@@dpcrozier99 I _think_ he means that the original is superior, even though to some extent they were naïve young musicians playing with the unpredictable nature of early analogue synths, often happening upon new sounds simply by accident. The bold actions of young people - generally unconstrained by the norms that might restrict more experienced minds with more to lose, fosters innovation and new directions. Hence Being Boiled 1978.
I met Martyn backstage after a Heaven 17 gig, about 3 years ago. Everyone was after Glen, but Martin looked surprised when I approached him, and I told him I was a HL fan, and a fan of his. He was a complete gent, and I think he liked my little bit of limelight for him.
It is hard to describe but imagine hearing this in June 1978 within the context of pop music at the time. You had Bruce Springsteen "Darkness on the Edge of Town", Boston, Cars 1st lp, Van Halen 1...and this. It sounded like music from another solar system.
the snare that system 100 created is awesome in this clip intro. I attended the roundhouse performance of the first two albums, and really enjoyed it, I left feeling a bit sad about what those guys could have achieved if they hadn't split up. Reading about it all these years later I feel the record company drove a wedge between the two factors of the group, in serving their own ends.
There was nothing to stop them reuniting in the last few decades. Remember the 2008 Steel City tour on which both bands played but never collaborated. What a shame.
Back in the days,i used to go up for form room 1 wher we had access to a really powerful music system and played Being Boiled full blast and still get gooseys recalling those days at school and the mystery and awe of the Human League's awesome music.Not sure if new versions will appeal to the 'old crowd' but will certainly appeal to the new if honest.Must 've been out of this world to be in the group and stunning the world with such masterpieces All the best Alan.
"Can you imagine our surprise...when he started singing this shit". Funniest line ever! This man is brilliant, and the new mix is very good, though obviously nothing on the original.
I remember seeing Kraftwerk on Tomorrow's World with a bit of Autobahn. The Human League and Kraftwerk were pioneers. It's difficult to envisage another era like that coming along again.
Martyn Ware parte de la Electrónica Experimental Moderna /Moog (post concreta) y la EDM...no del ruido experimental Dusseldorf ni el Krautrock de Kraftwerk. Kraftwerk no es pionero en el desarrollo de la música electrónica y toma la Electro Concreta de los 60/70s, a mediados del 70s (1977) toma la EDM y sus ramas primarias (NRG & Synthpop) para desarrollar muchas de sus producciones (al igual que los Punk Convertidos de finales del 70s que en su mayoría eran Ingleses).
Martyn Ware toma influencia de Moroder, Lacksman, Jarre, Tangerine Dreams, Vangelis, Schulze...y en este tema particular toma la electro de John Carpenter - Assault On Precinct 13,
I have to say i love all the being boiled versions ( i mean the mono, the peel version, the stereo mix, the re-recorded one on travelogue.. and even this mix sounds cool) so agree with glenn " a good tune is a good tune." at least it works for that one. maybe because of its simplicity.
Cool cat. Martyn and crew’s best version for me was the one on the Travelogue ‘80 double single. My auntie dropped this in my lap back when she worked for local radio up north. Might have been Radio York. They were just promo freebies to her but It blew me away, man and I have her to thank for starting off my record collection. The keyboards are really badass on this one, and Phil sounds mean! I had no idea what it was about I just couldn”t get over the power sound and the attitude. Really interesting how bands sounds of this period changed as new instruments were introduced. I’m starting to understand it now in my 50’s with all these RUclipsrs and great info. Cheers and thanks 👍🏼
Being Boiled Travelogue. What a big brassy sound that was. Even Crow and a Baby was an epic sounding track. Still have both Reproduction and Travelogue on vinyl. I'll never part with them.
found Travelogue in a garbagebin when i was in my late teens... seemed a cafe was cleaning up "some old sh*t from the former DJ booth "..... i get it for free
I LOVE the early League, as I do the Phil, Susan and Joanne version.......but I don't think it's necessary to rework this track this way, it just doesn't NEED the "soul" bits added i.e. female backing, "real" brass.......the track ( my favourite version is the Travelogue one, SO groovy ) works because of it's cold funkiness and that the original is so minimal and stark........but Martyn Ware is a talented musician and producer, no doubt there!
