Love Me Madly

Background

"Love Me Madly?" is the third track on the Human League album Secrets. It was written jointly by lead singer Philip Oakey and keyboard player Neil Sutton. The album was produced by Q, Kerry Hopwood and Dave Clayton and recorded at Human League Studios, Sheffield, UK. The song is principally a take on obsessive relationships delivered by Oakey as a series of rapid fire analogies (Oakey's trademark memorable couplets), with incidental refrains from female co-vocalists Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall to a techno bassline. The lyrics have been criticized as awkward or clumsy, but are actually in keeping with the general idiosyncratic Human League style.

"Love Me Madly?" was destined to be the second single from Secrets (Philip Oakey, speaking to Michiel van Bokhorst in 2001 ¹), after "All I Ever Wanted". This did not happen as the Secrets album failed, principally because it was not promoted by the record label Papillon Records which went into receivership at the same time the album was released in 2001.

Role of Nukove Records

In late 2001 Dutch record producer Michiel Van Bokhorst met Philip Oakey at a party in Amsterdam for "Oor magazine" and discussed working on the track. He later requested the master tapes of "Love Me Madly?" from Human League resident engineer David Beevers and created his own remix ('The Voice of Buddha mix') on a white label. This mix was circulated to DJs in Benelux where it was well received. This prompted Van Bokhorst to commission a further two remixes ('The ZeNN Eternal Countdown Mix' and 'The Cuzco Mix') and to attempt to release "Love Me Madly?" commercially. This was turned down by the rights owner Chrysalis Records over a conflict of publishing rights of Secrets with the existing marketing licensee "Arcade Roadrunner Music BV". Eventually in 2003 licensing authority was granted by Chrysalis and Van Bokhorst created the record label Nukove Records specifically to market the single.

"Love Me Madly?" was released as a single in 2003; principally in Benelux, but was also sold in the U.S. and UK via the internet. As Nukove Records was a private venture there was very little venture capital to promote the release. With no promotional music video and little advertising the single did not chart. This was expected, and as Michiel van Bokhorst states, "it was released for the satisfaction of working with the Human League and releasing a great record."¹

Formats

1. Album Version (Papillon Records 2001) (never released)

12" Single - Nukove Records 2003

Maxi-CD - Nukove Records 2003