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| The
Year Of The Jet Packs |
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| An
early Human League instrumental, this features some gorgeous
old synthesizer sounds, which are ear-splittingly distorted
in places. The track is available as an MP3 on the Futuristic
Sounds page of this site. |
There
has been considerable confusion over this track's true title
since another early League instrumental (Interface )
appeared on the In
Darkness bootleg album, mis-labelled Year Of The Jet
Packs. |
| Released
on the 'Human
League cassette' and The
Golden Hour Of The Future |
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| You've
Lost That Lovin' Feeling |
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| A
cover of the Spector / Mann / Weil song made famous by The Righteous
Brothers, which many considered an unusual choice for an electronic
group. Martyn: "That's one of the reasons we do it. But
the main reason is simply that it's a great song, probably my
favourite song from the '60s. We do it very different from the
original. We've tried to reinterpret the original in a form
that would be emotive on a synthesizer. Electronic music is
regarded as unemotive, but that's a very emotional song." |
| The
League played the song at their first live show and it remained
a regular highlight of their concerts until it was dropped for
the Travelogue tour in 1980, to make way for another
cover version (Perfect Day).
A demo version was recorded early in the group's lifetime which,
although heavy on the moody keyboards, was slightly brighter
in tone than the versions which followed and the production
of the vocals was occasionally reminiscent of Phil Spector's
original. |
| The
group also recorded the song during their BBC Radio One session
for influential DJ John Peel, but their definitive recording
was the astonishing version released on their debut album. As
the opening chimes drift in from the eerie sonic residue of
Morale...,
the listener cannot help but be captivated for the next six-and-a-half
minutes; both Philip and Martyn deliver remarkable vocal performances
over the simple lullaby keyboard arrangement, and the overall
effect is quite breathtaking. |
| Lyrics |
| Demo
version unreleased |
| Radio
One session version released on the 'Human
League cassette' and In
Darkness (unofficially), and also included on the 'Taverner
tape' |
| Album
version released on Reproduction |
| 4'10"
edit (without Morale...) released on Dutch Empire
State Human single |
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| This
song, also known as QED,
closed the original LP release of Reproduction in chaotic
fashion, beginning quietly at a slow pace and gradually growing
in both volume and tempo until imploding in quite spectacular
style. The lyrics combine with the ever-accelerating music to
tell the cheerful tale of a pedestrian being struck by a speeding
motor vehicle. |
| Three
demo versions of this song were recorded. The first was fairly
rough-sounding, with slightly different lyrics to the other
recordings and noticeable effects applied to Philip's vocals.
The keyboard arrangements were less certain and the overall
acceleration of the song's tempo was uneven compared to subsequent
recordings. This version's climax also lacked much of the memorable
chaos with which later versions would culminate. |
| The
second and third demo versions both opened with the sound of
synthesized waves on a seashore (not used on Reproduction)
and both were more than a minute longer than the album version.
There is little difference between the two demos other than
a change of key. |
| The
song's title is thought to be taken from Robert Moore's science-fiction
story of the same name, first published in 1934 by Astounding
magazine. Zero As A Limit was also used as the title
of Adrian's short film which was shown at the League's live
shows to promote their debut album in late 1979. |
| Incidentally,
the Reproduction version is listed on the master tape's
box as Zero's The Limit. |
| Lyrics |
| Demo
versions unreleased, although the first was included on the
'Taverner
tape' |
| Album version
released on Reproduction |
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