Man I miss those days sometimes. We started in 1981 on an MS20 and a DR-55, bouncing in mono on a reel-to-reel 6-8 times until the hiss became too audible. Would i want to go back there? I don't think so. I remember well the prices of the more sophisticated gear back then...
I absolutely love your music especially Reproduction and travelogue, they turned my head before Numan, and I wish you all well and hope something happens so musicians earn some money soon. Take care and keep doing the podcast, you need to chase Hooky for part 2
@mytightskirt You could be right, penthouse and pavement was brilliant, as far as i know that was expensive, but being boiled was done on the cheap and still sounded great.
2:08 "Can you imagine our surprise...when he started singing this s***" Hah, I wonder if Philip Oakey will ever tell us what he meant by "Make a shroud pulling combs through a backwash frame" in "The Sound of the Crowd".
Martyn you should be proud of the original with Phil, don't regret or try to rewrite history, it was perfect at the time.. and now as was Temptation, come live with me, you need to sit back and smile because you and others made ears prick up 🙂
yes i agree with some of the other comments... that the original 'more raw' version kind of works better. Simpler - more vital... better.. It could have something to do with the chemistry of the Sys 100 and 700s - or maybe just that oakey's voice was the perfect counterpoint. Really hard to say.
the original version is still a look into the future. ive watched you but i still dont know how you did it. he doesnt sound like a demented opera singer he sounds perfect. it means as much to me now as when i first heard it in 1979 as a 16 year old in wakefield.
"Demented opera singer" - That wasn't a criticism. He's totally cognizant of how the fresh futurist sound, the voice, the lyrics, all came together beautifully.
A lot of artists look back on their back catalogue, itching to redo things after a lifetime of experience. But it's rarely a good idea, and mostly unnecessary? This new being boiled is an interesting exercise in how tech has moved on and Martin's production experience has increased, but that's it?
Ah, my youth... I remember my Mum being horrified at Phil's hairdo, lipstick, dangling earrings and stilettos on their first TOTP appearance. Lol. Happy Days.
😂😂I remember that too and also the moment people especially dads first saw culture club on top of the pops wondering if boy george was a woman or man 👌
@@GNeuman 😂😂Same here!! I vividly remember a group of girls in my playground all talking about boy george and argueing over whether he was a woman or man ha ha !!😂
Not quite sure where we were going with this. Should have just had a shot of the synth and keyboard, played the original track to remind us how great it was/and is and saved a bit of time! It wasn't broke no need to fix it.
Wow. Never saw this before, but this new version gets a huuuuuuuuuuge f**king "No" from me. Original was such a classic and influenced my youth back at the time of it's release, and especially the Travelogue version. This is just plain wrong on every level and I wish I could un-hear it.
im not sure if its so much naivety as making use of the tools they had at the time, expensive studio time, and so on. as can be heard on later albums its pretty clear he wanted a funky sound.
What took me in the 80s electronic pop was mostly the innovative sound from new instruments, effects and recording technique. Replacing that sound with drums, basses and brass that sound "real" makes it a music that could as well been created 30 years before… Still a good song, but nothing special or surprizing about the sound.
Martyn Ware should never have been kicked out of the League. I have yet to come across a decent explanation for the fall oy between Martin and Philip. But at least one good thing came out of it and that is Temptation by Heaven 17 - I just wished that the black singer in the group had a better microphone technique when lip-syncing.
