Human League - 'Love Action'

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this song has been stuck in my head for two days now.

i am so doomed!

someone help

― geeta (geeta), Friday, 5 December 2003 11:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Lucky you

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Friday, 5 December 2003 11:05 (twenty-two years ago)

not a bad thing but you should get things that you can't rememeber much abt after you've listened to it (morton feldmam, stuff with no hooks).

either that or listen to pluramon's 'dreams top rock', a great alb in an MBV vein.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 5 December 2003 11:06 (twenty-two years ago)

if you programme the rhythm on a drum machine really really accurately, it goes out of your head

but if you get it ever so slightly wrong IT COMES BACK WORSE!

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 5 December 2003 11:20 (twenty-two years ago)

i wanna hear it one time for the foghorn

― egyptian empire (blueski), Friday, 5 December 2003 11:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Starry developed a new dance for this song which has altered it utterly and forever for me.

― Tim (Tim), Friday, 5 December 2003 11:30 (twenty-two years ago)

in a good way?

― the surface noise (electricsound), Friday, 5 December 2003 11:40 (twenty-two years ago)

That's hard to say. The funny meowing noise at the start is now a cat thing.

― Tim (Tim), Friday, 5 December 2003 11:41 (twenty-two years ago)

the Micky Finn mix of 'The Horn Track' creates a harmony out of that meow sound, very cool

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 5 December 2003 11:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Could have found considerably worse tunes to stick in your head.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 5 December 2003 12:24 (twenty-two years ago)

The Human League's "Love Action" rocks! Er, well, it doesn't really "rock", but it's a fantastic pop song. That I now feel like listening to. And getting stuck in my head. Or maybe I'll just wait until I've overplayed Duran Duran's "My Own Way". Or something.

― Tenacious Dee (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 5 December 2003 13:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I actually want Keep Feeling Fascination to get stuck in my head...

― Jez (Jez), Friday, 5 December 2003 13:22 (twenty-two years ago)

You should be happy -- it's a fantastic song.

"This is Phil talking, I'm gonna tell you
what I've found to be true, oo hoo oo..."

― d.w., Friday, 5 December 2003 14:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I'm not synth pop freak, but this is a really good song. (In fact, this is inspiring me to add a Human League best of to the big list of CDs I want to buy, a real actual list on paper, or on my hard drive anyway.)

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 5 December 2003 15:03 (twenty-two years ago)

But to get it out of your head, try some Master Musicians of Jajouka.

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 5 December 2003 15:04 (twenty-two years ago)

the Micky Finn mix of 'The Horn Track' creates a harmony out of that meow sound, very cool

I'm imagining "Autobahn" with meows = ace

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Friday, 5 December 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

HL played down here on Tuesday, and I had Love Action and Empire State Human stuck in my head for some time, but then it gave way to shudder, THE LEBANON

― F. Anthony O'Reilly (Ferg), Friday, 5 December 2003 16:42 (twenty-two years ago)

3 words for you...

"League Unlimited Orchestra"

why don't more people know this remix LP?

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 5 December 2003 18:23 (twenty-two years ago)

This song is the only reason I believe in love.

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Easily their finest song, if you ask me.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:41 (twenty-two years ago)

replace song with "The Sound Of The Crowd" and geeta is OTFM.

― donut bitch (donut), Friday, 5 December 2003 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

dude i have the unlimited orchestra LP! it's fuckin great!!

it's amazing to think that all those remixes were done with thousands of linear tape edits

― geeta (geeta), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Geeta, nevermind the Human League -- LISTEN TO THAT KILLING JOKE ALBUM I SENT YOU AT ONCE....or I'll send a nightstick-weilding goon squad over to your apartment to re-possess it!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 5 December 2003 20:50 (twenty-two years ago)

ABBA successfully removes 99% all other songs from your head. But then of course you have the problem of the ABBA song.

Remember the Oliver Sacks book 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat'? Or was it Judith Rapoport's 'The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing'? Anyway, in one of those books, a young man comes in to the office complaining about a song that has been stuck in his head - for over two years!!! The song was 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' by Tears for Fears and he was close to suicidal.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Friday, 5 December 2003 21:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Yut-ta-tata-yut-ta-tata-yut-ta-tata-yut-ta-tata-YUT-Ta!-Taaaaaa!

