First time ever hearing The Human League "Don't You Want Me" Reaction | Asia and BJ 

Asia's face expression was EVERYTHING.... This was definitely a banger in the 80s... You would live Duran Duran

I like this. This is one of the very first music videos I ever saw. This was before MTV. Nite Trax and once in a while Solid Gold were the only video shows on TV then. This was early 80s. I was like 10th grade I think.

Great song choice. Interesting footnote about this song. This song, and others were very near the 1st songs to remove an actual drummer from the band and use an electronic drum machine. Invented in the 1930's it didnt gain popularity until the 1980's and it marked a big change in how music gets produced and it has been relatively common to hear since then.

If you like this then try VIENNA by ULTRAVOX its a banger !

An Absolute MUST HEAR,, Human League "Human"

'Til Tuesday "Voices Carry"..A Must Hear Classic.

The Human League "Don't You Want Me" dropped in 1981 and the song quickly came to define the sound of synth pop in the early eighties. The song was huge. The chorus is super catchy. The stalker creepiness is balanced by the rebuttal thankfully. She owns the song by the end and we knew it back then too. The success of this song paved the way for other synth pop hits back when. But the underrated synth pop bop of those years, in my view, is still Yazoo "Nobody's Diary". Alison Moyet's vocals wonderfully complement Vince Clarke's synths on that song. Check out the album version when you can because the audio on the MTV video of it is horrible.

The look on Asia's face when he said "and I can put you back down too" was absolutely classic.

Asia & BJ, Phillip Oakley on lead vocals, Susan Ann Sulley on backup. Great song, but it was very overplayed. Try their "Keep Feeling Fascination" and "Mirror Man" next!!

OMG Asia, your facial expressions were everything! I almost busted a gut when you said 'she probably don't want him cuz he's crazy!' 🤣🤣🤣. Great reaction guys.

Absolutely right! Asia's facial expressions during the intro stanzas were the best thing I saw this week.

Yessss!! Such a great reaction Asia and BJ...The Human League are such a great 80's UK act...I love how you respond with American ears to something so far out of anything you listened to growing up.....please react to "Facination" by these guys Im sure you will love......peace and love from your subsctiber in New Zealand.

I am rolling with laughter. I was waiting for the song to get to the lyric where Asia just started shaking her head no. Asia was like no no no! It did not disappoint and she caught that mess.

I’m sure you guys would love “Human”, it was written & produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.

You can look at this song from two points of view. 1. Her point of view - I was working a shitty job, but I already had huge dreams of what I wanted to do with my life, why do you think you had anything to do with it. Now that I am here, I want to experience all that comes with it. 2. His point of view - You were at that shitty job and I fell in love with you. You told me your dreams and I realized that if you had to spend all your time struggling just to make ends meet, then you would have no time to attain those dreams. I made it so you didn't have to do anything but focus on making it big and even used some of my contacts to help you along. Now that you have your dream, you are just tossing me to the side and I feel used.

You guys really need to listen to the group ABC and the song The Look of Love.

Fascination, human, mirror man, love action. All great tracks by them

"Don't You Want Me" is a single by British synthpop group the Human League (credited on the cover as The Human League 100). It was released on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from their third studio album Dare (1981). The band's best known and most commercially successful song, it was the biggest selling UK single of 1981,[2] that year's Christmas number one, and has since sold over 1,560,000 copies in the UK, making it the 23rd-most successful single in UK Singles Chart history.[3] It topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the US on 3 July 1982, where it stayed for three weeks. In November 1983, Rolling Stone named it the "breakthrough song" of the Second British Invasion of the US.[4] In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's seventh-favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.[5]

Very good reaction. This song was meant to be about a man and a woman's power-politics. You rightly sensed it. The irony of this that the songwriter and lead singer (Philip Oakey) and the female members (Susan Sulley and Joanne Cathrall) are the best of friends in real life and still function to this day as a unit. They share a deep bond and friendship. This song is not autobiographical but Phil took inspiration from something that was in a magazine. He almost paraphrased the lyric from that story. :-)

This was a big hit when I was in high school. Fascination was another of their big hits

You’re rockin the hair Asia!!😉

For those of us who were young and into music when this was released, for me aged about 19, this was a massive hit in the UK and I still never grow tired of listening to it. Good video too with the lead singer's character looking like a real control freak! Thanks for another great reaction from you both.

It _is_ a creepy lyric. For what it's worth, Philip Oakey (the lead singer) has been in relationships with both the young ladies you see in the vid, and they still all get along just fine, after 40+ years together. In other words, he's not at all a predator like the song character suggests. He's just a really, really good singer. :^}

What a fantastic piece of 80's electronic music from The Human League. Their album 'Dare' was No 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. Masterpiece 😎👍

This is the 80s all day….They were huge, played on the radio constantly for years.

You guys actually spotted it, so many people believe this is a love song when it's really about control in an unhealthy relationship

Ok Fascination should be the next one. You will recognize it also. 😉😉

Even though I'm a metal head, I enjoyed some of the British New Wave pop music of the 80's.