Both Heaven 17 and The Human League have gone a long way since "Being Boiled" first got released back in 1978. They both also went through their fair share of creative crisis later in the 80s... In retrospect, like many of their peers, H17 (and to a lesser extent The Human League, too) got themselves pulled into the soul/funk infatuation trap. And to the present day, they clearly kept their hearts close to that template - and sadly, not for the better. With no offense to anyone - but Martyn Ware's tendency to demonstrate how he "really" wanted "Being Boiled" to sound from day one, seems a bit hard to believe. The original "Being Boiled", as we know it from the debut Fast Product single, was exactly how it was meant to sound at that particular time and place. Personally, I detest the "Travelogue" version - but for some strange reason, that "Travelogue" version definitely seems to be haunting Martyn of all, restlessly searching for an ideal remake/update of the song; the 1978 original was born out of technical limitations and as such remains this timeless, sharp, naive, innovative, forward thinking and enthusiastic piece of futuristic pop music before its time. Too bad H17 never learned more from their very early B. E. F. material - sure, people evolve but judging from the updated version we hear in this video, their evolution sadly shows some rather boring results. Access to new technology sometimes also plays part in this. Here most probably, it does. The Human League on the other hand - or better, Phil, Joanne and Susanne as the HL Mk II's remaining core trio - learned a lesson from all their past mistakes; and surprised many with a list of their vital comeback albums throughout the 90s and 00s ("Octopus", "Secrets" and "Credo"); as a result, they managed to stay hip, delivering a number of memorable new hits that can proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with their 80s classics. They were smart to team up with a number of perspective producers (most notably I Monster), who sure helped the group revitalising their (early) sound. Also worth noting - The Human League stay respectful of their music, as in playing the songs live, keeping the essence of their many classics intact... Now, imagine Phil to have ditched Joanne and Susanne in favour of two more skilled session singers in order to endlessly masturbate vocally over the likes of "Don't You Want Me", "Mirror Man" or "All I Ever Wanted", to name a few... But it is no such case - while Phil's lyrical skills and the deadpan singing can be at times pretty cringeworthy, The Human League smartly kept their coolness and sloppiness altogether, adding to the charm of their performance. Heaven 17 on the other hand, while having an amazing vocalist in one Glenn Gregory, sadly opted for ruining their own legacy by forcing certain elements into their songs, overproducing them, ridding them of their essence and identity; one great such example is the recent, and utterly dreadful euro-dance live rendition of "Temptation", with two audibly powerful but altogether tedious backing (soul) singers who mercilessly kill it off; here, the same happened to "Being Boiled" - turning it into unnecessary and exaggerated update, with a generic, dull rhythm section and again, adding a backing (soul) vocalist to "spice" things up.
Agree. Except I feel what happened to H17, also happened to HL. To me, tracks such as Mirror Man and the like are awful. So sacharine, it makes you dizzy. Dare was the last great album they did.
Im so glad his version never came to fruition, its so bad (anything with brass in becomes cheap and cheesey). they were right to get rid of him out of the band. However i did like heaven 17. Also, The rhythm Sequence on the roland doesn't sound nothing like the original, it needs to be patched into the filter, through the random lfo, to give it that tonal character of the original, with filter and resonance accordingly. Bless him, you can see at the start of playing the Korg 700s, he cant find the tempo and goes a bit faster, then slows down to what seems the natural tempo. i think we have seen enough of remakes and rehashes, to say no more.
Martyn showing how Logic software possesses none of the natural charm of the earlier equipment and produces something bland, like everything else, with no real value with it.
pigknickers He provided one of the best examples of the influence of instruments and tools on music I have ever seen. The 70s and 80s synths had a vibe of their own, in contrast to most virtual instruments. It was near impossible to get a bland sound out of that Korg 700 and System 100 I'm sure, while you need to work really hard to get some soul out of virtual instruments. As soon as he hit play in his modern day sequencer the contrast really hit hard. I suppose if the technology of today existed back then, they would never have come up with the music they did.
@@kixxalot This is what continues to surprise me the most: those people who made the coolest music back then, fail to understand what made it so great. Saw a video the other day, where Howard Jones was happily playing his Roland Jupiter-80. Sounds like *hit, and nothing like the Jupiter 8 that he used to play. But ... it's all about convenience these days, right. When he started the System 100 beat, I was just like ... YES!! What amazing sounds! Then he turned to the computer, and it all turned to *hit. Bland. Boring. Run of the mill. Why doesn't he see it?!
@@spurv Artists have become very lazy, not creating their own sound as they have thousands of presets and sample librarys nowadays and it can all be quantized to perfection, yuck.
