The Human League | |
|---|---|
 Lineup: Susan Ann Sulley, Philip Oakey, Joanne Catherall | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Future (1977), the Men, the League, the League Unlimited Orchestra (1982) |
| Origin | Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England |
| Genres | |
| Discography | The Human League discography |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Labels | |
| Spinoffs | Heaven 17 |
| Members | |
| Past members | |
| Website | thehumanleague |
The Human League are an English synth-pop[1] band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981 after restructuring their lineup. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit "Don't You Want Me". The band received the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982. Further hits followed throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, including "Mirror Man", "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", "The Lebanon", "Human" (a second US No. 1) and "Tell Me When".
The only constant band member since 1977 has been lead singer and songwriter Philip Oakey. Keyboard players Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh both left the band in 1980 to form Heaven 17, leaving Oakey and Adrian Wright to assemble a new line-up. The Human League then evolved into a commercially successful new pop band,[2] with the line-up comprising Oakey, Wright, vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, bassist and keyboard player Ian Burden and guitarist and keyboard player Jo Callis. Wright, Burden and Callis all left the band by the end of the 1980s, since which time the band has essentially been a trio of Oakey, Catherall and Sulley with various sidemen.
Since 1978, the Human League have released 9 studio albums, a remix album, a live album, 6 EPs, 29 singles and 13 compilation albums. They have had 6 top 20 albums and 13 top 20 singles in the UK and had sold more than 20 million records worldwide by 2010.[3][4] As an early techno-pop[5] act that received extensive MTV airplay, they are regarded as one of the leading artists of the 1980s Second British Invasion of the US.[6]
- ^ Ankeny, Jason. "The Human League Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
Synth pop's first international superstars, the Human League were among the earliest and most innovative bands to break into the pop mainstream on a wave of synthesizers and electronic rhythms, their marriage of infectious melodies and state-of-the-art technology proving enormously influential on countless acts following in their wake.
- ^ Harvel, Jess. "Now That's What I Call New Pop!". Pitchfork Media. 12 September 2005.
- ^ "Human League Back in Big League". Contactmusic.com. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- ^ "Human League record first album for nine years". Sheffield Telegraph. 14 January 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- ^ "WTOJ Magic 103.1 – The North Country's Best Mix". Cbwatertown.com. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ "Anglomania: The Second British Invasion". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 April 2019.