Being Boiled - Music
Being Boiled by The Human League
The Human League
Artist Biography For The Human League
The Human League Is An English Synthpop Band Formed In 1977. Originally A Minimal Post-Punk Synthesiser-Based Group From Sheffield UK They Became One Of The Most Successful New Wave Acts Of The 80s. The Only Consistent Band Member Is Vocalist And Songwriter Phil Oakey. The Band's Best Known Configuration Was Their 1980-1985 Lineup Of Phillip Oakey Vocals Joanne Catherall Vocals Susanne Sulley Vocals Phillip Adrian Wright Keyboards Jo Callis Guitar Keyboards And Ian Burden Bass . Martyn Ware And Ian Craig Marsh Were Both Working As Computer Programmers In 1977 And Combined A Love Of Pop Music Such As Glam Rock And Tamla Motown With Avant Garde Electronic Music. They Acquired A Roland System 100 Synthesizer And Began To Create Music In Their Own Rehearsal Facility. Initially They Formed A Group Called The Dead Daughters Which Then Became The Future With Adi Newton On Vocals. Newton Was Soon Dismissed And Left To Form The Outfit Clock DVA. Ware And Marsh Searched For A Vocalist But Their First Choice Glenn Gregory Who Would Be The Lead Singer Of Their Later Band Heaven 17 Was Unavailable. Ware Instead Decided To Invite Philip Oakey An Old School Friend And A Hospital Porter At The Time To Join The Band "apparently By Leaving A Note Stuck To His Door". Oakey Accepted The Invitation Despite Never Having Been In A Band Before. Shortly After They Decided To Call Themselves The Human League. A Collection Of Demos From This Period Was Released On CD In 2002 Titled The Golden Hour Of The Future Compiled By Richard X. The Original Lineup Of The Human League Debuted In 1978 With The Single "Being Boiled" A Dark Synth Track That Would Later Become Extremely Influential On Later Industrial Musicians Namely Trent Reznor Of The Nine Inch Nails . This Single And It's Follow-Up "Empire State Human" Were Modest Sucesses However The Group's Albums - 1979's "Reproduction" And 1980's "Travelogue" - Did Not Sell. This Caused A Rift In The Band And In 1980 Ian Marsh And Martyn Ware Left The Group. Following The Split Of The Original Line-Up Phillip Adrian Wright Their Live Slide Projectionist Fully Joined The Group And Oakey & Himself Released Another Flop Single "Boys And Girls". In Order To Fulfil Their European Tour Commitments They Recruited Bass Player Ian Burden And Fronted The Band With Two Singers Susanne Sulley And Joanne Catherall Schoolgirls Whom They Had Met In A Sheffield Nightclub And Managed To Complete The Tour. In 1981 Virgin Records Paired Them With Former Stranglers Producer Martin Rushent And The First Result Was The Single "The Sound Of The Crowd" Which Saw Them At Last Achieve Success In The Singles Chart. Guitarist Jo Callis Formerly Of The Rezillos Was Now Recruited To The Band And With Rushent At The Helm The Human League Recorded Their Most Successful Album To Date "Dare!". It Achieved Huge Success Fuelled By Its Further Hit Singles "Open Your Heart" "Love Action" And Most Famously "Don't You Want Me" Which Reached Number One In The UK Charts During The Christmas Of 1981 And Was One Of The Biggest Selling Singles Of That Year And It Also Charted At Number One In The US During The Summer Of 1982. These Three Releases Were Accompanied By Striking Promo Videos "Love Action" Based On The Movie The Graduate . During Their Dare! Phase The Human League Were Often Associated With The New Romantic Movement. The Band Also Had A Number Of Other Hits But Their Success Faded Towards The Mid-1980s. Arguably One Problem Was The Length Of Time The Band Took To Make A Record. Dare! Was Followed By The Six-Song EP Fascination! Featuring Hit Singles "Mirror Man" And "Fascination" As A Stopgap And It Took Three Years To Release A Full-Length Follow-Up Album "Hysteria". In 1985 Outside Of The Human League Oakey Scored A Huge Hit Single In Collaboration With One Of His Idols Synth Pioneer Giorgio Moroder With The Single "Together In Electric Dreams" Taken From The Film Soundtrack To Electric Dreams. The Pair Proceeded To Record An Entire Album For Virgin Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder But This Met With Rather Less Success. In 1986 The Group Found Themselves In Creative Stagnation Struggling To Record Material To Follow Up On Their Previous Success. Key Songwriter Jo Callis Departed Replaced By Drummer Jim Russell And Virgin Paired The League Up With Cutting-Edge American R&B Producers Jimmy Jam And Terry Lewis. The Result Was The "Crash" Album. The Album Featured Much Material Written By Jam And Lewis' Team And Showcased Their Distinctive DX7-Led Sound Making It Quite A Departure From Previous Human League Material. It Did Provide An American Number One Single "Human" But Other Singles Made Smaller Chart Impact. The Following Tour Saw Keyboardist Neil Sutton Join The Line-Up And Also Keyboardist/guitarist Russell Dennett. Since 1990 Their Resident Engineer On And Off Stage Has Been David Beevers. Following Dennett's Departure In 1996 Nic Burke Has Been His Replacement For Live Work Since 2001. The Human League Released A New Album Credo In March 2011.
