Post 7 The Human League

The Human League was formed of Philip Oakey, Philip Wright, Ian Marsh, and Martyn Ware. The only constant band member since 1977 is vocalist and songwriter Philip Oakey. Originally an avant-garde all-male synthesizer-based group, The Human League evolved into a commercially successful synthpop band under Oakey's leadership.* ¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Human_League#1978.E2.80.931980:_The_original_Human_League_lineup Two Women, Joanne Catherall and Susan Sulley, joined the Group in 1987 at the end of their string of 6 albums. After the addition of Joanne and Susan the band has released 14 albums. They are most known for “Don’t You Want Me Baby" from their 3^rd album, Dare.*² http://www.humanleague.dk/  They received an award for over 20 million radio plays. That’s incredible. They are kind of a one hit wonder, but they have kept putting out music appealing enough to keep their careers alive and maintain a somewhat large fan base.

They are still very much an electronic band. 80’s Music from the About.com say that there is, “still recognizably haunting tone of the group's synth work.” *³ http://80music.about.com/od/artistsfj/tp/humanleaguesongs.htm They found their place at the forefront of synth music and used it to burn their sound into our ear’s mind forever. Besides the distinct sound that they had discovered and claimed, they used automation to control the ongoing repetitive and various beats, rhythmic melodies, and synthy riffs. They found a formula that they could embrace and still run with it. In my collection of 80’s favorites, in my mind, resides this classic. I love it. They really helped shape the electronic music scene forever.

Another feature of The Human League would be the great bantering between the male and female vocals. “Sulley's lead vocal contribution provides the song with a dynamic he said-she said quality that promotes narrative drama at a rate not often found in pop music.” * ⁴ http://80music.about.com/od/artistsfj/tp/humanleaguesongs.htm

As an individual the band gives me a sense of inspiration to create something that follows their lead. As a professional I see a lot of marketable potential for new artists. There is a ton of sounds that the world has never heard before.