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Dare (album)
Encyclopedia
Dare is the third studio album from British synthpop
band The Human League
.
The album was recorded between March and September 1981 and first released in the UK on 20 October 1981, then subsequently in the U.S. in mid-1982.
The style of the album is the result of the rapid evolution of The Human League from experimental avant-garde electronic group into a commercial pop group under Philip Oakey
's creative direction following the departure of fellow founding members Martyn Ware
and Ian Craig Marsh
. Dare became critically acclaimed and has proved to be a genre-defining album, whose influence can be felt in many areas of pop music today. The album and its four singles were hugely successful commercially, with the album reaching #1 in the UK and being certified Triple Platinum by the BPI
.
Released as a single pre album release 1981
Released as a single post album release 1981
Released as a single in 2008
Susanne Sulley is now known as Susan Ann Sulley and is referred to by her current preferred name throughout the article
The writing style of the lyrics is deliberately obscure; Oakey says this is because he wanted the band's lyrics to provoke thought and get people talking about their songs. Often the meanings behind the songs have only been disclosed by Oakey in various interviews given since the albums release. An important point is that the album essentially evolved during 1981 and wasn't written from a single conceptual starting point.
The original album comprised ten tracks (others were added on re-releases):
to the Ramones
to Norman Wisdom
. The song contains the album title lyric "…do all the things you ever dared!" (although the album is actually named after a Vogue
magazine cover). Philip Adrian Wright called the song a metaphor for the band's ambition in 1981. The song was remix
ed and released as a single in 2008 on Hooj Choons
label; reaching number 2 on the UK Dance Charts.
sequences.
The vocals are also correspondingly complex. Oakey sings in a higher key than usual, but still leads with Gayle and Catherall's backing now mixed as a separate layer. Susan Sulley said (in 1989) "it is one of the most difficult to sing. So we don't do it live very often.". It was to be the only track classified as 'Blue' on the Human League's self-imposed 'Red' or 'Blue' labeling system ('Red' was for dance tracks and 'Blue' for pop songs). It was released as a single October 1981 (intentionally two weeks before Dare).
of Roy Budd
's theme for the film Get Carter
. It is played on a single voice on a Casio VL-1
, using the preset 'Fantasy'. On its second repeat a stereo 'chorus' is added making the sound 'bigger', on the third repeat heavier 'Ensemble Chorus' is added making the single VL-1 sound like a dozen. Arranged by Oakey, Callis and Rushent.
from the British comic book 2000 AD
. The song's subject matter included sympathy and authority, and inspiration also came from an experience where Oakey was working as a hospital porter and encountered an injured bouncer. Wright states that it was the first song that the band wrote after the 1980 split, and was played live on the October 1980 tour. He goes on to say, "It's specifically written from a policeman's point of view. It's very easy to run the police down until you need them. There’s very often a change of heart when you get your car stolen."
in 1963, and its impact on the wider world. Where Oakey berates (the unnamed) Lee Harvey Oswald
, characterized by the lyrics "it took seconds of your time to take his life" and "a shot that was heard around the world". When played live the song is often accompanied by background slides of Kennedy. The song makes a feature of the voice assignment modes on the Roland Jupiter-4
synthesizer, alternating between strident two-note chords, with 2 VCO
s per note, and thinner three note chords with 1 VCO per voice.
), it also contains two cryptic references to one of Oakey's influences, Lou Reed
. It was released as a single in August 1981.
figure who turns a female waitress (sung by Susan Ann Sulley) into a 'star', who then subsequently leaves him once she has obtained fame. It is underscored by two backing synthesizer samples and Rushent's LM1 sequence with Burden's core keyboard background. Rushent and Callis would be responsible for the final mix which was disliked by the rest of the band as it was not the dark and brooding track they had envisaged. The track is different to the rest of Dare, not only for its pop sound but also because it features a female joint lead vocal. Against Oakey's wishes, it was released as a single in November 1981; the song then became the band's biggest hit and one of the highest selling singles of all time in the UK.
and Travelogue. This is due to a split in the original line up, the subsequent reformation of the band with new personnel and the difference in musical style under Philip Oakey's direction.
In January 1981 the Human League consisted of just Oakey and Philip Adrian Wright with newly recruited teenage dancers/backing vocalists Joanne Catherall
and Susan Ann Sulley. After the acrimonious split of the original band in October 1980 and the subsequent recruitment of Sulley and Catherall, the new band had only just survived a European tour by bringing in session keyboardist Ian Burden
to temporarily assist. The band were deeply in debt and only barely commercially viable. Under pressure to produce results from Virgin Records
, original members Oakey and Wright returned to Monumental Studios in Sheffield
to start recording demo tracks. They recorded the track "Boys and Girls
" from the 1980 tour, which Virgin then quickly released as single. The style of "Boys and Girls" belonged to the original, now defunct Human League. Sulley and Catherall who were busy with school, were not used other than for publicity. The synthesizer work was basic as Oakey and Wright admitted they lacked the skill of Marsh and Ware. When "Boys and Girls" peaked at number 47 in the UK, Oakey realized that he would need to bring in professional help to take the band in the more pop and commercial sounding direction he wished.