Asia 🤣 When he said "I can put you back down too" 🤣🤣🤣

Love Asia`s take on this one!

Love the hair Asia 🔥🔥🔥

Love that you guys react to so many Brit groups / artists - think you would be really down with Alison Moyet too!

You want to know what's funny - I just finished watching your reaction to "HOOK" by Blue's Traveller; in which you spend a great deal of time discussing whether or not the hook of a song is all that people really pay attention to. Then @5:11 in this video, Asia laughs and says "I've heard this before I recognize - but ONLY THE HOOK." I call that serendipitous validation!

Your reactions are brilliant - The Human League are a great band & very good live ..... Phil Oakey (the lead singer) went on to make another iconic song - Together In Electric Dreams with Giorgio Moroder :)

having a trip down memory lane.human league were quite big in the 80s and this is the song they are most remembered for.cheers from England 🇬🇧.

Such a solid well crafted song.

You should also try “Obsession” by Animotion - from a similar time, just fire! 🔥

Your facial expressions ARE EVERYTHING Asia

Skating rink music around here -back in the day! Love it!💖💙✌️👍

It might sound stalker-ish in the 2020s but it isn't. He feels taken advantage of and he's hurt. That doesn't mean he's going to do anything. It's a song about a guy and a woman and a relationship that is over and he's hurt and she's moving on. That's all. Nobody in the 80s thought that about it. We just danced. It was a huge hit! And I love your hair!!!

"The most vicious love song over" Philip Oakey......

Love this song, was one of my favorites in high school. Love the beat, the vocals. The instruments were not ordinary , everything was new wave, synthetic. No string guitars, drums were different too.

Such a big song in our teens; huge! ❤️

Would love to see you guys do "Fascination street" or "Pictures of you" by The Cure

Great classic! Thanks for reacting to this one. Other suggestions: Keep Feeling Fascination, The Lebanon, Human, Mirror Man. Also, John Farnham--You're The Voice would be awesome. He's a great singer from Australia. Thanks! If you'd like to listen to a classic 80's bop here's one from 1982: Animotion--Obsession. I think they played the hook of this song in a commercial or two recently. Someone made a suggestion of playing Duran Duran--I'd go with either Rio, The Reflex, Hungry Like The Wolf or Electric Barbarella. If you want something weird and scary: Hazel O'Connor - Eighth Day.

Good Reaction and ONCE AGAIN you see the benefit of watching the VIDEO as BJ said "It perfectly depicts the story"......:) One thing I have learned in my 67 years as no Woman who makes it, like Shania Twain, with the initial help of her millionaire Man, later acknowledges it! lol "I would have made it anyway! " but WOULD YOU THOUGH?

I believe that was the point of the song, a man writing a song that tries to give props to the woman by showing how some men acted. Obviously, he wasn't really like that or he wouldn't have written the song, depicting his character in this way. So, you are correct, his character was a little overbearing but, you also need to think about, in that same scenario, maybe she WAS always looking for a better opportunity, but what if her ONLY chance was his generosity ??? What if, after he doing a lot for her, she just tells him 1 day, "Hey, it's over" ??? I say this from a situation I found myself in a lot. I would help out friends (other guys) who were down on their luck. I would tell them, "Don't worry about it now, man. Take your time and find a good job, and when you get back on your feet, then you can worry about helping me out a little, or even paying me back ... but don't worry about that now". So, time would go by and that person would find a job, and then, within a week, come to me and tell me that they not only loved their job, but they rented an apartment and were moving out. I would get so pissed because, rather than helping me recoup some of the money I laid out for them, they took the opportunity to ditch me and use the money they were now getting to enrich themselves, when, without my help, they'd be living in a ditch somewhere. They would say that they thought I'd be happy that they weren't sucking money from me or in my hair anymore, but that was just a cop out. The original cry was, "I need help ... would you help me ???" and my reply was, '"Yeah, I'll help you, and float you until you get on your feet" but, I expected to get at least SOME of it back. Staying for a while to help pay the bills so I could get back some of my money would have been really nice ... and was expected. What they thought though was, "Hey, if I stay for a while, and give him some of MY money, I'll have less and won't be able to go party and stuff. Why should I do that ???" The obvious answer is "because he helped you out when you needed help and it cost him a lot to do that ... it's only fair for you to give a little back". When I listen to this song, I believe he was thinking more along these lines ... he helped her to be successful, and the moment she knew she could make it on her own, or liked someone else, she just dumped him, never paying him back or even giving him the respect he deserved.

I love your hair Asia!!

One of the better synth pop bands of the eighties. Have a look at these great bands too. Ultravox Depeche Mode Eurithmics Orchestral manoeuvres in the dark Duran Duran Talk Talk

Man, this song always makes me flash back to 1992, the summer of 3rd grade this was my jam lol. I know it was released in 81 but I was born in 84 so I had to get hip late 🤣

This was in heavy rotation on MTV when MTV first came out. This was one of the first music videos. The album this is on is called "Dare" and it's really really good.

