I've said it before- sometimes you find a picture and that drives the post rather than the other way around. That is the case today. Having found this picture of Joanne and Susan from The Human League, snapped for The Face in June 1986, I couldn't not post it. The only Human League song on my hard drive is this one...
(Keep Feeling) Fascination
That's a properly joyous blast of 1980s pop and no mistake. I do have at least one, maybe two of their albums on vinyl, and also their 1978 single Being Boiled, a pioneering piece of synth-art opening with some white noise and the words 'Ok, ready, let's do it'. Being Boiled was from the days before Joanne and Susan were plucked from the dancefloor by Phil Oakey and turned into pop stars while still at school. I think it's safe to say that this would cause their school a few safeguarding issues today. Not to mention the tracking of their progress towards their predicted GCSE grades. The 1980s- a time when pop groups didn't have to worry about Ofsted.
That is a brilliant photo and these are both such great tunes.
ReplyDeleteThat is SUCH a fantastic photo. You're so right about the thing with Joanne and Susan. I'm the same age as them and for all the things that were wrong about the '80s, I'm really glad I grew up in them; there was just a different kind of freedom and more space in the margins.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fantastic closing line in your piece too. Oh,the world has changed!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Two great songs from the different but equally wonderful eras of The Human League.
ReplyDeleteFascination EP is as far as I can go, but everything up until then is wonderful. Great photo find, Adam. In another vinyl ripoff, I saw a recently released double-vinyl best of by the Human League in a shop the other day selling for $77. That is not a misprint.
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