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The Human League
The Human League today. From left: Philip Oakey,Joanne Catherall, Susan Ann Sulley
Background information
Also known as	The Future, The Men, League Unlimited Orchestra
Origin	Sheffield, UK
Genre(s)	Synthpop New Wave
Years active	1977 – Present
Label(s)	Fast Product, EMI, Virgin, A&M, EastWest, Papillion
Associated acts	Giorgio Moroder Heaven 17
Members
Philip Oakey Joanne Catherall Susan Ann Sulley
Former members
Ian Craig Marsh Martyn Ware Philip Adrian Wright Ian Burden Jo Callis

The Human League are an award winning, Grammy nominated British synthpop/New Wave band formed in 1977 who, after a key change in line up, achieved great popularity in the 1980s. They have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1990s, 2000s up to the present day.

Originally an avant-garde all male synthesizer-based group from Sheffield, the only constant band member since the Human League formed in 1977 is vocalist, songwriter and composer Philip Oakey. Today the Human League is presented as a trio of Oakey together with long-serving female vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley. The Human League represents a considerable influence for many electro-pop and mainstream acts including Madonna, Moby. They have been sampled and covered by various artists including artists like YMO, Ministry of Sound, George Michael and Robbie Williams.^[1]

They have over the previous three decades released nine studio albums, eighteen singles(including 8 top 10 singles in the UK and 2 number one singles in the US)and played over 350 live concerts.^[2]

Contents 1 Band history 1.1 1977: "The Dead Daughters" and "The Future" 1.2 1978 – 1980: The 'original' Human League 1.3 October 1980: The formation of Human League 'Mk2' 1.4 1981: The build up to Dare 1.5 The remaining 1980s 1.6 The 1990s 1.7 The 2000s 1.8 Today 1.9 Stated future intentions 2 Discography 3 Band personnel 4 Awards 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links

Prior to adopting the name The Human League, the band briefly had two previous incarnations.^[3]

In early 1977 Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh were both working as computer operators, and combined a love of pop music (such as glam rock and Tamla Motown) with avant-garde electronic music acts such as German group Kraftwerk. With the price of electronic components dropping in the mid 1970s previously unaffordable equipment was now in the range of the average consumer, Ware and Marsh saved up and bought a Korg 770S synthesizer between them and set about learning how to play it. Their musical reputation spread and they were invited to play at a friend's 21st birthday party. For the party, Ware and Marsh formed themselves into an informal band called the Dead Daughters. Their live highlight was a rendition of the theme of the British TV series Doctor Who. ^[3]

After a few further low key private performances Ware and Marsh realized that they enjoyed performing and wished to take it further professionally. They decided to form a proper band, joined by their friend Adi Newton and another Synthesizer (a Roland System 100) they formed The Future; and began to create music in their own ad hoc rehearsal facility. They would go on to create demo tapes and at one point travelled down to London to speak to record labels interested in their unique sound. Although the Future were never signed and released no material commercially at the time, later a collection of demos from this period would be released retrospectively on CD in 2002, titled The Golden Hour of the Future. Mixed by Richard X. ^[3]

The association with Adi Newton would be short; Newton decided to leave the Future to follow a more conventional music direction and went on to form Clock DVA. After Newton left, to replace him Ware decided that he wanted a singer not another keyboard player. The reason for this was twofold, record companies had been reluctant to sign the Future as they couldn’t offer any "marketable" songs therefore a decent singer was required for any chance of commercial success; also the group only owned two synthesizers and couldn’t afford to buy a third. ^[3]

Ware and Marsh searched for a vocalist, but their first choice, Glenn Gregory, was unavailable (Gregory would eventually be the lead singer of their later band Heaven 17). With Gregory unavailable, Ware instead decided to invite an old school friend Philip Oakey to join the band. Oakey was working as a hospital porter at the time and was well known on the Sheffield social scene for his eclectic dress sense. Although he had no musical experience Ware thought Oakey would be ideal as lead singer for the Future “as he already looked like a pop star”. When Ware called on Oakey he found he was out, so famously asked him to join the Future by leaving a note struck to his front door.^[3]

Oakey accepted the invitation, but early sessions were awkward. Oakey had never sung in front of an audience before, couldn't play keyboards and only owned a saxophone he couldn't play. Listening to one of Ware and Marsh's demos, Oakey was inspired to write some lyrics which he later delivered in his unique baritone style, the Lyrics would later become the single "Being Boiled".

