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"Being Boiled" | ||||
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Single by The Human League | ||||
from the album Travelogue | ||||
B-side | "Circus of Death" | |||
Released | 30 June 1978 [1] (Fast Product) August 1980 [2] (Fast Product re-release) | |||
Recorded | Sheffield, Yorkshire, England | |||
Genre | Synth-pop | |||
Length | 3:54 (original recording) 4:22 (Holiday '80/Travelogue re-recording) | |||
Label | Fast Product (1978 & 1982), Virgin (1980) | |||
Songwriter(s) | Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh | |||
Producer(s) | The Human League | |||
The Human League singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
"Being Boiled" is the debut single by the British synth-pop band the Human League. Composed by Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, with lyrics by Philip Oakey, it has been released several times since 1978, finally becoming a UK top ten hit in 1982.
"Being Boiled" 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.[ citation needed ] In 1987, this version was added as a bonus track to the CD edition of the band's debut album Reproduction .
The band recorded a new version as part of a session for the John Peel radio programme in the summer of 1978. The session was recorded 8 August 1978 and broadcast on 16 August. Among the four songs recorded, "Being Boiled" is the only one which has had an official release. [3]
A totally re-recorded version of "Being Boiled" was included on the band's Holiday '80 EP, which reached number 56 in 1980 and number 46 in 1982. This version was also included on their 1980 Travelogue album, and is also available on the Original Remixes and Rarities compilation album (2005). [4]
A stereo remix of the original mono Fast Product version was released as a single in August 1980 through EMI Records, failing to chart. This stereo remix was then reissued in January 1982, this time reaching Number 6 in the UK Charts, shortly after the band's commercial breakthrough with Dare and "Don't You Want Me". It was later included on their Greatest Hits anthology released in 1988. It has also been released on subsequent greatest hits albums.
The song has also been covered by KMFDM on their 2009 album Blitz.
7" single (1978 Fast Product release)
Holiday '80 EP (Virgin Records release)
1980 EMI release and 1982 EMI reissue
"Being Boiled" was one of the first mainstream British singles to use entirely electronic instruments, and is strikingly different from and darker than the group's more well known songs. [5]
It was influenced by Kraftwerk, German krautrock such as Can and Neu!, American funk bands Funkadelic and Parliament [6] and the attitudes of punk placed in a different context. [7]
It has a strong bassline, compared to Bootsy Collins. [7] The lyrics, described as "bizarre" and "confused", [8] combine a protest against silk farming with vague mention of oriental religion - ("Listen to the voice of Buddha/saying stop your sericulture"). In Japan, the sound of bells are referred to as "the voice of Buddha".
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. Needing a new singer, they contacted former schoolmate Philip Oakey, giving him the music to listen to. Two days later he was back, having written the lyrics. "That was the first thing I heard Phil do," Marsh recalled, "and I immediately thought, 'You've definitely got the job.'" [9]
The original version was recorded on a domestic tape recorder, in mono, in an abandoned factory, at a cost of £2.50. [10]
Fellow Sheffield musician Paul Bowers (of the band 2.3) liked the song and passed a copy to Fast Product label manager Bob Last, who had just released 2.3's first single ("All Time Low"/"Where To Now?"). Fast Product released "Being Boiled" 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:
Also included in the release were a cassette of demo recordings and a sticker bearing the "Electronically Yours" slogan.
The song received a mixed reception among established artists of the time. David Bowie declared it to be "the future of music", [7] 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". [11]
The song has become an influence on several musicians.[ citation needed ] Gary Numan has named it one of his favourite songs. [12] Andy McCluskey of OMD called it "a great piece of music". [13] Vince Clarke stated that the song was his favourite record and one of his inspirations in forming Depeche Mode.[ citation needed ]
The B-side, "Circus of Death", begins with the following spoken introduction by Phil Oakey:
"This is a song called "The Circus of Death". It tells the true story of a circus we met. The first two verses concern the actual arrival at Heathrow Airport of Commissioner Steve McGarrett. The third emotionally describes a map showing the range of the circus. The fourth and fifth were extracted from an article in The Guardian of March the 19th, 1962. The last is a short wave radio message from the last man on Earth."
The "McGarrett" referred to was a character from the television show Hawaii Five-O .
There are at least three versions of "Circus of Death": the first is the original Fast Product version, the second is a totally re-recorded version included on the Reproduction album, the third is a stereo remix of the original version (released as a B-side on the 1980 EMI issue of "Being Boiled").
The spoken-word introduction was taken from a live television broadcast by LWT continuity announcer Peter Lewis.
The original take was added as a bonus track on the Reproduction CD edition, although without a sample from the 1974 film Dark Star that marked the end of the vinyl version. The re-recorded Reproduction version contains a shorter and totally different spoken intro.