Oakey's first move was to invite guitarist and keyboard player Ian Burden from the tour back to join the band full-time. As a trained musician, not only were Burden's keyboard skills vastly superior to Oakey and Wright's but he instantly proved to be an adept songwriter and composer as well. Virgin had suggested that Oakey needed professional production and paired him with veteran producer Martin Rushent, an expert on emerging music technologies of the time. Because of the "unhealthy" atmosphere at Monumental Studios in Sheffield caused by the Human League sharing it with new band Heaven 17
(containing ex-Human League members Ware and Marsh), Rushent moved the band to his Genetic Sound Studios in Reading
. In addition Rushent's studios were better-equipped for the type of music the band was making. A downside would be that the distance would cause problems for Sulley and Catherall who were taking their final school exams and had to be bussed down from Sheffield regularly.
The first result of their recording sessions was released in April 1981 entitled "The Sound of the Crowd"; it would be a defining moment for the band. With the sophisticated synthesizer work of Burden aided by Wright, Oakey's deep baritone lead vocal and for the first time female backing vocals from teenage dancers (now full vocalists) Sulley and Catherall it would prove to be the band's keystone sound. The final addition to the band would be the experienced guitarist and songwriter Jo Callis
formerly of punk rock
band The Rezillos
, who quickly had to learn the synthesizer.
Oakey accepts that Martin Rushent's adept sequencing and programming skills brought a professional edge to the band's sound, and added many new elements and techniques. Oakey, Burden, Wright and Callis set about writing new material, bringing in Sulley and Catherall from Sheffield as often as they were available. The aim was another album for the Human League within a year. Virgin were at this point lukewarm but keen that the band released another single as soon as possible.
The first release from the now complete new team came in August 1981, "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" was the band's first major critical and commercial success and peaked at number three in the UK. It brought the band to the forefront of public attention and would also see Virgin give the green light for an album release with a 6-12 month timescale. The band now had much new material to work with and set about arranging it into a viable album. By September 1981 the prototype album was ready to go and provisionally entitled Dare, after a Vogue magazine cover. Oakey explained the story behind the album name at the time:
To set the scene for the album's release Virgin released one of the album tracks immediately in advance of the album. "Open Your Heart" went to number six in the UK singles chart, confirming the band's popularity. Virgin began heavily advertising the release of the new album, set for the end of October 1981. "Open Your Heart" was accompanied by a futuristic looking promotional video, a rarity at the time. Whilst it was still in the charts, Dare premiered to critical acclaim. It was also condemned by the Musician's Union, who believed the new technology employed by the Human League was making traditional musicians redundant and a threat to their monopoly. Soon they would begin a "Keep It Live" campaign believing that bands like the Human League would be able to perform concerts at the touch of a button.
The album was almost universally critically acclaimed in the UK, and featured strongly in the year end polls for 1981. Noted music critic Paul Morley
wrote in the NME
, ...in many ways it challenges the very conventions of pop music and the essence of innovation. What is it all for? I think that ‘Dare!’ is one of the great popular music LPs. The album's critical success was also echoed commercially, as it sold in large numbers, taking it quickly to number one in the UK album charts in early November 1981. It was expected to be the finish to an enormously successful year for the band, but because of its extraordinary commercial success Virgin executive Simon Draper decided he wanted yet another single from the album before the end of 1981.
Draper's choice would be the track "Don't You Want Me", the conflicting male/female duet about jealousy and romantic obsession that Oakey had recorded with teenage backing singer Susanne Sulley. Oakey was unhappy with the decision and originally fought it, believing it to be the weakest track on Dare; for that reason it had been relegated to the last track in the B-side of the vinyl album. Oakey was eventually overruled by Virgin. It would go on to become the band's greatest ever hit, selling millions of copies worldwide and becoming the 25th highest ever selling single in the UK (as of 2007). It was also the Christmas number one for 1981.
By Christmas 1981 Dare had gone platinum in the UK, and the Human League had a number-one album and number-one single concurrently in the UK charts. Dare would eventually remain in the UK album charts for an enduring 71 weeks. A remix album based on Dare, called Love and Dancing
was released a year later in 1982.
