Philip Oakey

Philip Oakey (born 2 October 1955) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer.

He is the lead singer, songwriter, and co-founder of the synth-pop band the Human League.

Aside from the Human League, Oakey has enjoyed an extensive solo music career and has collaborated with numerous other artists and producers.

He left school at 18 without finishing his exams and worked in a number of casual jobs, including one in a university bookshop and as a porter at Thornbury Annex Hospital in Sheffield in 1977.

Oakey's entry into music in 1977 was unintentional.

He had purchased a saxophone but had abandoned efforts to learn how to play it, and he had no aspiration to be in a pop group.

In Sheffield in 1977, Oakey's former schoolmate Martyn Ware, along with Ian Craig Marsh and Adi Newton, had formed a band called the Future.

They were part of an emerging genre of music that used analogue synthesisers instead of traditional instruments, a style later to be termed synth-pop.

Although they had recorded a number of demo tapes, the Future remained unsigned.

Newton departed the band after they were rejected 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 Oakey to Marsh.

Although Oakey had little music experience, he was well known in the Sheffield social scene for his eclectic dress sense and classic motorcycle.

Ware invited Oakey to join the Future by leaving a note on Oakey's front door.

Oakey joined the band in mid-1977.

In late 1977, the Future changed its name to the Human League, named 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 enjoyed very little commercial success, releasing two singles, "Being Boiled" and "Empire State Human," with lyrics written by Oakey.

In 1978, Oakey married his girlfriend Anthea Helliwell, whom he had met at school, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1980.

They would eventually release two albums, Reproduction (1979) and Travelogue (1980), both recorded at the band's Monumental Pictures studio.

Oakey was among the most visually distinctive music artists of the early 1980s.

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 #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.

During the autumn of 1980, on the eve of a European tour, the tension reached a breaking point and Ware departed, taking Marsh along.

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 assemble a new band.

In an unplanned move, Oakey visited a Sheffield city-centre discothèque called The Crazy Daisy and recruited two teenage girls whom he saw dancing there, Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall, to join the band.

Oakey had noticed them for their dance moves, dress style and makeup.

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 became Oakey's business partners in the present-day band.

At the height of their success, the Human League released the triple platinum-certified studio album Dare (1981) and Oakey co-wrote and sang the multimillion-selling single "Don't You Want Me," a #1 single in both the US and UK, where it remains the 28th-highest-selling single of all time.

Oakey has been lead vocalist of the Human League for more than 40 years.

With the band, he has sold more than 20 million records worldwide.

He continues recording and performing internationally.

Oakey's 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 14.

He was educated at King Edward VII School in Sheffield.

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 #3 hit in the UK.

This was followed by "Open Your Heart," which also reached the top 10.