"Open Your Heart" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by The Human League | ||||
from the album Dare | ||||
B-side | "Non-Stop" | |||
Released | 2 October 1981 | |||
Recorded | Genetic Studios, Reading, England | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:56 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Songwriter(s) | Philip Oakey, Jo Callis | |||
Producer(s) | Martin Rushent | |||
The Human League singles chronology | ||||
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"Open Your Heart" is a song by the British synth-pop group The Human League. It was released as a single in the UK in October 1981 and peaked at number six in the UK singles chart. It was written jointly by lead singer Philip Oakey and keyboard player Jo Callis. The song features a lead vocal by Oakey and female backing vocals by Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall, analogue synthesizers by Jo Callis, Philip Adrian Wright and Ian Burden. Drum machines, sequencing and programming were provided by producer Martin Rushent.
"Open Your Heart" was the third song from the Human League's 1981 Dare album. It was chosen by Virgin Records executive Simon Draper to be Dare's taster single, deliberately issued just three weeks in advance of the album. It quickly reached number six on the UK singles chart and raised the band's profile to the highest it had been to that point, and acted as a powerful promotional vehicle for the album. The cover artwork and promotional video was deliberately coordinated with its parent album. [3]
It was the first Human League record sleeve to feature new band member Jo Callis, who co-wrote the song with Phil Oakey and who also wrote the B-side "Non-Stop" with Adrian Wright. In an interview in October 2009 Callis said, "I had started to work out both those tunes on guitar, playing along to an early drum machine which had about six preset drum patterns, 'Open Your Heart' did translate better on the keyboard and I think we used the same drum machine with the same preset on the original demo which was done in the League's old 8 track studio in Sheffield". [4]
At the time, as a short-lived marketing tactic, The Human League were labeling their singles "Red" or "Blue" to help buyers differentiate between the band's musical styles. "Open Your Heart" was the first to be designated "Blue". When they were asked why, Susanne Sulley explained that "Red is for posers, for Spandy (Spandau Ballet) types." Oakey added: "Blue is for ABBA fans." [5]
Smash Hits magazine wrote at the time:
"You have to give the band their due. From being considered no-hopers, they're now Virgin's biggest (financial) hope. This is a number one. It's got everything – strong chorus, instant appeal and dreamboat topping." [6]
The single entered the UK singles charts at no. 21 on 6 October 1981. The band appeared on Top of the Pops the same week to perform the song. The following week it reached its no. 6 peak staying there for two consecutive weeks. The promo video rather than a repeat of the studio appearance was shown on Top of the Pops on 22 October by which time the parent album Dare had been released, entering the UK Albums Chart at no. 2.
"Non-Stop" is an upbeat instrumental track, written by Jo Callis and Philip Adrian Wright which was also remixed for the 12" release of "Open Your Heart". Unlike previous single B-side "Hard Times", it was not included on the 1982 remix album Love and Dancing .
The music video which accompanies the original version of "Open Your Heart" was the first video that the band recorded. Previous Human League (Mk1) releases had been promoted with footage of the band onstage, interspersed with Philip Adrian Wright's slides and visuals. The preceding single "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" had originally been released without a video, but one was later recorded for its U.S. release in 1982.
Virgin Records and Oakey were keen to use the video to promote the future album as much as the current single, so video director Brian Grant borrowed heavily from the album's imagery. The opening scene is a video montage of the portraits of the six band members exactly as they appear on the cover of the album. The band are all dressed and made up in the same style as Dare's photography. The video was shot in a studio on video tape and was mixed and enhanced using then cutting edge analogue video effects. Imagery of Oakey dominated most scenes, cut in with Sulley and Joanne Catherall dancing in slow motion and static shots of Wright, Callis and Ian Burden. The video ends with a lingering shot on the actual cover of the then-unreleased Dare.
Chart (1982) | Peak position |
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Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [7] | 12 |
Ireland (IRMA) [8] | 8 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [9] | 20 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [10] | 43 |
UK Singles (OCC) [11] | 6 |
The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album Dare in 1981 after restructuring their lineup. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit "Don't You Want Me". The band received the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act in 1982. Further hits followed throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, including "Mirror Man", "(Keep Feeling) Fascination", "The Lebanon", "Human" and "Tell Me When".
