Don’t You Want Me
“The 1980s were the years that finally transformed music from a form of art to a massive state of business.”
They were the years in which making music was mainly considered a way to try to make as much money as possible. I don't think this was entirely intentional. I keep thinking this was a natural evolution of a "human form of communication" dealing with the rules of a society more and more based on the glorification of success and power.
This scenario was prepared and explored in the previous two decades. I've always thought that Elvis Presley and The Beatles invented all the side aspects of this job/business with their music and image. If we think about it, the industry built around music took shape because of their massive commercial success.
Artists suddenly needed tour managers, press officers, media communication, etc. Everything perfectly aligned with the development of western society. All our questions about how music works as a business today result from what happened then.
The Human League was formed in Sheffield (Uk) in 1977. The founding members were two computer operators, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh. With the cost of electronic components dropping in the mid-1970s, Ware and Marsh purchased a Korg 700S synthesizer and a Roland System-100 and learned how to use them.
They formed a synth duo named The Future and began to perform their electronic compositions around Sheffield. Realizing they couldn't attract the attention of record companies as they could not offer any "marketable" songs. Therefore they decided to find a talented/good-looking singer to produce more direct tracks. The duo was joined by their old school friend, Philip Oakey, on vocals and changed their name to The Human League. They chose him because he already looked like a pop star.
The band soon started gaining critical appreciation in the electronic music scene thanks to singles like Being Boiled (1978) and their debut album, Reproduction (1979). Kraftwerk and Musique concrète heavily influenced their sound. Equipment used in this period was a Roland Jupiter 4, Korg 770, and Roland System 100, plus taped backing for rhythm and drum parts which provocatively they placed on stage instead of the drum kit.
While Ware insisted the band maintained their pure electronic sound, Oakey wanted to emulate more successful pop groups, and the pair started clashing continually. Ware, joined by Marsh, eventually decided to leave the band in 1980.
After the lineup change, there was a turning point in The Human League's career. It happened when Oakey walked into a Nightclub and asked two school girls, Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall, both 17, to join the band as dancers and incidental vocalists. He thought having two female vocalists and/or dancers would add glamour to the band.
Oakey's intuition was followed by a vast commercial success thanks to their third album Dare (1981). The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit Don't You Want Me, one of the most popular tracks of the 1980s and the 23rd-most successful single in UK Singles Chart history.
After parting ways with Ware and Marsh, the band was also joined by guitarist Jo Callis and Philip Adrian Wright, who used to provide lighting and slideshows to accompany the Human League's live concerts.
He became a musician and songwriter out of necessity because the band had to go on a tour, and without Ware and Marsh, they risked canceling it and being sued for a quarter million pounds.
The new band found his new guidance in English producer Martin Rushent who was hired from Virgin Records to help the band find the winning formula for Dare. The album sounded great, Oakey's stage persona and voice captured audiences and fans worldwide, and with the help of Sulley and Catherall, the band started influencing the growing British synth-pop scene and pop culture in general.
Ironically, Don't You Want Me, the band's best-known and most commercially successful song, was only released because of the success of the previous singles taken from Dare. Initially, Oakey was very reluctant to its release.
The catchy chorus and the drum beat with Synth arpeggiators became a trademark for the genre. Studio equipment used in the recording of the album was a Casio M10, Casio VL-1, Korg 770, Korg Delta, Linn LM-1, Roland Jupiter-4, Roland MC-8, Roland System 700, and a Yamaha CS-15.
