Human League, The
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The Human League hailed from Sheffield, UK circa 1977. Initially, they started out as a band called The Future. Although there were no formal releases as The Future, in 2002, recorded demos were on an album called The Golden Hour of the Future in 2002. The Future was unable to land a record deal without a vocalist, so the invited a friend of theirs, Philip Oakey, to join the band, and soon after they changed their name to The Human League (this was a reference to words in the video game Starforce: Alpha Centauri).
By 1978, The Human League had landed a record deal, and their first hit single, "Being Bold", was released in 1978 (re-released in 1982). Their first studio album was Reproduction (1979). In the 80's, they released Traveloque (1980). Soon after this second release, tensions were very high with the band. The result was a legal split whereby Oakey maintained the Human League name, but other band members formed a band called Heaven 17. After gathering up new members for the band, Dare! was released in 1981, which ultimately became their most successful release. You will remember the hit song "Don't You Want Me" from this album. Other hit songs form this album included "The Sound of the Crowd", "Open Your Heart", and "Love Action (I Believe in Love)". An EP was released in 1982, called Fascination!, that feature the hit song "(Keep Feeling) Fascination".
Other notable songs from the Human League in the 1980's included the songs "The Lebanon" and "Life on Your Own" from Hysteria (1984), and "Human" from Crash (1986). It is worth noting here that the song "Electric Dreams" was not technically a Human League hit, but a collaboration between Oakey and Giorgio Moroder.
As the years rolled on, The Human League continued to produce new material, with some chart success in the mid 1990's, as well as in 2011, but nothing like their heyday. The Human League was known to be on tour in 2012. At the time of this writing, The Human League Discography was as follows:
Listen for free or download any Human League track for just 12 cents per song!
- 1979: Reproduction
- 1980: Travelogue
- 1981: Dare
- 1984: Hysteria
- 1986: Crash
- 1988: Greatest Hits
- 1990: Romantic?
- 1995: Octopus
- 1995: Greatest Hits
- 1996: Soundtrack to a Generation
- 1997: The Best Of
- 1998: The Very Best of The Human League
- 2001: Secrets
- 2002: The Golden Hour of the Future
- 2003: The Very Best of The Human League
- 2005: Original Remixes & Rarities
- 2005: Live at the Dome
- 2011: Credo
- 2011: Essential
- 2012: Dare/Fascination!