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The Human League's best single?


View Poll Results: Please pick a pair!
ALL I EVER WANTED - (47, AUG '01) 1 1.28%
BEING BOILED - (06, JAN '82) 8 10.26%
BOYS AND GIRLS - (48, FEB '81) 1 1.28%
DON'T YOU WANT ME - (01, DEC '81) 21 26.92%
THE SOUND OF THE CROWD - (12, MAY 81) 11 14.10%
FILLING UP WITH HEAVEN - (36, JUN '95) 0 0%
(KEEP FEELING) FASCINATION - 02, APR '83) 8 10.26%
HEART LIKE A WHEEL - (29, AUG '90) 1 1.28%
HOLIDAY 80 (EP) - (46, FEB '82) 1 1.28%
HUMAN - (08, AUG '86) 9 11.54%
THE LEBANON - (11, MAY '84) 3 3.85%
LIFE ON YOUR OWN - (16, JUN '84) 1 1.28%
LOUISE - (13, NOB '84) 5 6.41%
LOVE ACTION (I BELIEVE IN LOVE) - (03, AUG '81) 15 19.23%
LOVE IS ALL THAT MATTERS - (41, OCT '88) 0 0%
MIRROR MAN - (02, NOV 82) 12 15.38%
ONE MAN IN MY HEART - (13, MAR '95) 2 2.56%
OPEN YOUR HEART - (06, OCT 81) 10 12.82%
STAY WITH ME TONIGHT - (40, JAN '96) 0 0%
TELL ME WHEN - (06, JAN '95) 5 6.41%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 78. You can't vote on this poll right now - are you signed in?

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Old 12-12-2016, 15:29
Kid B
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Whether 7" or !2" (and I remember buying a few of their larger sizes), please select your two favourites from the Human League's single catalogue. There are twenty choices, the only omissions are Empire State Human (62), I Need Your Loving (72) and Soundtrack To A Generation (77) which charted outside the top 60 UK chart (using the Official Chart Company as reference).

The extended mixes of Love Action and Fascination I thought were particularly good and I do have an affection for Human which bridged the gap between their early chart success and their brief nineties renaissance.

I have run this poll on a few much smaller boards and the winner has always been Don't You Want Me so perhaps there may be much more competition here at DS.
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Old 12-12-2016, 18:14
Heanor_Man31
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Tough choice but Human is my stand out favourite. The acapella version (B-Side 1 on the 12") sounds great in my opinion.
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Old 12-12-2016, 18:24
Kid B
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Tough choice but Human is my stand out favourite. The acapella version (B-Side 1 on the 12") sounds great in my opinion.
Thanks, I'm off to sample that now - is this the one you mean?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atOUcEYHKnw

Also I hope that others will use the thread to write about the band, maybe you met one or all of them in the past, or write about their music because while I might have bought so many singles by a variety of artists at the time as I'm sure we all did and had a few posters on the wall, I find that I really knew very little about them. For example, The Smiths were a huge part of my life in the eighties. When I watched someone on Mastermind whose chosen subject was 'The Life and Times of Morrissey and The Smiths', I scored three points! So I have a thirst for knowledge and I'm here to drink.
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Old 12-12-2016, 18:49
St Dabeoc
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Empire State Human was the only one i bought
maybe I should have bought 2
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Old 12-12-2016, 19:25
mgvsmith
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I went out and bought 'Being Boiled' the day after I saw The Human League' play UEA supporting Pere Ubu.
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Old 12-12-2016, 19:28
Pitman
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sound of the crowd, I wonder what Rik from the Young ones favourite was ?
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Old 12-12-2016, 20:03
SillyBoyBlue
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sound of the crowd, I wonder what Rik from the Young ones favourite was ?
*Police come and smash up record player*
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Old 12-12-2016, 20:35
dave2702
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Never met them but I've seen them perform several times, the best was in Chicago during the Northalstead Market Day

Halstead & Belmont is the Boys Town of Chicago and every August for one weekend throw a neighbourhood party which only cost $5 to get in

Way back in 2003, the League were performing on one of the stages and a guy in a set of rubber lederhosen jumped onto one of the speakers and started to dance.

http://chicago.gopride.com/news/arti...ticleid/689076
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Old 13-12-2016, 09:16
mushymanrob
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they didnt do a bad single, 'sound of the crowd' is my fav track of '81, absolutely love it even now. it , for me, defines that era.

love being boiled too, and 'empire state human'.
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Old 13-12-2016, 09:20
mushymanrob
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'dont you want me' is the only #1 i saw being performed live whilst it was at #1.
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Old 13-12-2016, 09:33
Kid B
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they didnt do a bad single, 'sound of the crowd' is my fav track of '81, absolutely love it even now. it , for me, defines that era.
A lot of love for Sound Of The Crowd here. I'm not sure I even remember how it sounds so later I'm going to have to change that, refresh the memory.

