Album: Dare
Artist: The Human League
Born: Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Released: October 1981
Genre: Synthpop
Influenced: Depeche Mode, Madonna, Pet Shop Boys, Moby, Gorillaz, Lady Gaga
The Human League were the one of the British pioneers of synthpop, so it's appropriate to start with this record. Inspired by futuristic authors like JG Ballard, as well as the groundbreaking electronic music of Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder and the soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange, early synthpop was a mix of the punk spirit and the embracing of new, more affordable technology (mainly KORG synthesizers). Sheffield group The Human League, in their original line-up, released the influential single, Being Boiled, in summer 1978. Inspired by this sound, Gary Numan was the first musical act to score a big synthpop hit with Are 'Friends' Electric?, however he was pilloried by the music press for being out of step with the prevailing punk ethos. This mood began to change though and by the time of the Human League's release of Dare in late 1981, with Phil Oakey still at the helm but two original members replaced by backing singers Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley, the conditions were perfect for it to become a huge success. In the US, where MTV's popularity was spreading like wildfire in the early 80s, there was the demand but not the supply of music videos, and it was the British acts who pioneered this form that reaped the rewards. Don't You Want Me perfectly encapsulates this new style of mini-film, with art school nods to Francois Truffaut, and was an essential part of the single's success, as well as the start of the Second British Invasion across the Atlantic.
My impression of the musical landscape in the early 80s is groups of alienated synthesists wandering around Britain in long black coats and eyeliner, transformed from post-punk bedroom experimenters into keyboard-wielding pretty boys taking over the airwaves. Though I wish it were a more avant garde act, like Cabaret Voltaire or Throbbing Gristle, that I was writing about here, the truth is I prefer Dare to any of their efforts. The Human League shamelessly went for a brighter, pop sound that appealed to women as well as men. Dare was still at the cutting edge of technology, with Sound Of The Crowd the first pop song to feature the LinnDrum (its most famous outing was on a-ha's Take On Me). Oakey's baritone lead melds well with backing vocals to create a disco-synthpop hybrid; there are cynical undertones in Sound Of The Crowd's lyrics and in the way the group's singles were marketed, "red" songs targeted at the disco crowd and "blue" songs designed for the ABBA-loving pop audience. Don't You Want Me was definitely a blue song, but its pop sheen masked its clever lyrics about sexual politics. There are flaws to the album (I Am The Law the most obvious one), but it has darker moments that balance effectively with the lighter commercial notes, for example the eerie rendition of the Get Carter theme tune, Seconds, the Human League's take on the JFK assassination, and the electro-goth sound of Darkness. One of my favourite moments on the LP is Love Action (I Believe In Love), when Oakey drops the sarcasm for a straight-ahead synthpop love song. More than any other record, Dare really crystallises the sound of this new emerging genre.
My impression of the musical landscape in the early 80s is groups of alienated synthesists wandering around Britain in long black coats and eyeliner, transformed from post-punk bedroom experimenters into keyboard-wielding pretty boys taking over the airwaves. Though I wish it were a more avant garde act, like Cabaret Voltaire or Throbbing Gristle, that I was writing about here, the truth is I prefer Dare to any of their efforts. The Human League shamelessly went for a brighter, pop sound that appealed to women as well as men. Dare was still at the cutting edge of technology, with Sound Of The Crowd the first pop song to feature the LinnDrum (its most famous outing was on a-ha's Take On Me). Oakey's baritone lead melds well with backing vocals to create a disco-synthpop hybrid; there are cynical undertones in Sound Of The Crowd's lyrics and in the way the group's singles were marketed, "red" songs targeted at the disco crowd and "blue" songs designed for the ABBA-loving pop audience. Don't You Want Me was definitely a blue song, but its pop sheen masked its clever lyrics about sexual politics. There are flaws to the album (I Am The Law the most obvious one), but it has darker moments that balance effectively with the lighter commercial notes, for example the eerie rendition of the Get Carter theme tune, Seconds, the Human League's take on the JFK assassination, and the electro-goth sound of Darkness. One of my favourite moments on the LP is Love Action (I Believe In Love), when Oakey drops the sarcasm for a straight-ahead synthpop love song. More than any other record, Dare really crystallises the sound of this new emerging genre.
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