Philip Oakey

Oakey was born on 2 October 1955 in Hinckley, Leicestershire. His father worked for the General Post Office and moved jobs regularly: the family moved to Coventry when Oakey was an infant, to Leeds when he was five and to Birmingham when he was nine, attending Catherine-de-Barnes primary school near Solihull, and gaining a scholarship to the independent Solihull School. He settled in Sheffield when he was fourteen.[4] He was educated at King Edward VII School in Sheffield. He left school at 18 without finishing his exams and worked in a number of casual jobs: in a university bookshop, and from 1975 as a porter at Thornbury Annex Hospital in Sheffield. He was married briefly to his girlfriend, whom he met at school, but the marriage did not last long and they were divorced in 1980.

Oakey's entry into music in 1977 was entirely accidental. He had bought a saxophone but had given up trying to learn how to play it, and had no aspiration to be in a pop group.

In Sheffield in 1977, a school friend of Oakey's, Martyn Ware, along with Ian Craig Marsh and Adi Newton[5] had formed a band called The Future. They were part of an emerging genre of music that used analogue synthesisers instead of traditional instruments, which would later be called synth-pop. Although they had recorded a number of demo tapes, they remained unsigned. Newton left the band after they were turned down by record companies. Ware decided that The Future needed a dedicated lead singer to replace Newton. His first choice, Glenn Gregory, was unavailable. So Ware suggested his old school friend Philip Oakey to Marsh. Although Oakey had no musical experience, he was well known in the Sheffield social scene, principally for his eclectic dress sense and classic motorcycle. Ware went to visit Oakey to ask him to join The Future; finding him away from home, he left a note on Oakey's front door asking him to join. Oakey accepted and joined the band in mid-1977.[1]

In late 1977, The Future changed its name to The Human League—after an element of a science fiction board game. The new band played their first live gig at Psalter Lane Arts College in June 1978 (a blue plaque now marks the spot) and signed to Fast Records. The early Human League had a reputation for being arty and had very little commercial success, releasing two singles, "Being Boiled" and "Empire State Human", with lyrics written by Oakey. They would eventually release two albums, Reproduction (1979) and Travelogue (1980), both recorded at the band's Monumental Pictures studio. Reproduction failed to chart, but after an impromptu appearance on Top of the Pops in May 1980, Travelogue entered the UK Album Chart and peaked at No.16. Despite this, the band still had no hit singles and, dogged by the lack of commercial success, Oakey and Ware's working relationship became increasingly strained. In October 1980, on the eve of a European tour, it reached breaking point and Ware walked out taking Marsh with him. Oakey and director of visuals Adrian Wright were permitted to retain the band name but would be responsible for all band debts and the tour commitment. Ware and Marsh soon recruited Glenn Gregory and became Heaven 17.

Facing financial ruin with the tour promoters threatening to sue him, Oakey had less than a week to put a new band together. In an unplanned move Oakey went to a Sheffield city centre discothèque called The Crazy Daisy (Subsequently, The Geisha Bar, now a row of shops) and recruited two totally unknown teenage girls he saw dancing there: Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall into the band. As luck would have it, they were already fans of the Human League and recognised Oakey. He now calls this the best decision of his career, as the girls would be critical in the band's further success, and Sulley and Catherall are now Oakey's business partners in the present-day band.[6]

After the tour, the band had their first UK Top 20 hit, "The Sound of the Crowd", in April 1981. Now with the addition of Jo Callis and Ian Burden, the band became a six-piece and went on to release the single "Love Action (I Believe In Love)" which became a Top 3 hit in the UK. This was followed by "Open Your Heart", which became another Top 10 hit. Soon afterwards they released a full album, Dare, much of it written by Oakey. Dare would soon become a number-one album in the UK and achieve multi-platinum status. At the end of 1981, the fourth and final single from the album, "Don't You Want Me", gave the band their first number one and went on to sell over 1.5 million in the UK, staying at number one for five weeks. It also topped the chart in the US the following year, selling another million copies there. By the end of 1981/82 Oakey and the Human League would be famous worldwide.[1]