With a new lineup, sound and vocalist, Ware decided that the band needed a new name. It would also allow them to approach record companies again from a different angle. Ware suggested a quote derived from the game Starforce: Alpha Centauri, a science fiction wargame, A game both Marsh and Ware enjoyed playing. In the game, 'The Human League' arose in 2415 A.D, and were a frontier-oriented society that desired more independence from Earth. Ware suggested that the Future rename themselves after the game and in early 1978 The Future became The Human League.^[3]

Using Future material the Human League put out a demo tape to record companies under their new name. The tape contained versions of "Being Boiled", "Toyota City" and "Circus of Death". One label, Bob Last’s independent Edinburgh based Fast Records responded and the band were signed.

In June 1978 under Fast, the Human League released their first single "Being Boiled". Although a limited release, because it was so unique and at odds with everything else on the market it was picked up on by NME who championed the band, although one guest reviewer, Johnny Rotten of Punk band The Sex Pistols condemned the band as "Trendy Hippies". ^[3]

Boosted by critical praise, on June 12, 1978 the band played their first live gig together at at Bar 2 in Sheffield's Psalter Lane Art College (now Sheffield Hallam University; a plaque now commemorates the spot in what is now a computer suite).

The band with their reliance on technology and tape machines had been reluctant to play live. After the Psalter Lane performance they worried that they had appeared static and uninspiring. A friend of Oakey’s had been in the audience: Philip Adrian Wright who had an art and photography background was invited to become the band’s ‘Director of Visuals’ with a brief to liven up the stage performance, with slides, film clips and lighting. He would be credited as a full band member on record sleeves despite his contributions being mainly non-musical.

The band's live performances each critically acclaimed began to gain momentum and they were asked to support first The Rezillos (featuring future band member Jo Callis) then in December 1978 Siouxsie & the Banshees. At this gig David Bowie appeared in the audience and later declared to NME that he "had seen the future of pop music".^[3]Now widely known on the British music scene, the song by The Undertones “My Perfect Cousin” contained a dig at the perceived "arty" Human League. In the lyric:

“

His mother bought him a synthesizer. Got the Human League into advise her. Now he's making lots of noise. Playing along with the art school boys [4]

”

In April 1979 the Human League released their first EP under Fast Record entitled The Dignity of Labour which contained four experimental instrumentals. Although the EP only barely charted, major record labels began approaching the band in an attempt to lure them away from Fast. Eventually in May 1979 the band accepted an approach by Richard Branson's Virgin Records. Because of his label's early support, the band offered Bob Last the position as band manager.^[3]

In June 1979 the Human League supported Iggy Pop on his European tour before settling into recording their first single for Virgin. Despite being promised creative freedom Virgin instead insisted on some sweeping changes to the band's style for their first single, to make it more commercial. They insisted on conventional instruments and vocals as well as synthesizers. Because the band had accepted a large signing advance Ware was in no position to refuse, but insisted that any releases in this style be credited to a pseudonym so the pure electronic sound of the Human League was maintained. ^[3]

The band's first single under Virgin Records was the disco influenced "I Don't Depend on You" released in July 1979 under the pseudonym "The Men". The single did not chart and had very little in common with the previous work of the Human League. It did however feature prophetic female vocals by guest vocalists Lisa Strike and Katie Kissoon sounding like the yet to be formed future Human League of 1981.^[5]

Because the imposed style had not worked Virgin permitted the band to return to their original style and the band recorded and released their first full studio album Reproduction in August 1979. The album and the single "Empire State Human" failed to make any impact on the charts. After these flops Virgin cancelled the band's December 1979 tour. In late 1979 the Human League's role as UK electronic pioneers was usurped by Gary Numan when his single "Cars" became a huge hit in the UK. ^[3]

In April 1980 the band were able to release an EP titled Holiday '80 containing the principal track "Marianne" and covers of David Bowie and Gary Glitter. The 7-inch version of "Holiday '80" did well enough to get the band their first TV appearance on BBC TV Top of the Pops playing "Being Boiled".

In May the band toured the UK, Adrian Wright was now playing incidental keyboards in addition to his visuals role. It would be the last time all four members would perform together live. Also in May the band released their second studio album Travelogue, more commercial sounding that Reproduction it entered the UK album chart at 16 giving the band their first real success. As a result "Empire State Human" was re-released and the band made their second appearance on Top of the Pops even though it only reached number 62 in the singles chart.

