THE
PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY OF SUSAN ANN SULLEY
THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF THE
REMAINING 1980s
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NEXT PAGEHome Page Page 1: Synopsis & The Crazy Daisy Story Page 2: 1981 - The Build up to Dare Page 3: The Remaining 1980s Page 4: The 1990s Page 5: The 21st Century  |
| Susanne December 1982 |
1982 - WORLD DOMINATION
In 1982 The Human League embarked on an ambitious international tour, showcasing the album to the world. In mid 1982 'Dare' was released in the US (Renamed Dare! by A&M Records).
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Photo for Magazine Interview 1982 |
The album quickly
mirrored the success it had received in the
Now famous throughout the world, the band were lauded by the music press
and printed media as the future of pop music. The inevitable award
nominations started to pour in. At the
1982 ended on a high when in November 27th
the band released the Motown inspired single ‘Mirror Man’. This was accompanied
by an evocative but low key music video dominated by Oakey, with Susan and Joanne
once again consigned to backing vocals. However their vocals this time were
arguably the most harmonic and technically proficient they had been to that
point. The girls who were obviously never trained as professional singers and
effectively learned on the job, were well aware of their limitations. Although
it didn't bother fans or the record buying public it was something music critics
often took unkind pleasure in regularly pointing out. But on
Mirror Man their
vocals were stunning
and almost
operatic! Something not commented upon until years later. Only just missing
another Christmas Number One, Mirror Man
peaked at Number Two in the
1983 - FASCINATION!
The following year would see cracks starting to appear in the band’s run of success.
1983 started of well with another
number
two single in the
When the band retreated to the studio
to work on the follow up album to Dare, the sessions were plagued with rows, indecision and disarray. The band were
working in the £1000 a day 'Air studios'.
They were there
full time for a year (do the math) with the musicians taking days to program a single sequence. Susan and Joanne were reportedly exceedingly underemployed.
Nick Heyward of Haircut 100 famously mocked the band when he said he had recorded his
entire album in the time it had take The Human league to program one drum
machine.
1984 - HYSTERIA
In early 1984 the fruits of the Air sessions hit the shops. In May 1984 the politically charged single ‘The Lebanon’ was released. Guitar riff led it was an interesting departure from the previous League sound. An outstanding track it was the wrong time and the wrong choice for the band; and only reached number 11 in the UK. Later criticised for having the some of the worst lyrics in a pop song ever, understandably it is Oakey that gets all the blame for the line “Where there used to be some Shops…” but it is thankfully forgotten that Susan sings the follow up “is were the snipers some times hide”. She takes the song’s criticism in good humour but defends the intent and says “It's about the little people, it’s what we do, we speak up for the little people!” The songs promotional video was filmed at a ‘faux’ concert (the audience were all extras and sadly it showed). But it was to prove a very clear early demonstration of the Human League's stage layout and live performance personalities . Oakey lugubrious and serious in the centre, an energetic and hyperactive Susan on the left and a cool laid-back Joanne on the right. This arrangement and personality traits can still be seen on stage 24 years later.
The media without proper research often treat Susan and Joanne as completely alike both vocally and personality wise. The girls differing hair color could be a metaphor for their complete difference ....in everything! The girls personality contrast on stage mirrors their technical vocal difference, which is often quite dramatic and distinctive. One journalist managed to irritate Susan in an interview by declaring that "he couldn’t tell her and Joanne apart on an album. (octopus)". An incredulous Susan rounded on him by listing all the different traits she had, compared to Joanne; with the humbled (and probably slightly scared) journo rapidly back tracking.
The long awaited album 'Hysteria' (so called after its problematic recording history) was released at the end of May 1984 and entered the charts at number three in the UK album chart.