Oakey had a relationship with Catherall, and later, Sulley.[7][8] He and Catherall's lasted several years; the pair remain friends.[9]

The remainder of the 1980s saw the band's success peak and dip, with the follow-up release of the album Hysteria in 1984 underachieving. In 1986, Oakey accepted an offer to work with US producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis which resulted in the release of the album Crash and the single "Human" which became another international hit and went to number one in the US. However, by 1987, the band had lost most of its members leaving only Oakey, Sulley and Catherall. In 1989, Oakey persuaded Sheffield City Council to invest a business development loan for the building of Human League Studios in Sheffield, Oakey's dedicated studio for the band and a commercial venture.

The 1990 album Romantic? underperformed commercially, peaking at #24 in the UK and in 1992, Virgin Records cancelled the band's recording contract. This had a devastating effect on the band, causing Oakey to seek counselling for depression, and Sulley to have a breakdown. Oakey recalled in 1995: "We watched Romantic disappear without a trace. Gone, gone into the past with all you've hoped for. […] About that time, I think, I had a low-grade nervous breakdown."[10] The emotional problems of the pair nearly caused the band to break up. Thanks mainly to the efforts of Catherall, by 1993 Oakey and Sulley had recovered and the band was back on its feet. They signed to East West Records which resulted in the release of the gold-selling album Octopus in 1995 and the hit singles "Tell Me When" and "One Man in My Heart".[1]

Another change of record label saw the release of the critically acclaimed Secrets album in 2001. Secrets failed to sell because the record label went into receivership, curtailing promotion. After the failure of a project he had put so much work and time into, Oakey lost faith in the record industry and changed the band's focus to more lucrative live work. Between 2002 and the present day, they have toured regularly either on their own or as guests at festivals. They have played at such prestigious events as V Festival, Festival Internacional de Benicàssim and to 18,000 fans at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles in 2006.[1]

In 2011, the band released a new album, Credo. Though the album was commercially unsuccessful, the band continues to tour regularly.

Oakey has worked on his own, and also with other artists and producers. His first collaboration was producing the Spanish-released single "Amor Secreto" by Nick Fury in 1983 for which he also played synthesiser, together with Jo Callis.[11]

His highest profile and most commercially successful collaboration was with producer Giorgio Moroder. In 1984 for the film Electric Dreams, he and Moroder provided the film theme song, "Together in Electric Dreams". When later released as a single it would go on to become an international hit. The song went on to become a bigger hit than some of Oakey's Human League singles of the same period.[1]

In 1985, Oakey and Moroder released the joint album Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder which generated two further single releases, "Be My Lover Now" and "Good-Bye Bad Times". Released in both the UK and US, these singles were not as successful as "Together in Electric Dreams" and the Oakey/Moroder partnership effectively ended.[1]

In 1990, Oakey provided guest vocals on "What Comes After Goodbye", the one-off release by the short-lived Sheffield dance band, Respect. In 1991, Oakey was involved with Vic Reeves on the track "Black Night" which is a Deep Purple cover. In 1999, he provided vocals for the single "1st Man in Space" by the Sheffield band All Seeing I. The song was written by Jarvis Cocker. In 2003, he provided vocals for Sheffield band Kings Have Long Arms on the single "Rock and Roll is Dead"; also in 2003 he worked with producer/DJ Alex Gold and they released the trance single "LA Today". In 2008, Oakey worked with Hiem, a band fronted by former All Seeing I lead singer David "Bozz" Boswell, on the song "2 am".

