Exploring The Human League & Don’t You Want Me | New British Canon
The Human League were revolutionary. Taking the anyone can play guitar sentiment of punk and applying it to a newly affordable array of synthesisers, in the late seventies the band pioneered the idea of fully electronic-pop in Britain, like a Yorkshire version of Kraftwerk. But then half the band left and the remaining members, their singer and slide projectionist, managed to pick up the pieces and conquer the world, with a focus on image that foresaw the future of pop. Their fourth single from 1981’s Dare was half cheesy synth-duet half vicious dissection of male ego, and arguably the first international synth-pop mega hit. And the band couldn’t stand it. This is New British Canon, and this is the story of “Don’t You Want Me”.
#thehumanleague #synthpop #musicdocumentary
Fact-checking by Chad Van Wagner.
00:00 Introduction
00:49 The Origins of The Human League Mk I
09:03 Here Comes The Human League Mk II
13:45 The Creation of Dare
19:16 Creating Don’t You Want Me
25:50 The Lasting Legacy of The Human League
Soundtrack
Luar – Citrine (https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
Jesse Gallagher – The Golden Present
Luar – Anchor (https://soundcloud.com/luarbeats)
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Synth Britannia (2009) dir. Benjamin Whalley
A Very British Synthesizer Group Liner Notes by David Buckley, 2016, Virgin Records
Top of The Pops: The Story Of 1981 (2016) dir. Matt O’Casey
“Human League: The Humour League Have Not Broken Up” Giovanni Dadomo, Sounds, Dec 1979
“Human League: The Kids Are Alright” Ronnie Gurr, Record Mirror, May 1980
“The Human League: Very Ordinary People With Very Odd Tastes” David Hepworth, Smash Hits, Jul 1980
“LADIES, GENTS, ANDROIDS, MUTANTS & BIOTRONS A BIG HAND For The Human League” Charles Shaar Murray, NME, Jul 1980
“Human League: Half A League Onward” Betty Page, Sounds, Mar 1981
“Amateur Power” Ian Cranna, Smash Hits, May 1981
“The Human League: In the Battle for Gallactic Supremacy — Humans Beleaguered” Charles Shaar Murray, NME, May 1981
“The Human League: Beautiful Dreamers” Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, Aug 1981
“TRUE, DARE KISS OR PROMISE” Lynn Hanna, NME, Oct 1981
“The Big League” Ian Birch, Smash Hits, Oct 1981
“The Human League: A Soap Opera” Mark Cooper, Record Mirror, Oct 1981
“The Human League: Human Nature” Dave Rimmer, Smash Hits, Dec 1981
“Human League in the Studio” Tony Bacon, Electronics & Music Maker, Apr 1982
“The Human League – Feature“ Charles Shaar Murray, Vogue, May 1982
“The Human League Wants You“ Betsy Sherman, Boston Rock, May 1982
“Human League et al: Synth-Pop” J.D. Considine, Musician, Aug 1982
“The Human League: Phil Oakey’s Five Minute Plan” Paul Morley, NME, Jan 1983
“Happy Days?” Ian Birch, Smash Hits, May 1983
“The Human Side of Phil Oakey” Nancy Culp. Record Mirror, Sep 1986
“Human League: Dynasty!” Tom Hibbert, Q Magazine, Feb 1987
“The Human League: Didn’t We Used To Be The Human League?” Stuart Maconie, Q Magazine, Feb 1995
“Sympathy For The Devil” Eric Weisbard, Spin Magazine, Feb 1996
“Human Remains: The Human League” Paul Lester, The Guardian, Jul 2001
“The Human League: Are Friends Electro?” David Stubbs, Uncut, Sep 2001
“The Human League – Don’t You Want Me” Tom Ewing, Popular Number Ones, Feb 2009
“Classic Tracks: Human League ‘Don’t You Want Me’” Richard Buskin, Sound on Sound, Jul 2010
“Our album was great because we recorded it in same studio and at the same time as our main rivals, The Human League, admits Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17” Billy Sloan, The Daily Record, Sep 2010
