Remaining 1980s
In 1982, riding on the success of Dare, The Human League embarked on an ambitious and well anticipated international tour, consolidating their new position as international superstars. On completion of the tour, the group returned to the recording studios to start on the follow-up to Dare. In November 1982, the Mowtown-inspired "Mirror Man" single hit the UK charts peaking at number two. Six months later, the group released the single, "(Keep Feeling) Fascination". Aided by a quirky promo video, this single also made number two in the UK and number eight in the U.S.
Following this, however, the recording sessions for their next album became fraught with tension and producer Martin Rushent departed from the project, as did later producer Chris Thomas. They were replaced by producer Hugh Padgham and the subsequent album Hysteria was released in mid-1984, three years after Dare. Although it entered the charts at number three, the album failed to match the success of Dare and quickly dropped out of the charts.
With Oakey working on side projects, rumours the band had split were perpetuated in the press. However, in 1986, Virgin Records paired The Human League with U.S. production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The band decamped to the USA to record. Creative tensions bugged their time out there both in the band and with the production team. Sulley and Catherall, who had fortunately absolved themselves of any creative responsibility in 1981 and were exempted from the bickering, were homesick and unhappy in the U.S. Creatively, the U.S. recordings ended in acrimony but not complete disaster.
The well received single "Human" was released in September 1986. A ballad about separation and infidelity, it gave Catherall her most prominent vocals in any Human League single. The promo video was typical of mid 1980s gloss and the single peaked at number one in the U.S. and number eight in the UK. The subsequent album, Crash, emerged from the Jam and Lewis sessions, and reached number seven in the UK.
Read more about this topic: Joanne Catherall
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