Last year, I joined Popdose‘s Jeff Giles and Robert Cass for a column called “‘Face Time,” in which we discussed essential (and some non-essential) cuts in the catalog of Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, one of the most prolific singer/songwriters of the ’80s and ’90s. ‘Face and his partner Antonio “L.A.” Reid were one of the big 3 production teams that ruled pop and R&B during that era. There was also Teddy Riley and his New Jack Swing camp, and perhaps most notably, Minneapolis’s James “Jimmy Jam” Harris III and Terry Lewis. The former members of Prince offshoot band The Time turned out to be legends in their own right, composing and producing hits for a who’s-who of the music industry and proving to be as (if not more) influential than their purple-clad benefactor.
So in 2014, Jeff, Robert and I (along two new team members, fellow Popdose editor/Popblerd podcast co-host Michael Parr, along with badass co-conspirator Dr. Z) are back to talk all things Flyte Tyme.
The Human League “Love Is All That Matters” (from Crash, 1986-did not chart | Amazon)
MJ: I figured we’d go with something a little less obvious this time around.
(from Wikipedia): In February 1986, The Human League were flown out to Minneapolis to work at Flyte Time studios with Jam and Lewis. After initial enthusiasm on both sides the working relationship began to break down. Jam and Lewis had total control over the final album and insisted that their own tracks take precedence over the band’s material. Jam and Lewis were also intolerant of the band’s laid back working methods and their lack of musical technical ability.
After four months in Minneapolis, a sidelined Oakey pulled the band out of further recording and they returned to Sheffield leaving Jam and Lewis to complete the album using session musicians. Oakey said later:
“We like to be in control in the studio. We don’t like giving that up to a producer. That’s why we had a big, final argument, and we just decided to go home and leave them to finish it off. It just got to the point of who had the power, and in that instance…They were the men behind the mixing console, so they had ultimate control.”
Dr. Z: Confession – Human League is not a band with which I am terribly familiar. I really ought to change that, and this might be just the nudge that I need.
Not that the results are unpleasant. But it’s rare that you hear a veteran act admitting that they gave up the fight against a producer.
MJ: I don’t know that the Human League HAD much of a career at this point…their most recent top 10 hit was already three years past by the time “Crash” came out, and the whole “new wave” moment had died down to the point where the only act from that era still having hits was Duran Duran (and I guess Billy Idol.) The way I see it, the hiring of Jam & Lewis was probably a move in the vein of “let’s get some hits out of them before we completely tank on our investment.” And “Human” _was_ the League’s last major hit.
Robert Cass: Some people will avoid conflict at any cost. On the other hand, the Human League spent a winter in Minneapolis — who wouldn’t want to hightail it out of there after four months? Here in the Midwest spring doesn’t usually begin until mid-May, for God’s sake.
JG: I’d love it if weather turned out to be the driving factor in the band’s decision to fuck off. “It’s cold. We’re done here.”
MJ: Isn’t it cold in London??
JG: Compared to Minneapolis, I’m guessing it’s relatively balmy.
Z: I don’t think I would have ever guessed that this is a Jam and Lewis production. I believe I’ve had similar reactions to more recent work, where we’d had some interesting discussions over how they are able to distinguish themselves from their contemporaries (or others). My inability to identify this particular track as a Flyte Time production is different, though. This is a great example of them NOT adhering to what was their trademark at the time (consider that this album was released a mere seven months after Control). This sounds like the boys subduing their funk a bit (though the undercurrents are certainly there in the rhythm tracks), lacing a lighter, polished pop sound on top of it — and to great effect, I’d say.
MJ: It’s pretty identifiable as Jam & Lewis to me for several reasons, one of which being that the chorus melody showed up (only slightly adapted) in Alexander O’Neal’s “Criticize” barely a year later.
Michael Parr: Crash is the only Human League record that own (though that shouldn’t be too surprising, given that “Human” is one of my favorite ‘80s tunes, period.)
MJ: “Human” is a great song that’s only been slightly sullied by its curious use in insurance commercials.
MP: I can’t tell you how unhappy I was when that song started popping up in insurance commercials. I mean, good on Jimmy and Terry–that’s some lucrative placement–but it made me sad.
MJ: THE LYRICS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE COMMERCIAL. OR INSURANCE.
MP: If this were for some relationship insurance (“hey, so you dogged me girl … I’ll settle that claim for $500K”) we’d be talking.
RC: Does that kind of insurance exist? Michael, who do I call? I want to report a fender bender of the heart.
JG: “Fender Bender of the Heart”-that’s a song title, Robert. Power up your Fairlight and make this shit happen.
I’ve never loved “Human,” but I’d rather hear that song every day for a week than “Don’t You Want Me” once.
MJ: Wow. If I was making a list of the 100 best singles of the ’80s, both of those would be on it.
JG: Well, that’s just because you’ve worked as a waitress in a cocktail bar. Also, you were born to make mistakes.
MJ: True. On both counts.
RC: I know Hollywood will never run out of superhero movies in my lifetime, but I hope I can convince someone there to make a movie called “The Human League” before I die.
JG: Would Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis be the villains?
MJ: They’ve already got the outfits.
RC: Idris Elba and Terrence Howard are the Flyte Brothers in “The Human League,” coming next summer!
JG: Howard is only in the first half of the movie, though. After that, he’ll be replaced without explanation by Don Cheadle.
MP: YOUNT!!
3 comments
John says:
Sep 15, 2014
I saw which HL track you decided to highlight and thought “the hell?” for a second, but it makes perfect sense. It really is “Criticize” redux. I’ve been reading Mad World about New Wave in the late 70s/80s, and the version of HL that worked with Jam and Lewis was primarily musician-free. Oakey was mainly a vocalist and Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware were the musical heart of the group, but Ware was ousted and Marsh followed him to eventually create Heaven 17. “Human” is lightning in a bottle, but to think that the Flyte Time sound could be used for a full-length HL record was a stretch, and a good chunk of the album doesn’t ring true for me.
MJ says:
Sep 15, 2014
I’m not sure I know a good word to describe “Crash.” “Mechanical” might be closest to what I’m going for…not to say it doesn’t ring true, but much of it has a coldness or detachment missing from Jam/Lewis’s best works.
Might be better to say that “Criticize” is “Love Is…” redux, since it came first!
Not sure I knew that Martyn Ware was a member of the Human League before your comment. Heaven 17 had a much more soulful sound than the HL did.
John says:
Sep 15, 2014
My bad on the timing…you’re totally right on the order. But Criticize > Love Is.