“The Human League – Anthology – A Very British Synthesizer Group (Super Deluxe Edition)” because of its sheer number of awesome tracks included, it’s affordable price at under $19 for the digital version, this is an epic anthology that is simply a must buy! Highly recommended!
GROUP: THE HUMAN LEAGUE
ALBUM: A VERY BRITISH SYNTHESIZER GROUP (SUPER DELUXE EDITION)
DURATION: 47 Songs (3 hours and 11 minutes)
YEAR OF RELEASE: 2016
THE HUMAN LEAGUE was one of the groups from England that appeared onto the scene in the late ’70s and would be a group that would be under the music era known as “New Wave”.
Those who grew up watching MTV in the ’80s know of THE HUMAN LEAGUE for songs such as “(Keeping Feeling) Fascination”, “Don’t You Want Me” and their later hit “Human”.
And the visual images of Phil Oakey and female backup vocalists Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall.
But there were more members and for one to understand THE HUMAN LEAGUE as a group, one needs to know that there were actually two incarnations of the group and for those wanting to experience the evolving music of the group, can clearly hear the differences of the music from their late ’70s and early ’80s and 1981 on.
And the differences of the music evolution of THE HUMAN LEAGUE can be heard through their Super Deluxe Edition release of their three-disc anthology, “THE HUMAN LEAGUE – A VERY BRITISH SYNTHESIZER GROUP”.
The early version of the HUMAN LEAGUE began when two computer operators, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh purchased a Korg 700S synthesizer and learned how to play it and would play their music parties and would form a group using different names with other synth players to no success in attracting a music label.
They knew they needed a singer and so they decided to ask Phil Oakey to become their vocalist. Primarily because he looked like a pop star.
Oakey agreed and they decided on a new group name “THE HUMAN LEAGUE”, named after the sci-fi board game “StarForce: Alpha Centauri” (The Human League arose in 2415 A.D. and were a frontier-driven society wanting more independence from Earth).
And so, the group released a few songs, one which included “Being Boiled” and were signed by the indie label, Fast Product. And their debut single was “Being Boiled” in June 1978.
The group were seen as unique because of their electronic synth pop sound and NME gave the bands a thumbs up.
The group would take in a friend of Oakey, Philip Adrian Wright, who had an art and photography background and he became the band’s Director of Visuals to help liven up the grup’s visuals on stage.
The following year, the group released their first EP and Virgin Records would give the new group an offer and would support Iggy Pop during his European tour. As well as supporting The Rezillo and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
While the group thought they would have creative freedom, the label wanted major changes and become more commercial. And that was the group to include conventional instruments and to the band’s chagrin, they were unable to deny the request because they already received a large signing advance. And the group released a disco song under the pseudonym “The Men” and very different from the work that THE HUMAN LEAGUE was known for.
The experiment failed and Virgin Records gave permission for the group to go back to their original style and their first studio album was released in 1979 with their single “Empire State Human” but it didn’t chart. And with new singles released and no commercial success, their label Virgin Records no longer believed in the band and stop support, which caused friction with the three members.
NOTE 1: The only songs from their debut album “Reproduction” is “Empire State Human”, “The Dignity of Labour (Part 3)” (this song was from the re-release of the album in 1989), “No Time” (which is the early version of the song that would become “The Word Before Last”) and “The Path of Least Resistance” (Early Version).
NOTE 2: The only songs featured from their second album “Travelogue” included on this anthology is “Only After Dark”, “Nightclubbing”, “Boys and Girls” (not the original but the 2003 Mix version), “Being Boiled” (original version and the “State of the Art Mix), “Stylopops You Broke My Heart” (an early version of the song which would become “Marianne”).
Ware wanted a pure electronic sound, Oakey wanted to become more of a popular pop group. So, the two original members left THE HUMAN LEAGUE leaving Phil Oakey. Not just with the group name but since they were under contract, he was responsible for the group’s debts and commitments. Also, any sales the group would make from on forward, the original two members would receive a 1% royalty under Virgin.
Needless to say THE HUMAN LEAGUE was in disarray and promoters threatened to sue if the tour was not completed.
So, Oakey and his girlfriend went to recruit new members and they spotted two girls dancing at the Crazy Daisy Nightclub, which happened to be Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall, two 17 year olds with no music experience. The two were just teenagers dancing at a club.
Oakey felt that having two female vocalists and dancers to join the group on a temporary basis, and Oakey promising their parents that he would look after them and their school activities, as it could be an educational experience. And their parents supported it.
Oakey then would sign musician Ian Burden from the synth band, Graph as a session keyboard player to cover for two departing members.
And when they went on tour, it didn’t attract the audience who were expecting the original three members and even received a ton of criticism. But Oakey saw the professionalism of Sulley and Catherall and asked them to become permanent members.
But in 1981, Oakey was still in financial trouble and was heavily in debt through Virgin Records and needed to have commercial success. The group quickly released “Boys and Girls” which charted at No. 47 in the UK Charts. And Virgin were happy with the results but felt they needed more professional production.
