Song of the Week: Don’t You Want Me
January 7, 2025
Welcome to 2025, by way of 1981!
The Human League. For me, they were the sound of 1980s synth-pop. More than even the Eurythmics. “Don’t You Want Me” was the opening for me. I think I may have already had “Cars” by Gary Numan, so I knew New Wave, but The Human League was different. For some, pop might be a bad word, suggesting popularity over quality. But I have to admit, I like pop. Granted, not all popular music, but power pop is kind of my jam. And The Human League were both alternative and pop. My lane.
And while “Don’t You Want Me” was my introduction, it isn’t necessarily my favourite. I think that would be “(Keep Feeling) Fascination”
This was another band that I tracked almost exclusively on the TV and radio. I think my sister bought this single, but I never actually purchased any of The Human League’s works until the last decade, when I filled up my digital library. But I wouldn’t walk away from the TV or change the channel when one of their videos played. If they were on the radio, I would listen. So why didn’t I buy their music?
By early high school—when “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” was hitting the airwaves—I was already sliding into a particular group of friends who were digging a certain kind of alternative music, and any kind of pop was anathema. I was actually teetering between two friend groups, one that had much more expansive musical tastes and one that was much more restrictive. It’s interesting, even I would expect one to gravitate toward the less restrictive frame. Nope. Exclusion is cool. It feels superior. So I played like I didn’t enjoy The Human League, Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, or Soft Cell.
Some of the greats of the early 80s.
I’m glad to have outgrown that, but there was a long period in high school when I had the groups I admitted to like and the many more groups that I actually liked.
It got worse before it would get better.