Frogtoon Music - Song Info: Being Boiled
The-Human-League - Greatest Hits
"Being Boiled" Is A Song Written By Sheffield Musicians Martyn Ware And Ian Craig Marsh With Lyrics By Philip Oakey And Recorded By Them As The Human League. It Is Notable As One Of The First Pieces Of Electronic Pop Music Produced In The UK. It Was First Released As A Single In 1978 On The Fast Product Label And Although Failing To Chart Was Influential Amongst Other New Wave And Post-Punk Artists. After The The Human League's Commercial Success The Single Was Re-Released In 1982 This Time Through EMI Reaching Number 6 In The Charts. The Song Was Later Re-Recorded By The Band For Their Holiday '80 EP Which Reached Number 56 In 1980 And Number 46 In 1982. It Was Also On Their 1980 Travelogue Album. Track Listing 7" Single 1978 Fast Product Release 1. "Being Boiled" 3 45 2. "Circus Of Death" 4 47 Holiday '80 7" Virgin Records Release 1. "Being Boiled" 4 22 2. "Marianne" 3 17 3. "Dancevision" 2 22 1982 Virgin Re-Issue 1. "Being Boiled" 4 22 2. "Circus Of Death" 3 55 Style Being Boiled Was One Of The First Singles To Use Entirely Electronic Instruments And Is Strikingly Different And Darker From The Group's More Well Known Songs 1 . It Has A Strong Bassline Inspired By Bootsy Collins. The Lyrics Described As "Bizarre" And "confused" 2 Combine A Protest Against Silk Farming With Vague Material About Oriental Religion - "Listen To The Voice Of Buddha/saying Stop Your Sericulture" . Origin The Song's Music Predates Philip Oakey's Joining The Band. The Future A Band Comprising Martyn Ware And Ian Craig Marsh Had Just Parted Company With Singer Adi Newton Later Of Clock DVA. They Needed A New Singer And Contacted Former Schoolmate Philip Oakey Giving Him The Music To Listen To. Two Days Later He Was Back Having Written The Lyrics. Ware And Marsh Liked Them And Him And The Song Was Born. The Track Was Recorded On A Domestic Tape Recorder In An Abandoned Factory At A Cost Of £2.50. Fast Product Release Fellow Sheffield Musician Paul Bowers Of The Band 2.3 Like The Song And Passed A Copy To Fast Product Label Manager Bob Last Who Had Just Released 2.3's First Single. Last Released It In June 1978 The Sleeve Bearing The Slogan "Electronically Yours". A Press Release Was Put Out By Fast Product On Computer Paper - At The Time A Novel Idea. It Read In Part "The League Would Like To Positively Affect The Future By Close Attention To The Present Allying Technology With Humanity And Humour. They Have Been Described As 'Later Twentieth Century Boys' And 'Intelligent Innovatory And Immodest'." Also Included In The Release Were A Cassette Of Demo Recordings And A Sticker Bearing The "Electronically Yours" Slogan. Reception The Song Received A Mixed Reception Among Established Artists Of The Time. David Bowie Declared It To Be "the Future Of Music" But Former Sex Pistols Singer John Lydon Reviewing The Single For The New Musical Express Dismissed The Band As "trendy Hippies". Peter York In Harper's And Queen Cited The Cover As An Example Of "post-Modern Packaging". 4 The Song Has Become An Influence On Several Musicians. Vince Clarke Stated That The Song Was His Favorite Record And Inspired Him To Form Depeche Mode 5 . Trent Reznor Of Nine Inch Nails Also Lists The Song As An Influence On His Group's Sound. Reissues The Song Appears On The Band's Second Album Travelogue. This Is The Holiday 80 Version Except For The End Which Has An Echoing Fade Instead Of A Sudden Ending. In 1980 The Single Was Released Through EMI With A New Simulated Stereo Mix. It Was This Version That Was Again Reissued In 1982. The 1982 Mix Entitled "Being Boiled Re-Boiled Mix " Peaked At #6 On The UK Charts. The Original Version Of The Song Appears On The 2003 Greatest Hits Album The Very Best Of The Human League. The 1982 Remix Appears On 1988's Greatest Hits. Holiday '80 In 1979 The Human League Having Signed To Virgin Records Re-Recorded "Being Boiled" For Their Holiday '80 Double Single. This Release Flopped And A Normal One-Disc Single Was Hurriedly Put Out. This Reached Number 56 And The Band Were Asked To Appear On Top Of The Pops An Unusual Request By The Programme Which Usually Only Featured Top 40 Acts. Other Versions In 2003 Richard X Recorded Being Nobody A Mashup Of "Being Boiled" And Liberty X's Version Of "Ain't Nobody". It Reached Number 3 In The British Charts. Beborn Beton Also Covered The Song On Their Album Concrete Ground. KMFDM Covered This Song On Their Album 'Blitz'.
