HOLIDAY '80 REVIEWS

 

Sounds April 1980

Too much, too late, but too good to be missed. Eighteen months ago The Human League stood on the brink of altering the course of British pop music. Their humour and conviction combined to create an aura of  (until then) unknown commercial excitement. Had the Sheffield funsters swallowed their hip pride and attacked the singles charts, they would have created a devastating impact on the British pop music(k) scene.

But as always seems to happen to the originals, they failed because of their own foolish move towards dignity and ‘below ground’ obscurity. They stood back for a moment allowing the empty and dull Gary Numan to ruin their market with his one and only flash of excellence. As soon as ‘Are Friends Electric’ hit that number one spot it became clear that The  Human League had lost the gamble. And the stakes were high.

So, now in the midst of ska silliness, the finest electronic band of all time finally release the goods. A double single that clearly defines to all four angles of synthesised madness. The soft beauty of ‘Marianne’, the weirdness of ‘Dance Vision’, the perfect semi-harsh statements of ‘Being Boiled’ (new version) and finally the absurd pap-poppity of Gary Glitters ‘Rock And Roll’ and Iggy’s ‘Nightclubbing’. To be taken in large doses. To be played to life.

 

Unknown magazine 1980 new

A double single package from the band who, along with OMTD, seem to be able to use synthesizers without getting used by them. A couple of new tunes, ""Marianne" and "Dancevision", plus a new recording of "Being Boiled", set the scene for a well judged reworking of Gary Glitter's "Rock'N'Roll"which thumps along in perfect deadpan until it collides with Iggy Pop's "Nightclubbing". Check in here for the Gary Glitter revival; ee make up optional.

 

NME July 1990

Stuart Maconie

…The brilliantly brutal “Marianne” and plodding-but comical “Night Clubbing”“Dance Vision” – an “Oxygene” for the necromantic – and an inspired choice, Gary Glitter’s “Rock’n’Roll”, the strict electronic re-work…takes on a sublime and towering irony with its surgical beats and computer night class finish…