Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh were both working as computer programmers in 1977, and combined a love of pop music (such as glam rock and Tamla Motown) with avant garde electronic music. They acquired a Roland System 100 synthesizer and began to create music in their own rehearsal facility. Initially they formed a group called The Dead Daughters, which then became The Future with Adi Newton on vocals. Newton was soon dismissed and left to form the outfit Clock DVA. Ware and Marsh searched for a vocalist, but their first choice, Glenn Gregory (who would be the lead singer of their later band, Heaven 17), was unavailable. Ware instead decided to invite Philip Oakey, an old school friend, and a hospital porter at the time to join the band, "apparently by leaving a note stuck to his door". Oakey accepted the invitation, despite never having been in a band before. Shortly after, they decided to call themselves The Human League. A collection of demos from this period was released on CD in 2002, titled The Golden Hour of The Future, compiled by Richard X.
The original lineup of The Human League debuted in 1978 with the single "Being Boiled", a dark synth track that would later become extremely influential on later industrial musicians (namely Trent Reznor of the Nine Inch Nails). This single and it's follow-up "Empire State Human" were modest sucesses, however the group's albums - 1979's "Reproduction" and 1980's "Travelogue" - did not sell. This caused a rift in the band, and in 1980, Ian Marsh and Martyn Ware left the group.
Following the split of the original line-up, Phillip Adrian Wright (their live slide projectionist) fully joined the group and Oakey & himself released another flop single, "Boys and Girls". In order to fulfil their European tour commitments, they recruited bass player Ian Burden, and fronted the band with two singers, Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall, schoolgirls whom they had met in a Sheffield nightclub, and managed to complete the tour.
In 1981, Virgin Records paired them with former Stranglers producer Martin Rushent, and the first result was the single "The Sound of the Crowd", which saw them at last achieve success in the singles chart. Guitarist Jo Callis (formerly of The Rezillos) was now recruited to the band, and with Rushent at the helm, The Human League recorded their most successful album to date, "Dare!". It achieved huge success, fuelled by its further hit singles, "Open Your Heart", "Love Action" and most famously "Don't You Want Me", which reached number one in the UK charts during the Christmas of 1981 and was one of the biggest selling singles of that year, and it also charted at number one in the US during the summer of 1982. These three releases were accompanied by striking promo videos ("Love Action" based on the movie The Graduate). During their Dare! phase, the Human League were often associated with the New Romantic movement.
The band also had a number of other hits but their success faded towards the mid-1980s. Arguably, one problem was the length of time the band took to make a record. Dare! was followed by the six-song EP Fascination! (featuring hit singles "Mirror Man" and "Fascination") as a stopgap, and it took three years to release a full-length follow-up album, "Hysteria".
In 1985, outside of the Human League, Oakey scored a huge hit single in collaboration with one of his idols, synth pioneer Giorgio Moroder, with the single "Together in Electric Dreams", taken from the film soundtrack to Electric Dreams. The pair proceeded to record an entire album for Virgin, Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder, but this met with rather less success.
In 1986, the group found themselves in creative stagnation, struggling to record material to follow up on their previous success. Key songwriter Jo Callis departed, replaced by drummer Jim Russell, and Virgin paired the League up with cutting-edge American R&B producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The result 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.
The following tour saw keyboardist Neil Sutton join the line-up and also keyboardist/guitarist Russell Dennett. Since 1990, their resident engineer on and off stage has been David Beevers. Following Dennett's departure in 1996, Nic Burke has been his replacement for live work since 2001.
The Human League released a new album, Credo in March 2011.
The Real Thing
The Human League Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Love is the real thing
You know
Love is the real thing
La la la la
La love
La la la
Love is the real thing
Love is the real thing
La la la la
She is waiting
In the office
For the bell to go
She is thinking
Of their meeting
Just a month ago
Now she's running
Through the people
Everyone so slow
Now he holds her
And he loves her
He tells her so and
La la la
Love is the real thing
You know
Love is the real thing
La la la la
La love
La la la
Love is the real thing
You know
Love is the real thing
La la la la
By the nightfall
They have driven
From the world they know
She's so happy
They're together
And their love will grow
And when you feel your chance has come
Who's going to throw it all away
And if there's someone left behind
You have to say that
La la la
Love is the real thing
You know
Love is the real thing
La la la la
La love
La la la
Love is the real thing
You know
Love is the real thing
La la la la
La la la
Love is the real thing
You know
Love is the real thing
La la la la
La love
La la la
Love is the real thing
You know
Love is the real thing
La la la la
The lyrics of The Human League's "The Real Thing" tell the story of a woman waiting in her office for a meeting with a man she fell in love with just a month ago. She runs through the crowd to meet him, and they end up driving away from the world they know. The song celebrates their love and suggests that it's the "real thing." The refrain "Love is the real thing" is repeated throughout the song, as if to emphasize the message.
The lyrics of the song celebrate love as an authentic and powerful force that can make people happy and transform their lives. The song suggests that love can make people feel like anything is possible, and it encourages listeners to seize their chance for love when it comes. The repetition of the refrain "Love is the real thing" reinforces the idea that love is the most important thing in life, and that finding it can be incredibly rewarding.
Line by Line Meaning
La la la Love is the real thing
Love is something that cannot be adequately expressed with words alone
You know Love is the real thing
Love is a powerful emotion that is recognized universally
La la la la La love
Love is a complex and multifaceted emotion
She is waiting In the office For the bell to go
A person is anxiously waiting for a specific event to take place
She is thinking Of their meeting Just a month ago
A person is reminiscing about a past event in their life
Now she's running Through the people Everyone so slow
A person is excitedly rushing towards a desired destination
Now he holds her And he loves her He tells her so
Two people are expressing their love for each other physically and emotionally
By the nightfall They have driven From the world they know
Two people have left their mundane lives behind and embarked on a new adventure
She's so happy They're together And their love will grow
Two people are happy and optimistic about the potential their relationship holds
And when you feel your chance has come Who's going to throw it all away
Don't allow anyone to sabotage or diminish the opportunity for happiness that presents itself
And if there's someone left behind You have to say that
Communicate your intentions and decisions clearly and honestly with anyone who may be affected
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: IAN CHARLES BURDEN, JIM RUSSELL, PHIL OAKEY, ADRIAN PHILIP WRIGHT, STEPHEN FELLOWS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind