BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1980
“Empire State Human” is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League. The song was written by Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware, and Ian Craig Marsh. It was co-produced by The Human League and Colin Thurston and recorded at Monumental Studios in Sheffield.
The song was the third single to be released by the original line-up of the Human League, and the first and only single from the band’s 1979 debut album Reproduction. Upon its first release in October 1979, the single failed to chart. However, it was re-released in June 1980 and fared slightly better, reaching number 62 in the UK Singles Chart. For the re-release, Virgin Records included a free copy of the single “Only After Dark” with the first 15,000 copies as a sweetener.
Lyrically, “Empire State Human” is a song about becoming powerful using the analogy of size, with Oakey declaring that he wants to be “tall” a total of 60 times in 3 minutes. The uncut magazine drew a comparison with Oakey’s own personal ambition:
“ “I wanna be tall, tall, tall, as big as a wall, wall, wall”. Oakey’s Nietzschian pop fantasy reflected his own burgeoning full-on pop ambitions… ”
The B-side, “Introducing”, is an instrumental produced by The Human League. Oakey sang on the original recording but the vocals were not used on the released version.
The open-shirted man on the cover artwork is band member Ian Craig Marsh’s father.
SIDE A:
Empire State Human 3:11
Producer – Colin Thurston, The Human League
SIDE B:
Introducing 3:14
Producer –The Human League
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Virgin – VS 351-12
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: Jun 1980
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop
CREDITS:
Other [Clothes] – Colley
Written-By – Marsh*, Ware*, Oakey*
NOTES:
Reissue as 12″ with the same tracks as the original 7″ VS 294 (released 12 October 1979)
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Schiit Mani
Soundcard: ESI Juli@ XTe Audio Interface
Monitiring: Novation Audiohub 2×4 Audio Interface
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2, ocenaudio
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Username: btg
Password: burningtheground
You can help show your support for this blog by making a donation using PayPal. Thank you for your help.
