November 22, 1986
A song which well represented the synth-pop sound that dominated the music charts through most of eighties began a solo week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Human, by the UK electro-pop trio Human League, ended a two-week run at the top by the power-pop ballad Amanda from rock band Boston, only to be overtaken by Bon Jovi‘s You Give Love A Bad Name a week later on November 29th.
For their second single to hit the peak, Human League followed a similar successful formula used four years earlier on their #1 million seller Don’t You Want Me, by alternating infidelity-based spoken dialog between male band member Phillip Oakey and one of two females in the group, Joanne Catherall (The other member was Susan Ann Sulley).
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To end the gap between chart-toppers, the band’s label, Virgin Records, had brought in highly touted songwriters/producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis to work on the fifth HL album Crash.
Jam and Lewis – who had already gained notoriety for their work on the successful album Control by Janet Jackson – produced ‘Human’ – with Lewis additionally co-writing the song.
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[Note] Some audio song files may not play on smartphones, tablets or connected devices. A laptop, desktop PC or Mac may be required for optimal enjoyment.
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HUMAN
Human League
(Single Version)
[1986]
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AMANDA
Boston
[1986]
I rarely include a second charted song with an #OnThisDay post, but I’m doing so here because: 1) I love the band, 2) I love this song and 3) My daughter’s name is Amanda (whom I also love).
After great classic rock hits from Tom Scholz and Boston like More Than A Feeling (1976 • #5), Long Time (1977 • #22), Peace Of Mind (1977 • #38) and Don’t Look Back (1978 • #4) for Epic, eight years later the boys from Beantown were recording for MCA and scored their biggest hit single, from their third album Third Stage.
Boston would hit the Billboard Top 10 one more time in early 1987 with another track from ‘Third Stage’ called We’re Ready (#9).
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BONUS TRACK!
HUMAN
Human League
(Instrumental B-side of Human)
[1986]
Here’s the scarce, rarely heard B-side of ‘Human’ – the instruments-only track of the recording. If you like the heavily synthesized sound of the 80’s you’ll enjoy this.
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Songs Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits, Inc.
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat