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Biography - The Human League
The Human League Is An English Synthpop Band Formed In 1977. Originally A Minimal Post-Punk Synthesiser-Based Group From Sheffield UK They Became One Of The Most Successful New Wave Acts Of The 80s. The Only Consistent Band Member Is Vocalist And Songwriter Phil Oakey. The Band's Best Known Configuration Was Their 1980-1985 Lineup Of Phillip Oakey Vocals Joanne Catherall Vocals Susanne Sulley Vocals Phillip Adrian Wright Keyboards Jo Callis Guitar Keyboards And Ian Burden Bass . Martyn Ware And Ian Craig Marsh Were Both Working As Computer Programmers In 1977 And Combined A Love Of Pop Music Such As Glam Rock And Tamla Motown With Avant Garde Electronic Music. They Acquired A Roland System 100 Synthesizer And Began To Create Music In Their Own Rehearsal Facility. Initially They Formed A Group Called The Dead Daughters Which Then Became The Future With Adi Newton On Vocals. Newton Was Soon Dismissed And Left To Form The Outfit Clock DVA. Ware And Marsh Searched For A Vocalist But Their First Choice Glenn Gregory Who Would Be The Lead Singer Of Their Later Band Heaven 17 Was Unavailable. Ware Instead Decided To Invite Philip Oakey An Old School Friend And A Hospital Porter At The Time To Join The Band "apparently By Leaving A Note Stuck To His Door". Oakey Accepted The Invitation Despite Never Having Been In A Band Before. Shortly After They Decided To Call Themselves The Human League. A Collection Of Demos From This Period Was Released On CD In 2002 Titled The Golden Hour Of The Future Compiled By Richard X. The Original Lineup Of The Human League Debuted In 1978 With The Single "Being Boiled" A Dark Synth Track That Would Later Become Extremely Influential On Later Industrial Musicians Namely Trent Reznor Of The Nine Inch Nails . This Single And It's Follow-Up "Empire State Human" Were Modest Sucesses However The Group's Albums - 1979's "Reproduction" And 1980's "Travelogue" - Did Not Sell. This Caused A Rift In The Band And In 1980 Ian Marsh And Martyn Ware Left The Group. Following The Split Of The Original Line-Up Phillip Adrian Wright Their Live Slide Projectionist Fully Joined The Group And Oakey & Himself Released Another Flop Single "Boys And Girls". In Order To Fulfil Their European Tour Commitments They Recruited Bass Player Ian Burden And Fronted The Band With Two Singers Susanne Sulley And Joanne Catherall Schoolgirls Whom They Had Met In A Sheffield Nightclub And Managed To Complete The Tour. In 1981 Virgin Records Paired Them With Former Stranglers Producer Martin Rushent And The First Result Was The Single "The Sound Of The Crowd" Which Saw Them At Last Achieve Success In The Singles Chart. Guitarist Jo Callis Formerly Of The Rezillos Was Now Recruited To The Band And With Rushent At The Helm The Human League Recorded Their Most Successful Album To Date "Dare!". It Achieved Huge Success Fuelled By Its Further Hit Singles "Open Your Heart" "Love Action" And Most Famously "Don't You Want Me" Which Reached Number One In The UK Charts During The Christmas Of 1981 And Was One Of The Biggest Selling Singles Of That Year And It Also Charted At Number One In The US During The Summer Of 1982. These Three Releases Were Accompanied By Striking Promo Videos "Love Action" Based On The Movie The Graduate . During