. Music video was a very new phenomenon and cable TV station MTV
had only just started up to capitalize on this new media but had very little material to work with. Virgin Records syndicated the video to MTV which was played around the clock. Because of the interest the video generated in "Don’t You Want Me", Virgin licensed the release in the U.S. of the single and the album. The licensee for the U.S. was A&M Records
who renamed the album Dare! The addition of the exclamation mark was because A&M wanted to differentiate their (U.S) release from the Virgin's original release in the UK. The release of Dare! immediately mirrored the success of the UK; and in mid 1982 it reached number three in the US Billboard 200
and the single "Don’t You Want Me" was at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
. Although critics were not as universally applauding as in the UK, the commercial success of Dare! would set the scene for the band's return to the U.S. charts a number of times in later years.
Dare earned considerable income for record labels Virgin and A&M; in Virgin's case, it gave the label the first chart-topping album since Mike Oldfield
's Tubular Bells
in 1973. "Don't You Want Me" was the label's first ever chart-topping single. The success of Dare was responsible for saving the label from impending bankruptcy. A very grateful Richard Branson
sent Philip Oakey a motorcycle as a thank you present, but Oakey had to return it as he couldn't ride it.
As well as the commercial success in the U.S. under A&M, in 1982 Dare was also highly successful in Australia
, Japan
, France
and Germany
. Dare has been re-released a number of times since its original creation. Later releases of the album included the additional tracks "Hard Times" and "Non Stop".
The cover and other album artwork is based a concept that Oakey wanted, that the album should look like an edition of Vogue
magazine. The final design is a joint effort between Philip Adrian Wright (also the band's director of visuals) and graphic designer Ken Ansell. Oakey is solo on the front cover with Sulley and Catherall on the internal gatefold, and the whole band on the reverse. The artwork has been reproduced in numerous forms for the various re-releases and sold as posters.
Explaining why the band's portraits are close cropped and the girls had their hair tied back for their photographs, Susan Ann Sulley explains, "we wanted people to still be able to buy the album in five years, we thought that hair styles would be the first thing to date. We had no idea people would still be buying it 25 years later."
received the 'Best Producer Award' at the 1982 Brit Awards
for the production on Dare and the success of Dare led to the band winning the award for best British newcomer.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of Dare (and the 30th anniversary of the formation of the band), the modern day Human League (Oakey, Sulley and Catherall from the original 1981 band line up) conducted a special Dare 2007 tour of the UK and Europe playing the original album live in full during November and December 2007.
An updated version of the original artwork, now with recent photographs of Sulley, Oakey and Catherall in the style of the original artwork, accompanied the advertising for the band's 2007 'Dare tour'.
The UK's Daily Mail
Newspaper provided a free CD version of the album with the 11/09/2008 edition of the newspaper as part of a promotion celebrating classic 1980s albums
Martin Rushent
interviewed in July's Sound on Sound
confirmed he is working on a remastered 30th Anniversary edition.
organised a poll of which, 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever and Dare was placed at #77 on the list. The same year, Q magazine placed the album at #19 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".
According to the book Let it Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, renowned music critic Lester Bangs
died of an accidental drug overdose while listening to Dare.
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
band The Human League
The Human League
The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant...
.
The album was recorded between March and September 1981 and first released in the UK on 20 October 1981, then subsequently in the U.S. in mid-1982.
The style of the album is the result of the rapid evolution of The Human League from experimental avant-garde electronic group into a commercial pop group under Philip Oakey
Philip Oakey
Philip Oakey is an English composer, singer, songwriter and producer.He is best known as the lead singer, frontman and co-founder of the famous English synthpop band The Human League. He has also had an extensive solo music career and collaborated with numerous other artists and producers...
's creative direction following the departure of fellow founding members Martyn Ware
Martyn Ware
Martyn "Teddy Bear" Ware is a British musician and music producer. He is the chairman of a local football team: PPA. As a founder member of both The Human League and Heaven 17, he was partly responsible for hit records such as "Being Boiled" and "Temptation"...
and Ian Craig Marsh
Ian Craig Marsh
Ian Craig Marsh is a former English musician. He was a founding member of the electronic band The Human League, writing and playing on their first two albums and several singles, until leaving in 1980 to form B.E.F...
. Dare became critically acclaimed and has proved to be a genre-defining album, whose influence can be felt in many areas of pop music today. The album and its four singles were hugely successful commercially, with the album reaching #1 in the UK and being certified Triple Platinum by the BPI
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
.
Track listing
The track list on the original album:- "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of" (Oakey, Wright) – 4:14
- "Open Your HeartOpen Your Heart (Human League song)"Open Your Heart" is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League. It was released as a single in the UK in October 1981 and peaked at number six in the UK Singles Chart. It was written jointly by lead singer Philip Oakey and keyboard player Jo Callis...