I was discussing The Lebanon in another thread and saying that on a few smaller music forums it had been quite well received; no evidence of that here yet!
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Old 13-12-2016, 10:55
BasilRathbon
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A lot of love for Sound Of The Crowd here. I'm not sure I even remember how it sounds so later I'm going to have to change that, refresh the memory.

I was discussing The Lebanon in another thread and saying that on a few smaller music forums it had been quite well received; no evidence of that here yet!
The Lebanon is actually a decent song and was a brave attempt to do something unexpected rather than just repeating the "Dare" formula over and over again. The shock value of hearing a distorted guitar opening on a Human League track was very impressive for the time, even if in retrospect, the rest of the arrangement is fairly-dated sequenced synths and Linn Drum. The only thing that lets it down is the incredibly trite lyrics, which regularly appear in the "worst lyrics ever" polls.

That said, I voted for "Open Your Heart" as their best single!
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Old 13-12-2016, 11:56
Avid Eighties
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I like these polls! You are missing though three good ones which would have changed my vote: Things that dreams are made of, Being Boiled, and Empire State Human. Also Marianne is an excellent track, not sure if it was a single.
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Old 13-12-2016, 13:28
Kid B
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The only thing that lets The Lebanon down is the incredibly trite lyrics, which regularly appear in the "worst lyrics ever" polls.
Here are the lyrics for general scrutiny!

She dreams of 1969
Before the soldiers came
The life was cheap on bread and wine
And sharing meant no shame
She is awakened by the screams
Of rockets flying from nearby
And scared she clings onto her dreams
To beat the fear that she might die

And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone
From the Lebanon
The Lebanon

Before he leaves the camp he stops
He scans the world outside
And where there used to be some shops
Is where the snipers sometimes hide
He left his home the week before
He thought he'd be like the police
But now he finds he is at war
Weren't we supposed to keep the peace

And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone
From the Lebanon
The Lebanon
The Lebanon
From the Lebanon

I must be dreaming
It can't be true
I must be dreaming
It can't be true

And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone?
From the Lebanon
The Lebanon
The Lebanon
From the Lebanon
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Old 13-12-2016, 13:32
Kid B
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Thanks.

The Squeeze are next on the agenda for the weekend and that one will be on a pick your top three basis.

But Being Boiled is in this poll. Empire State Human almost made the list but it was just outside the UK top 60 requirement and Things That Dreams Are Made Of Marianne were not released as singles.
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Old 13-12-2016, 19:22
mr muggles
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Here are the lyrics for general scrutiny!

She dreams of 1969
Before the soldiers came
The life was cheap on bread and wine
And sharing meant no shame
She is awakened by the screams
Of rockets flying from nearby
And scared she clings onto her dreams
To beat the fear that she might die

And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone
From the Lebanon
The Lebanon

Before he leaves the camp he stops
He scans the world outside
And where there used to be some shops
Is where the snipers sometimes hide
He left his home the week before
He thought he'd be like the police
But now he finds he is at war
Weren't we supposed to keep the peace

And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone
From the Lebanon
The Lebanon
The Lebanon
From the Lebanon

I must be dreaming
It can't be true
I must be dreaming
It can't be true

And who will have won
When the soldiers have gone?
From the Lebanon
The Lebanon
The Lebanon
From the Lebanon

I've always liked the lyric. There's nowt trite about it. Deeper than friggin U2!
I too always thought it was a gr8 single (not my fav), and the guitar use worked well with the synths, wish they'd played that angle abit more!
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Old 13-12-2016, 20:21
ItsNick
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For me I've always loved Open Your Heart.
Also Being Boiled (the '82 single version).

There were three version of Being Boiled. The version on Travelogue was awful. It totally lacked the dramatic synths that the '82 version had.
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Old 13-12-2016, 20:25
Blondie X
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Love Action for me. I can't stand Don't You Want Me and think it's a shame that's their best known song
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Old 13-12-2016, 20:50
Neil_N
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"Tell me When" - VERY underrated single of theirs, and 22 years on it seems to have been forgotten.
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Old 13-12-2016, 21:07
Kid B
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"Tell me When" - VERY underrated single of theirs, and 22 years on it seems to have been forgotten.
A couple of votes for it, meanwhile Love Action has taken the lead!
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Old 14-12-2016, 08:47
mushymanrob
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"Tell me When" - VERY underrated single of theirs, and 22 years on it seems to have been forgotten.
indeed, a classic sounding human league track that could have been off 'dare'.
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Old 14-12-2016, 08:50
mushymanrob
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tbh, instead of being forced to pick one track in this poll, id have preferred a 'rate' type poll where we could score each individual track. obviously it would fall upon the op to tally everything up at the end.
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Old 17-12-2016, 23:08
mistygal
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I keep missing these polls but my favourites from Human league are
Mirror Man
Fascination

Funny because 'Don't You Want Me' did not appear on their Greatest Hits, yet probably their most recognised song.
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Old 17-12-2016, 23:29
Arcana
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Mk I - Being Boiled
Mk II - Love Action
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Old 18-12-2016, 00:20
sarahj1986
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Tell me when...I remember it very well as a child. Seemed to be played a lot during our school discos
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