Boys and Girls (The Human League song)

"Boys and Girls"
Single by The Human League
B-side	Tom Baker
Released	20 Feb 1981
Format	7" Vinyl Single
Recorded	Monumental Studios, Sheffield, England
Genre	Synthpop, new wave, dark wave
Length	3:14
Label	Virgin
Writer(s)	Philip Oakey, Philip Adrian Wright
Producer(s)	John Leckie
The Human League singles chronology
Only After Dark (1980) Boys and Girls (1981) Sound of the Crowd (1981)

"Boys and Girls" is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League. It was released as a 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.

It was the first single released by the new Human League line up of Oakey, Wright together with new teenage dancers Susanne Sulley (now called Susan Ann Sulley) and Joanne Catherall. The new line up formed after the acrimonious departure of Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh from the band four months earlier.

By late 1980 Oakey was deeply in debt to Virgin Records so both he and the label were keen that he release a single to start clearing that debt as early in 1981 as possible.

"Boys and Girls" was a song that had been used on the November 1980 European tour. On return from the tour it was recorded quickly and rushed out by Virgin Records in late February 1981.

At the time it was remarked on that Sulley and Catherall were missing from the song, after the mythology that had been started in the media about their recent recruitment to the band from the Crazy Daisy Nightclub four months earlier. This was because they had both returned to school full-time and "Boys and Girls" was originally written without any female vocals. Although both Sulley and Catherall do feature on the record sleeve artwork and publicity material.

NME commented:

Boys & Girls" is a cold, scary, uncomfortable effort with church bells, an operatic chorus, and, er, minimal contribution by 'Those Girls' (ie none)…"

With the benefit of hindsight critics now state that 'Boys and Girls' belongs to the earlier pre split Mk 1 Human League experimental electronic sound of Travelogue. It would be the last time that style was produced by the band as they evolved towards the Dare album sound within months.

External links

• Unofficial Human League Database