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- Date Released: November 1, 2002
- Genre: Electronic
- Style: Dance
- Label: Black Melody Music Limited / Kudos Records Limited
-
We Say...
The Human League show they're much more than a haircut band
"This is a song for all you big-heads out there that think disco music is lower than the irrelevant musical gibberish and tired platitudes you try to impress your parents with. We're the Human League and we're much cleverer than you, and this is called 'Dance Like a Star.'" How's that for a shot across the bow? Likewise, this collection of early recordings by the Human League (and their earlier incarnation, the Future) serves a stern rebuke to those who would write off the synth-pop pioneers as just another haircut band. There's certainly nothing pretty about these recordings, which range from two-minute, instrumental preludes to more fully fleshed-out pop songs. There are echoes of Ware and Marsh's duo the British Electronic Foundation in the carefully wrought synthesizer studies; as opposed to later synth-pop's predilection for glossy, preset sounds, curiosity is the main driver here, and every track offers an answer to questions that, while quaint by today's standards, were still quite pressing in the late '70s. What happens if I turn this knob to the left? What if I run the mic through a tape delay? There's a wicked sense of humor at work — see "Dominion Jingle," which imagines Stockhausen scoring the advert for a fake pharmaceutical, or the tongue-in-cheek "Year of the Jet Packs." But there are also moments of startling beauty amidst these sepia-tone curios from the solid-state age. -
They Say...
Long before the Human League made one of the most brilliant pop records of the '80s, and even before the group made a song about a record that was so big that it ate up every record shop in existence, there was the Future: an all-electronic experimental/pop group that would later become the Human League. This compilation of demos -- over one-third recorded as the Future, the remainder as the Human League -- predates the group's contract with Virgin. The majority of these demos have more in common with fellow Sheffield tape-and-electronics manglers Cabaret Voltaire than the groups the Human League would eventually rub shoulders with on the U.K. charts -- like, say, ABC (yet another Sheffield group). To get a rough idea of what they were about in these days, combine the eerie sounds made by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop with film soundtracks and Giorgio Moroder's productions for Donna Summer. The opening "Dance Like a Star" is a crude disco song with a pounding rhythm, decaying keyboards, all manner of strange effects, and a halfhearted/half-bored vocal turn from Philip Oakey. "Looking for the Black Haired Girls" contains violent screams from a woman and gunfire over a primitive funeral march. "Dominion Advertisement" had to be inspired by Raymond Scott; over fluttery wobbles of electronics, Oakey endorses a drug that will perk you right up. Fans who don't appreciate the group's first two albums shouldn't even entertain the thought of picking this up. But if you have equal affinity for both "The Dignity of Labour" and "Empire State Human," this will make for a fascinating listen.
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| 01. |  |
Dance Like A Star |
4:42 |
|
| 02. | |
Looking For The Black Haired Girls |
3:38 |
|
| 03. | |
4jg |
4:31 |
|
| 04. | |
Blank Clocks |
3:15 |
|
| 05. | |
Cairo |
3:07 |
|
| 06. |
Dominion Jingle |
0:25 |
|
|
| 07. | |
Dada Dada Duchamp Vortex |
5:42 |
|
| 08. | |
Daz |
3:35 |
|
| 09. | |
Future Religion |
3:42 |
|
| 10. | |
Disco Disaster |
4:56 |
|
| 11. | |
Interface |
2:55 |
|
| 12. | |
The Circus Of Dr Lao |
3:50 |
|
| 13. | |
Reach Out (ill Be There) |
3:51 |
|
| 14. | |
New Pink Floyd |
2:13 |
|
| 15. | |
Once Upon A Time In The West |
1:51 |
|
| 16. | |
Overkill Disaster Crash (v.1) |
2:00 |
|
| 17. | |
Year Of The Jet Packs |
5:17 |
|
| 18. | |
Pulse Lovers |
3:57 |
|
| 19. | |
King Of Kings |
1:56 |
|
| 20. | |
Last Man On Earth (shorter Version) |
6:04 |
|
20 Total Tracks, 71:27 Total Length
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Credits
- The Human League - Main Performer // The Human League - Main Performer // Philip Oakey - Vocals // Ian Craig Marsh - Synthesizer // Ian Craig Marsh - Devices // Martyn Ware - Synthesizer // Martyn Ware - Vocals (Background) // Martyn Ware - Design // Sean Turner - Liner Notes // Sean Turner - Images // Bob Last - Remixing // The Future - Performer // Michael Clark - Images
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