So Phil Oakey said on the Human League song Human and handy it was too to know that he was not the kind of man-machine that his eerily synthesized music suggested he was. Eerily synthisized in the way that all crap things are eerie, redimentary knives and pots made by neanderthals which remind us that we have ancestors that were nothing more than animals. Now I am not suggesting that The Human League were cavemen compared to todays modern electronic music. One look at Moby and you will agree that he is as much of a genetic throwback as Oakey was, but looking at it from this angle – Phil’s claim for humanity might even be a boast.
He is, according to the song, “flesh and blood – a man”. Well it’s good to know he bleeds I suppose. But futhermore the other aspect of his humanity he seems to stress is his ability to make mistakes. Indeed he said he was “born to make mistakes”. Well at least he got that right. Being Boiled was a nice idea (if the idea was boiling the members of ver League), but as a song it was amistake. Don’t You Want Me always had the resounding answer of NO! round my gaff. And as for The Lebanon. If any song could be described a mistake, wrapped in a disaster hidden in a balls-up, it would be the Lebanon.
Which makes me wonder, if there were a real actual Human League, where would Phil Oakey be placed. Hmm, pretty low down I think. Possibly above Dave Gahan, for services to employing people who have no talent – oh – actually. I think all the musicians are clumped near the bottom, awaiting relegation.