" (Callis, Oakey) – 3:53 - "The Sound of the CrowdThe Sound of the Crowd"The Sound Of The Crowd" is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League. It became the band's commercial breakthrough, reaching #12 on the UK singles chart in May 1981....
" (Burden, Oakey) – 3:56 - "Darkness" (Callis, Wright) – 3:56
- "Do or Die" (Burden, Oakey) – 5:25
- "Get Carter" (Budd) – 1:02
- "I Am the Law" (Oakey, Wright) – 4:09
- "Seconds” (Callis, Oakey, Wright) – 4:58
- "Love Action (I Believe in Love)Love Action (I Believe in Love)"Love Action " is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League, released as a single in the UK in July 1981. It peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart, the band's first Top 10 success....
” (Burden, Oakey) – 4:58 - "Don't You Want MeDon't You Want Me"Don't You Want Me" is a single by British synthpop group Human League, released from their album: Dare on 27 November 1981.It is the band's best known and most commercially successful recording to date, and was the Christmas number one in the UK, in 1981, where it sold over 1,400,000 copies,...
” (Callis, Oakey, Wright) – 3:56
Personnel and credits
- Ian BurdenIan BurdenIan Charles Burden was a keyboard player with the English synthpop band, The Human League, from 1981 up to 1989....
: Synthesizer - Jo CallisJo CallisJo Callis is an English musician and songwriter who played guitar with the Edinburgh based punk rock band, The Rezillos , and post-punk band Boots For Dancing before joining The Human League.-Biography:Callis was educated at the Edinburgh College of Art...
: Synthesizer - Joanne CatherallJoanne CatherallJoanne Catherall is an English singer; best known as one of the two female vocalists of the veteran English synthpop band The Human League.Born and raised in Sheffield, England...
: Vocals - Philip OakeyPhilip OakeyPhilip Oakey is an English composer, singer, songwriter and producer.He is best known as the lead singer, frontman and co-founder of the famous English synthpop band The Human League. He has also had an extensive solo music career and collaborated with numerous other artists and producers...
: Vocals & Synthesizer - Susanne SulleySusanne Sulley-1981: Dare and "Don’t You Want Me":In 1981, whilst Sulley was still at school, the group recorded their most commercially successful album to date Dare. The release of the album also coincided with the prevalence in use of music video and the launch of MTV...
: Vocals - Philip Adrian WrightPhilip Adrian WrightPhilip Adrian Wright is an English musician, also known as Adrian Wright.Wright had studied film making at Sheffield Art College and was a friend of Philip Oakey. In 1978 he was invited to join the new avant-garde electronic band The Human League which composed of Oakey, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig...
: Synthesizer & Slides - Martin RushentMartin RushentMartin Rushent was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and The Buzzcocks.- Early life :Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father was a car salesman...
: Programming - Dave Allen: Programming, assistant engineer
- Recorded at: Genetic Sound Studios, ReadingReading (process)Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of constructing or deriving meaning . It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas...
, BerkshireBerkshireBerkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, UK - Cover Design: by Philip Oakey, Philip Adrian Wright, Ken Ansell
- Original Release: 20 October 1981, UK
Studio equipment used
The following studio equipment was used in the recording of the album:- Casio M10
- Casio VL-1Casio VL-1The VL-1 was the first instrument of Casio's VL-Tone product line, and is sometimes referred to as the VL-Tone. It combined a calculator, synthesizer, and sequencer...
- Korg 770
- Korg Delta
- Linn LM-1Linn LM-1The LM-1 Drum Computer, manufactured by Linn Electronics Inc., was the first drum machine to use digital samples of acoustic drums. Conceived and designed by Roger Linn, it was also one of the first programmable drum machines...
- Roland Jupiter-4Roland Jupiter-4The Roland Jupiter 4 was an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation of Japan between 1978 and 1981. It was notable as the company's first self-contained polyphonic synthesizer, and for containing digital control of analog circuits , allowing for such features as programmable...
- Roland MC-8
- Roland System 700
- Yamaha CS-15
Track description and style
In 1981 the Human League considered themselves a "song based group"; this was a deliberate distinction differentiating the band from other electronic artists who specialized in principally instrumental work.The writing style of the lyrics is deliberately obscure; Oakey says this is because he wanted the band's lyrics to provoke thought and get people talking about their songs. Often the meanings behind the songs have only been disclosed by Oakey in various interviews given since the albums release. An important point is that the album essentially evolved during 1981 and wasn't written from a single conceptual starting point.