“This Is Phil (And Jo And Sue) Talking: The Human League Being Grilled” John Doran, The Quietus, Feb 2011
“Hey Mr* Songwriter: Don’t You Want Me” Mark Blake, Q Magazine, Aug 2012
“Human League and the making of the ‘Dare’ album“ Neil Mason, Louder Than War, Oct 2012
“Greatest No. 1s In History” – Gavin Haynes et al, NME, Dec 2012
“Classic Album: Dare The Human League” Andy Jones, Classic Pop, Apr 2014
“A League… A Gentleman” Ian Peel, Classic Pop, Dec 2014
“Forget 1966, because 1981 was pop’s year of revolution” Bob Stanley, The Guardian, Dec 2015
“The Human League – 10 of the best” Ian Wade, The Guardian, Aug 2016
“Dare To Be Different” Paul Lester, Mojo Magazine, Nov 2016
“The Human League’s Radical Future” Molly Lambert, MTV, Jan 2017
“The 100 greatest UK No 1s: No 7, The Human League – Don’t You Want Me” Luke Turner, The Guardian, May 2020
“The Number Ones: The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me”” Tom Breihan, Stereogum, Jun 2020
“‘I never worked in a cocktail bar’: How the Human League made Don’t You Want Me” Dave Simpson, The Guardian, Dec 2021
““You’ve ruined the song!”: The bust-ups, bickering, tantrums and tech that made The Human League’s Don’t You Want Me an ’80s anthem” Daniel Griffiths, Music Radar, Dec 2024
@TrashTheory
April 30, 2026 at 5:05 am
Every now and then I get people asking for a playlist of every song mentioned in my videos: Well here's a Apple Music link for this one:
https://music.apple.com/gb/playlist/dont-you-want-me/pl.u-jV89BVkCDPVqAbe
and the YouTube Music one:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLooaZ33lSaleUfWJymJSpaVZL4fOGZEqy&si=hfj3Qp-fB18SjMoO
@BrianStDenis-pj1tq
April 30, 2026 at 5:05 am
There is a lot to like about Human League. I appreciate the interviews with Phil and the girls. He comes off very humble. I also like that both Pet Shop Boys and HL used the same Linn drum machine. The PSBs are a favorite of mine also. It's hard to be alternative and popular, and that happened to HL. They wanted to be more alternative, yet became #1 hit record makers. Can't have it both ways I suppose. Plenty of bands are alternative but not popular and we don't make videos of them 45 years later.
@watchwatchingone
April 30, 2026 at 5:05 am
I remember the moment I realized that I had found my music. I must have been like 8 years old. One day I heard Don't you want me baby? At that moment I realized why I disliked all the music around me. I had found my future my time coming.
@BoltUpChargersLA
April 30, 2026 at 5:05 am
The song "Human" by the Human League is my all time favorite song 😊
@RJL-1968-Marlow
April 30, 2026 at 5:05 am
Dare was the soundtrack to my teenage years, and it’s still my favourite album. Love Phil’s honesty.
@nw8000
April 30, 2026 at 5:05 am
Met Susan in a supermarket in Sheffield a few years ago
@masterpep7218
April 30, 2026 at 5:05 am
Bless you.
@basic_chain
April 30, 2026 at 5:05 am
I dont have much to say but Travelogue is such an underrated album, not a single dull song on the whole thing ❤
@mr.pavone9719
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Looking at Oakey I feel like he's a big inspiration for Marilyn Manson's stage look.
@DukesMusic84
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Those early Human League records have aged well and still sound fresh. on the American side another record that did a lot to shape the synth sound was Remote Control by the Tubes produced by Todd Rundgren. Banger after banger
@Pincer88
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
I just love how you make the music I loved as a young adolescent and the entire era come alive again.
