At long last, Make It New has found a band that has withstood the test of time. This isn’t a suggestion of quality but more a simple fact that most new wave acts seem to have a short life span followed by a random reunion tour a few decades on. While there’s been plenty of musicians covered who have gone on to successful solo careers, The Human League have, for better or worse, existed in one piece since their major breakout album “Dare.” While they have slowed down and haven’t released a studio album since 2011, the fact is that they’re an anomaly that genuinely surprised me.
For most people today, their most recognizable hit “Don’t You Want Me” is one of those inescapable 80s tracks that is very enjoyable depending on the day. While I knew they had a few other songs, my belief was that they were one of the less successful bands. As I’ll explore, the reality is much different. Having sold over 20 million records, they are one of the progenitors of electropop, serving as a major force in The Second British Invasion. Much like Gary Numan, there was an aspect about them that was esoteric and controversial upon release. Unlike Numan, they’ve arguably transcended the expectations to become, as David Bowie once suggested, the sound of the future.
What’s even more interesting is that they’re a band with a storied career even before “Dare” came out. The band was formed in 1977 and would take many forms in their early run. Driven by the appeal of electronic instruments, they explored the potential of synth-driven music. The original line-up would split over disagreements around their sound. Because they were signed to Virgin Records at the time, this would produce a predicament for the sole survivor of “The Human League” moniker. While the other band members started the band Heaven 17, Philip Oakey kept the name and the debt that came with it. Not only did the Heaven 17 members legally earn 1% of royalties from “Dare,” but the label itself would force the band to record various singles and live performances in the hopes of finding something profitable.
This wasn’t easily said and done. In the late 70s, electropop wasn’t a mainstream genre. The dance music of the time, disco, was largely driven by guitars, bass, and drums. Traditionalists of rock music criticized The Human League for not being a real band. There were petitions to qualify the band as not real music. The belief became that they were building to a time where musicians didn’t need to perform so much as press a button. Their sound was considered gimmicky, lacking a real substantial permanence in pop culture.
All of this makes the success of “Dare” (or “Dare!” in the U.S.) even more curious. After years of struggling financially on a flailing label, The Human League would strike it big with a string of hits that established their unique sound. While Oakey was the lead vocals, he often had Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley on backing vocals. At the time, Catherall and Sulley were teenagers who were recording in-between schoolwork. Due to conflicts around recording venues, they often commuted long distances to meet their dual lifestyle. Their album’s title references a specific Vogue Magazine cover that read “DARE,” itself part of a campaign of the late 70s where they did covers with provocative images and single-word statements.
The same could be said for the compressed photography which imitated Vogue. With a specific design, their first album shared the compacted look. Elsewhere, they did a gimmick of selling “blue” and “red” singles. As Sulley would claim, red singles were for fans of Spandau Ballet-type songs while blue was more designed for ABBA fans. While this was a short-lived marketing tool, it was enough to get the band in motion. With early singles getting them on the charts, they were starting to ascend.
However, Virgin Records was not yet in the clear and The Human League still had a decent level of debt. This all changed with “Don’t You Want Me,” whose legacy is more conflicting than expected. Oakey claimed that it was inspired by an article he read in a teen girl magazine as well as A Star Is Born (1978). He defends the fact that it’s not a love song but an exploration of the abusive role of power. He also thinks that it’s closer to a joke song than a genuine hit. Still, with Sulley on supporting vocals, a rerecorded version with toned-down synths would become the hit that changed their career. Even then, Oakey believed that it was their worst song, placing it last on “Dare” and only agreeing to release it as a single with a well-produced insert. Because of its November 1981 release mixed with an unprecedented level of success, it would sell 1.5 million copies and become one of the best-selling singles in the U.K. and ended up becoming their annual Christmas number one. Another major plus in their career was the launch of MTV. Much like The Buggles, The Human League would take advantage of the rise of music videos as a form of promotion.
To shift into a more analytical section, I would like to begin discussing my thoughts on “Dare” as a new wave album. Given that I started the column without a strong sense of genre, it’s interesting to find a record that is so influential that I think it comes back around to sounding a bit cliché. I’m sure it was a major advancement at the time, but there’s not much here that quickly wins me over. It sounds like a few dozen other synth-pop records I heard in the 1980s and beyond. I do appreciate the way that Oakey’s vocals clash with the women’s, creating a unique perspective, but how is that different from other bands I’ve covered? Sure it’s polished and delivers a satisfying level of hooks, but what is it about The Human League that makes them quintessential as more than a historical note?