Crash is the fifth studio album by English synth-pop band the Human League, released on 8 September 1986 by Virgin Records. The album would provide the band with their second US number-one single, "Human", the same year. It was produced by the American production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who also wrote several tracks.
Philip Oakey is an English singer-songwriter who is the frontman and co-founder of the synth-pop band The Human League. Aside from the Human League, he has enjoyed an extensive solo music career and has collaborated with numerous other artists and producers.
Dare is the third studio album by English synth-pop band The Human League, first released in the United Kingdom in October 1981 and then subsequently in the US in mid-1982. The album was produced by Martin Rushent and recorded between March and September 1981, following the departure of founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, and saw the band shift direction from their previous avant-garde electronic style toward a more pop-friendly, commercial sound led by frontman Philip Oakey.
"Don't You Want Me" is a song by British synth-pop group the Human League. It was released on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from their third studio album, Dare (1981). The band's best known and most commercially successful song, it was the best selling UK single of 1981, that year's Christmas number one, and has since sold over 1,560,000 copies in the UK, making it the 23rd-most successful single in UK Singles Chart history. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the US on 3 July 1982, where it stayed for three weeks.
"(Keep Feeling) Fascination" is a song by English synth-pop band the Human League. It was composed by Jo Callis and Philip Oakey, and produced by Martin Rushent.
Joanne Catherall is an English singer who is one of two female vocalists in the English synth-pop band The Human League.
Hysteria is the fourth studio album by the English synth-pop band the Human League, released on 7 May 1984 by Virgin Records. Following the worldwide success of their previous studio album Dare (1981), the band struggled to make a successful follow-up and the sessions for Hysteria were fraught with problems. The album title itself is taken from the problematic recording period. Producers Martin Rushent and Chris Thomas both left the project which would eventually be finished by producer Hugh Padgham.
Octopus is the seventh full-length studio album recorded by the British synth-pop band The Human League. It was produced by the former Tears for Fears keyboard player Ian Stanley and released by EastWest Records in 1995. It was the first new album from The Human League in five years after the termination of their long-term contract with Virgin Records. Octopus was the first Human League album that presented the band as a trio consisting of the singers Philip Oakey, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley. The former Human League member Jo Callis and keyboard player Neil Sutton also contributed to the writing of the album.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the English synth-pop band The Human League, released on 31 October 1988 by Virgin Records. It contains 13 singles released by the band, spanning from their debut single to their most recent album at the time, as well as lead singer Philip Oakey's collaboration with Giorgio Moroder, "Together in Electric Dreams" (1984). The album reached No. 3 in the UK.
Susan Ann Sulley, formerly known as Susanne Sulley and Susan Ann Gayle, is an English singer. She is one of the two female vocalists in the synth-pop band The Human League, contributing co-lead vocals on the conflicting duet "Don't You Want Me" with the band's founding member and lead singer Philip Oakey.
"The Lebanon" is a song by English synth-pop band the Human League, released as a single in April 1984. Written jointly by lead singer Philip Oakey and keyboard player and guitarist Jo Callis, it was the first single from the band's fourth album Hysteria. It was recorded at AIR Studios during 1983–1984.
"Life on Your Own" is a song by English synth-pop band the Human League. Written jointly by lead singer Philip Oakey, keyboard players Jo Callis and Adrian Wright, it was recorded at AIR Studios during 1983–1984. Originally an album track on the band's fourth studio album Hysteria, it was then released as the second single from the album in the UK.
"Boys and Girls" is a song by the British synth-pop group The Human League. It was released as a stand-alone single in the UK in February 1981 and peaked at number 48 in the UK Singles Charts. It was written by lead singer Philip Oakey and the band's visual director / keyboard player Philip Adrian Wright.
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"Love Action (I Believe in Love)" is a song by the English synth-pop band the Human League, released as a single in the UK in July 1981. It became the band's first Top 10 success, peaking at number three in the UK singles chart.
"Mirror Man" is a 1982 song by the British synth-pop group The Human League. It was released as a single in the UK on 12 November 1982 and peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart. It was written jointly by lead singer Philip Oakey with keyboard players Jo Callis and Ian Burden, and produced by Martin Rushent.
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..."The Sound of the Crowd", peaked at #12 in the UK. The next two, "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" and "Open Your Heart", both went top-10. Suddenly, the Human League were new wave stars.