When it comes to computers vs. "earlier equipment", please have in mind that Martyn Ware (along with Ian C Marsh) was working as a "computer operator" back in the 70s, prior to starting The Future and shortly thereafter The Human League... So don't blame it on the computer alone. It's always in one's personal approach and how they'll hear things and put their ideas together. What we all have today is what many post-punk electro-pioneers dreamed about in the first place - computers and advanced software that ease things up. Of course, when the whole thing turns into a professional routine/enterprise, ideas become just as formal. As for the software, it is great if you learn how to play with it. Analogue is great, too, yes - but today's blind purist attitude towards analogue as "supreme" and the resentment towards digital as "soulless" is appalling - and hypocritical. There's still a lot of manual (and hard) work involved using a software. A computer certainly won't compose the song for you unless you pour your own ideas into it first. The end results can be either great or - as Martyn demonstrates with this god-knows-what-version-of-versions-in-a-row version of "Being Boiled" - they can be pretty dull... But it's all the same with analogue - loads of analogue synth music these days sounds just a s painfully generic.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
comparing the two versions proves the brilliance of the naviety of youth.
What?
@@dpcrozier99 I _think_ he means that the original is superior, even though to some extent they were naïve young musicians playing with the unpredictable nature of early analogue synths, often happening upon new sounds simply by accident. The bold actions of young people - generally unconstrained by the norms that might restrict more experienced minds with more to lose, fosters innovation and new directions. Hence Being Boiled 1978.
This is a gem. The song itself is so powerful and mysterious.
I met Martyn backstage after a Heaven 17 gig, about 3 years ago.
Everyone was after Glen, but Martin looked surprised when I approached him, and I told him I was a HL fan, and a fan of his.
He was a complete gent, and I think he liked my little bit of limelight for him.
Dont mess with perfection.
This is one of those amazing tracks that got lost in my musical loft, then dusted of and you realise what an absolute jewel it is.
Could listen to this synth pioneer all day. The sound of that Korg!!!
Martyn Ware = Legend 🖤
It is hard to describe but imagine hearing this in June 1978 within the context of pop music at the time.
You had Bruce Springsteen "Darkness on the Edge of Town", Boston, Cars 1st lp, Van Halen 1...and this.
It sounded like music from another solar system.
the snare that system 100 created is awesome in this clip intro. I attended the roundhouse performance of the first two albums, and really enjoyed it, I left feeling a bit sad about what those guys could have achieved if they hadn't split up. Reading about it all these years later I feel the record company drove a wedge between the two factors of the group, in serving their own ends.
There was nothing to stop them reuniting in the last few decades. Remember the 2008 Steel City tour on which both bands played but never collaborated. What a shame.
|Excellent! I've been a big fan right from the start ... can't believe this clip has been on you tube for years and i'am only watching now.
And now me, 4 years after you. 😆
Time.
Plenty of songs about it.
It's kind of like a mirror.
And a pit
of quicksand.
A legend. Big time. Great post.
Back in the days,i used to go up for form room 1 wher we had access to a really powerful music system and played Being Boiled full blast and still get gooseys recalling those days at school and the mystery and awe of the Human League's awesome music.Not sure if new versions will appeal to the 'old crowd' but will certainly appeal to the new if honest.Must 've been out of this world to be in the group and stunning the world with such masterpieces All the best Alan.
"Can you imagine our surprise...when he started singing this shit".
Funniest line ever!
This man is brilliant, and the new mix is very good, though obviously nothing on the original.
"Demented Opera Singer"
Ware has said Marsh was in awe of "this shit", not Ware, the longtime friend of Phil.
I remember seeing Kraftwerk on Tomorrow's World with a bit of Autobahn. The Human League and Kraftwerk were pioneers. It's difficult to envisage another era like that coming along again.
Jarre, out of this world.
That's the thing with innovation - we can never imagine it coming along - but given human beings' track record, it undoubtedly will.
Martyn Ware parte de la Electrónica Experimental Moderna /Moog (post concreta) y la EDM...no del ruido experimental Dusseldorf ni el Krautrock de Kraftwerk.
