Susanne Sulley
Encyclopedia
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 DareDare (album)
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...
. The release of the album also coincided with the prevalence in use of music video and the launch of 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....
. The initial success of Dare emboldened the record label (Virgin Records) to finance a (then) expensive and elaborate promotional music video for the single "Don't You Want Me
Don'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,...
".
In the video Sulley plays a successful actress walking out on her bitter Svengali lover (played by Oakey) who laments her success and departure. Set on a "film shoot" on a wet winter night, Sulley sings directly to the camera whilst walking through the atmospheric set, immaculately made up and wearing a distinctive trench coat. The single, aided by the now-classic video was to prove a commercial breakthrough for the group, going to number one in the charts in both the UK and the U.S.
It also was the medium by which most people remember first seeing Sulley; and in that video she provided one of the iconic images of the 1980s, an image which endures to this day.
Sulley totally refutes the claim, by some, that the song is in any way an analogy about Catherall and her joining the group. It was actually written by Oakey after reading a story in a magazine. Another falsehood often repeated by the media is that she was once actually a real cocktail waitress
Cocktail waitress
A cocktail waitress is a type of server who specializes in bringing drinks to patrons of bars, casinos, comedy clubs, live music venues and other drinking establishments and often wears revealing clothing in order to get more tips...
. When asked about this Sulley points out that she was still at school when Dare was recorded and often jokes that she "has never had a proper job in her life".
The remaining 1980s
The international stardom that Dare brought was to be short-lived. The group took three long years to release their next full album, 1984's HysteriaHysteria (Human League album)
Hysteria is the fourth album by the British synthpop band The Human League, released in May 1984. Following the worldwide success of their 1981 album Dare, the band struggled to make a successful follow-up and the sessions for Hysteria were fraught with problems...
. A stop-gap E.P., Fascination!
Fascination!
Fascination! is an EP released by British synthpop band The Human League in 1983. The EP was issued by Virgin Records as a stop-gap release in between the albums Dare! and Hysteria....
, was issued in America in 1983. From these releases the group had a number of top-ten singles in the UK and the US, including "(Keep Feeling) Fascination
(Keep Feeling) Fascination
" Fascination" is a dance song performed by British synthpop group The Human League. It was composed by Jo Callis and Philip Oakey....
" and "Mirror Man" which both charted at number two in the UK. The single "Human" from Crash
Crash (Human League album)
Crash is the fifth full-length studio album released by the British synthpop band The Human League in 1986. Unlike the band’s previous and subsequent albums it is R&B influenced...
was the group's last real commercial success of the decade, charting at number one in the US and number eight in the UK. From then the group’s mainstream popularity plunged, with subsequent releases not even breaking the top forty. It also was about 1986 that she stopped calling herself Susanne, opting for the more formal Susan.
The mid to late 1980s were not a particularly happy time for Sulley, as she had to deal with the personal problems unexpected international fame brought her. Also internal disputes and pressure to produce more hits caused conflict; and eventually splits within The Human League. When asked to describe that period in late 1995, Sulley said:
The 1990s
In 1990, the band released their last album for Virgin Records, Romantic?Romantic?
Romantic? is the sixth studio album by the English synthpop band The Human League. It was issued by Virgin Records in 1990 and was the band's first album of new material in four years...
, which included the minor hit single "Heart Like a Wheel"). The Romantic? album did not re-capture the group's huge commercial success of 1981 (with its second single "Soundtrack for a Generation" flopping), and Virgin chose not to renew their recording contract. Although disheartened, the group remained together and persevered with new material. The Human League made a surprise comeback in 1994, now signed to East West Records, with the single "Tell Me When", giving them their first major hit since 1986's "Human", and the accompanying album Octopus
Octopus (Human League album)
Octopus is the seventh full-length studio album recorded by British synthpop band The Human League. It was produced by former Tears for Fears keyboardist Ian Stanley and released by EastWest Records in 1995. It was the first new album from the Human League in five years after the termination of...
going Gold.
"One Man In My Heart"
In 1995 the Octopus album gave the UK another hit single with "One Man in My Heart". This would provide Sulley her highest public profile in the Band's history. The song was a balladBallad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
sung by Sulley on lead vocals, with Oakey and Catherall providing supporting vocals. The stylish accompanying video, set in a Parisian cafe, gave (the now 32 year old) Sulley the best opportunity to demonstrate her considerable screen presence since "Don't You Want Me". Although only moderately successful (it reached number thirteen in the UK charts), it was described years later in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
as one of the best love songs of the 1990s and has been remixed and re-released a number of times since.
