''The Dignity of Labour'' is a 12" vinyl record released in 1979. The tracks were written and performed by

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

featuring a line-up of

Martyn Ware Martyn Ware (born 19 May 1956) is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer, and music programmer. As a founding member of both the Human League and Heaven 17, Ware was partly responsible for hit songs such as "Being Boiled" and " ...

Ian Craig Marsh Ian Craig Marsh (born 11 November 1956) is an English musician and composer. He was a founding member of the electronic band the Human League, writing and playing on their first two albums and several singles, until leaving in 1980 to form the ...

and

Phil Oakey Philip Oakey (born 2 October 1955) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and cofounder of British synth-pop band the Human League. Aside from the Human League, Oakey has enjoyed an ...

. It was released as the follow-up to their earlier single " Being Boiled" (b/w "Circus of Death") on Fast Product Records, the label that the band released their early singles. All four parts are instrumental pieces of electronic music, loosely tied together with a story depicting the construction of the

Vostok 1 Vostok 1 (russian: link=no, Восток, ''East'' or ''Orient'' 1) was the first spaceflight of the Vostok programme and the first human orbital spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA space capsule was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Apr ...

spacecraft, as well as the launch of the rocket and the pioneering

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. T ...

into space. The cover art depicts Gagarin, having just landed on earth, about to receive a medal of honour. At the time of release, the record contained a free single on flexidisc which featured a recording of the band members and Bob Last discussing whether or not to include a flexidisc, the benefits and detractions of including a flexidisc, and what the flexidisc should contain (in homage to the film '' Dark Star''). Later they talk about Yuri Gagarin, Yuri Gagarin having tea after landing Vostok 1, individual as opposed to group effort and the fact that eventually everyone dies.

Track listing

#"The Dignity of Labour (Pt. 1)" – (4:21) — "The first part has the miners underground in Russia, digging up the coal to make steel" Commentary from demo cassette version
/ref> #"The Dignity of Labour (Pt. 2)" – (2:46) — "The second part shows gantries being made from the steel, for Yuri Gagarin's spaceship." #"The Dignity of Labour (Pt. 3)" – (3:49) — "The third part is an instrumental tribute to Yuri Gagarin." #"The Dignity of Labour (Pt. 4)" – (3:49) + bonus spoken word flexi-disc (4:11)

Miscellaneous

The

Roland System 100 The Roland System 100 was an analog semi-modular synthesizer (having an internal fixed signal path that could be overridden by plugging patch cables into the front of the synth) manufactured by Japan's Roland Corporation, released in 1975 and man ...

synthesizer was used extensively on every track, providing sequencing, sound effects, melodies and percussion.

References

External links

Blind Youth, The early work of The Human League - Songs They Didn't Know: The Dignity of Labour

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dignity Of Labour, The 1979 debut EPs The Human League songs 1978 songs Songs written by Philip Oakey Songs written by Martyn Ware Songs written by Ian Craig Marsh