Their Dare! Phase The Human League Were Often Associated With The New Romantic Movement. The Band Also Had A Number Of Other Hits But Their Success Faded Towards The Mid-1980s. Arguably One Problem Was The Length Of Time The Band Took To Make A Record. Dare! Was Followed By The Six-Song EP Fascination! Featuring Hit Singles "Mirror Man" And "Fascination" As A Stopgap And It Took Three Years To Release A Full-Length Follow-Up Album "Hysteria". In 1985 Outside Of The Human League Oakey Scored A Huge Hit Single In Collaboration With One Of His Idols Synth Pioneer Giorgio Moroder With The Single "Together In Electric Dreams" Taken From The Film Soundtrack To Electric Dreams. The Pair Proceeded To Record An Entire Album For Virgin Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder But This Met With Rather Less Success. In 1986 The Group Found Themselves In Creative Stagnation Struggling To Record Material To Follow Up On Their Previous Success. Key Songwriter Jo Callis Departed Replaced By Drummer Jim Russell And Virgin Paired The League Up With Cutting-Edge American R&B Producers Jimmy Jam And Terry Lewis. The Result Was The "Crash" Album. The Album Featured Much Material Written By Jam And Lewis' Team And Showcased Their Distinctive DX7-Led Sound Making It Quite A Departure From Previous Human League Material. It Did Provide An American Number One Single "Human" But Other Singles Made Smaller Chart Impact. The Following Tour Saw Keyboardist Neil Sutton Join The Line-Up And Also Keyboardist/guitarist Russell Dennett. Since 1990 Their Resident Engineer On And Off Stage Has Been David Beevers. Following Dennett's Departure In 1996 Nic Burke Has Been His Replacement For Live Work Since 2001. The Human League Released A New Album Credo In March 2011.
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16 Similar Artists To The Human League - Frogtoon Music
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"Being Boiled" is a song written by Sheffield musicians Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, with lyrics by Philip Oakey, and recorded by them as The Human League. It is notable as one of the first pieces of electronic pop music produced in the UK. It was first released as a single in 1978 on the Fast Product label, and although failing to chart, was influential amongst other new wave and post-punk artists. After the The Human League's commercial success, the single was re-released in 1982 (this time through EMI), reaching Number 6 in the Charts.
The song was later re-recorded by the band for their Holiday '80 EP, which reached number 56 in 1980 and number 46 in 1982. It was also on their 1980 Travelogue album.
Track listing
7" Single (1978 Fast Product Release)
1. "Being Boiled" (3:45)
2. "Circus of Death" (4:47)
Holiday '80 7" (Virgin Records Release)
1. "Being Boiled" (4:22)
2. "Marianne" (3:17)
3. "Dancevision" (2:22)
1982 Virgin Re-Issue
1. "Being Boiled" (4:22)
2. "Circus of Death" (3:55)
Style
Being Boiled was one of the first singles to use entirely electronic instruments and is strikingly different and darker from the group's more well known songs [1].
It has a strong bassline, inspired by Bootsy Collins. The lyrics (described as "Bizarre" and "confused"[2]) combine a protest against silk farming with vague material about oriental religion - ("Listen to the voice of Buddha/saying stop your sericulture").
Origin
The song's music predates Philip Oakey's joining the band. The Future, a band comprising Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, had just parted company with singer Adi Newton, later of Clock DVA. They needed a new singer and contacted former schoolmate Philip Oakey, giving him the music to listen to. Two days later he was back, having written the lyrics. Ware and Marsh liked them (and him), and the song was born.
The track was recorded on a domestic tape recorder in an abandoned factory, at a cost of £2.50.
