-up. The Human League then evolved into a commercially successful new pop band, [2] with the line-up comprising Oakey, Wright, vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, bassist and keyboard player Ian Burden and guitarist and keyboard player Jo Callis. Wright, Burden and Callis all left the band by the end of the 1980s, since which time the band has essentially been a trio of Oakey, Catherall and Sulley with various sidemen. In addition to Sulley and Catherall, Oakey employed professional musician Ian Burden from Sheffield synth band Graph as a session keyboard player for the tour to cover for the keyboards of the now departed Ware and Marsh. [ citation needed] At the end of 2012, the band undertook the 'XXXV Tour' across Europe and the UK to celebrate 35 years in existence. The shows were critically acclaimed. The UK's Daily Telegraph said "as good a night's entertainment as you are likely to find anywhere on the planet". [41]

Broadcasts

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 would continue with the Human League name, while Ware and Marsh would form a completely new band, which became Heaven 17. Two weeks before the UK/Europe tour, the band split. [7] [ unreliable source?] The Human League were one of the headline acts in the line-up at Spillers Wharf on 30 May 2009, in the Newcastle/Gateshead Evolution festival, and were one of the headline bands for Dubai's first music festival, the 'Dubai Sound City' festival, between 5 and 7 November 2009. Travelogue hinted at an auspicious future, but ultimately its success couldn’t resolve The Human League’s internal contradictions. Their personnel subsequently split into two camps in November 1980, though this schism later produced two new world-beating pop groups. Oakey and Wright’s Mk II Human League returned refreshed with the insurmountable Dare, and Ware and Marsh formed the stylish Heaven 17 with vocalist Glenn Gregory. 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" [13] In 2016, the band performed their 'A Very British Synthesizer Group' European and UK tour to accompany the release of the multi-disc anthology of the same name. [43] In winter 2018, they undertook an extensive 'Red Tour' in Europe and the UK.

At the end of 2005, together with EMI, the band released a compilation album of remixes. Called The Human League Original Remixes and Rarities, it was aimed at the DJ/Dance market in the US and UK. Retaining the Human League name came at a heavy price for Oakey. As the band's sole remaining member, he was responsible for all Human League debts and commitments. Furthermore, the terms of the Virgin contract required him to pay Ware and Marsh one per cent of royalties of the next Human League album. The split also jeopardized the band's upcoming tour. With the first performance only ten days away and the music media reporting that the Human League was finished now that "the talented people had left", promoters started threatening to sue Oakey if the concerts were not completed as contracted. The Human League / A Very British Synthesizer Group: four-disc anthology". superdeluxeedition.com. 14 September 2016 . Retrieved 22 November 2016. Finally in May 1984, the band released the politically charged single " The Lebanon" about the Lebanese Civil War. The single peaked at No.11 in the UK. This was followed shortly thereafter by the album Hysteria, so called because of the difficult and tense recording process. It entered the UK album chart at No.3; however, it climbed no further and critics and fans were divided by the new direction the band had taken. The second single was " Life on Your Own" in mid-1984. The single peaked at No.16. Throughout the following years, the band has continued to tour frequently, enjoying success and popularity as a live act. In 2004, they released The Human League Live at the Dome, a DVD of a live show filmed at the Brighton Dome, complete with a compilation CD called Live at the Dome.One of the best sounding early 80s electronic albums you can buy that doesn't sound out of date and cheesy. TLC vs. Little Boots: Exclusive New York Interview". Tasteslikecaramel.wordpress.com. 26 February 2009 . Retrieved 30 January 2014. Oakey has stated that upon discovering the girls were only teenagers and also best friends, he invited them both so they could look after each other on the tour for safety. He has also said that he thought having two women as vocalists and dancers would also add glamour to the band. Because of the girls' ages, Oakey and Wright later had to visit Sulley and Catherall's respective parents to obtain permission for the girls to go on the tour. Their parents let them join the band under the provision that Oakey would keep them safe. Sulley also reported that both her father and Catherall's went to the girls' school and convinced them that the experience of touring could be highly educational because of the travelling involved. [16] In November and December 2008, the Human League got together with Martin Fry's ABC and Heaven 17 for 'The Steel City Tour' of the UK. This was Philip Oakey's concept of a joint tour of all three bands celebrating the original electronic music of early 1980s Sheffield (the titular Steel City). Much had been made in the UK media [ citation needed] of the history between Heaven 17 and the Human League, the original events of 1980 and the fact they were now working together. Both Oakey and Martyn Ware said that any acrimony from that period had long since been forgotten. [36] At Falkirk festival in May 2007. From left: Sutton, Burke, Beevers, Catherall, Barton, Sulley, Oakey.