THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

986-The Human League-The Sound of the Crowd.

1981-Number 12 single.

Best Bit-At 0.13. There are certain songs that don’t have any choreographed moves, or actions relating to the song, but when you’re dancing, because you’ve seen the video, you find yourself subconsciously imitating the girls in The Human League.

The Human League (see also best songs 1009) were formed in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, in 1977, when Martyn Ware, and Ian Craig Marsh, needed a vocalist, and recruited Phil Oakey. At that time they were called ‘The Future,’ but it was Ware who suggested the name change to ‘The Human League,’ after a group in the science-fiction board game ‘StarForce Alpha Centauri.’ After two studio Albums, and six single releases without the breakthrough the band were hoping for, Oakey split with Ware and Marsh, who went on to form ‘Heaven 17.’ Ware and Marsh wanted to stay true to their musical roots, but Oakey thought that if ‘The Human League’ had a future, then they must become more ‘Pop’ orientated. Oakey also realised that if the new ‘Human League’ were going to be successful then they would also need to improve their live shows visually, which led to the recruitment of Joanne Catherall, and Susan Sulley, who were both 17 at the time. The six artists who performed on this song, and it’s parent Album ‘Dare,’ were completed by Ian Burden, who was a member between 1981-1987, Jo Callis, who joined in 1980, and left in 1985, and Philip Adrien Wright, who played keyboards with the band between 1980-1985. In total there have been nine different members of ‘The Human League,’ and at the time of writing they remain active, with Oakey, Catherall, and Sulley, being the groups three members.

The discography of ‘The Human League’ includes nine studio Albums released between 1979-2011, and 29 singles issued between 1978-2011. In the UK, they have achieved 17 top 40 singles, with ‘Don’t You Want Me,’ which reached Number 1 in 1981, currently standing at Number 27 in the list of the best selling singles in the UK of all time. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 top 40, they have charted on six occasions, with both ‘Don’t You Want Me,’ (1981) and ‘Human,’ (1986) both topping the chart.

‘The Sound of the Crowd’ was the first of four singles released from ‘The Human League’s’ third studio Album ‘Dare,’ from October 1981. It was released almost six months prior to the Album, and became the groups breakthrough hit. ‘The Sound of the Crowd’ was co-written by Phil Oakey, and fellow band member Ian Burden, with the production by Martin Rushent (1948-2011) (see also best songs 1009.) ‘Dare’ is a critically acclaimed Album, and genre-defining in the field of ‘Synth-Pop.’ ‘Synth-Pop’ features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument, with groups such as ‘Kraftwerk,’ (see also best songs 41) and the German ‘Krautrock’ movement of the late 1960’s, and the 1970’s, seen as ‘Synth-Pop’s’ predecessor, and biggest influences. Phil Oakey has explained the story behind the ‘Albums’ title ‘Dare,’ I like it because the Mekons used to have a song called ‘Dan Dare’. In fact, it was ripped off from a cover of ‘Vogue’ about two and a half years ago. They had a whole series of covers which featured just one word like ‘Success’, ‘Red,’ and ‘Dare’. I shouldn’t say that, should I?’

‘The Sound of the Crowd’ contains some very obscure lyrics, such as ,’Make a shroud pulling combs through a backwash frame,’ and ‘Stroke a pocket with a print of a laughing sound,’ Ian Burden has explained,’On The Sound of the Crowd I scribbled down some stream-of-consciousness words so that I could demonstrate the vocal parts to him (Oakey) without having to do the naff la-la-la-hum-hum-hum type of explanation. He went off and wrote a new chorus vocal, but surprisingly kept my verse lyrics!’

So it appears that we can completely discard the songs two verses when it comes to trying to dissect the meaning behind ‘The Sound of the Crowd,’ that just leaves us with the chorus, which seems fairly explanatory. I think Phil Oakey is telling us to mix with ‘the in crowd,’ as they have the right idea when it comes to lifestyle, fashion, and music.

‘The shades from a pencil peer pass around. A fold in an eyelid brushed with fear. The lines on a compact guide pass around. A hat with alignment worn inside.’