Soundtrack to a Generation (song)

Infobox Single |
Name = Soundtrack to a Generation


Artist = The Human League
from Album = Romantic?
B-side = "Soundtrack To A Generation (Instrumental)"
Released = October, 1990
Format = 7", 12", CD Maxi single
Recorded = Human League Studios, Sheffield, 1990
Genre = Synthpop
Length = 4:21
Label = Virgin Records
Writer = Philip Oakey, Neil Sutton
Producer = Bob Kraushaar
Chart position = * #77 UK
Last single = "Heart Like a Wheel"(1990)
This single = "Soundtrack to a Generation"(1995)
Next single = "Tell Me When"(1995)

“Soundtrack to a Generation” is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League. It is taken from the " Romantic? "album of 1990.

Background

“Soundtrack to a Generation” was the second and final single to be taken from the Human League's "Romantic?" album of 1990. It would also be the band's final original release under their contract with Virgin Records. It was written by lead singer Philip Oakey and Keyboard player Neil Sutton and features vocals by Oakey, Joanne Catherall and Susan Ann Sulley.

It was recorded at HL studios in Sheffield during 1990 and produced by Bob Kraushaar. After the moderate success of Heart Like a Wheel in 1990, Virgin agreed to release a second single from "Romantic?". In an attempt to resurrect their past the band had also advertised the track as 'Red', a reference to their old early 1980s labeling system of 'Red' for dance tracks and 'Blue' for pop songs. The reference was lost on all but the most knowledgeable fans.

Released in the UK in October 1990, "Soundtrack to a Generation" flopped badly reaching only number 77 in the UK singles chart, and charting for 2 weeks. It was to be the worst performance of a Human League single for 10 years.

The reason for the failure was simple, the UK music scene was focused on U.S Grunge and the Manchester Scene. Music critics declared that the Human League belonged to the now defuct 1980s and the record buying public thought likewise. Although "Soundtrack to a generation" was called “likable” in some sections of the music press who praised Oakey's profound lyric of "all I knew at 17 is all I know now". It was also heavily criticized elsewhere, particularly for Sulley and Catherall's idiosyncratic incidental "Holy Cow" exclamations. It disappeared from the charts after 2 weeks.

After losing money on the single’s promotion and its music video, it would be the point that Virgin Records ran out of patience with the Human league. There would be no further releases from "Romantic?" and within a year the band would be dropped by the label.http//:www.league-online.com/biography]

Promotional video

The music video for “Soundtrack to a Generation” was a simply shot studio performance of the song, with video smudge effects and a video overlay of falling leaves to give an "autumn effect. The band's dress style had been a deliberate attempt to distance themselves from the over stylized late 1980s videos. There was little change in Catherall, but Oakey had re-adopted long hair and wore leather chaps. Susan Ann Sulley had adopted a "" style of a very short dress and bouffant blonde hair. The video would be keyboard player and co-songwriter Neil Sutton's first onscreen appearance with the band.

References

External links

* http://www.the-black-hit-of-space.dk/soundtrack_generation.htm