Because of lack of any tangible commercial success Virgin refused to release further singles from Travelogue. The Human League were booked to conduct a tour of the UK and Europe in October - November 1980, but the lack of success after two years of hard work and perceived lack of faith by Virgin set about severe internal conflict within the band.^[3]

The relationship between Oakey and Ware had always been turbulent, the pair often quarreled over creative and personal matters. Oakey had once been observed chasing Ware up a Sheffield Street throwing bottles of milk at him. ^[1]

The lack of any success compared with the success of the Numan single had brought matters to a head. Ware insisted the band maintain the pure electronic sound whilst Oakey wanted to emulate more successful pop groups. The pair clashed continually, with Ware eventually walking out. Taking Ware's side, Ian Craig Marsh joined him. Manager Bob Last tried to reconcile both parties, when that proved impossible various options were suggested including two new bands under a Human League sub-label. Eventually it was agreed that as Oakey was keen to continue with the Human League name, that he could; Ware and Marsh would form a completely new band. Two weeks before an important tour of the UK/Europe the band split. ^[3]

Retaining the Human League name came at a heavy price for Oakey; he would be responsible for all Human League debts and commitments. Also the Human League would have to pay Ware and Marsh 1% of all future royalties under the Virgin contract. Ware and Marsh went on to form the Heaven 17.

With the tour only 10 days away and the music media reporting that the Human League was finished now "the talented people had left"; promoters started threatening to sue Oakey if the tour was not completed as contracted. To complete the tour Oakey had to hastily recruit new people in a matter of days.

In an event that is now firmly embedded in popular folklore and regularly repeated by the media, ^[1] Oakey and his then girlfriend went into Sheffield city centre on a Wednesday night with the intention of recruiting a single female backing vocalist.

After looking in various venues they visited the Crazy Daisy Nightclub on High Street where Oakey spotted two teenage girls dancing together on the dance floor. Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall were just two 17 year old schoolgirls on a night out together. Neither had any experience of singing or dancing professionally. With no preamble Oakey asked both girls to join the tour as dancers and incidental vocalists. He states that when he found out their young age and that they were best friends we revised his plan for a single female and decided that the two girls could look after each other on the tour. Originally just wanting a single female singer to replace the high backing vocals originally provided by Martyn Ware, he says that he thought having two female vocalists/dancers would also add valuable glamour to the band. Because of the girls' ages, Oakey and Wright later had to visit Sulley and Catherall’s respective parents to obtain permission for the girls to go the tour.

In addition to the girls, Oakey employed professional musician Ian Burden as a session keyboard player for the tour to cover for the keyboards of the now departed Ware and Marsh

The tour was completed as advertised but was less than successful. The music press was scornful of "Oakey and his dancing girls" and treated the new band line up with derision. Many of the audiences who had paid to see the original all male line up, were not happy with the new band; Sulley and Catherall were often heckled and on occasions bottled.

On completion of the tour Burden went on to his next commitment playing keyboards in West Berlin. Because of the professionalism they had shown and because he planned to use them further vocally. Oakey and manager Bob Last made Sulley and Catherall full members of the band, to be paid on a salary basis.

1981 became the band's most successful period and would culminate in the release of the influential Album Dare and the multi-million selling single "Don't You Want Me"^[6]

In January 1981, although they had survived the tour the band was still in trouble. Heavily in debt to Virgin Records, Oakey and Wright were under pressure to produce results quickly and that meant singles. Quickly, by February 1981 the band recorded and rushed out "Boys and Girls". New band members Sulley and Catherall who had returned to school full time were not used. The single only reached number 47 in the UK charts, but was still the most commercially successful Human League single to that point. Oakey acknowledged that he needed to bring in professional musicians; so because of his performance on the tour Ian Burden was tracked down and invited to join the band, as a trial member.

Virgin's faith had been restored by "Boys and Girls" but they believed the band lacked professional production and in March Oakey was introduced to veteran producer Martin Rushent. Rushent's first move was to decamp the entire band to Genetic Studios in Reading away from the "unhealthy atmosphere" of Monumental Studios, Sheffield which they shared with Ware and Marsh's Heaven 17. The first result of the Genetic sessions was the single "The Sound of the Crowd". Under Rushent's production and with Oakey's vision the single sounded unlike anything previously released, including the use of female vocals provided by Sulley and Catherall. The single was an instant success reach reaching number 12 in the UK.

