#75: Love Action by Human League

City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFRA
Peak Month: April 1982
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 Singles ~ did not chart
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #3
Peak Position on Irish Singles chart ~ #11
Peak Position on Australian Singles chart ~ #12
YouTube: “Love Action”
Lyrics: “Love Action”

Human League was formed in 1977 and were originally named The Future. By early 1978 the band changed their name to Human League. Philip Oakley was co-founder and frontman for the band. He was born in 1955 in Leicestershire, England. He left school without finishing exams and worked at a university bookshop, and as a hospital orderly. Oakley’s former schoolmate Martyn Ware had already formed the band with Ian Marsh. Ware and Marsh were looking to get a new lead vocalist and Oakley agreed. In 1978, a non-album single titled “Being Boiled” was released. It climbed to #6 in the UK, and West Germany, #10 in Ireland, and #17 in Austria. Human League released their debut album, Reproduction, in 1979. A second album, Travelogue, was released in May 1980. Shortly after, Ware and Marsh left the band and later in 1980 formed new wave/synth-pop band Heaven 17. At the time of their departure, Human League was contracted to start a European tour the following week.

In 1980, Joanne Catherall (born in Sheffield in 1962) and Susan Ann Sulley (born in Sheffield in 1963) were at the Crazy Daisy Nightclub in Sheffield. Philip Oakley met them at the club and invited them to join Human League. Sulley was 17-years of age, and Catherall was 18. The parents of both the girls were unhappy with the idea and initially refused to give their consent. This was overturned reluctantly when Oakey, complete with his then trademark lop-sided haircut, red lipstick and high heeled shoes, visited both sets of parents to convince them that the girls would come to no harm. Catherall and Sulley’s school also agreed to the absence, as it was thought visiting Europe would be educational.

Session musician, Ian Burden, joined the band on tour. Burden joined the band in 1981, and was in the studio when they recorded the album Dare. In 1981, “Jo” Callis (born in Yorkshire in 1951) released a solo single, “Woah Yeah!”. He had been with the punk/new wave band the Rezillos. In 1981 Callis he joined both Boots for Dancing and the Human League. The band released a stand alone single in April 1981 titled “The Sound of the Crowd”. It reached #12 on the UK pop chart. It was subsequently included in Dare.

The next single release was “Love Action (I Believe In Love)”.

The song contains a cryptic reference to Lou Reed in the lyric, “I believe what the old man said”. Oakey, speaking in 1982 said, “no one ever asks me who the old man is… it’s Lou (Reed).” In the second verse, Oakley states “this is Phil talking.” This was inspired by Oakley listening to Iggy Pop’s song “Turn Blue” where Pop sings “Jesus, this is Iggy.”

At the time, music videos were rare, and Human League was not popular enough for Virgin Records to spend the money on a professionally made “Love Action” video. But after the huge success of “Don’t You Want Me”, a music video for “Love Action” was created ahead of the 1982 North American single release.

“Love Action” peaked at #3 in Ottawa, and charted in Houston (TX). Internationally, “Love Action” peaked at #3 on the UK singles chart, #11 in Ireland, #12 in Australia and #21 in New Zealand. “Love Action” was the 34th best-selling single in the UK in 1981. The song’s commercial success gave Virgin Records the confidence in Human League to proceed with the release of Dare four months after the April ’81 release of “Love Action (I Believe In Love)”.

“Love Action” was sampled in 1992 by the Utah Saints in their song “Something Good“.

The followup single release was “Open Your Heart”. It reached #6 in the UK, #8 in Ireland, #12 in Belgium, and #20 in the Netherlands.

However, Human League hit the heights with the release of “Don’t You Want Me”. In Canada, the single topped the pop charts in Hamilton (ON), Sherbrooke (PQ), Sydney (NS), Toronto, Vancouver, and Windsor (ON). Internationally, it reached number-one in Belgium, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, the UK and the Billboard Hot 100. It also cracked the Top Ten in another ten nations. At Britain’s 1982 Ivor Novello Awards, “Don’t You Want Me” received three nominations: The Best Pop Song (won by The Police for “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”); The Best Selling “A” Side (won by Adam Ant for “Stand and Deliver”); And for International Hit of the Year (won by Phil Collins for “In the Air Tonight”). At the 1982 Brit Awards Human League won in the Best Breakthrough Act category. At those same awards they were nominated in the British Album of the Year for Dare. However, they lost to Adam and the Ants’ Kings of the Wild Frontier.

Nonetheless, Dare topped the pop charts in Canada, New Zealand, Sweden, and the UK. It was also a strong seller in Australia, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the USA, and West Germany.

In 1982, Human League released the EP Fascination! The debut single was “Mirror Man”. It topped the pop charts in Ireland, and the Top Ten in the UK, Australia and Spain. Its best chart run in Canada was in Ottawa, while in the USA the single stalled at #30. This was followed by “(Keep Feeling) Fascination”, a Top Ten hit in over a half dozen countries in 1983, and a dozen cities in Canada.

In 1984, Hysteria was released. The debut single “The Lebanon” stalled at #11 in the UK and #64 in the USA. Two other tracks from the album, “Life on Your Own” and “Louise” also cracked the Top 20 in the UK, with the latter reaching #7 in Ireland. After the album, Jo Callis left Human League in 1985. In 1984, Oakley released a duet with Giorgio Moroder titled “Together In Electric Dreams”. The single cracked the Top 5 in Australia, Ireland, Luxembourg and the UK.

In 1986, the band released Crash. From the album came “Human” which topped the pop charts in Calgary, Edmonton (AB) and Montreal. It also topped the national pop charts in both Canada and the USA. After Crash, Ian Burden left the band in 1987. He released a solo album in 1990. In 2018, Burden released the second solo album Hey Hey Ho Hum. In between, Burden has performed as a session musician on various album releases for a number of recording acts.

In 1990, the band released Romantic. Jo Callis contributed to the album, but not as a returning bandmate. The Human League had reached the nadir of a decline in popularity following the success of Dare nine years prior. This fall from grace was reflected in the song “The Stars Are Going Out”, in which the band reflects upon their loss of fame and its impact on them. One music reviewer for the Telegram and Gazette (Worcester, MA) called a “pointless and bland filler.” Virgin Records ditched the song as a potential third single. The album was the worst chart performance in the UK since their debut album release in 1979.  After the album’s release Virgin Records ended the contract with Human League.

In 1995, Human League released Octopus on East West Records. Jo Callis again contributed to tracks on the album in the recording studio. The single, “Tell Me When” reached the Top Ten in Ireland, the Netherlands, Scotland, and the UK, stalling at #11 in Finland. It also topped the UK Airplay chart. A second single from the album, “One Man in My Heart” reached #7 in Scotland and #13 in the UK.

In 2001, the band released Secrets. While it received critical praise from music reviewers the album was a commercial flop. In 2011, Human League released its ninth studio album titled Credo. The band, consisting of Oakley, Catherall and Sulley, continues to tour.

September 24, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
Philip Oakley and Giorgio Moroder, “Together In Electric Dreams“, Virgin Records, 1984.
“Ask Phil Oakley,” NE Chronicler, UK, February 27, 2013.
“Phil Oakley Interview,” Metro, London, UK, October 27, 2009.
Kirsten Rawlins, “Los Angeles? I like living in Sheffield – Human League’s Susan Ann Sulley talks ahead of gig at Wolverhampton Racecourse,” Shropshire Star, Shropshire, UK. September 3, 2017.

CFRA -AM Ottawa Top Ten | April 16, 1982