The Human League

Pioneering synth pop on the global stage, the Human League ranked among the first truly groundbreaking acts to reach mainstream pop prominence through synthesizers and electronic beats, their fusion of memorable tunes with advanced technology leaving a deep mark on numerous later artists. Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh, who had earlier worked together as Dead Daughters, launched the band in Sheffield, England during 1977. After a short spell operating as the Future—during which synthesizer player Adi Newton joined and departed before vocalist Philip Oakey came aboard—they adopted the name the Human League. The trio cut a demo and began performing live, with Adrian Wright’s slide presentations as director of visuals soon forming an essential part of their shows.

Once signed to the indie imprint Fast, the Human League put out their debut single “Being Boiled” in 1978. This modest underground success led to a support tour alongside Siouxsie & the Banshees. Following the 1979 instrumental EP The Dignity of Labour, they delivered their debut album Reproduction, a shadowy, layered effort shaped heavily by Kraftwerk. Travelogue arrived the subsequent year and climbed into the U.K. Top 20. Mounting frictions, however, prompted Ware and Marsh to exit late in 1980, after which they established Heaven 17. Their exit compelled Wright to master the synthesizer, while Oakey brought in bassist Ian Burden and two teenagers, Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall, to share vocal duties.

The reconfigured lineup’s opening release, 1981’s “Boys and Girls,” reached the British Top 50. Working with producer Martin Rushent, the group followed with the smoother “Sound of the Crowd,” which nearly entered the Top Ten. “Love Action” then peaked at number three, and after recruiting ex-Rezillos guitarist Jo Callis the band scored another hit with “Open Your Heart.” Their decisive breakthrough arrived with “Don’t You Want Me,” as both the single and its parent album Dare! topped the U.K. charts and achieved substantial success in the United States. An American tour ensued, yet fresh material emerged slowly. After the Rushent-mixed remix collection Love and Dancing, the Human League issued the 1983 Fascination! EP, which yielded hits “Mirror Man” and “(Keep Feeling) Fascination.”

Hysteria, long awaited, appeared in mid-1984 and introduced a harder-edged approach than prior efforts. The album could not replicate Dare!’s enormous impact, and the single “The Lebanon” received limited airplay. The band soon entered an extended hiatus, during which Oakey released the 1985 solo album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder, created with the noted producer. Unexpectedly, the Human League reemerged in 1986 with Crash, helmed by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The reflective lead single “Human” quickly ascended to number one in the U.S., yet the group failed to build on this renewed visibility and stayed off the charts for the rest of the decade.

Returning in 1990 with Romantic?, the Human League found their commercial standing once more eroded; “Heart Like a Wheel” only grazed the Top 40. That release marked their final project for Virgin. Operating thereafter as the trio of Oakey, Sulley, and Catherall, they moved to EastWest and collaborated with producer Ian Stanley on 1995’s Octopus. The album attracted scant attention domestically or abroad, while the single “Stay with Me Tonight” appeared exclusively in the U.K.

Revived fascination with synth pop and post-punk in the early 2000s supported the 2001 album Secrets, which refreshed the band’s original sound and drew notable media attention. Previously unheard recordings from the Future and the nascent Human League surfaced in 2002 on The Golden Hour of the Future. Regular live work continued for years, captured on Live at the Dome, alongside full performances of Dare! and the Steel City Tour shared with Heaven 17 and fellow Sheffield acts ABC. The group stayed tied to its hometown origins in the studio as well: fellow Sheffield natives I Monster produced Credo, issued in 2011. Five years later the career retrospective A Very British Synthesizer Group appeared, accompanied by concert dates throughout Europe.