Kraftwerk no es pionero en el desarrollo de la música electrónica y toma la Electro Concreta de los 60/70s, a mediados del 70s (1977) toma la EDM y sus ramas primarias (NRG & Synthpop) para desarrollar muchas de sus producciones (al igual que los Punk Convertidos de finales del 70s que en su mayoría eran Ingleses).
Martyn Ware toma influencia de Moroder, Lacksman, Jarre, Tangerine Dreams, Vangelis, Schulze...y en este tema particular toma la electro de John Carpenter - Assault On Precinct 13,
I have to say i love all the being boiled versions ( i mean the mono, the peel version, the stereo mix, the re-recorded one on travelogue.. and even this mix sounds cool) so agree with glenn " a good tune is a good tune." at least it works for that one. maybe because of its simplicity.
I love this song! Master piece!
Cool cat. Martyn and crew’s best version for me was the one on the Travelogue ‘80 double single. My auntie dropped this in my lap back when she worked for local radio up north. Might have been Radio York. They were just promo freebies to her but It blew me away, man and I have her to thank for starting off my record collection. The keyboards are really badass on this one, and Phil sounds mean! I had no idea what it was about I just couldn”t get over the power sound and the attitude. Really interesting how bands sounds of this period changed as new instruments were introduced. I’m starting to understand it now in my 50’s with all these RUclipsrs and great info. Cheers and thanks 👍🏼
Holiday '80 single, I think it was. I got mine at Woolworth, first League I ever bought after hearing them on Radio 1.
Kickass song, I like the 1980 version on Travelogue
love to hear a breakdown of how that was done because Travelogue sounds like much the same instruments but a whole lot more sophisticated arrangements
Being Boiled Travelogue. What a big brassy sound that was. Even Crow and a Baby was an epic sounding track. Still have both Reproduction and Travelogue on vinyl. I'll never part with them.
found Travelogue in a garbagebin when i was in my late teens... seemed a cafe was cleaning up "some old sh*t from the former DJ booth "..... i get it for free
@@RichardDenRooyen1973
Lol
I lost my copy back in the late nineties. Left it in a garage in Egware, London with all my Kraftwerk vinyl. 😢 Thank you, internet!
I got travelogue for $1,and was giving the record store shit for selling it for $1
@@grandmaster2385 To be fair, its one album millions of copies were made of. Supply and demandwise its not gonna drive second hand prices.
❤This!And This Innovative Sounds!Thanks!I Liked The Earlier Days of The Human League!More Goth Tones!Yeah!
Genius. A whole album, all electronic. Imagine this sound but 38 years ago.
The Album , Dare came out in Oct 1981.
I LOVE the early League, as I do the Phil, Susan and Joanne version.......but I don't think it's necessary to rework this track this way, it just doesn't NEED the "soul" bits added i.e. female backing, "real" brass.......the track ( my favourite version is the Travelogue one, SO groovy ) works because of it's cold funkiness and that the original is so minimal and stark........but Martyn Ware is a talented musician and producer, no doubt there!
so.....let it be
The Travelogue Version is also synth for the brass, just a more complex synth
Man I miss those days sometimes. We started in 1981 on an MS20 and a DR-55, bouncing in mono on a reel-to-reel 6-8 times until the hiss became too audible.
Would i want to go back there? I don't think so. I remember well the prices of the more sophisticated gear back then...
Please upload some of your music from back then! I would like to hear that.
Wow thanks for that Martin, great help , been wanting to cover this for ever, will post a rely when we've got it sorted, cheers Icon 13.
I absolutely love your music especially Reproduction and travelogue, they turned my head before Numan, and I wish you all well and hope something happens so musicians earn some money soon. Take care and keep doing the podcast, you need to chase Hooky for part 2
Golden moment of Synthpop history.
Absolutely incredible !!!!
Thank you for this genuine piece of History, and "can you imagine my surprise when I started hearing this when I was 15?" 😉
bring Martyn Ware back to the human league
There's a better chance of Hell freezing over I reckon
@@thehylianloach9473 Why won't they work together again?
@mytightskirt You could be right, penthouse and pavement was brilliant, as far as i know that was expensive, but being boiled was done on the cheap and still sounded great.
