Dare! 2007!

So the dates have been announced for the annual December Human League UK tour. But this year there is a twist. According to Electronically Yours they will perform Dare! in it's entirety! A. May. Zing.

This album has been a favourite of mine ever since my 12 year old mitts got a copy for Christmas. I played it day in and day out during my formative years and like any album held in such fond regard, it has become as recognisable to me as my own name. As a not yet fully-formed gayer, the androgeny of Phil with his make-up and Miss Selfridge clothes and the girls themselves, with their Boots No.7 make-up, were a perfect the combination to me. The design of the gatefold sleeve with its nod to the design of Vogue and tracks recorded using only synths and drum machines, meant that the album held weight and would stand up as the classic it has become.

I've seen the band live many times, and although they've never professed to being singers, they've never been dull and always entertaining. The girls will do at least five costume changes (Susanne's influence methinks) and if they slip up vocally, they will apologise and move on. Or in the case of Joanne, when she came in a bar too soon with a booming, off-key "Norman!" for the middle eight of Things That Dreams Are Made Of, they'll chastise themselves with a Yorksire tinged "Fookin' Hell" and move on.

Shhh! If we don't say anything, people might not realise Dare! is 26 years old...

They're playing Hammersmith Apollo in London on December 1st and around the country before and after. The dates are also on Electronically Yours' post, (scroll down to 21.06.07).

The first track on the album is this one. With the oblique lyrics and the backing track made to dance to, it's the epitomy of the Human League sound.
The Things That Dreams Are Made Of - The Human League (mp3 Download)