In early 2009, Oakey collaborated with the Pet Shop Boys on their tenth studio album Yes, supplying vocals for the intended bonus disc song "This Used to Be the Future". Also in 2009, Oakey collaborated with British female synthpop artist Little Boots on her first album, Hands, recording the duet track "Symmetry".[12][13]

Throughout his career and in his personal life, Oakey has been a flamboyant dresser and fashion trend-setter. His outrageous dress sense and original hairstyle would make him an iconic figure of the early 1980s music scene.[1]

Before 1977, during the era of punk rock, Oakey adopted various styles; at one time having a crew cut, he later had collar-length hair and once turned up in a club wearing a household power lead with plug as a necklace. He also often wore bike leathers and rode a classic Norton motorcycle around Sheffield. Ware, who sought commercial success, reasoned that half the battle was won "as Oakey already looked like a pop star".

Soon after The Future transformed into the Human League, Oakey wanted a look that would make him stand out from other lead singers. After spotting a girl on a Sheffield bus with a Veronica Lake hairstyle, Oakey was inspired to adopt a strange lopsided geometric hairstyle, shoulder length on one side and short on the other. Between 1978 and 1979 with his unique hairstyle, he maintained a masculine dress style and at one time wore a full beard.

In 1979, inspired by the 1970s glam rock style of Brian Eno, Oakey began wearing makeup. His style became increasingly more feminine, including the use of bright red lipstick.

By 1981, after the formation of the new Human League, Oakey's trademark style of the early 1980s was complete. As well as full makeup, Oakey had begun wearing androgynous clothing. The addition of teenage school girls Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall as vocalists to the band in 1980 complemented his look. At times, all three would wear the same eyeliner and lipstick. Oakey and Catherall, who were to enter into a relationship with each other, often looked and dressed almost identically.[9]

The media regularly commented and joked about his style. Oakey pushed his style further and began wearing high-heeled shoes. He already had both his ears pierced and wore dangling women's diamante earrings. Keen to shock, on one of the Human League's posters in 1981 Oakey posed shirtless, displaying pierced nipples linked together by a gold chain. Oakey says of his early-1980s style: "I deliberately wore clothes that either men or women could wear. But I don't think I ever really looked like a woman. And I never wore very masculine clothes".[14]

It wasn't just a stage look. Oakey openly went about in public in full makeup, dressed in his eclectic style. "Sheffield was so accepting," he claimed, "that no one ever blinked an eyelid".[9]

By 1983 Oakey wanted to change his androgynous look. He adopted a more macho image of denim, collar-length hair and 'designer stubble'.

For the Crash album of 1986, Oakey adopted a smoother style of designer clothes and a manicured look which he says was inspired by Sean Young's character Rachael from the film Blade Runner.

By 1990, the Human League had begun to decline. For their Romantic? album, Oakey wore denim, leather and readopted his lop-sided hairstyle from 1981 in a rebellion against "the male model look of Crash". The band went through dark times and the style was quickly abandoned.

When the band returned in a comeback in 1995, the 40-year-old Oakey reappeared with designer clothes and a suave, short, neat hair cut.

In 1999, after beginning to develop male pattern baldness, Oakey adopted an all-over 'number two' crop hairstyle. This is the style he wears today.

Oakey now generally wears a simple Armani suit on stage. He has a prince albert piercing, stating in 2007, "Yes, I have a Prince Albert ring. I had it done about six years ago. It didn't hurt too much ... when I pierced my ear it hurt more!"[15]

• 1990: The Weekenders (TV) (D. Vic Reeves) – played himself
• 1999: Hunting Venus (Buffalo Films, D. Martin Clunes) – played himself
• 2010: Top Gear 15x01 – guest appearance (Jeremy Clarkson's 'Three-Wheeler Report')

• 1982: BRIT Awards – (as The Human League) 'Best British Breakthrough Act'
• 2004: Q Awards – (as The Human League) 'The Q Innovation in Sound Award'
• Nominated for Grammy Award in 1982 for Best New Artist (as The Human League)

• Story of a Band Called "The Human League" by Alaska Ross (Proteus July 1982) ISBN 978-0-86276-103-5

Oakey deliberately does not have an official website, not wanting to do what others do, and apparently believing it is expensive to have one.[1]

• "Philip Oakey of The Human League: Here Comes The Mirror Man" – Interview with Philip Oakey of the Human League – Rocker Magazine, 2011

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