Bob Last believed that the band could be improved further by the addition of one more professional musician, so in April 1981 his associate Jo Callis (formerly of The Rezillos, a band Last had previously managed) was invited to become the final permanent member of the band. The success of the "Sound of the Crowd" was quickly bettered by the next single "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" which went to number 3 in the UK in August 1981.

The band's commercial success and higher public profile prompted Virgin to authorize the release of a full album. The band set about arranging their existing material and demos into a viable album. Sulley and Catherall who had just left school immediately postponed their plans to attend university to work on the album. By October 1981 the album was ready and entitled Dare. Just prior to its release Virgin pre-released a single from the album "Open Your Heart" which equalled the success of the previous two singles. Dare was released in October 1981 and quickly went to number one in the UK, it would remain there for several weeks eventually going double platinum and spending a total 77 weeks in the UK charts.

Because of Dare's enormous success Virgin executive Simon Draper instructed that a fourth single be released from the album before the end of 1981. His choice was to be "Don't You Want Me", a track Oakey considered “a filler and the weakest track on the album”. Oakey fought the decision believing it would damage the band, but was overruled by Draper. In December 1981 "Don't You Want Me" was released. Aided by a very expensive music video (a rarity at the time) directed by film maker Steve Barron. It went immediately to number one and stayed there over Christmas 1981. For a single Oakey didn't want releasing "Don't You Want Me" would go on to sell over two million copies and would become the band’s biggest hit.^[6] Dare has since been labeled as one of pop music's most influential albums.^[7] Philip Oakey often plays down such claims, but at other times acknowledges his influence on modern music. In 2001, paraphrasing an NME headline from 1980, Oakey once famously quipped:

“

The Human League, one day all music will be made like this!... and it is! [8]

”

Capitalizing on the success of the album the band toured for the first time (together) internationally. Concurrently Dare (renamed Dare!) was released in the U.S by A&M Records and "Don't You Want Me" also charted very well in the U.S., spending three weeks at number one during the summer of 1982. A remix album of Dare entitled Love and Dancing was released under the group name "League Unlimited Orchestra" (a tribute to Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra), reaching number three on the UK album chart. During their Dare phase, the Human League were often incorrectly associated with New Romantic movement, although they stated then and now that they were never New Romantics.

In 1982 the band received the Best British Newcomer award at the annual Brit Music awards, Rushent also took Best Producer for Dare. By the end of the awards party a tipsy Sulley and Catherall had lost the band’s valuable trophy and it was never seen again.^[1]

In November 1982, the Motown influenced electro pop single "Mirror Man" reached number two in the UK chart just missing another Christmas number one which was taken by a novelty record by Renée and Renato^[6]

The Human League's work was now recognized on both sides of the Atlantic. In February 1983 the band was nominated for the Best New Artist award at the 25th annual Grammy Award's. The award eventually went to Men at Work.^[9]

The follow-up single released during April 1983, "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" peaked at number two in the UK. The following months proved to be difficult ones for the band as they struggled to record a follow up to Dare under immense pressure from Virgin. A six song EP called Fascination! comprising of the singles "Mirror Man" and "Fascination" together with the new track "I Love You Too Much" was released from the original recording sessions for their new album, later to be named Hysteria. The EP was released in America as a stop-gap and also became a strong seller as an import in the UK. ^[6]

The band spent many expensive months agonizing over each and every sound recorded as the band tried to follow up Dare, and as things became ever more stressful the producer Martin Rushent left the project, at which point the band ditched much of the material recorded so far and started over again with new producers Hugh Padgham and Chris Thomas (though some of Rushent's contributions to certain tracks from the earlier sessions were included on the released album).Nick Heyward of Haircut 100 famously mocked the band saying that "he recorded his entire album in the time it took the Human League to program one drum machine!" ^[1]

Finally in May 1984 the band released the politically charged single "The Lebanon". Its rock guitar-driven harder edge was a considerable departure from their previous material, and the single peaked at number eleven in the UK. This was followed shortly after by the album Hysteria, so called because of the difficult and tense recording process, it entered the UK charts at number three however it climbed no further and critics and fans were divided by the new direction the band had taken. The second single was "Life on Your Own", with its opening line of "winter is approaching, there is snow upon the ground", it was a strange choice to be released mid summer 1984. Again the single missed the UK top ten reaching number sixteen, and with the parent album Hysteria failing to live up to expected sales thoughts of a third single were put on hold. ^[1]

