Travelogue (The Human League album)

Background

For Travelogue, the band worked with a new co-producer, Richard Mainwaring, who went on to produce OMD's platinum selling Architecture & Morality the following year. Travelogue entered the UK album chart at #16, which was also its chart peak, and remained on the chart for 9 weeks in 1980. Although a vast improvement on their debut album, Reproduction, which had failed to chart at all the year before, the lack of high success precipitated the departure of founding band members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, who went on to form Heaven 17. Their departure led to remaining members Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright moving The Human League in a new musical direction with a new line-up. As the new band then began to make a commercial impact the following year, Travelogue re-entered the chart in August 1981 for a further 33 weeks, eventually being certified Gold by the BPI in May 1982.

Singles

Two songs were released as singles from the album; a re-recorded version of the band's first single, "Being Boiled" (this time as part of the Holiday '80 EP released a month before the album), and a cover of Mick Ronson's "Only After Dark" (which was ultimately given away as a free single with a re-issue of the band's 1979 single "Empire State Human" in June 1980). Neither of these were successful ("Being Boiled" became a UK Top-10 hit in 1982, but it was a stereo remix of the old single version, not the Holiday '80/Travelogue version). The album also featured a cover of the famed advertising jingle for Gordon's Gin, written by Jeff Wayne.

Re-issues

Virgin Records remastered and re-issued Travelogue on CD in 1988, with an expanded track listing which included the Holiday '80 EP, the disco single "I Don't Depend on You" (originally released under the moniker "The Men"), and the single "Boys and Girls", which had been produced by Oakey and Wright after the line-up split.

The Canadian issue of Travelogue was released in a different sleeve, similar to the Holiday '80 front cover, and the track listing also differed: The Voice of Buddha (the re-recorded version of Being Boiled under a different name), The Black Hit of Space, Only After Dark, Life Kills, Dreams of Leaving b/w Crow and a Baby, The Touchables, Gordon's Gin, Rock 'N' Roll/Night Clubbing, WXJL Tonight. Similarly, the Australian issue also featured a different track listing, though the original sleeve and song titles were retained for this release: Being Boiled, The Black Hit of Space, Only After Dark, Life Kills, Dreams of Leaving b/w Crow and a Baby, The Touchables, Rock 'N' Roll, Marianne (alternate version), Gordon's Gin, WXJL Tonight.

In 2016 both Travelogue and its predecessor Reproduction were re-issued on 180g vinyl.

Legacy

In 2015 Travelogue was the subject of a BBC 6Music documentary as part of the "Sounds of a City" series. The programme examined the album's sound and how it grew out of the city, going on to influence a new generation of musicians. The documentary features interviews with Martyn Ware, Jarvis Cocker and Roisin Murphy, among others. - BBC6 Music, 27 Dec 2015.

Track listing

1. "The Black Hit of Space" (Ware, Marsh, Oakey, Wright) – 4:11
2. "Only After Dark" (Scott Richardson, Mick Ronson) – 3:50
3. "Life Kills" (Ware, Marsh, Oakey, Wright) – 3:07
4. "Dreams of Leaving" (Ware, Marsh, Oakey, Wright) – 5:49
5. "Toyota City" (Ware, Marsh, Oakey, Wright) – 3:24
6. "Crow and a Baby" (Ware, Marsh, Oakey, Wright) – 3:43
7. "The Touchables" (Ware, Marsh, Oakey, Wright) – 3:21
8. "Gordon's Gin" (Jeff Wayne) – 2:58
9. "Being Boiled" (Marsh, Oakey, Ware) – 4:21
10. "W.X.J.L. Tonight" (Ware, Marsh, Oakey, Wright) – 4:40