Synth-Pop Britannia

THE HUMAN LEAGUE     When it comes to Reproduction, The Human League are masters of regeneration, having gone through several major changes of personnel over the years. Their Travelogue begins in 1979 with the core line-up of Phil Oakey, Ian Craig Marsh, Martyn Ware and visual arts director Philip Adrian Wright, with Marsh and Ware later going on to form B.E.F. (British Electric Foundation) and Heaven 17. The Human League's greatest success came about by chance when Phil Oakey noticed Joanne Catherall and Susan Sulley dancing around their handbags in a Sheffield nightclub and invited them to join The Human League for a Dare, shortly after which Don't You Want Me soared straight to the top of the singles charts and stayed there for five weeks over Christmas 1981. Once the Hysteria had died down over their ground-breaking Dare album, The Human League decided to Crash out for awhile, taking a well-deserved break from recording. In the intervening period, Phil Oakey and Joanne Catherall  became involved in a Romantic? relationship which may have inspired a later album title. The Human League have continued to record over the years, having been all over the singles charts like an Octopus during their 1980's heyday. So what are the Secrets of their success? Dare to be different. That's their Credo. 

1980         52            2           The Human League - Empire State Human - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q22na6VkkQ

1981         48            4           The Human League - Boys and Girls - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM5_LLcEUPM

1981         12           10          The Human League - The Sound of the Crowd - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twG5mu6coOA

1981          3            13          The Human League - Love Action - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnjLlDY_xww

1981          6             9           The Human League - Open Your Heart - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAqTJRH0eF4

1981          1            13          The Human League - Don't You Want Me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPudE8nDog0

1982          6             9           The Human League - Being Boiled - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg5Mi6qFrXM

1982          2            10          The Human League - Mirror Man - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMu1T_Tg5Fw

1983          2             9           The Human League - (Keep Feeling) Fascination - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqqBs6kkzHE

1984         11            7           The Human League - The Lebanon - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH-_bsCwdRw

1984         16            6           The Human League - Life on Your Own - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLe8HEqdpLc

1984         13           10          The Human League - Louise - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehJj3FsFh_g

1986          8             8           The Human League - Human - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ysoohV_zA

1986         72            1           The Human League - I Need Your Loving - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aZ5Tms9IBQ

1988         41            5           The Human League - Love is All That Matters - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_WqFXbnnvI

1990         29            5           The Human League - Heart Like a Wheel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Oq3ORqAC0

1995          6             9           The Human League - Tell Me When - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uQJaUtH8FA

1995         13            8           The Human League - One Man in My Heart - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWiVRpm7dm4

1995         36            2           The Human League - Filling Up with Heaven - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1E3jUyiVdA

1996         40            2           The Human League - Stay with Me Tonight - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwu5sy-BBno

2001         47            1           The Human League - All I Ever Wanted - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdz_H7OcFig

HOLLYWOOD BEYOND     Yes, it's that band of one-hit-wonders fronted by a black dude who looks like he's been dragged through a hedge backwards, but thankfully, they sound better than they look. Hollywood Beyond were a Brummie band who go one step beyond the usual confines of Synth-Pop to bring you an album of highly danceable urban tunes. Something to listen to while you try and navigate your way around Birmingham's notorious Spaghetti Junction. 

1986         7           10           Hollywood Beyond - What's the Colour of Money? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXA0I9UfWEU    

1986        47           4            Hollywood Beyond - No More Tears - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28jijulsHCY

HEAVEN 17       Named after the fictitious group mentioned in A Clockwork Orange, Heaven 17 are the fourth-most-famous Synth-Pop band from Sheffield, formed by ex-Human League members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh and led by blonde frontman Glenn Gregory, the same production trio who brought us B.E.F. (British Electric Foundation), featured here earlier. Heaven 17's first single "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" caused a minor controversy by being banned by the BBC, but unlike Frankie Goes to Hollywood, it didn't help their record sales, stalling at #45 after spending five weeks in the charts, so maybe it just wasn't controversial enough. Heaven 17's best-selling single "Temptation" was kept from reaching the #1 spot by David Bowie's best-selling single of all time: "Let's Dance". Well, if you're going to be outsold by anyone, then you may as well be beaten to the #1 spot by the best. 

Heaven 17 - Don't Fear the Reaper (But fear inferior cover versions of a Blue Oyster Cult classic) 

1981           45            5           Heaven 17 - (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWs1-2foKoo

1981           46            7           Heaven 17 - Play to Win - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcUKV7zxZdw

1981           57            3           Heaven 17 - Penthouse and Pavement - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33W3kMS2vp0

1982           41            6           Heaven 17 - Let Me Go - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJrU9RIurFE

1983            2            13          Heaven 17 - Temptation - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWwtMrDX2o8

1983            5            11          Heaven 17 - Come Live with Me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89efMFClfPQ

1983           17            7           Heaven 17 - Crushed by the Wheels of Industry - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_wq5N6MQ8o

1984           24            6           Heaven 17 - Sunset Now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4cKLko6KLA

1984           23            7           Heaven 17 - This is Mine - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adynNYx0NbI

1985           52            5           Heaven 17 - (And That's No Lie) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5EB5utHdQY

1987           51            3           Heaven 17 - Trouble - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asv0QFb1Mps

TONI HALLIDAY     The singer who nobody's heard of, but almost  everybody's heard her performing with other artists. 

MARTIN GORE    The co-founder of Depeche Mode breaks out on his own in a bleak industrialised Gore-fest, who somehow manages to be have a more dystopian view of the world than jolly Roger Waters. 

PETER GODWIN      A former member of Glam Rock band Metro during the 1970's and New Wave musician in the 1980's, Peter Godwin now leads a neo-Balearic dance act named Nuevo, although I'm guessing that's probably best avoided. 

DAVE GAHAN     The Voice of Depeche Mode!

By the way, the flares may be long gone but I still have my gold platform shoes. 

FREUR      A Welsh Synth-Pop band who sound remarkably like Japan, although there's no known connection. Sayonara. 

1983         59           4            Freur - Doot Doot