As synthesizers started to become affordable in the late 1970s, computer
programmers Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh's early avant-garde musical experiments
with the technology were soon being given commercial pop melodies by the
addition of Phil Oakey as front man under the name The Human League. But the new
direction didn't suit the two founding members and they split to form Heaven 17.
Meanwhile, Oakey found singers Joanne Catherall and Susan Sulley in a local
nightclub and, with the permission of their parents, headed out on tour in 1980.
Gaining popularity through their touring...