After The Human League had achieved modest successes in the underground scene with Reproduction (1979) and Travelogue (1980), it was time for reflection. Founders Martin Ware and Ian Craig Marsh packed up their synthesizers to found Heaven 17, leaving vocalist Philip Oakey with the name, his mic stand and his asymmetrical haircut. This decided not to give up and started a new band in no time. Urgency
… was more important than thorough preparation, because during the first concerts the newly recruited keyboardist Ian Burden was still busy leafing through the manual of his synthesizer in order to produce the right sounds. Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall, the two fresh female singers, were still at school and had been pulled off a dance floor somewhere by Oakey during a night out with the request to strengthen The Human League in a vocal way. Despite this, Dare became the biggest success of the band and continues to be a grateful source of inspiration for synthesizer bands around the world to this day. (AD)more