So has everyone else screen grabbed the patch sheet then? ;)
2:08 "Can you imagine our surprise...when he started singing this s***" Hah, I wonder if Philip Oakey will ever tell us what he meant by "Make a shroud pulling combs through a backwash frame" in "The Sound of the Crowd".
Still Killer and ever will !!! ❤️
Nice one Mart 😀🖖
The sum total of instruments that were played on the original being boiled is... (mentions two pieces) That's it. - Love it! :)
Martyn you should be proud of the original with Phil, don't regret or try to rewrite history, it was perfect at the time.. and now as was Temptation, come live with me, you need to sit back and smile because you and others made ears prick up 🙂
Was Martyn being complimnentary about Phil's vocals ? Not sure if he was taking the mick. I don't know what there relationship is/was like.
The first version was ground breaking. Someone nicked my copy. Imagine that turning into Don't you want me bayybeee. Nope.
yes i agree with some of the other comments... that the original 'more raw' version kind of works better. Simpler - more vital... better.. It could have something to do with the chemistry of the Sys 100 and 700s - or maybe just that oakey's voice was the perfect counterpoint. Really hard to say.
Ahhhhhhhh, Ahhhhhhhh, We Fade To Grey.
the original version is still a look into the future. ive watched you but i still dont know how you did it. he doesnt sound like a demented opera singer he sounds perfect. it means as much to me now as when i first heard it in 1979 as a 16 year old in wakefield.
"Demented opera singer" - That wasn't a criticism. He's totally cognizant of how the fresh futurist sound, the voice, the lyrics, all came together beautifully.
A lot of artists look back on their back catalogue, itching to redo things after a lifetime of experience. But it's rarely a good idea, and mostly unnecessary? This new being boiled is an interesting exercise in how tech has moved on and Martin's production experience has increased, but that's it?
Ware is very funny guy.
AWESOME!!!!!! AMAZING!!!! WAHWWWWW8!!! ♥♥♥
I hope if martyns ever in edinburgh I get to meet him,great guy
+Graham Burns I met him this summer, and shook his hand. Really down to Earth, nice guy.
To me it will always be "listen to the voice of butter." And you can't tell me otherwise
I can't believe it's not butter
Listen to the voice of butter,
Saying stop your spreading culture
Ah, my youth... I remember my Mum being horrified at Phil's hairdo, lipstick, dangling earrings and stilettos on their first TOTP appearance. Lol. Happy Days.
Even the aesthetics were innovative... And all so that today's youth believe that Lady G invented everything.
😂😂I remember that too and also the moment people especially dads first saw culture club on top of the pops wondering if boy george was a woman or man 👌
@@RetroReminiscing yes! Our whole class were talking about his first performance at school the next day too!
@@GNeuman 😂😂Same here!! I vividly remember a group of girls in my playground all talking about boy george and argueing over whether he was a woman or man ha ha !!😂
Klasse gemacht und wie einfach,wen man weiß wie's geht
I can’t understand while people do covers that aren’t any better than the original.
Great percussive sound given the extreme limitations of the technology... wow
Not quite sure where we were going with this. Should have just had a shot of the synth and keyboard, played the original track to remind us how great it was/and is and saved a bit of time! It wasn't broke no need to fix it.
So cool 😎
It's my favourite HL track
Amigo Martyn se podra simular el sonido de la cancion con el korg Kross 1
I miss my old roland system 100, which i flogged due to bad cashflow at the time
we love it !!!!
that's why we made a cover on NUDE album BASIC GUERILLA MOVES !!!
I like his shoes.
Amazingly
Genius.
Well, very good video.
Énorme ! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
A simple four to the floor kick as in Pleasure League should be enough added to this piece of music.
good stuff
LOVE!
although I do think the new version is pretty good, it's not a patch on the original and is missing the point.
This is not a Korg 700S but a Korg 700 with just one oscillator and no ringmodulation.
Nice shoes.
Check out Klammer's guitar version
ruclips.net/video/_-wF4XaA6es/видео.html
That's a Korg 700. Not the 700S. It even says so on it. Just saying.