The original album comprised ten tracks (others were added on re-releases):
"The Things That Dreams Are Made Of"
Often informally abbreviated TTDAMO, the song is a tribute to the simple pleasures in life which is then juxtaposed against a greater ambition. Oakey namechecks some of his (and Wright's) favourite things, an eclectic list from ice creamIce cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
to the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
to Norman Wisdom
Norman Wisdom
Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, OBE was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin...
. The song contains the album title lyric "…do all the things you ever dared!" (although the album is actually named after a Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
magazine cover). Philip Adrian Wright called the song a metaphor for the band's ambition in 1981. The song was remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
ed and released as a single in 2008 on Hooj Choons
Hooj Choons
Hooj Choons is a house record label formed by Alex Simons and Red Jerry in 1990. The first release was "Carnival de Casa" by Rio Rhythm Band, however, it was not until 1992's release of Felix's "Don't You Want Me", which Red Jerry and Faithless founder-member Rollo co-produced, that Hooj Choons...
label; reaching number 2 on the UK Dance Charts.
"Open Your Heart"
"Open Your Heart" is the only one of the pre-releases specifically written for the album. The song is about the pain caused by an infidelity and the subsequent relationship breakdown. Technically it was Rushent's most complex track of the album with multiple synthesizer and drum machine layers, bound by complex FairlightFairlight
Fairlight is a digital audio company based in Sydney, Australia. In 1979 they created the Fairlight CMI, the first digital audio sampler, quickly used by artists such as Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, and Jean Michel Jarre. They are now a manufacturer of media solutions tools such as digital audio...
sequences.
The vocals are also correspondingly complex. Oakey sings in a higher key than usual, but still leads with Gayle and Catherall's backing now mixed as a separate layer. Susan Sulley said (in 1989) "it is one of the most difficult to sing. So we don't do it live very often.". It was to be the only track classified as 'Blue' on the Human League's self-imposed 'Red' or 'Blue' labeling system ('Red' was for dance tracks and 'Blue' for pop songs). It was released as a single October 1981 (intentionally two weeks before Dare).
"The Sound of the Crowd"
Originally it was the first "new Human League-style" track created under Rushent's production. It is an electropop anthem, pre-Jo Callis, heavily featuring Burden's single-voice keyboard with incidental bass keyboards by Philip Adrian Wright. The vocal style is the band's keystone sound of Oakey's baritone lead and for the first time, the girlish female interaction from Sulley and Catherall (in their first vocal role). It was released as a single in April 1981. The album version is a re-recording and not the version that was released as the original single."Darkness"
In keeping with the title, the song is about the subconscious fears from deep within the soul which manifest themselves when the singer is alone at night. Written mainly by Philip Adrian Wright, it is based on his experience in trying to sleep after reading a horror novel. The low synthesizer tones are designed to be haunting, are slow at the beginning, deliberately dark and melancholy. The instrumental increases tempo to a frenzy of pitch blending as the song reaches its culmination. It is a track that still contains the obvious influences of the original Human League of Oakey, Ware, Marsh and Wright."Do or Die"
"Do or Die" is a chorus-heavy song about a troublesome girlfriend. Opening to deep synthesized African drums from the LM1, Oakey's intentionally sneering delivery of the lyrics is overshadowed by the deliberately heavy multi-voice synthesizers of Callis, Burden and Wright and an escalating high drum beat, giving the track a slight reggae/South American touch. The chorus is repeated several times in succession with Oakey now joined by a chanting Sulley and Catherall. Oakey (speaking in 1981) described it as "a song about being in love with a girl who has been taken over by a poltergeist. Like the film Carrie." whether or not this was a serious comment or Oakey being typically "tongue in cheek" is not apparent. Joanne Catherall in the same interview says it "has a latiny (sic) feel.""Get Carter"
Included as a short interlude, the track is a minimalist instrumental cover versionCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Roy Budd
Roy Budd
Roy Frederick Budd , was a British jazz musician and composer, known for his film scores.Born in Mitcham, Surrey, Budd became interested in music from an early age and had built up a vast musical repertoire by the age of eight...
's theme for the film Get Carter
Get Carter
Get Carter is a 1971 British crime film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine as Jack Carter, a gangster who sets out to avenge the death of his brother in a series of unrelenting and brutal killings played out against the grim background of derelict urban housing in the city of...
. It is played on a single voice on a Casio VL-1
Casio VL-1
The VL-1 was the first instrument of Casio's VL-Tone product line, and is sometimes referred to as the VL-Tone. It combined a calculator, synthesizer, and sequencer...
, using the preset 'Fantasy'. On its second repeat a stereo 'chorus' is added making the sound 'bigger', on the third repeat heavier 'Ensemble Chorus' is added making the single VL-1 sound like a dozen. Arranged by Oakey, Callis and Rushent.