Jo Callis of the Rezillows, who was invited to join the group to become the group’s final member and so, THE HUMAN LEAGUE was finalized and consisted of Phil Oakey, Philip Adrian Wright, Joanne Catherall, Susan Ann Sulley, Ian Burden and Jo Callis and the band would be produced by veteran producer Martin Rushent.
And the result was the song “The Sound of the Crowd” which became the group’s first Top 40 hit and charted at No. 12. (Note: Unfortunately, the song is included only instrumental format for this anthology).
The group had their biggest hit in the UK at this point in the summer of 1981 with “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” and the popularity of the group would lead the group’s first two older albums (with the former members) to sell well and reach Gold status.
Another single titled “Open Your Heart” was released and once again, the group had another top 10 hit. The group would release their album “Dare” and it reached No. 1 in the UK and was at the top spot for four weeks for 1981/1982 and remained in the chart for 77 weeks.
Thanks to Oakey’s persistence when things were looking dreadful, he and the band would raise THE HUMAN LEAGUE from obscurity.
Wanting to capitalize on their success, a Virgin exec instructed that a fourth single to be released. He wanted “Don’t You Want Me” to be released, but Oakey was concerned because he felt it was the weakest song on “Dare” and was used as a filler track and fought with the exec from pushing it as a single, because he believed it would damage the group’s reputation.
In addition, a remix album was released titled “LOVE AND DANCING” featuring na idea to contain dub-style remixes.
But Virgin won and released as a single and also a very expensive music video was created and directed by Steven Barron (the famed director of music videos who would be responsible for Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”, Bryan Adams “Summer of ’69”, Dire Straits “Money for Nothing”, Toto’s “Africa” and A-ha’s “Take on Me”).
And the rest was history. “Don’t You Want Me” sold 1.5 million copies in the UK, “Dare” would become one of most influential albums of all time and THE HUMAN LEAGUE would go down in history books as one of the bands known for the “New Wave” and “New Romantic” movement (despite the group’s rejection of that label).
But the group would win the “Best British Newcomer Award” at the annual Brit Music Awards.
NOTE: The following songs from their third studio album “Dare” is featured on this anthology: “The Sound of the Crowd” (only instrumental version is featured, not the actual original song), “Hard Times”, “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” (Edit version), “Open Your Heart”, “Don’t You Want Me” and early versions of their songs “I Am the Law” and “Darkness”
Their first single “Being Boiled” was re-released and became a top 10 hit, more singles would continue to chart on the UK chart, such as “Mirror Man” (No. 2).
Recognized now globally, thanks to MTV, the band was nominated for “Best New Artist” at the 25th Annual Grammy Awards (losing to Australia’s Men at Work).
But along comes success comes heavy pressure from the music label and the group released “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” (the extended version is found in this anthology) which peaked at No. 2 in the UK chart in preparation for their followup album to their immensely popular “Dare” album and both this song and “Mirror Man” would be released as part of a six song EP titled “Fascination!”.
NOTE: Songs from “Fascination!” included on this anthology are “(Keep Feeling) Fascination (Extended Version)”, “Mirror Man”, “Hard Times” and “You Remind Me of Gold”.
And without producer Martin Rushent, the band would take a creatively different direction with their political song “The Lebanon” (the 7″ version is included in this album) and was No. 11 in the UK and “Life on Your Own” in 1984 which debuted at No. 16 in the charts. While at this time Oakey would collaborate solo with Giorgio Moroder and the success, led Virgin to release another single, the ballad “Louise” which reached No. 13 in the UK.
NOTE: The only songs from their fourth album “Hysteria” included on this anthology is “The Lebanon” (7″ version), “Life on Your Own” (Single Version) and “Louise” (original and the early version).
And despite their success, like a rollercoaster, if you are high, there is only one direction and that is to go down. The group literally had a creative breakdown and members left the group and with their lack of progress, Virgin decided to pair the group with American R&B producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who were known for the top charting hits they have created for Janet Jackson.
While Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were interested and the music label flew them to Minneapolis, needless to say that their were creative differences and the famous producers rejected most of the band’s material (which concerned the members as it would cost the group losses in royalty income).
But the final result of the group collaborating with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis would lead to the group’s first No. 1 single in the US, “Human” (which charted No. 8 in the UK) from their album “Crash”.
In essence, the band reached global status at their highest, despite the departure of their electronic synth pop sound, while the band would gain popularity, it would cost them members who didn’t like the direction the group was going.
NOTE: Included songs in this anthology from their “Crash” album (not the original album versions) are “Human” (extended version), “I Need Your Love (DJ Edit)” and “Love is All that Matters (DJ Edit)”, “The Real Thing” (early version) and “Love on the Run” (early version).
And by 1990, the group would release their final album “Romantic?” for Virgin with minor hits such as “Heart Like a Wheel” (the William Orbit Remix is included in the anthology) and “Soundtrack to a Generation” (The edit version is included in the anthology) and while the group was heading back to their synth pop sound, unfortunately the music atmosphere has changed as by this point Seattle grunge music was dominating the music scene.
