Love Action (I Believe in Love)

Love Action (I Believe In Love) (also known as "Love Action") is a song recorded and issued by The Human League. It was written by group members Philip Oakey and Ian Burden and produced by Martin Rushent and The Human League. It was issued a single in July 1981 and later featured on the album Dare. Love Action was the group's biggest hit to date when it reached no. 3 in early September, and remains one of the group's best known songs.

Content and lyrics
The song begins with a characteristic electronic 'meow' sound (also known as 'the cat') before launching straight into the first verse. The verses are singer Phil Oakey's very personal account of being in love and his relationships ("I've been a husband and a lover too"), using the first person and even his own name to address the listener ("this is Phil talking"). The chorus also uses the first person pronoun "I". The bridge is a spoken section which also expresses personal feelings "I believe what the old man said", "I feel the pain from the push and shove".

Single release
The single was released on 27 July 1981 as the follow-up to the group's first Top 20 hit The Sound of the Crowd. The B side was another new track 'Hard Times' and the two were combined on the 12" release in two different versions. On its release, music weekly Record Mirror chose Hard Times/Love Action as 'Undisputed Single of the Week'.

John Peel played the single on his late night Radio 1 show on 23 July (the week before its official release) and referred to it as "a chart bound sound".

Track listing

Virgin 7" single - VS 435

A. Love Action (I Believe In Love) (3:49)

B. Hard Times (5:10)

Virgin 12" single - CS 435-12

See: Hard Times / Love Action (I Believe In Love)

Sleeve
The front and back sleeve both feature photographs of the five-piece group. The group name is superimposed with the 'RED' marking (denoting a 'dance' record) which also features on the label. Cover design and photography is attributed to Philip (Oakey) and Adrian (Wright) with layout and coordination attributed to Ken (Ansell) at A.S.

Chart performance
The single entered the UK charts at no. 29 immediately after its release, making it to the Top 10 the week after, and reaching its peak pos. of no. 3 the week after that. The single has the peculiarity of returning to the same peak position after having dropped down to no. 6. It was kept off the top spot the first time by Shakin' Stevens "Green Door" and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's "Hooked On Classics" medley, and the second time by Aneka's "Japanese Boy" and by another synth-pop classic, Soft Cell's "Tainted Love"
 * Follow-up single "Open Your Heart" was also on the UK Chart in these weeks, at no. 21 and no. 6 respectively

Promo video
No promo video was made for the single at the time of release although one was made later in 1982 to promote the single in the US. The video was one of three included on the group's Video Single issued in 1983, the first of its kind.

Top of the Pops
The Human League appeared on the weekly BBC programme Top of the Pops to perform the song when it was in the UK charts. The mimed performance was broadcast on 6 August 1981 when the single was at no. 29, and was repeated on 20 August when the single had reached no. 3 for the first time. The group appeared to mime the song again for the Christmas Day edition in 1981. Both performances featured the group as a six-piece with Jo Callis appearing with the group for the first time in the August recording. The Christmas performance was introduced by John Peel who, pretending to forget the group's name, introduced them as "The Human Leagues".

The group performed the song again on the "Multi-Coloured Music Show" (a "Multi-Coloured Swap Shop" special) on 30 May 1982.

Versions and remixes
* this version edited slightly compared to the original 12" version

Cover versions

 * Aluminum Group - album Reproductions: Songs of the Human League (2006)
 * Homemade Orchestra - album Inside Covers (2004)

Sampled by
The George Michael song "Shoot the Dog" samples heavily Love Action (I Believe In Love) and uses the "I believe, I believe what the old man says...." section in its entirety. In the animated promo video Michael is also represented as a caricature of Philip Oakey with the trademark asymmetrical haircut. The singer said in 2002: "Shoot the Dog is intended as a piece of political satire, no more, no less, and I hope that it will make people laugh and dance, and think a little."