The Human League

It took me a while, but I've finally got into The Human League. Listening to Dare - can't get enough of Sound of the Crowd. Ambler's, how that main synth riff coming at 15 seconds done? I've read somewhere that it's a Jupiter-4 - is it the 4 voices synced together?



Enjoyed reading these Sound on Sound articles and interviews with Martin Rushent and Phil Oakey.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul10/articles/classictracks_0710.htm
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/apr95/humanleague.html

Surprised how knowledgeable about synthesis and production Oakey was.

What about the other albums? Heard that Credo and Seconds are decent, but Hysteria and Crash are crap. Will have to find out.

Yeah, Roland Microcomposer, most likely controlling JP4 in unison mode.

Dare is the only decent album the League made (I'm not sure anyone used the Linn Drum so well again), but they made a lot of great track over the years. Check out The League Unlimited Orchestra as well; Rushent never got proper credit for that.

One of my favourite League moments is Seconds. Punk on synths.

Recently iPlayered Beeb 4 docu 'Synth Britannia', Human League featured (as you'd imagine) fairly heavily. An enjoyable watch.

Human League were an embarrassment live. Then one day they clicked.

From what I've seen the League's weakest links live were Joane and Susan's singing. By that the time that of that Jools Holland set (95?) they'd matured.

I've listened to Reproduction. It's no Dare, but it's a solid record. I'd say punk on synths doesn't just apply to Seconds, but Human League in general, or at least when at their best.



The Trevor Horn produced Heart like a Wheel is a bit Tears for Fears-meets-Electronic, but the lyrics are oddly prescient.

When Miles Copeland managed The League, he instructed front of house to keep Joanne's vocals in the monitor-mix only. No one in the audience heard any of her squeaks and she was none the wiser. The world was a better place.

Largo's Shark wrote:

The Trevor Horn produced Heart like a Wheel is a bit Tears for Fears-meets-Electronic, but the lyrics are oddly prescient.

Not Horn, though I forget the producer. Was it part of the ill-fated attempt to bring League and Rushent back together? Not that it changed anything as Virgin sacked the League not long afterwards. I never rated Heart like a Wheel, though some salivate over it. The 12" is better than the single, FWIW.

That's much better, though the acidy 303 (?) res squelches at the start grate a bit. Like the supersaw that comes in, much stronger low end.

My bad, just checked - it was Rushtent not Horn. What went wrong?

Largo's Shark wrote:

. What went wrong?

Rushent claimed that he walked when the girls called him an old fart, but Oakey says it was because Rushent and Jo Callis wanted to bring in guitars for the second album,  which went against his dogmatic synths-only ideology. Didn't stop them doing just that on The Lebanon though...
Love the intro on this very underrated track, it's like the UK Subs on a good day.



I don't buy either story, though they were probably contributing factors. After all, Rushent and the Stranglers had a similar parting of ways, which has never been adequately explained either. I tend towards the theories that Rushent had some kind of nervous breakdown. His producing career ended not long after that, which is extraordinary given how talented and successful he was.

This is the last time the strapping Phil Oakey was on top-rated TV show.

This is the only HL league song I care to own...the 1995 Red Jerry remix...

Largo's Shark wrote:

It took me a while, but I've finally got into The Human League. Listening to Dare - can't get enough of Sound of the Crowd. Ambler's, how that main synth riff coming at 15 seconds done? I've read somewhere that it's a Jupiter-4 - is it the 4 voices synced together?



Enjoyed reading these Sound on Sound articles and interviews with Martin Rushent and Phil Oakey.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul10/articles/classictracks_0710.htm
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/apr95/humanleague.html

Surprised how knowledgeable about synthesis and production Oakey was.

What about the other albums? Heard that Credo and Seconds are decent, but Hysteria and Crash are crap. Will have to find out.

DARE is undoubtedly their best album.

In addition to The Lebanon, I love this one from HYSTERIA.

Interestingly enough, there is talk of renaming NATO the Inhuman League.