Back in the late 1970ies and '80ies much that landed on our Dutch shores from Britain was so strange and exciting at the same time. I was not aware that in those days, Britain lived through multiple economic crises and societal uproar, but now it appears to me that the more miserable Brits feel, the more innovative and enticing British pop music became. So much seems to have been coming from the gut of the artists. And yet, there was often this sparkle of defiance, love of the absurd and humor in it as well. Something that to this day sets British pop, punk and metal apart and made it world class, that still manages to move me to this day.
Cheers from a grateful, 59 year old anglophile!
@originalsusser
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
I fucken loved Fade To Grey. At the time not a single friend thought anything of it. In fact most hated it. One mate of Greek origin called the band Vishish. Apparently a derogatory mix of their name and Greek for fart.
@rupertfergusson
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Their actual worst song
@marguskiis7711
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Their no drums politics did not last long, they hired Jim Russell already 1982.
@marguskiis7711
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Actually Bob Last managed both League and 17 and coordinated the work both bands. He hired both Burden and Callis too. Bob was a superb mid level director but his financial skills were pretty poor and the bands got very little money from Virgin where Branson was a master of manipulation.
@nicholasromig5506
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
their "trainwreckord," as it were.
nice!
@neilrichardson7454
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Oakey was a busy man😂😂
@drnoir33
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Based on an analysis of Billboard HOT 100 charts from Sept 1981 to Dec 1984, Don't You Want Me was the #1 song of the Second British Invasion. If anyone is interested in learning more, I can link to the video and essays. 🙂
@jongabso9498
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Crash is a brilliant record and Human is my favorite Human League song by miles! I really despise the depiction of that album as a nadir. However…
Yeah it's probably true that Jam & Lewis's production is the entire reason why that record is good and the band themselves are karaokeing their own songs over their sound. Still, brilliant
@speavy
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
I thought it was HOTEL BAR!!!!!
@kojikicklighter371
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
I wasn't a big fan of Human League, but I loved the EP of Fascination, which I wore out on a mix tape I made, which also included an EP of Robert Plant's underrated cover of You Are in My System.
@ReverendHowl
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee?
@4Mr.Crowley2
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
As a kid in America in 1981 I can’t even express the wonderment of hearing “don’t you want me” for the first time and then watching the video at every opportunity on the fledgling mtv. I still adore British new wave!!!
@Zagneek
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Reproduction, Travelogue and Dare are 3 superb lps – Dare is pretty much flawless though I do agree with the them that “Don’t you want me” is a bit cheesy and feels slightly at odds with the rest of the Dare lp.🙂
@montybrewster7
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Awesome as always TT. I'd been waiting for you to do a vid on the human league, a job well done sir. Thank you.
@michaelajohnston7760
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Love is All That Matters is an underrated banger by them
@marcelbekker2613
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
She was never a waitres ???? Yeah right ,, and Freddie mercury never killed a man I suppose .
@vampin6
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Yeah. They was huge until MTV came out and people just hated on them. MTV tried to curb pop music to rock like Bruce Springsteen and Aerosmith and like heavy metal. People had a hard time with heavy metal after new wave.
@merlijnwiersma7801
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Lies told in a song… In a probably very unpopular opinion, I always think the whole story told in 'Sultans of Swing' by the Dire Straits isn't a real story, as Marc Knopfler wants us to believe.
But as it is a great piece of music I would love to be proven wrong!😊
@karenrogers9985
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Ditch the AI.
@shaunrickerby8153
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
Tha ks for this great video. I left the UK in Oct 82 and came to Canada. Human League did… and does… make me homesick. Seen them twice in recent years. Absolutely wonderful.
@jerry2357
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
You should have mentioned the fantastic cover by Sheffield's Everly Pregnant Brothers: "Dunt Tha Want Mi".
@roskes
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
❤❤❤❤❤
@Tebanovich
April 30, 2026 at 5:06 am
It would´ve been nice if you´d referenced "The Lebanon", which I regard as one of their best songs, from the Hysteria album no less. I mean, in my opinion that song showcases their musical reach as it features actual and very well-accomplished guitar and bass alongside the synths. In any case, I truly enjoy your videos. They´re very well researched and put together, thank you!
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