In 1988 I got my first proper HIFI system, a big, Philips stack system with a record player, a graphic equaliser that lit up like Blackpool, twin cassette decks and this new-fangled thing called a CD player. Thoughtfully, my folks bought me a stack of CDs to play on this new device, one of them was 'Greatest Hits' by Human League.
At the time, my knowledge of Human League was 'Don't You Want Me Baby' which had been number 1 for weeks years ago and '(Keep Feeling) Fascination' which had a video with a big red dot on a map which turned into a house and bits of street painted red then had the band bopping around inside - I loved it.
After listening to the album the first time I realised I knew most if not all songs, I much have picked them up by osmosis, my babysitter was a massive fan, I blame/thank her for this!
I decided to see if I could pick up some of the original CDs on vinyl, they were released in 1988 so there should be tons of them about, in decent condition right? Well, kinda right, there are tons of them about but it looks like most of them have been stored under a sink or played on a sowing machine.
After weeks of scouring eBay, I found this copy, described as "only ever played once, in great condition", I studied the pictures and decided to take a punt (after getting into a bit of a bidding war with someone else who clearly wanted a copy that hadn't been used as a frisbee by kids).
A few days later it arrived and my first impression wasn't good. The record had what looked like watermarks all over it that weren't obvious in the pictures. A quick run through the Spin Clean and then an ultrasonic bath in the Humming Guru and most of the marks were gone.
It only took a few seconds of the first track for me to realise it was indeed a good copy. Nice and quiet, with no massive pops or clicks (my cleaning probably helped) and loads of music still in the record. Overall I am impressed and glad I took the time to find a decent copy.
If you are a fan of Human League you will know what to expect here, all the best (up to 1988) including the tracks I've already mentioned plus the likes of 'Mirror Man', 'The Lebanon', 'Human', 'Together In Electric Dreams', 'Love Action (I Believe In Love)', 'Love Is All That Matters' and many more.
This is a great compilation that takes me right back to being a teenager. Worth the scouring, the bidding war and all the cleaning.
Tracks To Try: Any of them.