Great reaction! Check out their song, "Human". It's my favorite of theirs! Love you guys! ❤

The Human League are English New Wave (sometimes bundled in with the New Romantics)

you don't know the genre at all you can't analyse the 80's it was made up multiple genre's all ever so slightly different from each other singing about anything at all, it was a musically busy time extremely creative so much more than today. technology & music where feeding off each other looking for new sounds etc, it was a very exciting time, I'm glad I was there.

A fun song to crank in the car that was everywhere in ‘82 - radio and clubs. Never paid attention to the lyrics ’til now 😊

Now check out Human by the same group. It was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who produced Janet Jackson's Control album. Incredible song!

Hi,you may well like BLUE MONDAY by NEW ORDER xxxx

Human by the Human League is another No.1 hit they had in the US.

In the 60's we had the first British invasion into the U.S music scene/ HUMAN league among many others in the 80's gave a second (B.I). They refer to this style as new wave or Synth pop.

It's a case of a BROKEN HEART!!!!!!!!!! anything goes

according to my dad, even hardcore metal heads would be humming this in the hallways at school 😆

I would recommend reaction to: The Human League - Human

Depeche mode- just cant get enough. Another 80s banger

Asia completely got what the song was about!! Love it cause most people don't. I didn't even get it as a kid in 1982 when this song came out...love you guys

You should listen to Human League's song Human.

Asia reation during the female part is so great!!😂❤

Great song! Listen to their song HUMAN.. its great!

I LOVE THAT I WAS A TEEN IN THE 80'S. Soooo much great music 🎶 I love this song.🧡😊

Don't you want me baby? Don't you want me? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the song version of the movie A Star Is Born, which has been remade many times, most recenty with Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.

Human...the dullest song of theirs...give us some real gritty Human League like 'lebanon' or 'seconds'

Great reaction! My fav Human League is Human. Published a piano cover too on my page 🎹

They used to live next to my great aunts in Sheffield, UK

If you want to listen to more Human League from the same album as this song, I'd recommend "Love action".

Phil the male singer says its a nasty song about control.

She was working in a Cocktail Bar, not a Diner.

This is a great song, a great band, Asia's face! He's saying, you only made it because of me and she's saying I would have made it anyway! Great band, still going and touring!

They created POP newave as we know it today

If you had the dance floor moves then this tune was a sure path to the jungle boogie!

Think we need to appreciate Asia's hair here it looks great

Human is a classic from them aswell

One of the great 80’s tunes and there are many……..I love the duet/back and forth style of the song.

i believe they classified this as new wave music back in the day.

The Human Leagues album DARE which this is from is one of the classics of the 1980's. I had it on original vynal and then again on CD. There is not a bad song on the whole album. A later song of their Electric Dreams was also a big hit but Human is amazing.

The Human League were pioneers of techno-pop and made lots of classics. They have been a major influence on music through the years.

Was a banger before a banger was a banger

Now ya need some Depeche Mode Enjoy the silence

I love Human League! This is a good one but you seriously have to do Human it’s their top hit. They also do Fascination which is a decent one. They are the epitome of New Wave 80s

This song was number one when it debuted in 1981! This is part of the new wave music from the British Invasion during the 80s. They have many other great music!👌😎👍

Its so primal - the "dont you want me baby".

ASIA you been GOTTEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was this song about AOC?

I hate that I like this song!

"Don't You Want Me" is Alcazar's biggest hit in the United States with 15 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #30. May 2002

Just wait for her response, Asia!

Loved the reaction! Asia's expressions were amazing while BJ was just like, "yeah, guys say stupid things." This is one of my favorite bands growing up (yep, I'm old) and even to this day. The 411 on the Human League is that they deal with the human condition without sugar coating it or making it glamorized. This is the story of a man who finds himself on the outside of what he once had and is both hurt and upset. Is he being ridiculous and making baseless threats? Sure; but then that's what men are known for. The woman, in contrast, knows where he's coming from, and speaks to him with firm sympathy. It's relatable, if not precisely comfortable.

This song would go well with a movie from the 80s called Star 80. The movie is very dark, and based on a true story. I won't spoil anything beyond that, but it's like this song, just darker. An influential dude elevates some pretty young thing to fame & fortune, she gets so famous she leaves him behind... This was actually a very common theme in the 80s in real life. Lots of young girls seeking fame run to the big city (New York, Los Angeles) and work a 9-to-5 til they get discovered and make it big, but some entitled creep is the one that gives her her start, and then it gets complicated...

The 80s were AWESOME!!!! I was and always will be a metal head HOWEVER….I would NEVER have admitted back then, that I listened to Human league, Thompson Twins, Flock of seagulls, and God forbid Berlin (even though “when we make love” is a freak show) None of my friends would admit liking this type of music, but somehow they all seemed to know the lyrics lol

Human League, from my home city, Sheffield England 🇬🇧🇬🇧

That woman in the "GOOD VIBES" shirt is completely blank