On this date in 1981, The Human League released their eighth single, "Open Your Heart". It was backed by an instrumental called "Non-Stop". The A side appeared on their third album, Dare! The B side was a non-LP track that was added as a bonus track when the album was re-released on CD. The single reached the #6 spot on the U.K. singles chart. The Sheffield, England new wave band is touring this year. They are a three piece band now.
Wikipedia: The Human League
Official Website: league-online.com
Video: The Human League - Open Your Heart - on Top Of The Pops - 1981 - youtube
Blogload: The Human League - Dare! - nrrules.blogspot.com
Lafee - Best Of (Nacht-Edition) (2009)
51 minutes ago
6 comments:
Great single... in retrospect, The Human League were a very successful example of a band crossing over into pretty heavy commercialism with their vision intact.... from the DIGNITY OF LABOUR, BEING BOILED era to DARE... not many bands of the era made the jump without appearing either consciously faddish or completely crass in their endeavors.
Agree, Oakey had a vision even if he needed other musos to help him put it together for Dare.
I used to think Open Your Heart was a bit wet in the early days but now I've grown to appreciate for how good it is.
Simon Reynolds in 'Rip It Up And Start Again' has this to say -
"...The Human League began to develop a new aesthetic, not artrock so much as artpop. Highbrows aligning themselves with commercial dance pop (Abba, Eurodisco, Chic), they now sneered at middlebrow studenty notions of deep 'n' meaningful (the Pink Floyd / Cure / Radiohead continuum)."
"From being an electropop band who made 'no standard rock 'n' roll instrumentation their manifesto, the League mutated into a pop group who just happened to use synths. Abba became the group's new reference point - their ideal of quality pop with universal appeal. For NME's Paul Morley, The Human League represented a new middle of the road that was simultaneously post-punk and post-Abba: Dare could have been made only by a group who knew about Roxy, Iggy and Kraftwerk, but their music was inviting and accessible enough to win over the great unhip masses - mums and dads, teenage girls, children and grannies."
And strangely.. on the other side of the coin.... I've always maintained that ABBA would have made a damn fine punk band!!!
That's a very interesting thought. Just love 'So Long', 'Bang A Boomerang' and most of their stuff, though here not the place to get too carried away I guess, and the tribute thing is a terrible bore.
"and the tribute thing is a terrible bore"
Damn right it is... there's a gig on in Dublin later this month - the Some Days Never End Festival with The Human League, ABC and Heaven 17 - 3 great tribute bands featuring some original members!!!!
Because they meant so much to me as a thirteen year old, I am tempted to wish Marsh, Ware and Oakey (and Wright?) would get back together and do a new album as the old League, but I don't really need it - there is so much other good music to get into such as the links by bands unknown to me on this site. Keeping up wth the bands I already know of keeps me busy enough!
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