I suppose that the criticism is a bit unfair. Most of the bands covered so far have existed within some realm of a higher concept “gimmick.” There is a whole world of reason that you must understand to appreciate their balance of rock mixed with nerdy lyrics. As much as I appreciate them moving away from the conventional romantic pop of previous decades, new wave is a genre that I’ve struggled to appreciate as a sound. It’s so diverse and often feels more driven by ethos. In that regard, The Human League are a major new wave band because they were in their own lane. Compared to trends of the late 70s, there wasn’t much to compare to. They were seen as playing with computers, singing in disaffected tones. It makes sense to think of them as robotic.
With that said, I do think that “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of” is an excellent opener to an album like this. It’s there in the electronic sound and the way that Oakey lists off things that make him happy. There’s a sense of the future and wondering what lies ahead. It may not work as a conventional dance song, but it’s cerebral and connects with something human. We all have things that make us happy and we have dreams that we want to follow. Why not do our best to make them happen? Given that this was at odds with rock music of the time, even the idea of delving into a more digital world seems like a wormhole into a new world. The Human League would deliver an experience that maybe only Numan was really providing – and even he was more conceptual than this.
An issue with this record is that I do enjoy them at the moment, but it’s hard to find many tracks that immediately stand out as singular. I give credit to the band for finding a diverse pallet to pull from, never going full dance or ballad. They are playing with expectations in such a way that you’re at least compelled to listen closer. There are plenty of subtle references to other artists, finding this unity with music as a medium.
With all of this said, I do think that “Don’t You Want Me” stands out for a lot of reasons. This includes the fact that the synth feels more subdued. There’s a darkness that makes it sound sinister and turns the narrative-driven track into a noir of sorts. We’re able to follow the story, but we’re unsure of where it’s going. I understand the idea to want it to be romantic, but nothing about the track feels that way to me. “Don’t you want me?” sounds like the cry of desperate people wanting something out of their opposing singer. What I love more than anything is how perfectly the lyrics can be altered barely, mostly in pronouns, and still have this greater build of story. As a whole, I am mixed about the song but agree that it’s among the more innovative works of the early 1980s, especially compared with new wave of the time. Some have written weirder songs, but the conversational nature is something that nobody really captured as well in pop form.
To return to Virgin Records, their fate is not a bleak one. Owner Richard Branson would be so grateful for the success of “Don’t You Want Me” that he’d send Oakey a motorcycle. This proved to be an empty gesture as he couldn’t ride it. Still, it saved Virgin and the band, making for a partnership that wound up only getting more interesting as the years went on. “Dare” would become so successful that they’d release a 1982 remix album called “Love and Dancing.” In a true moment of innovation, this was one of the first times in music history that this now normalized tactic was used.
Unlike most bands that I’ve covered, this section will be a little light. Their post-“Dare” career wasn’t met with a slow descension. Creative differences did not split up the band even if the central trio remains the only consistent band members and Oakey is the only original one. They continue to tour and release music. What’s more interesting is that while “Dare” could be perceived as inescapable, the album released its final single in 2008. “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of” wasn’t an official single throughout the 80s. Instead, it became a favorite among club DJs and was often remixed. Because of this, The Human League did an official release that included a remix featuring singer Kelis. Elsewhere, their music has remained a staple in various forms of media, including several covers of “Don’t You Want Me,” both solo and duets.
All in all, The Human League is a band that I can appreciate more than openly admit to loving. Whereas I can look at Gary Numan and find his oddity an intriguing part of his music, there’s something too calculated about “Dare” that keeps me from loving it. There’s a lot of fun to be had, but this is so early in the electropop genre that it doesn’t have the innovative peaks that would follow. I’m sure that if I listened to a few of their later records I might find something more my speed. For now, I recognize what’s great about “Dare,” but it’s lacking cohesiveness. Everything feels designed to such a degree that it’s too self-conscious. Am I glad that they exist? Of course, I do. They’re odd and creative in ways that ultimately made the world of music better. Whether or not “Don’t You Want Me” is the best or worst song according to its singer, I think it’s one that’ll be around forever, a perfect earworm that shows a side of pop that I wish was more challenging.
Coming Up Next: Siouxie and the Banshees - "Juju" (1981)
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