This wont be bettered, this song is the actual song that took me from metal to dance
Wow. Never saw this before, but this new version gets a huuuuuuuuuuge f**king "No" from me. Original was such a classic and influenced my youth back at the time of it's release, and especially the Travelogue version. This is just plain wrong on every level and I wish I could un-hear it.
Funny no one ever wants to talk about heaven 17,and they only want to talk about The Human League because of Phil oakeys success.
No. It's because the original Human League were groundbreaking. It was a constellation without comparison.
im not sure if its so much naivety as making use of the tools they had at the time, expensive studio time, and so on. as can be heard on later albums its pretty clear he wanted a funky sound.
1:33
I wish he would've continued singing, I thought he sounded nice.
I’ve always thought Phil sounded like a human synth.
just listen to the boys of Buddha, with his serraculture - Phil Oakley was a bit out there with his lyrics, fair play.
What took me in the 80s electronic pop was mostly the innovative sound from new instruments, effects and recording technique. Replacing that sound with drums, basses and brass that sound "real" makes it a music that could as well been created 30 years before… Still a good song, but nothing special or surprizing about the sound.
Martyn Ware should never have been kicked out of the League. I have yet to come across a decent explanation for the fall oy between Martin and Philip. But at least one good thing came out of it and that is Temptation by Heaven 17 - I just wished that the black singer in the group had a better microphone technique when lip-syncing.
The black singer is Carole Kenyon
Phil Oakley , you’re not bitter them Martin ?
Both Heaven 17 and The Human League have gone a long way since "Being Boiled" first got released back in 1978. They both also went through their fair share of creative crisis later in the 80s... In retrospect, like many of their peers, H17 (and to a lesser extent The Human League, too) got themselves pulled into the soul/funk infatuation trap. And to the present day, they clearly kept their hearts close to that template - and sadly, not for the better.
With no offense to anyone - but Martyn Ware's tendency to demonstrate how he "really" wanted "Being Boiled" to sound from day one, seems a bit hard to believe. The original "Being Boiled", as we know it from the debut Fast Product single, was exactly how it was meant to sound at that particular time and place. Personally, I detest the "Travelogue" version - but for some strange reason, that "Travelogue" version definitely seems to be haunting Martyn of all, restlessly searching for an ideal remake/update of the song; the 1978 original was born out of technical limitations and as such remains this timeless, sharp, naive, innovative, forward thinking and enthusiastic piece of futuristic pop music before its time.
Too bad H17 never learned more from their very early B. E. F. material - sure, people evolve but judging from the updated version we hear in this video, their evolution sadly shows some rather boring results. Access to new technology sometimes also plays part in this. Here most probably, it does.
The Human League on the other hand - or better, Phil, Joanne and Susanne as the HL Mk II's remaining core trio - learned a lesson from all their past mistakes; and surprised many with a list of their vital comeback albums throughout the 90s and 00s ("Octopus", "Secrets" and "Credo"); as a result, they managed to stay hip, delivering a number of memorable new hits that can proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with their 80s classics. They were smart to team up with a number of perspective producers (most notably I Monster), who sure helped the group revitalising their (early) sound. Also worth noting - The Human League stay respectful of their music, as in playing the songs live, keeping the essence of their many classics intact... Now, imagine Phil to have ditched Joanne and Susanne in favour of two more skilled session singers in order to endlessly masturbate vocally over the likes of "Don't You Want Me", "Mirror Man" or "All I Ever Wanted", to name a few... But it is no such case - while Phil's lyrical skills and the deadpan singing can be at times pretty cringeworthy, The Human League smartly kept their coolness and sloppiness altogether, adding to the charm of their performance.
Heaven 17 on the other hand, while having an amazing vocalist in one Glenn Gregory, sadly opted for ruining their own legacy by forcing certain elements into their songs, overproducing them, ridding them of their essence and identity; one great such example is the recent, and utterly dreadful euro-dance live rendition of "Temptation", with two audibly powerful but altogether tedious backing (soul) singers who mercilessly kill it off; here, the same happened to "Being Boiled" - turning it into unnecessary and exaggerated update, with a generic, dull rhythm section and again, adding a backing (soul) vocalist to "spice" things up.
this is truth
Agree. Except I feel what happened to H17, also happened to HL. To me, tracks such as Mirror Man and the like are awful. So sacharine, it makes you dizzy. Dare was the last great album they did.