"I Am the Law"
A song with a brassy synthesized instrumental, the title and lyrics were inspired by the character Judge DreddJudge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
from the British comic book 2000 AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
. The song's subject matter included sympathy and authority, and inspiration also came from an experience where Oakey was working as a hospital porter and encountered an injured bouncer. Wright states that it was the first song that the band wrote after the 1980 split, and was played live on the October 1980 tour. He goes on to say, "It's specifically written from a policeman's point of view. It's very easy to run the police down until you need them. There’s very often a change of heart when you get your car stolen."
"Seconds"
"Seconds" is a serious, sombre mood piece on the assassination of John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in 1963, and its impact on the wider world. Where Oakey berates (the unnamed) Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
, characterized by the lyrics "it took seconds of your time to take his life" and "a shot that was heard around the world". When played live the song is often accompanied by background slides of Kennedy. The song makes a feature of the voice assignment modes on the Roland Jupiter-4
Roland Jupiter-4
The Roland Jupiter 4 was an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation of Japan between 1978 and 1981. It was notable as the company's first self-contained polyphonic synthesizer, and for containing digital control of analog circuits , allowing for such features as programmable...
synthesizer, alternating between strident two-note chords, with 2 VCO
Voltage-controlled oscillator
A voltage-controlled oscillator or VCO is an electronic oscillator designed to be controlled in oscillation frequency by a voltage input. The frequency of oscillation is varied by the applied DC voltage, while modulating signals may also be fed into the VCO to cause frequency modulation or phase...
s per note, and thinner three note chords with 1 VCO per voice.
"Love Action (I Believe in Love)"
"Love Action" is a semi-autobiographical song by Oakey about good and bad relationships. It includes references to his own various relationships, their problems and successes; with Oakey often referring to himself. Complete with the famous lyric "This is Phil talking!" (a line inspired by a similar reference by Iggy PopIggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
), it also contains two cryptic references to one of Oakey's influences, Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
. It was released as a single in August 1981.
"Don't You Want Me"
"Don't You Want Me" is a conflicting male/female duet on the subject of jealousy and romantic obsession. The male protagonist of the song (Oakey) is a svengaliSvengali
Svengali is a fictional character of George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby. Svengali "would either fawn or bully and could be grossly impertinent. He had a kind of cynical humour that was more offensive than amusing and always laughed at the wrong thing, at the wrong time, in the wrong place...
figure who turns a female waitress (sung by Susan Ann Sulley) into a 'star', who then subsequently leaves him once she has obtained fame. It is underscored by two backing synthesizer samples and Rushent's LM1 sequence with Burden's core keyboard background. Rushent and Callis would be responsible for the final mix which was disliked by the rest of the band as it was not the dark and brooding track they had envisaged. The track is different to the rest of Dare, not only for its pop sound but also because it features a female joint lead vocal. Against Oakey's wishes, it was released as a single in November 1981; the song then became the band's biggest hit and one of the highest selling singles of all time in the UK.
Background
Dare is the third studio album from the Human League but differs greatly from their previous two, ReproductionReproduction (album)
Reproduction is the debut album released by British synthpop band The Human League. The album was released in October 1979 through Virgin Records Ltd....
and Travelogue. This is due to a split in the original line up, the subsequent reformation of the band with new personnel and the difference in musical style under Philip Oakey's direction.
In January 1981 the Human League consisted of just Oakey and Philip Adrian Wright with newly recruited teenage dancers/backing vocalists Joanne Catherall
Joanne Catherall
Joanne Catherall is an English singer; best known as one of the two female vocalists of the veteran English synthpop band The Human League.Born and raised in Sheffield, England...
and Susan Ann Sulley. After the acrimonious split of the original band in October 1980 and the subsequent recruitment of Sulley and Catherall, the new band had only just survived a European tour by bringing in session keyboardist Ian Burden
Ian Burden
Ian Charles Burden was a keyboard player with the English synthpop band, The Human League, from 1981 up to 1989....
to temporarily assist. The band were deeply in debt and only barely commercially viable. Under pressure to produce results from Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
, original members Oakey and Wright returned to Monumental Studios in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
to start recording demo tracks. They recorded the track "Boys and Girls
Boys and Girls (Human League song)
"Boys and Girls" is a song by the British Synthpop group The Human League. It was released as a single in the UK in February 1981 and peaked at number 48 in the UK Singles Charts...
" from the 1980 tour, which Virgin then quickly released as single. The style of "Boys and Girls" belonged to the original, now defunct Human League. Sulley and Catherall who were busy with school, were not used other than for publicity. The synthesizer work was basic as Oakey and Wright admitted they lacked the skill of Marsh and Ware. When "Boys and Girls" peaked at number 47 in the UK, Oakey realized that he would need to bring in professional help to take the band in the more pop and commercial sounding direction he wished.
