The Human League

Beginning as an experimental electronic band, Sheffield's Human League wound up scoring a few of the synth-pop era's greatest hits. The group was founded in 1977 by Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, both computer operators who aimed to fuse electronics with pop. Originally called the Future, the duo changed its name to Human League after losing one singer and recruiting school friend Philip Oakey, chosen as much for his pop-star looks as his voice. Also added was Philip Adrian Wright, initially as "director of visuals" but later as a keyboard player and co-songwriter.

The original lineup's two albums, Reproduction and Travelogue, both combined synth-pop with less commercial touches including industrial soundscapes and Marxist-themed lyrics. Oakey's pop direction (and Oakey himself) ultimately frustrated both Ware and Marsh, who left the group in 1980. They later founded the band Heaven 17 and its alter-ego, British Electric Foundation, under whose umbrella they helped launch Tina Turner's '80s comeback.

A new Human League appeared in 1981, with Oakey and Wright joined by synth player Ian Burden and two additional singers, Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall-- both teenagers whom Oakey impulsively asked to join after seeing them on a dance floor. They also added Jo Callis, formerly the lead guitarist and main songwriter of Scottish punk-pop band the Rezillos; the new group began working with singles-oriented producer Martin Rushent. The retooled League made its debut on the singles "The Sound of the Crowd" and "Love Action (I Believe in Love)", both infectious and commercial songs that hit the UK Top 20.

Both singles appeared on the third Human League album, Dare, but both were eclipsed by its closing track, "Don't You Want Me." Telling the story of a breakup from both sides (with Sulley's co-lead vocal debut), it was a Number One on both sides of the Atlantic. A pair of non-LP follow-up singles, "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" and "Mirror Man," also did well, evincing the band's now-trademark positive worldview.

Following up Dare proved to be a challenge, and the next album Hysteria featured a harsher sound with occasional lead guitars. Though the antiwar single "The Lebanon" hit No. 2 in England, it ushered in a period of musical uncertainty. On 1986's Crash they worked with American funk producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who also wrote the single "Human," which was the League's second and last U.S. No. 1.

By the early '90s the official membership was down to the three singers Oakey, Sulley and Catherall, and recordings became less frequent. The trio continued to mount retrospective-themed tours (including a 2008 UK tour with Heaven 17, thus reuniting the Human League's three founders) and were long recognized as synth-pop pioneers.