The Human League: Reproduction - 1979


As I go on to mention on the review for Dare, it should not be forgotten that The Human League started as a group of moody, intense blokes on synthesisers and electric noises, tape loops and so on making music every bit as bleak and "industrial" as Kraftwerk. 

The now iconic double female vocalists had not been discovered working as waitresses by Phil Oakey and they were almost a completely different band. I remember seeing the early incarnation of the band supporting Siouxsie & The Banshees in September 1978 and they then consisted of Oakey and Martyn Ware (and possibly Craig Marsh) sitting behind perspex coverings playing dour synth music. They were decidedly weird  and it would have incomprehensible to imagine them conquering the charts in the way they did two and a bit years later. 

This first album is full of deep, sombre synth-driven and sonorous numbers such as the impressive Circus Of Death and Almost Medieval. There was nothing remotely "pop" about these numbers, although they did, admittedly, have a certain hooky feeling to anthem, beneath the murky vibe and droning vocals. 

Remarkably, they scored a minor chart hit with the poppy, synthy, spacey groove of Empire State Human, with is simplistic, almost puerile vocals about being as tall as a wall. It was all very art school-ish and in possession of a line line in hauteur. At this time, the group were very much a cult one, enjoyed by greatcoat-wearing, serious studenty types, nearly all male. 

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