Oakey's first move was to invite guitarist and keyboard player Ian Burden from the tour back to join the band full-time. As a trained musician, not only were Burden's keyboard skills vastly superior to Oakey and Wright's but he instantly proved to be an adept songwriter and composer as well. Virgin had suggested that Oakey needed professional production and paired him with veteran producer Martin Rushent, an expert on emerging music technologies of the time. Because of the "unhealthy" atmosphere at Monumental Studios in Sheffield caused by the Human League sharing it with new band Heaven 17
Heaven 17
Heaven 17 are an English synthpop band originating from Sheffield in the early 1980s. The trio comprises Martyn Ware , Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn Gregory...
(containing ex-Human League members Ware and Marsh), Rushent moved the band to his Genetic Sound Studios in Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
. In addition Rushent's studios were better-equipped for the type of music the band was making. A downside would be that the distance would cause problems for Sulley and Catherall who were taking their final school exams and had to be bussed down from Sheffield regularly.
The first result of their recording sessions was released in April 1981 entitled "The Sound of the Crowd"; it would be a defining moment for the band. With the sophisticated synthesizer work of Burden aided by Wright, Oakey's deep baritone lead vocal and for the first time female backing vocals from teenage dancers (now full vocalists) Sulley and Catherall it would prove to be the band's keystone sound. The final addition to the band would be the experienced guitarist and songwriter Jo Callis
Jo Callis
Jo Callis is an English musician and songwriter who played guitar with the Edinburgh based punk rock band, The Rezillos , and post-punk band Boots For Dancing before joining The Human League.-Biography:Callis was educated at the Edinburgh College of Art...
formerly of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band The Rezillos
The Rezillos
The Rezillos are a punk/new wave band, who formed in Edinburgh in 1976 and still play gigs around the world in a re-formed line-up. Although frequently aligned with the punk movement, the Rezillos' irreverent glam rock image and affection for campy girl-group iconography, set them distinctly apart...
, who quickly had to learn the synthesizer.
Oakey accepts that Martin Rushent's adept sequencing and programming skills brought a professional edge to the band's sound, and added many new elements and techniques. Oakey, Burden, Wright and Callis set about writing new material, bringing in Sulley and Catherall from Sheffield as often as they were available. The aim was another album for the Human League within a year. Virgin were at this point lukewarm but keen that the band released another single as soon as possible.
The first release from the now complete new team came in August 1981, "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" was the band's first major critical and commercial success and peaked at number three in the UK. It brought the band to the forefront of public attention and would also see Virgin give the green light for an album release with a 6-12 month timescale. The band now had much new material to work with and set about arranging it into a viable album. By September 1981 the prototype album was ready to go and provisionally entitled Dare, after a Vogue magazine cover. Oakey explained the story behind the album name at the time:
To set the scene for the album's release Virgin released one of the album tracks immediately in advance of the album. "Open Your Heart" went to number six in the UK singles chart, confirming the band's popularity. Virgin began heavily advertising the release of the new album, set for the end of October 1981. "Open Your Heart" was accompanied by a futuristic looking promotional video, a rarity at the time. Whilst it was still in the charts, Dare premiered to critical acclaim. It was also condemned by the Musician's Union, who believed the new technology employed by the Human League was making traditional musicians redundant and a threat to their monopoly. Soon they would begin a "Keep It Live" campaign believing that bands like the Human League would be able to perform concerts at the touch of a button.
The album was almost universally critically acclaimed in the UK, and featured strongly in the year end polls for 1981. Noted music critic Paul Morley
Paul Morley
Paul Morley is an English journalist, who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful periods, and has since written for a wide range of publications...
wrote in the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, ...in many ways it challenges the very conventions of pop music and the essence of innovation. What is it all for? I think that ‘Dare!’ is one of the great popular music LPs. The album's critical success was also echoed commercially, as it sold in large numbers, taking it quickly to number one in the UK album charts in early November 1981. It was expected to be the finish to an enormously successful year for the band, but because of its extraordinary commercial success Virgin executive Simon Draper decided he wanted yet another single from the album before the end of 1981.
Draper's choice would be the track "Don't You Want Me", the conflicting male/female duet about jealousy and romantic obsession that Oakey had recorded with teenage backing singer Susanne Sulley. Oakey was unhappy with the decision and originally fought it, believing it to be the weakest track on Dare; for that reason it had been relegated to the last track in the B-side of the vinyl album. Oakey was eventually overruled by Virgin. It would go on to become the band's greatest ever hit, selling millions of copies worldwide and becoming the 25th highest ever selling single in the UK (as of 2007). It was also the Christmas number one for 1981.
