MUSIC

Artists

Pioneers
The Human League
Kraftwerk
Suicide
Electro
Anthony Rother
Radioactive Man
Electronica
Boards of Canada
cLOUDDEAD
Casino Vs Japan
Jan Jelinek
Max Tundra
Classical
Balenescu Quartet
Steve Reich
Jazz
Jimi Tenor
Sun Ra
Techno
Mark Bell
Model 500

Labels

The Human League

The original line-up: Martyn Ware, Phil Oakey, Ian Craig Marsh and Adrian Wright

Hugely successful particularly with their 1983 album Dare which sold by the truckload and made lead singer Phil Oakey the most eligible batchelor in Yorkshire since er…Compo. However it has always been the early years of the band (1977-1980) which have interested me most.

The first two albums Reproduction and Travelogue are true pioneering classics establishing a dark, futuristic sound. Unfortunately, the original line-up of the band split in 1981 with Martin Ware and Ian Craig Marsh forming Heaven 17. This led Oakey to recruit a couple of teenage backing vocalists and go all 'pop' and you probably know the rest.

I'm not knocking them for it as Dare is a classic 80s synth pop record but those first two albums as well as the recent collection of earlier tracks The Golden Hour of The Future contain some of my favourite slices of early electronic tunes.

The Path of Least Resistance on BBC TV 1979