The Human League are an English electronic new wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Dare (1981), the band's most popular album, yielded the single "Don't You Want Me", a No. 1 hit in the pop charts of UK, US and many other countries. After its UK success, their first single, "Being Boiled", was reissued and became a top ten hit at the beginning of 1982. They received the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough act in 1982. The success of "Don't You Want Me" is seen as the beginning of the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US. Other international hits include: "Love Action", "Open Your Heart", "Mirror Man", "Fascination", "The Lebanon", "Human" (a US No. 1) and "Tell Me When".
The only constant band member since 1977 is vocalist and songwriter Philip Oakey. Originally an avant-garde all-male synthesizer-based group, The Human League evolved into a commercially successful synthpop band under Oakey's leadership. Since 1987, the band has essentially been a trio of Oakey and long-serving female vocalists Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley (both of whom joined the ensemble in 1980), with various sidemen.
Been out all night, I needed a bite
I thought I'd put a record on
I reached for the one with the ultra-modern label
And wondered where the light had gone
It had a futuristic cover
Lifted straight from Buck Rogers
The record was so black it had to be a con
The autochanger switched as I filled my sandwich
And futuristic sounds warbled off and on
Chorus :
The Black Hit Of Space
It's the one without a face
It's the one that doesn't fit
You can only see the flip
The Black Hit Of Space
Sucking in the human race
How can it stay at the top
When it's swallowed all the shops?
As the song climbed the charts
The others disappeared
'Til there was nothing but it left to buy
It got to number one
Then into minus figures
Though nobody could understand why
(Chorus)
I couldn't stand this bland sound any more so I walked towards my deck to
turn it off. All I could see was the B-side of the disc which had assumed a
doughnut shape with the label on the outside rim. I reached for the arm
which was less than one micron long but weighed more than Saturn and time
stood still. I knew I had to escape but every time I tried to flee, the
record was in front of me.
The Black Hit Of Space
Get James Burke on the case
It's the hit that's never gone
Time stops when you put it...