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Susanne with Joanne Smash Hits 1984 |
Somewhat arrogantly the band did little
promotion not realising the album did not have the power of Dare and within a couple of weeks the album
had left the top 20. In June 1984 Virgin released the second single from
Hysteria: "Life On Your Own" it was a haunting, down beat and melancholy
track. Oakey’s languid but emotionally charged lead was accompanied by Susan and
Joanne’s sadness tinged, almost chanted chorus. The video would become one of
the band's most memorable and was based on a pastiche of 1972 Charlton
Heston film “The Omega Man”. Featuring a
lonely 'survivalist' Oakey walking around a depopulated
Although she is often complemented as a good amateur actress, Susan completely fluffs the role of playing a Mannequin in one scene of the video by being unable to stop blinking when the camera is on her. But this is hardly noticed next to a Jo Callis in drag! The single although critically applauded, failed to sell to record buyers who were tempted by more ‘summer sounding’ singles, "Life On Your Own" peaked at number 16.
A story that now has a number of documented versions, although all parties agree it took place; is that in late 1984 Philip Oakey (who was in the charts with his solo single "Together in Electric Dreams") was invited be be part of the all star line up for a project that would become the 'Band Aid' single "Do They Know It's Christmas'" But (allegedly!) the invitation didn’t extend to Susan or Joanne! Oakey told Bob Geldof’s people no and that was the end of it; of course the rest of the Band Aid story is now history! Long after the event, when questioned, the organisers would claim it was a “breakdown in communication” and that Susan and Joanne had been welcome all along. The story is now sanitised slightly and the band claim that the project was never explained properly, which is why 'they' turned it down, Susan now plays it down “as one of those things that was a big misunderstanding at the time”. But if you choose to believe the former version, then this and the similar incident with Top of The Pops demonstrates Oakey’s loyalty to the girls.
Unlike many bands, where the backing singers were regarded as almost disposable; from the very outset in 1980 Susan and Joanne were treated like members of the family. Oakey states that he never considered the girls as backing singers at all but as ‘Co-vocalists'. It would be a loyalty that the girls would repay later, and it is their loyalty which is the sole reason for band's survival to this day. Regrettably this hasn’t always been appreciated by the media who have often been dismissive and disrespectful to the girls.
To this day some elements of the media still dismiss Susan as a backing singer, a role she stepped out of in 1981.And whilst very few interviewers survive the experience of describing her as a backing singer to her face, Susan says that some journalists still refuse to speak to her if Oakey isn't available to be interviewed.
1985 -1989 AND A TRIP TO MINNEAPOLIS
In November of 1985 the ballad 'Louise' was released as a single complete with another expensive Steve Barron video. The Louise video was dominated by Philip / Joanne; but was supposed to be based on the original characters from the Video for "Don’t You Want Me" meeting up again years later. On instructions from Steve Barron, Susan once again pulled on the trench coat from 1981. However the video, filmed in black and white, was just ‘too arty’ and the original premise was lost on all but the most knowledgeable fans.
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Joanne and Susan- 1986 in Minneapolis during recording of Crash |
With Oakey working on a side project with Giorgio Moroder, The Human League stagnated creatively during 1985 and by 1986 attempts to rekindle the creative spirit with the group would cause arguments division and walk outs as all the male members of the band fought to get financially important song writing credits. Oakey would describe the period as "the time everyone went mad”. It was at this point that Susan and Joanne’s conscious decision 6 years earlier not to involve themselves in the creative process started to make sense and they were largely uninvolved in the conflict.
Virgin were worried by the lack of productivity
and as the band were nowhere near recording an album; it was suggested that the
band accept an offer to work with US producers Jerry Jam and Terry Lewis who had
developed an interest and admiration for the band from the US releases and
already had material to work with. In February the entire band was flown out to
the freezing conditions of
The Band repeatedly clashed with Jam and Lewis and eventually quit the sessions
early returning to
The Album 'Crash' was released immediately afterwards, but it was a very mixed bag; some of the THL tracks not sitting well with the Jam and Lewis tracks. Again the Album did better in the US than the UK. 1986 was also the year that Susan dropped Susanne returning to the more formal Susan Ann Sulley. Strangely, some 22 years later, some elements of the media still continue to use it!
