Thirty years later, the Human League’s Top of the Pops performance of “The Sound of the Crowd” remains a document of radical pop: Frontman Phil Oakey’s hair is as asymmetrical as the off-kilter ’80s ever got; his makeup — even by androgynous Brit standards — is startlingly extreme; teen backing singer/dancers Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall split the difference between disco abandon and New Wave cool, and a bank of tape decks declare that this is studio-created artifice that snears in the face of rock reality. The message is clear: We’ve seen the future, and it is us.

The evolution of the Human League from stern electronic experimentalists whose major claim to fame was a derisive name-check in an Undertones single to the chart-topping icons behind one of the most-loved and enduring songs of their decade is one of popular music’s strangest, yet most successful transformations. Previewed in the UK by “Sound” and then buoyed by the unexpected international smash “Don’t You Want Me,” this Sheffield, England sextet’s 1981 breakthrough boasts traditional hooks — nearly every track was a single or sounds like one — and cutting-edge technology: Thanks to producer Martin Rushent and his studio full of brand new… read more »