Tell Me When
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- For the Soul Asylum song of the same name, see Let Your Dim Light Shine.
| “Tell Me When” | |||||
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| Single by The Human League from the album Octopus |
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| Released | 1995 | ||||
| Format | 7" single, 12" single, CD-Maxi | ||||
| Recorded | 1994 | ||||
| Genre | Synthpop | ||||
| Length | 3.58 | ||||
| Label | EastWest | ||||
| Writer(s) | Philip Oakey Paul Beckett |
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| Producer | Ian Stanley | ||||
| The Human League singles chronology | |||||
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"Tell Me When" is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League. Written jointly by lead singer Philip Oakey and Paul Beckett, it was recorded at 'Human League Studios', Sheffield in 1994. The single and the Octopus album were produced by Ian Stanley (formerly of Tears for Fears).
"Tell Me When" was the first Human League single to be released from Octopus and was issued in advance of the album. It was released on 27 December 1994 (but is considered a 1995 single). It became the Human League's most commercially successful single in nine years and reintroduced the band to many of the British general public. It peaked at number six in the UK Singles Chart in early 1995 spending a total of nine weeks in the chart. It was also released in the U.S. peaking at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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[edit] Background
The song was originally written and a demo version recorded for Virgin Records in 1991, who instantly rejected it. It then became the first release by the band under their new label EastWest, who had signed the Human League after their dismissal by Virgin in 1992. As it was the first commercial release in the UK by the band for four years it is often incorrectly described as a comeback as many people erroneously believed the band had disbanded in 1990. Band principal Philip Oakey takes issue with this description and will point out in interviews that the band has never stopped recording and performing since its formation in 1977[1] The band had collaborated with Japan's Yellow Magic Orchestra prior to signing with EastWest. [2]
[edit] Promotional video
EastWest Records wanted to showcase their new headline signing and they announced the release of Octopus in a high profile publicity campaign. Also for the band's first release under them, they financed a very elaborate and expensive promotional music video shot entirely on location in Prague, Czech Republic. Unlike the Human League videos of the early 1980s this time there is no storyline. Instead Oakey, Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall are seen in a series of shots of them walking around various Prague landmarks. The other main scene is of Susan Sulley being driven around the Prague streets in a vintage Czech TATRA T2-603 car dressed in a white faux fur coat and hat. Scenes of Oakey were filmed in reverse so he appears to be walking forward with everyone else on the Prague streets walking backwards. At the time the video was described as having the best cinematography of any Human League video since "Don't You Want Me" in 1981.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Interview Philip Oakey GMTV 1995 Transcribed: http://freespace.virgin.net/t.ashford/TVOAKEY.HTML
- ^ The Human League
- ^ http://www.league-online.com/bio
[edit] External links
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