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1986 Glamour photograph of Susan for Crash Tour program |
It later transpired that a publicity
photo shoot for the album was as fraught with difficulties as the actual
album recording. In an attempt to replicate the Vogue cover style glamour shots
alluded to on the cover of 'Dare'. Oakey had persuaded Virgin to pay Paris Vogue
photographer Guy Bourdin to photograph the band. The band flew out to
The single "Human" was the group's last
real commercial success of the decade, but the unexpected success of Crash
internationally, particularly in
In the
The band toured in 1987, to packed venues. But the rest of the year was characterized by inactivity both by the band and by Virgin.
By 1988 the band's popularity had started to decline and Virgin resorted to putting out a Greatest Hits album which was a surprise instant success, going to number 3 in the album chart. While critics were favourable to the idea, it was also taken as a sign that the band had reached the end of their Career ;as the music scene shifted away from pop towards 'Acid House'. A sweetener single had been released in advance of the album entitled "Love Is All That Matters" (from the Jam and Lewis sessions) A very likable track; Virgin barely promoted it, not even financing a decent video and it only charted at number 41. Virgin were now more interested in re-releasing the back catalogue and "Hits compilations" to make a fast buck. It would be symptomatic of how the label now viewed the band, who had saved them from bankruptcy 8 years earlier.. The band's relationship with Virgin had started to breakdown. In 1991 Oakey would complain that the band had not received an A&R visit from Virgin for 4 years.
Today, often characterised as an 80s band, (a description the band apparently detest given their 3 decade succsess) It would be reasonable to expect that the 1980's, at the height of their success were also their happiest time.
According to Susan it simply wasn't! The band felt out of their depth after the stratospheric success of Dare. Worrying that any day they would be discovered "as frauds" by the music critics. The pressure to produce another 'Dare' by Virgin was extraordinary as was the amount of money changing hands in studio fees and production. Pressures within the band caused internal conflict and later, departures.
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Susan Sulley 1989 |
Susan stated (in 1989) "After Dare everyone was expecting Dare 2, it never happened"
But on a personal front, it was the fame she had never sought, that had started to take its toll on Susan. When She had been whisked from the Crazy Daisy she thought that the tour would be a "bit of a laugh" and the band thing would only last a few months. But by the mid 1980s she was a popstar and an International celebrity, she was mobbed when ever she left her house and found it difficult to go to her old haunts in Sheffield without becoming the centre of attention, some of it malicious.
She and Joanne once had to be rescued by the police after being besieged in a Sheffield shop by a mob of 100 fans. Another common misconception was that because the band were bringing in millions of pounds in sales they must have been living millionaires life styles. It couldn't have been further from the truth. Virtually all income went to Virgin. Susan and Joanne as "mere performers" were paid on a very meagre salary. Susan says she never has been able to live a "rockstar lifestyle" at any time in her career, something she is actually very proud of.
Talking about the period now Susan remarked that no one taught her how to deal with the fame that she hadn't wanted. But then just as bad, as the band started to decline in the late 1980s it was just as difficult dealing with losing the fame and sense of purpose.
An interviewer (in 2004) unaware of this, touched a nerve when he asked her to describe how good the 1980s were, an unusually abrasive Susan replied sharply:
"I hated the 1980s" .....Interviewer: (Surprised) "What, all of it?".... Susan : "Absolutely all of it!"
During 1989 the band concentrated on the construction of their own self financed studios in Sheffield, an incredible financial risk. But with their own facility they believed that they could become more productive. They were seemingly unaware that their label were starting to lose interest in them.
The decade which had started out with phenomenal international success ended on a low with the band's profile in decline, outwardly it seemed the Human League had gone into hibernation and they dropped rapidly from public consciousness. However things were soon to get much worse....
Page Three of Five