However, later that year, success outside of the Human League came for Oakey in the shape of the huge hit single "Together In Electric Dreams", a collaboration with one of his idols, synth pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The track was taken from the film soundtrack to Electric Dreams and was to prove a massive hit. Often now erroneously credited as a Human League single, because such was the success of the single and its enduring popularity the band have since adopted it for their live performances and it now appears on their greatest hits compilations. Oakey and Moroder then recorded an album together for Virgin, Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder, but this met with rather less success and the following two singles failed to make the UK Top 40. However the success of the original Oakey and Moroder track encouraged Virgin to release one final single from Hysteria in November 1984, the ballad "Louise" (UK number 13).

After Hysteria the group found themselves in creative stagnation, struggling to record material to follow up on their previous successes. Key songwriter Jo Callis departed, replaced by drummer Jim Russell. Bob Last quit as manager and was not replaced.

Worried by the lack of progress with their most profitable act, Virgin paired the Human League up with American R&B producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who had a proven track record with Janet Jackson and Prince. Jam and Lewis had expressed an interest in working with the band after hearing their U.S releases. Virgin flew the entire band out to Minneapolis to work. The 4 month long recording sessions were beset with creative disputes, with Jam and Lewis having preconceived ideas on how they wanted the album to sound, rejecting most of the band written material (which would cost the band considerable loss of royalty income). The band eventually quit the sessions early amidst creative acrimony. ^[1]

The final result of the sessions was the Crash album. The album featured much material written by Jam and Lewis' team, and showcased their distinctive DX7-led sound, making it quite a departure from previous Human League material. It did provide an American number-one single, "Human", but other singles made smaller chart impact and the album was not as popular in the UK. Disheartened by being sidelined in Minneapolis and with the direction the band had taken, on return Adrian Wright left the band to work in film. As Crash was generally more popular in the U.S and internationally than in the UK, the band toured internationally to capitalize on this in 1986.

In 1987 Ian Burden also left the band and has since emigrated to Australia.

In November 1988, a greatest hits compilation album was released which reached number 3 in UK. This was preceded by the belated release of the single "Love is All That Matters" from Crash. In 1989 the band constructed their own purpose built studios in Sheffield, jointly funded by Oakey and a business development loan from Sheffield City Council. Oakey believed if the band owned their own facilities it would cut down on the enormous production costs of previous albums and the band could become more productive. ^[1]

In 1990, the band released their last album for Virgin Records, Romantic?. Longstanding members Adrian Wright and Ian Burden, together with newer recruit Jim Russell, had by now all left the band, although Jo Callis did return to play on some of the sessions and co-wrote two songs, including the minor hit single "Heart Like a Wheel". New to the line-up were keyboardist Neil Sutton who had worked with the band on the Crash tour of 1986 and guitarist/keyboardist Russell Dennett. At odds with the prevailing trend of U.S. grunge and the Manchester scene the Romantic? album did not re-capture the group's huge commercial success of the 1980's with its second single "Soundtrack to a Generation" barely charting. Virgin lost faith and became obstructive to the band’s ideas. Then in 1992 Virgin abruptly cancelled their recording contract with little warning. This has caused great animosity towards the company by the band, which lasts to this day. Damaged by failure of the album, rejection by Virgin, harsh criticism in the media and facing financial ruin the emotional well-being of Oakey and Sulley deteriorated badly. Catherall remained positively strong and she is cited as the principal reason why the band didn’t fold at this, their lowest point. ^[1]

After a couple of years the band had recovered enough confidence to put out demos to other record labels. In 1994, EastWest Records a subsidiary of Time Warner impressed by the demos and the material rejected by Virgin, quietly signed up the band and paired them with producer Ian Stanley (formerly of Tears for Fears). Unlike Virgin, EastWest had absolute faith in their new signing, they financed expensive music videos and heavily promoted their releases. The first of which was released on New Year's eve 1994 was the single "Tell Me When" which gave the band their first major hit since 1986's "Human". The accompanying album Octopus released a month later went silver.

On the album cover artwork and in videos, the group was now presented simply as a trio of Oakey/Catherall/Sulley. In reality however, half a dozen other musicians had input to the record, including producer Ian Stanley, continued playing and songwriting contributions from Neil Sutton and Russell Dennett; and Oakey co-writing one track with Jo Callis.