Mr. SelfaWare is quite aWare of Mr. Ware, hmmm?
wow your grandad must be a legendary musical pioneer like martyn ware then, i take it?
100 is a bad b'woy
and the Original sounds so much more "convincing" today :)))
2:10 lol
Penthouse and Pavement resolved your issues
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
So he tried to fix it anyway
Never liked Heaven 17. Is it true they left Oakley with all the debt AND still asked for a percentage from Dare?
No,they got kicked out by oakey
@@ToyotaNutjob No - they got kicked out by Bob Last.
Im so glad his version never came to fruition, its so bad (anything with brass in becomes cheap and cheesey). they were right to get rid of him out of the band. However i did like heaven 17. Also, The rhythm Sequence on the roland doesn't sound nothing like the original, it needs to be patched into the filter, through the random lfo, to give it that tonal character of the original, with filter and resonance accordingly. Bless him, you can see at the start of playing the Korg 700s, he cant find the tempo and goes a bit faster, then slows down to what seems the natural tempo. i think we have seen enough of remakes and rehashes, to say no more.
I am so not a fan of Glen re doing Philip's vocals, noooooooo. Stick with heaven 17.
Well... Phil refused to do it... he was asked... several times... so why not Glen??
Martyn showing how Logic software possesses none of the natural charm of the earlier equipment and produces something bland, like everything else, with no real value with it.
pigknickers He provided one of the best examples of the influence of instruments and tools on music I have ever seen. The 70s and 80s synths had a vibe of their own, in contrast to most virtual instruments. It was near impossible to get a bland sound out of that Korg 700 and System 100 I'm sure, while you need to work really hard to get some soul out of virtual instruments. As soon as he hit play in his modern day sequencer the contrast really hit hard. I suppose if the technology of today existed back then, they would never have come up with the music they did.
@@kixxalot This is what continues to surprise me the most: those people who made the coolest music back then, fail to understand what made it so great. Saw a video the other day, where Howard Jones was happily playing his Roland Jupiter-80. Sounds like *hit, and nothing like the Jupiter 8 that he used to play. But ... it's all about convenience these days, right.
When he started the System 100 beat, I was just like ... YES!! What amazing sounds! Then he turned to the computer, and it all turned to *hit. Bland. Boring. Run of the mill. Why doesn't he see it?!
@@spurv Artists have become very lazy, not creating their own sound as they have thousands of presets and sample librarys nowadays and it can all be quantized to perfection, yuck.
When it comes to computers vs. "earlier equipment", please have in mind that Martyn Ware (along with Ian C Marsh) was working as a "computer operator" back in the 70s, prior to starting The Future and shortly thereafter The Human League... So don't blame it on the computer alone. It's always in one's personal approach and how they'll hear things and put their ideas together. What we all have today is what many post-punk electro-pioneers dreamed about in the first place - computers and advanced software that ease things up. Of course, when the whole thing turns into a professional routine/enterprise, ideas become just as formal.
As for the software, it is great if you learn how to play with it. Analogue is great, too, yes - but today's blind purist attitude towards analogue as "supreme" and the resentment towards digital as "soulless" is appalling - and hypocritical. There's still a lot of manual (and hard) work involved using a software. A computer certainly won't compose the song for you unless you pour your own ideas into it first. The end results can be either great or - as Martyn demonstrates with this god-knows-what-version-of-versions-in-a-row version of "Being Boiled" - they can be pretty dull... But it's all the same with analogue - loads of analogue synth music these days sounds just a s painfully generic.
How to ruin the original..
Nnnnnnno
What a shit remake. If it sint broke dont fix it.
This wudnt be worth anything if u nicked it it wud become worthless and nobody else cud compose a hit on it
"can you imagine the surprise when he started singing this shit" bahahaha