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I played that synth riff for some minutes repeatedly yesterday. I couldn't work out whether it was easier to do it with an arpeggiator or just stab the keys with two alternating fingers. Option two = more fun

― F. Anthony O'Reilly (Ferg), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)

This is Phil talking, and I'd like to tell you what I've found to be true oooh oooh.

― Phil Oakey (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:20 (twenty-two years ago)

(playing devil's advocate again...)

but Heaven 17 were better. Funkier.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:23 (twenty-two years ago)

And there is NOTHING wrong with getting "The Lebanon" stuck in your head! That guitar riff is the most amazing thing ever! It's like The Edge with a cool factor rocketed to 11!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Dude that's why it makes me feel dirty! (I do like it though. It just makes me feel uh conflicted)

― F. Anthony O'Reilly (Ferg), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:44 (twenty-two years ago)

See I can actually feel less conflicted about enjoying "The Lebanon" than say, "Where The Streets Have No Name," because it's not like the world pretends that Phil Oakey is some kind of new messiah. He sounds like a robot trying to emote which is just SO AWESOME.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:47 (twenty-two years ago)

The video is great too! The band is trying to look deadly serious and the audience is just like "woo! play Love Action!" and Phil looks like he's about to cry cuz he'll never get to be Bono.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I pretend Phil Oakey is some kind of new messiah. I think my problem is perhaps more rooted with the Lebanon representing the HL's transformation from pale silly-haired electro-weirdos to leather jacket n'mullet types with cheesy new wave guitar riffs. Aside from my childish ideological opposition to it, it's one of those unashamedly big-cheesy-awesome things, no doubt.

― F. Anthony O'Reilly (Ferg), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:52 (twenty-two years ago)

phil oakey is 100000000000000 x better than bono!!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Friday, 5 December 2003 22:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Which is why his Bono envy is so hilarious!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Friday, 5 December 2003 23:01 (twenty-two years ago)

good point!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Friday, 5 December 2003 23:04 (twenty-two years ago)

phil oakey is 100000000000000 x better than any new kind of messiah!!

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Friday, 5 December 2003 23:07 (twenty-two years ago)

I've been listening to my Human League best of comp almost exclusively this week. It's somehow great cold weather music. The Lebanon is great. I'd still prefer to have Love Action stuck in the brain.

― theodore fogelsanger, Saturday, 6 December 2003 00:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I LUV YR LUV AKCHUN!!1ONE

― Andrzej B. (Andrzej B.), Saturday, 6 December 2003 13:43 (twenty-two years ago)

two weeks pass...

Could be worse. "Bad, Bad LeRoy Brown" could be going through your brain. Then you'd really be doomed!

― DaleK, Thursday, 25 December 2003 06:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Or its de facto remake, B&S' "Boy With The Arab Strap."

― mike a (mike a), Thursday, 25 December 2003 15:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Dan, that "remix" album of which you speak - is that the instrumentals record with the version of "Seconds" on it? I *love* that tune, both instrumental and vocal versions, and it kills me that the instrmntl is almost literally mere seconds long. Fuck, couldn't they have stretched that into a proper 6 minute mini-epic like it deserves to be?

Question: that Alter Ego remake of the Human League song (can't remember which one) -- what album's the original off? Have never been able to find that.

Search: The Men, "I Don't Depend Upon You," 1979. Marsh/Oakey/Ware doing this ridiculous big new wave funk track with silly slap bass, cool Korgish helicoptery squirty efffects, and absolutely amazing, huge, gooey synthesizers. It's not nearly as hooky as Human League stuff but the production's just luscious. The vocals kind of blow (except for the chorus) but there's an instrumental on the flip. The drum beat is fantastic, too; this is crying out for a Tigersushi-style remake.

― philip sherburne (philip sherburne), Saturday, 27 December 2003 07:08 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

I practically combusted with glee when this came on the radio this morning. I really need to get a life.

― leigh (leigh), Thursday, 10 November 2005 11:00 (twenty years ago)

"being boiled " is so under rated.

― octopus, Thursday, 10 November 2005 13:10 (twenty years ago)

Search: The Men, "I Don't Depend Upon You," 1979. Marsh/Oakey/Ware doing this ridiculous big new wave funk track with silly slap bass...

This was covered by Hot Gossip (of all people) in 1982, with Marsh & Ware producing. I've got it in the attic somewhere.

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Thursday, 10 November 2005 14:31 (twenty years ago)

The original of that is FANTASTIC!