The next single from the album, which was selected by the label not the band was the female ballad "One Man in My Heart" sung by Susan Ann Sulley on lead vocals. It was a surprise second hit as it differed so vastly from anything the band had released before, reaching number 13 in the UK.

Also a remix of "Don't You Want Me" was released to capitalize on the band's re-established high profile. However the subsequent single "Filling up with Heaven" and the non-album single "Stay with Me Tonight" from the greatest hits compilation in 1996 barely made the UK Top 40. Their renewed success prompted the band to tour again for the first time since 1986 and they conducted a tour of the U.S. and UK in 1995.

A change in management at EastWest in 1998 saw the cancellation of the band's contract. The band appeared on the 1980s nostalgia tour "Big Rewind" and some other concerts in 1998-2000.

In 2000 the band signed to Papillion Records a subsidiary of the Chrysalis Group.

The band released their next album, Secrets, in 2001. The band was still presented as the "Philip & the Girls" trio, although Neil Sutton was credited with keyboards, and co-wrote most of the material with Oakey. Despite being well-received by critics as their best album since Dare (the music climate at the time seeing a new interest in electronic pop music with the electroclash movement), the band's new record label, Papillion developed financial problems, and was closed by the parent company shortly after the album's release, leading to poor promotion and sales. BBC Radio 1 also refused to playlist the single "All I Ever Wanted" because, now in their 40s, the band did not match the radio station's demographic target audience. "All I Ever Wanted" was also accompanied by the band's most recent music video.

Secrets hit number 44 on the UK album chart in its first week but was absent from it the following week.

Susan Sulley is on record as saying that the rejection of Secrets was the lowest the band had been since 1992 and after putting in so much time & effort in to an album that then failed, nearly caused them to call it a day.^[10]

In 2003 a second single from Secrets was released independantly, as a private venture by Nukove Records. "Love Me Madly?" had been Oakey's original choice as the second single from Secrets. Nukove was a small independant label especially set up to release Human League material, but it did not have funds for promotion and the single did not chart. However this was expected.^[11]

To accompany the (then stalled) album, the band conducted the 2001 'Secrets Tour'. Already with considerable live experience, Oakey declared that he wanted the band "to be the best live experience around". The band’s focus then changed from recording to touring.

Along with Sulley and Catherall, the band already had Neil Sutton on keyboards. Studio engineer since 1990 David Beevers had become part of the on-stage line-up controlling the sequencers from behind his deck of twin Apple Macintoshes. Oakey further recruited multi-instrumentalist Nic Burke, then aged 21 whom he had seen playing in Sheffield, to play electric guitar and keytar. Burke's age and gothic appearance was at considerable odds to what people expected the band to look like. To round off the line up in 2002 percussionist Errol Rollins was added to play the electronic drum kit; Rollins' dreadlocks also added to the eclectic band appearance.

As a point of honour the band refuses to use playback, they always play live and rehearse before every appearance, ensuring that no two performances are the same. This was clearly demonstrated in 2002 when the band were booked to appear on UK national TV channel GMTV, where they were to play "Don't You Want Me" before being interviewed. The producer was astounded when the band turned up at 5 A.M. (three hours early) expecting to set up and rehearse; it had been assumed they would just mime to playback. Joanne Catherall explained why on air during the interview "We simply don’t sound like we did 20 years ago... it would be wrong if we used tapes... so we do everything live".

Throughout the following years, the band have continued to tour frequently, enjoying enduring success and popularity as a live act. Because many tours sold out quickly, in 2004 they released The Human League Live At The Dome a DVD of a live show in filmed at the Brighton Dome. Prior to this, in 2003, Virgin records had released The Very Best of the Human League, a DVD of most of their previously recorded music videos. The DVD sold well in the UK and USA, and was accompanied by a compilation album of the same name.

In 2004 percussionist Errol Rollins was replaced by Rob Barton an associate and former band partner of Nic Burke.

As well as dedicated Human League tours they have since appeared at many independent concerts and festivals world wide. The have played at such prestigious events as, V Festival in 2004, Homelands in 2005 Nokia Trends - Brazil 2005 and Festival Internacional de Benicàssim in 2007 ^[12]

On September 22, 2006, the band performed on the U.S. network television show, Jimmy Kimmel Live; this was immediately before the highlight of 2006, which was the band playing to an audience of 18,000 at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles on October 24 2006, one of their largest concerts to date. This was followed up by an 11 venue tour of Europe in November and December of 2006.

