“You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar.” Five seconds in, and you’re singing along. The Human League made the definitive synth-pop duet, and the story of how they got there is almost as good as the song.
Sheffield, 1977: all synths, no guitars
The Human League formed in Sheffield in 1977, in a city that was quietly becoming the capital of British electronic music. The first lineup made experimental records built almost entirely on synthesizers. Reproduction (1979) and Travelogue (1980) won praise from critics, if not many buyers, and marked the band out as pioneers.
Two teenagers from a nightclub change everything
In 1980 the band split. Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh left to form Heaven 17, and Philip Oakey kept the name. He famously recruited two teenagers he spotted dancing in a Sheffield club, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, and the classic lineup was born.
Dare, the album that put synths at the top of the charts
Dare (1981) went to number one in the UK and sold millions around the world. “Don’t You Want Me”, “Love Action (I Believe in Love)”, “Open Your Heart” and “The Sound of the Crowd” made it one of the most influential synth-pop records ever made. “Don’t You Want Me” became one of the biggest-selling singles in British chart history, and it’s still one of the most recognizable songs of the ’80s. After Dare, nobody could say synthesizers were a fad.
From The Lebanon to a US number one
Hysteria (1984) brought the international hit “The Lebanon”. Then, for Crash (1986), they went to Minneapolis producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and came back with “Human”, a worldwide number one that introduced the band to an even bigger audience.
Is The Human League new wave?
Yes. The Human League are one of the defining synth-pop bands of new wave. They came out of Sheffield’s experimental electronic scene, and “Don’t You Want Me” proved a synthesizer band could top the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Still out there, still sounding modern
The band kept recording through the ’90s and beyond, with Romantic? (1990), Octopus (1995), Secrets (2001) and Credo (2011), and they still tour the world, bringing these songs to people who weren’t born when Dare came out.
The Human League by the numbers
- More than 20 million records sold worldwide
- Platinum and Gold albums and a long run of international hit singles
Their influence runs through synth-pop, dance-pop and alternative pop. Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Lady Gaga, La Roux, CHVRCHES and the Weeknd have all pointed to them.
The essential Human League songs
“Being Boiled” · “The Sound of the Crowd” · “Love Action (I Believe in Love)” · “Open Your Heart” · “Don’t You Want Me” · “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” · “Mirror Man” · “The Lebanon” · “Louise” · “Human” · “Heart Like a Wheel” · “Tell Me When”
The essential albums
Reproduction (1979) · Travelogue (1980) · Dare (1981) · Hysteria (1984) · Crash (1986) · Octopus (1995) · Credo (2011)
New to the Human League? Start here
Put on Dare and don’t skip anything. It’s ten songs, and side two ends with the one everybody knows. Then go back to “Being Boiled” to hear where the sound started, cold and strange, before the pop arrived. Finish with “Human” from Crash and notice how the same voice works over an American R&B groove. Three stops, and you’ve heard the whole journey.
Like the Human League? Try these next
- Heaven 17: the other half of the original band, with funk and soul in the synths
- Depeche Mode: synth-pop that went global
- Gary Numan: one of electronic pop’s founding fathers
- OMD: cinematic, melancholy synth-pop
- Pet Shop Boys: sophisticated electronic pop
- Erasure: Vince Clarke and Andy Bell’s sing-along synth-pop
- New Order: post-punk meets the dance floor
- A Flock of Seagulls: futuristic MTV-era new wave
- Ultravox: dramatic electronic rock
- Talk Talk: synth-pop hits, then art-rock
- ABC: Martin Fry’s lush, stylish pop
- Visage: the new romantics behind “Fade to Grey”
Hear The Human League on New Wave Radio
“Don’t You Want Me” is in our rotation every day. Request “Seconds” or “The Sound of the Crowd” if you want to hear the band’s sharper side.
Official links: thehumanleague.co.uk · Facebook · Instagram · YouTube · Spotify