The stereo remix of the original version has not been issued on CD.
In early 1980, now signed to Virgin Records, the band re-recorded "Being Boiled" for their Holiday '80 double single. This release flopped, and a normal one-disc EP was hurriedly put out. This reached Number 56 and the band were asked to appear on Top of the Pops to perform their cover version of Rock 'n' Roll also featured on the single, an unusual request by the programme, which usually only featured Top 40 acts. Holiday '80 was later reissued in 1982 on the back of the band's success in 1981, reaching Number 46.
Heaven 17 are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of former Human League members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) with vocalist Glenn Gregory.
The Human League is 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".
Fast Product was an independent record label, established in Edinburgh by Bob Last, his partner, Hilary Morrison and Tim Pearce in December 1977. Its first release was also the first single by the Mekons, released on 20 January 1978.
Travelogue is the second full-length studio album released by British synth-pop group The Human League, released in May 1980. It was the last album with founding members Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, as they would leave to form Heaven 17 later that year.
Philip Oakey is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead singer, songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop band the Human League. Aside from the Human League, Oakey has enjoyed an extensive solo music career and has collaborated with numerous other artists and producers.
"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.
"Human" is a song by English synth-pop band the Human League, released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Crash (1986). The track, which deals with the subject of infidelity, was written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The song topped the charts of the United States, becoming the band's second single to top the Billboard Hot 100 after their 1981 single "Don't You Want Me". It also went to number one in Canada while reaching number five in Germany and number eight in the band's native United Kingdom.
Love and Dancing is a remix album by English synth-pop band The Human League, released in July 1982 by Virgin Records. Issued under the band name "The League Unlimited Orchestra" as a nod to Barry White's disco-era Love Unlimited Orchestra, the album was principally the idea and work of producer Martin Rushent and contains dub-style, largely instrumental remixes of songs from the band's multi-platinum selling album Dare (1981), along with a version of the track "Hard Times", which had originally been the B-side of the single "Love Action ". Rushent was inspired by hip hop turntablist Grandmaster Flash and created Love and Dancing on a mixing board. He created vocal effects by cutting up portions of the Dare tape and manually gluing them together. In total, over 2,600 edits feature on 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.
Reproduction is the debut studio album released by British synth-pop group The Human League. The album was released in 1979 through Virgin Records.
The Dignity of Labour is a 12" vinyl record released in 1979. The tracks were written and performed by The Human League featuring a line-up of Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh and Phil Oakey. It was released as the follow-up to their earlier single "Being Boiled" on Fast Product Records, the label that the band released their early singles.
The Very Best of the Human League is a greatest hits compilation by British band The Human League. It was released in the UK on 15 September 2003 and went into the UK album charts at #24.
"Together in Electric Dreams" is a song by the British singer and composer Philip Oakey and Italian composer and producer Giorgio Moroder. It was written by Oakey and Moroder and recorded for the original soundtrack of the film Electric Dreams (1984). It later formed part of the joint album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder, released in 1985.
"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.
"The Sound of the Crowd" is a song by the British synth-pop group The Human League. It became the band's commercial breakthrough, reaching #12 on the UK Singles Chart in May 1981.
"I Don't Depend on You" is a disco-influenced song by the British synth-pop group the Human League released under the pseudonym The Men. It was released as a single in the UK in July 1979, but failed to chart. It was written by Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh; was produced by Colin Thurston and featured guest backing vocalists Katie Kissoon and Lisa Strike.
Holiday '80 is an EP released by the original line-up of the British synthpop band The Human League. The EP was issued in the UK by Virgin Records in April 1980, a month before the release of the band's second album Travelogue. The EP peaked at no. 56 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1980, but was later reissued and returned to the chart, peaking at no. 46 in February 1982.
The Golden Hour of the Future is a compilation album of recordings made by the electronic band the Future and early recordings by the original line-up of the Human League.
"Empire State Human" is a song by the British synth-pop group The Human League. The song was written by Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh. It was co-produced by The Human League and Colin Thurston, and recorded at Monumental Studios in Sheffield.
"Zerox" is an Adam and the Ants' stand-alone single written by Adam Ant. It was later included on the 1983 CBS reissue of the band's debut album Dirk Wears White Sox and as part of the bonus material on the 2004 Columbia Records Remaster. The line-up on this track include Dave Barbarossa on drums, Matthew Ashman on guitar & Andy Warren on bass guitar. The track has been included on the compilations Antics in the Forbidden Zone, Antmusic: The Very Best of Adam Ant, The Very Best Of Adam And The Ants, Antbox, The Essential Adam Ant & Stand & Deliver: The Very Best of Adam & the Ants.