The Human League “Travelogue” 1980. Post-punk, dark and plinky-plunk’d electronica. Not quite new wave or synthpop. Travelogue was The Human League’s second LP and the last to feature founding members Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware (former computer operators, both on vocals and synths) who left to form Heaven 17 in 1980. About a year ago I read the book Rip It Up and Start Again about the origins of the post punk movement and recall that Marsh and Ware were frustrated with Philip Oakley’s desire to take the band in a more pop-orientated direction, which of course he did rather spectacularly with the revamp of Human League and the release of the hit album Dare in ’81. Ironically Heaven 17 also went in a more synthpop direction, veering hard from their anarcho-leftist and synth-purist roots, and released new wave hits “Let Me Go” and “Temptation” in ’82 and ’83.

Travelogue is not pop: it is heavily Kraftwerk-influenced, very techy and, at times, ambient especially on the tracks “Dreams of Leaving” and “Toyota City.” The Human League released two singles from the album. The first was “Being Boiled” which was originally released as a single in ’78 and then re-recorded in ’80 and included both on their Holiday ’80 EP and Travelogue. Weirdly, it was the original ’78 version that charted in the UK Top 10 in ’82. It is the most pop-orientated of the not-really-synthpop record in that it’s actually kinda catchy (“Crow and a Baby” leans pop but it also leans weird). “Only After Dark” which is a cover of Mick Ronson‘s 1974 song that appears on Slaughter on 10th Avenue, was the only other single from the Travelogue but it ended up being just given away for free with a purchase of their reissued ’79 single “Empire State Human.”