2000 to the present
After two decades in the business, the 21st Century has seen something of a Human League renaissance. Events conspired against the group when, in 2001, record label problems (Papillion Records had financial difficulties and eventually went bust) caused the critically acclaimed SecretsSecrets (Human League album)
Secrets is an album recorded by British synthpop band The Human League. It was issued in 2001 by Papillon Records and was the Human League's first studio album in six years...
album to be starved of adequate promotion. The album was widely believed to be the group's best since the mid-1980s. Starved of airplay, the single "All I Ever Wanted
All I Ever Wanted (The Human League song)
"All I Ever Wanted" is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League. It is taken from the Secrets album of 2001 and was released as its first single. It is currently their most recent single released on a major label...
" didn't realise its full potential.
By now Sulley was being credited by her married name Susan Ann Gayle which caused some confusion with the public when it appeared unannounced on the album credits; although she still remained better known to Human League fans by the name Sulley and she would eventually stop using Gayle as a professional name in 2007.
Also in 2001, the group embarked on the Secrets tour to accompany the album. The tour was a major success, and demonstrated that the group's strength was as a live act. The tour also proved that they had a huge following - not just as a nostalgia band to those who remember the 1980s material - but also to a new generation with new material.
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
. In late 2006 The Human League completed another tour of the UK and Europe, again with many venues sold out. The stated main effort of 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...
in the immediate future is the recording of new material, with the possibility of a new studio album; while continuing to play live at a variety of venues both in the UK and Internationally.
Sulley, when asked to pick the highlight of her career (in 2004):
Today
Today Sulley still lives in her native Sheffield. She continues to record, perform and tour full time with The Human League. Off stage she often acts as The Human League’s media 'officer' and has been responsible for many interviews, press statements and publicity events. She has also guest presented on music TV channel VH1VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
and is an independent media personality in her own right. She also does occasional charity work in Sheffield.
Influence
- Sulley is acknowledged as a pioneering female role model in pop, and was an inspiration to the next generation of female pop stars. Victoria BeckhamVictoria BeckhamVictoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...
of The Spice Girls has stated that it was Sulley that inspired her to enter pop music. - In the 2008 BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV drama Ashes to AshesAshes to Ashes (TV series)Ashes to Ashes is a British science fiction and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to Life on Mars.The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009...
(set in 1981) Keeley Hawes'sKeeley HawesKeeley Hawes is an English actress and model, known for many television roles. She is best known for her roles as Zoe Reynolds in Spooks and Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes and Lady Agnes in the remake of Upstairs, Downstairs...
character Alex DrakeAlex DrakeDI Alexandra "Alex" Drake is a fictional character in BBC One's science fiction/police procedural drama, Ashes to Ashes. The character is portrayed by Keeley Hawes and as a child by Lucy Cole.-Character history:...
uses the line "I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar" (from "Don't You Want Me") in the dialogue; included by the script writers as a deliberate reference to Sulley's media presence in 1981.
Film and television
- 1999 "Hunting Venus" (Buffalo Films, D. Martin ClunesMartin ClunesAlexander Martin Clunes is an English actor and comedian. Clunes is perhaps best known for his roles as Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly, Doctor Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin and the title character in Reggie Perrin....
) - Played Herself - 2007 VH1VH1VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
- Presenter
Professional name chronology
Although her birth nameName at birth
The name at birth is the name a child is given by his or her parents, according to a generally universal custom, and legal requirement. What happens subsequently about this name has a substantial cultural component....
is Susan Ann Sulley, she has been known professionally by a number of variants throughout her career, the table below shows the chronology. Because she rarely corrects journalists using an incorrect name, it is possible to find any of these currently in use in the media.
| 1963–1981 |
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|---|---|
| 1981–1986 |
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| 1986–2001 |
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| 2001–2007 |
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| 2007–Present |
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Note: Her middle name can be spelled either Ann or Anne by the media and is only used professionally
Awards
- 1982 BRIT AwardsBrit AwardsThe 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...
- (as 'The Human League') - 'Best British Breakthrough Act' - 2004 Q Awards - (as 'The Human League') - 'The Q Innovation In Sound Award'
- Nominated for Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 1982 for Best International Act (as 'The Human League')
Further reading
- Story of a Band Called "The Human League" by Alaska Ross (Proteus July 1982) ISBN 978-0862761035