NOTE: Only two songs from “Romantic?” are included in this anthology and they are not the original album versions but mix versions, “Heart Like a Wheel (Wiliam Orbit Remix), “Tell Me When (Edit)” and “A Doorway” (early version).
Virgin canceled the bands recording contract in 1992 and the band at its lowest point, the band would go through some strife, and showcase their demos of rejected work by Virgin. THE HUMAN LEAGUE would consider to work with collaborations with Japan’s Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) (Note: None of those collaborations are included on this album).
While in 1994, EastWest Records became interested in the demos and the group would work with Ian Stanley (from Tears for Fears) and the group would release “Tell Me When”, their first top 10 hit since “Human” and the band would achieve success with their album “Octopus”.
NOTE: Three songs from “Octopus” is included in this anthology, “Tell Me When (Edit)”, “One Man in My Heart”, “Filling Up with Heaven”, FM (an instrumental track which was an early version of “Soundtrack to a Generation”), “Happening Woman” (an early version of the song which would become “Filling Up with Heaven”), “Give It Back” (an early version of the song “Houseful of Nothing”).
By 2000, while the band had a short stint with EastWest Records, the group was signed to Papillon Records and released their eighth studio album “Secrets”, possibly their most happiest album without the strife suffered in the ’80s and ’90s. While their music was no doubt solid with songs such as “All I Ever Wanted” (radio edit version is featured in the anthology).
NOTE: Songs from “Secrets” included in this anthology are “All I Ever Wanted” (radio edit), “New Start” (an early version of “All I Ever Wanted”) and SH5 (an early version of “Liar”).
But the album failed to chart and unfortunately, Papillon Records filed for bankruptcy.
The group would not release new music until eleven years later with their ninth album “Credo”. The single from this album included “Night People” (the Radio Edit is included on this anthology), “Never Let Me Go” and “Sky”. And this time, music catering to the dance scene and for the most part, the newer music from the group was cool but the singles didn’t chart, while the album would chart on No. 44 on the UK Albums Chart.
NOTE: In addition to “Night People”, “Never Let Me Go”, “Sky” and “Jupiter 4c (an early version of “Sky”).
But with fans of Aberdeen F.C. pushing a social campaign with the song “Don’t You Want Me”, after winning the Scottish League Cup, the song became the fans “Terrace chant” (ie. lyrics changed to “Peter Pawlett Baby”).
But in 2016, the group released this anthology, “A Very British Synthesizer Group (Super Deluxe Edition)”.
But the group still remains creating cool music as they did since the late ’70s. And many of their albums have released re-releases via “deluxe editions” with new content and the group embarked in a European/UK tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of “Dare” in 2021.
And the anthology no doubt includes many of the popular singles and selected songs from each album from 1979-2011, “A Very British Synthesizer Group (Super Deluxe Edition)” includes early versions of their songs. So, fans will no doubt enjoy these earlier takes of their music before they were fully completed or their title changed.
But for the most part, the anthology, “A Very British Synthesizer Group (Super Deluxe Edition)” is probably one of the coolest and affordable Super Deluxe Editions available. With over 47 songs and well over 3 hours of music, this is a wonderful anthology.
Granted, for those who are hoping for the 12″ versions or the extended versions of their favorite songs, those were included in the re-releases of their albums.
For instance, “Dare” was re-released twice with extra tracks. In 2005, in preparation for the group’s 25th anniversary of “Dare”, it was released alongside the hard to find instrumental remix 1982 album “Love and Dancing” and the tracks received a 2005 remastering.
In 2012 to coincide with the 30th year anniversary of “Dare”, a 2012 remastering of the original album and the “Fascination!” EP., the release also includes bonus tracks consisting of 25 tracks (Note: I recommend the 30th year anniversary release simply for the alternate and extended dance mix versions of “Don’t You Want Me” and other dance mixes of other tracks).
Other albums such as “Hysteria” and “Crash” were re-released with bonus tracks in 2005.
So, this anthology already gives a lot to fans but those who seek for those 12″, extended plays or instrumentals will definitely want to look into the earlier re-releases. It’s important to emphasize to look for the three-disc version and not the two-disc version, considering the three-disc version offers much more music at a great price!
But overall, THE HUMAN LEAGUE has left their musical footprint. From their musical work for the album “Dare”, considered as one of the most influential and greatest musical albums of all time.
This anthology captures the the group’s musical history from 1978 to 2011. From hearing the progression of the music but also for fans, knowing the challenges the group that has faced in trying to get signed to a major label, trying to reach commercial success and also music that comes from creative differences. It’s literally an anthology that captures the heart and soul of the group.
“The Human League – Anthology – A Very British Synthesizer Group (Super Deluxe Edition)” because of its sheer number of awesome tracks included, it’s affordable price at under $19 for the digital version, this is an epic anthology that is simply a must buy! Highly recommended!