Fast Product release
Fellow Sheffield musician Paul Bowers (of the band 2.3) like the song and passed a copy to Fast Product label manager Bob Last, who had just released 2.3's first single. Last released it in June 1978, the sleeve bearing the slogan "Electronically Yours".
A press release was put out by Fast Product on computer paper - at the time a novel idea. It read, in part:
"The League would like to positively affect the future by close attention to the present, allying technology with humanity and humour. They have been described as 'Later Twentieth Century Boys' and 'Intelligent, Innovatory and Immodest'."
Also included in the release were a cassette of demo recordings and a sticker bearing the "Electronically Yours" slogan.
Reception
The song received a mixed reception among established artists of the time. David Bowie declared it to be "the future of music", but former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon, reviewing the single for the New Musical Express, dismissed the band as "trendy hippies". Peter York in Harper's and Queen cited the cover as an example of "post-modern packaging".[4]
The song has become an influence on several musicians. Vince Clarke stated that the song was his favorite record and inspired him to form Depeche Mode [5]. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails also lists the song as an influence on his group's sound.
Reissues
The song appears on the band's second album Travelogue. This is the Holiday 80 version, except for the end, which has an echoing fade instead of a sudden ending.
In 1980 the single was released through EMI with a new simulated stereo mix. It was this version that was again reissued in 1982.
The 1982 mix, entitled "Being Boiled (Re-Boiled mix)" peaked at #6 on the UK charts.
The original version of the song appears on the 2003 greatest hits album The Very Best of the Human League. The 1982 remix appears on 1988's Greatest Hits.
Holiday '80
In 1979 The Human League, having signed to Virgin Records, re-recorded "Being Boiled" for their Holiday '80 double single. This release flopped, and a normal one-disc single was hurriedly put out. This reached number 56 and the band were asked to appear on Top of the Pops, an unusual request by the programme, which usually only featured top 40 acts.
Other versions
In 2003 Richard X recorded Being Nobody, a mashup of "Being Boiled" and Liberty X's version of "Ain't Nobody". It reached number 3 in the British charts.
Beborn Beton also covered the song on their album Concrete Ground.
KMFDM covered this song on their album 'Blitz'. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
"Travelogue" Is The Second Full-Length Studio Album Released In 1980 By British Synthpop Band "The Human League". The Band At This Point Had Yet To Achieve Any Degree Of Commercial Success. For This Album They Worked With A New Producer Richard Mainwaring Who The Next Year Would Produce "Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark's" Platinum Selling "Architecture & Morality". However "Travelogue" Did Not Sell Well Reaching #16 On The UK Album Chart In May 1980 And Tired Of Commercial Disappointment It Precipitated The Departure Of Founding Band Members Martyn Ware And Ian Craig Marsh. The Album Included A Cover Of An Advertising Jingle For "Gordon's Gin" Written By Jeff Wayne Famous For His "War Of The Worlds" Album . Virgin Records Remastered And Re-Issued "Travelogue" On CD In 1988 With An Expanded Track Listing Which Included The "Holiday '80" EP The Disco Single "I Don't Depend On You" Originally Released Under The Moniker "The Men" And The Single "Boys And Girls" Which Had Been Produced By Oakey And Wright After The Line-Up Split.
Published: 04 Apr 2009, 08:16
"Travelogue" Is The Second Full-Length Studio Album Released In 1980 By British Synthpop Band "The Human League". The Band At This Point Had Yet To Achieve Any Degree Of Commercial Success. For This Album They Worked With A New Producer Richard Mainwaring Who The Next Year Would Produce "Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark's" Platinum Selling "Architecture & Morality". However "Travelogue" Did Not Sell Well Reaching #16 On The UK Album Chart In May 1980 And Tired Of Commercial Disappointment It Precipitated The Departure Of Founding Band Members Martyn Ware And Ian Craig Marsh. The Album Included A Cover Of An Advertising Jingle For "Gordon's Gin" Written By Jeff Wayne Famous For His "War Of The Worlds" Album . Virgin Records Remastered And Re-Issued "Travelogue" On CD In 1988 With An Expanded Track Listing Which Included The "Holiday '80" EP The Disco Single "I Don't Depend On You" Originally Released Under The Moniker "The Men" And The Single "Boys And Girls" Which Had Been Produced By Oakey And Wright After The Line-Up Split.