The band have been the subject of, and appeared in, various TV documentaries and features such as Made in Sheffield - UK Channel 4 and Young Guns, the bands of the early 1980s - BBC. In June 2007 Susan Sulley and Joanne Catherall presented a documentary on Sheffield’s pop music history entitled The Nations Music Cities for VH1.

The Human League are currently unsigned to a record label and is run as a self-contained business with its own studio in Sheffield^[13]. For the past thirteen years (late 1994 to date) they have been managed by Simon Watson of Sidewinder Management.

The band continues playing live, with appearances at a number of key music festivals world wide at many of which they are the advertised headliners.

The Human League are currently marking their 30th anniversary (1977-2007) with a special 20-venue "Dare! '07 Tour" of Europe during November and December 2007, where they are playing their most successful album in its entirety to start the set list.^[14]

A 12" of remixes of The Things That Dreams Are Made Of was due to be released in the UK December 2007, with the potential for creating a resurgence of interest in their back catalogue.

Although the subject of retirement is often brought up in interviews Oakey, Sulley and Catherall have all stated that because they still really enjoy performing they intend to carry on for "as long as they are filling concerts and people want to see them". Sulley often jokes that she "has to carry on because she doesn’t know how to do anything else." ^[15]

Oakey, Catherall and Sulley have all stated separately that it is the intention for the band to release a tenth studio album "in the near future". None of the band will be drawn on any details or timescale. On possible collaborations Oakey stated on BBC TV News and to NME that "we have a lot of people that want to make records with us."^[16][17][18]

Main article: The Human League discography

This table lists the band's "front of house" personnel, (in later years, the live team). Studio work has involved numerous other musicians and personnel. Those listed here may also have had additional roles in the studio. (Stakeholding band members are shown in bold type)

1977– Oct 1980	Ian Craig Marsh - Synthesizer Philip Oakey - vocals Martyn Ware - Synthesizer Philip Adrian Wright - Visuals
Oct 1980– April 1981	Ian Burden - Synthesizer Joanne Catherall - Dancer, Backing Vocals Susan Ann Sulley - Dancer, Backing Vocals Philip Oakey - Lead Vocals Philip Adrian Wright - Synthesizer, Visuals
April 1981 - 1985	Ian Burden - Synthesizer Jo Callis - Synthesizer, Guitar Joanne Catherall - vocals Susan Ann Sulley - vocals Philip Oakey - lead vocals Philip Adrian Wright - Synthesizer
1986 – 1990	Ian Burden- Synthesizer (left in 1987) Joanne Catherall - vocals Susan Ann Sulley - vocals Philip Oakey - lead vocals Jim Russell - Synthesizer
1990–2001	David Beevers - Engineering Joanne Catherall - vocals Russell Dennett - Synthesizer Susan Ann Sulley - vocals Philip Oakey - lead vocals Neil Sutton - Synthesizer
2001 – 2004	David Beevers - Engineering Nic Burke - Multi-instrumentalist Joanne Catherall - vocals Susan Ann Sulley - vocals Philip Oakey - lead vocals Errol Rollins - Percussion, drums Neil Sutton - Synthesizer
2004 - Present	Rob Barton - Percussion, drums David Beevers - Engineering Nic Burke - Multi-instrumentalist Joanne Catherall - vocals Susan Ann Sulley - vocals Philip Oakey - lead vocals Neil Sutton - Synthesizer

^{Susan Ann Sulley has changed her name twice since the band was formed and is listed by her current name
Engineer David Beevers appears on stage as part of the band}

• 1982 BRIT Awards - Best British breakthrough act
• 2004 Q Awards - Innovation in sound

• Story of a Band Called "The Human League" by Alaska Ross (Proteus July 1982) ISBN 978-0862761035
• Human League(Perfect pop) by Peter Nash (Star 21 Oct 1982) ISBN 978-0352311511
• Beats Working for a Living: Sheffield Popular Music 1973-1984 by Martin Lilleker (Juma Mar 2005) ISBN 978-1872204260

The Human League does not have an official website as a matter of band policy, but there are a small number of unofficial sites with links to the band:

• "Blind Youth" - a site dedicated to the works of the original Human League.
• “The Black Hit of Space”, a very detailed Human League Archive
• The Unofficial Website of Susan Ann Sulley
• "www.humanleague.dk" - a site run by the band’s graphic designer