Lets Do The Time Warp Again Part Two

"Since I was very young I've realized I never wanted to be human size

So I avoid the crowds and traffic jams,they just remind me of how small I am

Because of this longing in my heart I'm gonna start the growing art

I'm going to grow now and never stop think like a mountain,grow to the top

Tall,tall,tall,I want to be tall,tall,tall as big as a wall,wall,wall

Because I'm not tall,tall,tall,tall,tall,tall,tall,tall

W/ concentration my size increased and now I'm fourteen stories high at least

Empire State Human,just a bored kid I 'll go to Egypt to be the pyramids"

Empire State Human- Human League

My love of the Human League goes back some 30 years,I remember seeing them for the very first time on "Top Of The Pops" the weekly Top 40 show on tv which back then b4 MTV and You Tube was one of the few places to see bands on tv.

Maybe it was Phil Oakey's asymmetric hair style(I wanted to grow my hair like him soooo badly it's not even funny!!)maybe it was the sight of Joanne and Susan Ann singing and dancing to "The Sound Of The Crowd" or maybe it was the infectious dance groove of that song but whatever it was I was hooked and promptly rushed out that weekend to either HMV or Our Price and picked up the 12'' mix, and as was my won't back then turned my fathers living room into my own private dance club when he wasn't around to yell at me for "looking like some sort of feckin ejit" as I got my 80's groove on!!

"Open Your Heart" and "Love Action" followed b4 the release of "Dare" quite possibly one of THE QUINTESSENTIAL ALBUMS OF THE ENTIRE 80'S,yes I went there! and have been going there for 30 years now,it's just such a great album and a staple on my ipod for the past few years.

While "Don't You Want Me" was not the track I would've selected as a 4th single "Things That Dreams Are Made Of"' would've been a far better choice the record label must've known something as it gave The Human League not only their first ever #1 but also the coveted Xmas #1 that year,I remember going to see them at the Finsbury Park Rainbow on the Sunday nite b4 the new Top 40 was released the following Tuesday lunchtime and still recall doing a jig when it was revealed that "Don't You Want Me" had gone to #1.

Looking to cash in on the success of "Dare" Virgin Records then began to reissue old Human League songs from the bands previous line up,I hadn't been "hip" enough to hear "Reproduction" or "Travelogue" when they were released in 79 and 80 but now I was able to discover how awesome they were,I also discovered original Ultravox w/ John Foxx on vocals after he left and went solo and Midge Ure took over as lead singer

As awesome as "Dare" is there's a timeless quality to the first two Human League cd's....or albums as we called them back then,I would've loved to have seen that line up of the band live.

While they've never scaled the heights of "Dare" w/ the possible exception of 82's "Love And Dancing"(a dance mix of Dare) the one thing I can say about The Human League is that w/ each album "Hysteria""Crash""Romantic""Octopus""Secrets" and "Credo" they have always produced a couple of note worthy track per album,just look at Friday's set list from the show in New York and you'll see the likes of:Never Let Me Go, Heart Like A Wheel,Lebanon,Egomaniac

Night People,Human,All I Ever Wanted, Tell Me When,Mirror Man,Keep Feeling Fascination,and Together In Electric Dreams,not to mention pre "Dare" numbers Empire State Human and Being Boiled.

I'd be lying if I said I was a tad disappointed that ''Dare" standouts "Seconds" and "Things That Dreams Are Made Of"' didn't make the set list but it was hard to be disappointed by such a great show,if you'd have told me in December 81 at the "Dare" tour that 30 years later not only would The Human League still be putting out albums but also playing live I'm not sure I'd have believed that but there they were in the flesh right in front of me.

Joanne and Susan Ann are sexier now then they were back in 81 and thanks to the fact Phil Oakey has now shaved his head means 30 years after first seeing him on "Top Of The Pops" singing "Sound Of The Crowd" we now share the same hair style!!!

Given there was a 10 year gap from "Secrets" to "Credo" it'll be interesting to see when the next Human League cd and tour happen but best believe if there's another tour I'll be there,New Romantics never get old......we just have 401k's now!