Tell Me When

Product Information

Tell Me When" was the first Human League single to be released from Octopus and was issued in advance of the album. People Magazine stated that "their hot new single 'Tell Me When' has made the Human League hip again". In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton said, "It may not be the biggest new hit of the week but it is certainly the most significant", concluding with that it is "sounding like typical Human League of old". Oakey took issue with this description and said in an interview that the band had never stopped recording and performing since its formation in 1977.

Released in a variety of vinyl and CD single formats, these variously included remixes of "Tell Me When" by contemporary electronic acts Utah Saints, Development Corporation and Red Jerry, a non-album B-side ("The Bus to Crookes"), and a track from the band's recent collaboration with Yellow Magic Orchestra.

It peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart in early 1995, their highest UK chart position since " (Keep Feeling) Fascination" reached number two in 1983, and spent a total of nine weeks on the chart.

It then became the first release by the band under East West, who had signed the Human League after their dismissal by Virgin in 1992. By the time of its release, the single received over one thousand plays per week across the board according to East West Records. And the (then) mixers du jour Utah Saints sprinkled their magic dust over what was already an accomplished slab of gorgeousness to churn out an even bigger dancefloor stonker. Another NME editor, Paul Moody, viewed it as "sublimely clumsy" with "this killer Human League chorus all over it, the sort that rings around your brain like a nursery rhyme from Mars.Jennifer Nine from Melody Maker viewed it as "a brightly hopeful, wafer-thin compendium of standard League traits, including that pocket calculator-powered "funky" breakdown. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. It also peaked at number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100, on 15 April 1995, giving the band their last hit to date in the United States.

It received considerable radio promotion in advance of its late 1994 UK release, hitting the airwaves at a time when many people started to get Christmas song fatigue. I actually bought this cd for the instrumental track BUS TO CROOKES which is the last track on this cd single and a great tune.Then there is the tendency to fiddle with the original to such an extent it almost becomes unrecognisable from the outstanding original. It topped the Major Market Airplay charts in the UK for two weeks commencing 4 February, registering total plays of 915 for the week of 11 February. The band then performs in the main hall of the Wallenstein Palace, surrounded by lit candles and candelabras. But isn't that what the League have always had, in abundance, with more than a modicum of electronic auteur thrown in?