Biographie
Phil, born and raised in Sheffield, co-founded The Human League in 1977. The group's debut single, "Being Boiled," came out in 1978 but only entered the UK singles chart four years later. In October 1979, they released their first album, "Reproduction," featuring a somewhat controversial cover. A year later, their second album, "Travelogue," was released, and shortly after, Phil recruited Susanne Sulley and Joanne Catherall, two schoolgirls he met dancing at a club, to join the band. The Human League's major breakthrough came in 1981 with their third—and arguably best—album, "Dare."
The single "Don't You Want Me" became a massive hit in both the UK and the US and remains a classic. Their fourth album, "Fascination," produced two more hits: "Keep Feeling (Fascination)" and "Mirror Man." However, the fifth album, "Hysteria," did not meet expectations. Its lead single, the politically charged "The Lebanon," was well-intentioned but somewhat awkward, reminiscent of the "War Song" by their 80s contemporaries, Culture Club. In 1985, Philip teamed up with disco producer Giorgio Moroder to record a solo album, which included the theme for the film Electric Dreams (1984), also successful on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1986, The Human League shifted direction by recording their next album, "Crash," with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The track "Human," written by Jam and Lewis, became their second US number one hit and returned them to the UK Top 10, though the follow-up single, "I Need Your Loving," was less successful.
After a four-year hiatus, the band released "Romantic?," which was not a triumphant return, yielding only one minor hit single, "Heart Like A Wheel." Things improved somewhat with 1995’s "Octopus," which featured their first UK Top 10 single in nearly a decade, "Tell Me When." Their most recent album, "Secrets," was released in 2000, followed by an appearance on BBC's Top of the Pops on August 15th and a minor hit, "All I Ever Wanted.