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Thursday, 10 November 2005 14:33 (twenty years ago)

best song on Dare

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Thursday, 10 November 2005 14:41 (twenty years ago)

...after "Seconds."

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 10 November 2005 14:55 (twenty years ago)

Dare's still on a constant loop on my walkman.

― leigh (leigh), Thursday, 10 November 2005 15:55 (twenty years ago)

Comparing "Love Action" to "Seconds" is like comparing apples with oranges. You get two completely different things out of each song. "Seconds" is supposed to be more melancholic, a great song to lose yourself in if you're ever mopey and in need of self-retreat. "Love Action" OTOH is happy, peppy, full of life-giving and -rejuvenating forces. It is supposed to be for those lighter times, the times when you feel like celebrating.

BTW, "Seconds" and "Get Carter" sound AWESOME together. Really awesome.

― This Field Left Blank (Dee the Lurker), Friday, 11 November 2005 03:16 (twenty years ago)

Ooh, they played it again.

― leigh (leigh), Monday, 14 November 2005 16:24 (twenty years ago)

Search: The Men, "I Don't Depend Upon You," 1979. Marsh/Oakey/Ware doing this ridiculous big new wave funk track with silly slap bass...

It's on the reissue of Travelogue, and I spent a while trying to decide whether it was fun or embarrassing. Then, I discovered that it was produced by Colin Thurston, thus answering my question for me...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Monday, 14 November 2005 19:01 (twenty years ago)

From yesterday's sunday times

Culture

The Sunday Times November 20, 2005

Pop: Get on Down: The Human League
DAN CAIRNS

THE HUMAN LEAGUE

Their tour begins on November 30 and, as the new Original Remixes & Rarities CD makes clear, 25 years ago Phil Oakey and co blazed an electropop trail still slavishly followed (Xenomania, Bloodshy & Avant et al) today.

1 Don’t You Want Me Their finest four minutes, their biggest hit (1.43m copies sold), and the greatest female riposte in the history of pop.

2 Empire State Human The third single from the original Marsh, Ware and Oakey line-up; a classic League chantathon.

3 Love Action Quintessential: throbbing bass, clattering percussion, squelching synth, hedonistic lyrics. Bliss.

4 (Keep Feeling) Fascination Very nearly sabotaged by its weirdness, this stunner still reached No 2.

5 The Sound of the Crowd The second single from the classic line-up.

6 Tell Me When Nine years away from the Top 10, they returned with this syncopated synth-bass beauty in 1995.

7 Being Boiled Their debut single: the only song about silkworms ever to hit the charts?

8 Seconds Lee Harvey Oswald awaits his date with destiny. Synth pads have rarely sounded so ominous.

9 Mirror Man Motown goes electro on this pop peach from 1982.

10 Only After Dark A superb Mick Ronson cover that heralds the coming of both the Mk II line-up and Heaven 17.

― leigh (leigh), Monday, 21 November 2005 11:04 (twenty years ago)

"being boiled" is underrated.

― retroboy, Monday, 21 November 2005 12:11 (twenty years ago)

There was a 'listen to the voice of Buddha' headline in the indie on Saturday, dunno if it was referencing 'being boiled'.

― leigh (leigh), Monday, 21 November 2005 13:52 (twenty years ago)

three years pass...

"THIS IS PHIL TALKING"

― King Boy on Parole (King Boy Pato), Monday, 10 August 2009 10:12 (sixteen years ago)

can we list as many songs as possible that sample the meow sound?

― damo tsu tsuki (r1o natsume), Monday, 10 August 2009 11:40 (sixteen years ago)

if you programme the rhythm on a drum machine really really accurately, it goes out of your head
but if you get it ever so slightly wrong IT COMES BACK WORSE!
― mark s (mark s), Friday, 5 December 2003 11:20 (5 years ago)

classic mark s anti-logic here, I've no idea what he means but can't help but feel that he's right.

Now that this song is in my head I expect it to be there for a couple of days too. That is if it adequately displaces 'Beautiful Nightmare', which I don't really appreciate being there because I can't remember the verses.

― Akon/Family (Merdeyeux), Monday, 10 August 2009 11:50 (sixteen years ago)

can we list as many songs as possible that sample the meow sound?

Don't you mean 'pi-yong'?

― DJ Angoreinhardt (Billy Dods), Monday, 10 August 2009 11:56 (sixteen years ago)

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