By Christmas 1981 Dare had gone platinum in the UK, and the Human League had a number-one album and number-one single concurrently in the UK charts. Dare would eventually remain in the UK album charts for an enduring 71 weeks. A remix album based on Dare, called Love and Dancing
Love and Dancing
Love and Dancing is a remix album released by the British synthpop band The Human League in 1982. It was released under the name "The League Unlimited Orchestra" as a nod to Barry White's disco-era Love Unlimited Orchestra...
was released a year later in 1982.
International releases
The single "Don't You Want Me" had been released with a very expensive and elaborate promotional video created by film maker Steve BarronSteve Barron
Steven "Steve" Barron is a director and producer, best known for directing the films Coneheads , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the innovative music videos for a-ha's "Take on Me" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"....
. Music video was a very new phenomenon and cable TV station MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
had only just started up to capitalize on this new media but had very little material to work with. Virgin Records syndicated the video to MTV which was played around the clock. Because of the interest the video generated in "Don’t You Want Me", Virgin licensed the release in the U.S. of the single and the album. The licensee for the U.S. was A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
who renamed the album Dare! The addition of the exclamation mark was because A&M wanted to differentiate their (U.S) release from the Virgin's original release in the UK. The release of Dare! immediately mirrored the success of the UK; and in mid 1982 it reached number three in the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and the single "Don’t You Want Me" was at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Although critics were not as universally applauding as in the UK, the commercial success of Dare! would set the scene for the band's return to the U.S. charts a number of times in later years.
Dare earned considerable income for record labels Virgin and A&M; in Virgin's case, it gave the label the first chart-topping album since Mike Oldfield
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield is an English multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, working a style that blends progressive rock, folk, ethnic or world music, classical music, electronic music, New Age, and more recently, dance. His music is often elaborate and complex in nature...
's Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...
in 1973. "Don't You Want Me" was the label's first ever chart-topping single. The success of Dare was responsible for saving the label from impending bankruptcy. A very grateful Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
sent Philip Oakey a motorcycle as a thank you present, but Oakey had to return it as he couldn't ride it.
As well as the commercial success in the U.S. under A&M, in 1982 Dare was also highly successful in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Dare has been re-released a number of times since its original creation. Later releases of the album included the additional tracks "Hard Times" and "Non Stop".
Cover artwork
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
magazine. The final design is a joint effort between Philip Adrian Wright (also the band's director of visuals) and graphic designer Ken Ansell. Oakey is solo on the front cover with Sulley and Catherall on the internal gatefold, and the whole band on the reverse. The artwork has been reproduced in numerous forms for the various re-releases and sold as posters.
Explaining why the band's portraits are close cropped and the girls had their hair tied back for their photographs, Susan Ann Sulley explains, "we wanted people to still be able to buy the album in five years, we thought that hair styles would be the first thing to date. We had no idea people would still be buying it 25 years later."
Chart performance
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 11 |
| French Albums Chart | 5 |
| German Albums Chart | 19 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 15 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 6 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 3 |
Awards
Martin RushentMartin Rushent
Martin Rushent was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and The Buzzcocks.- Early life :Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father was a car salesman...
received the 'Best Producer Award' at the 1982 Brit Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
for the production on Dare and the success of Dare led to the band winning the award for best British newcomer.
25th Anniversary
An updated version of the original artwork, now with recent photographs of Sulley, Oakey and Catherall in the style of the original artwork, accompanied the advertising for the band's 2007 'Dare tour'.
The UK's Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
Newspaper provided a free CD version of the album with the 11/09/2008 edition of the newspaper as part of a promotion celebrating classic 1980s albums
Martin Rushent
Martin Rushent
Martin Rushent was an English record producer, best known for his work with The Human League, The Stranglers and The Buzzcocks.- Early life :Rushent was born on 11 July 1948 in Enfield, Middlesex. His father was a car salesman...
interviewed in July's Sound on Sound
Sound on Sound
Sound on Sound is an independently-owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, UK. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals...
confirmed he is working on a remastered 30th Anniversary edition.
Legacy
In 2006, British Hit Singles & Albums and NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
organised a poll of which, 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever and Dare was placed at #77 on the list. The same year, Q magazine placed the album at #19 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".
According to the book Let it Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs, renowned music critic Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
died of an accidental drug overdose while listening to Dare.
Trivia
The album Dare! is briefly seen and part of its opening track is played in The Young Ones episode "Interesting". The album and record player are quickly destroyed by policemen, ruining Rik's attempt at entertaining the already bored party guests.External links
- http://www.the-black-hit-of-space.dk/dare.htm