A new League of desperation.

Byline: By Naphtalia Loderick

Human League's frontman Phil Oakey talks pop nostalgia, Geordie mates and Britney Spears with Naphtalia Loderick before the band's Tyneside arrival.

Dig out your New Romantic hair gel. Electro-pop pioneers The Human League are back in town.

League lead man Phil Oakey says fans can expect a mixture of tracks old and new and, of course, their most famous hit, when the Synth City tour hits Newcastle.

"I don't think we've ever done a concert without playing Don't You Want Me?," says Phil. "We try and give the audience what they want. This tour is for the fans."

Indeed. Over the years, some fans have become familiar faces and are known to the band by name.

Says Phil: "David and Peter are two of our fans from Newcastle. They've been coming to our gigs for a long time now. They're more friends than fans really."

The noughties are the League's fourth decade in the music business. If Phil ever decides to turn his hand to book writing instead of song writing, the story of the band's rise to the top has all the hallmarks of a bestseller.

Just in case you are unfamiliar with the band's history, here is a quick synopsis.

The Human League introduced themselves to the world in 1977. The original all-male line up released two albums, Reproduction and Travelogue. Popular with the music Press but with a lack of commercial success, the reception prompted two band members to call it quits.

Phil decided to stick with it and with an impending tour he hastily recruited two teenage girls he spotted dancing in a Sheffield nightspot ( Susan Sulley and Joanne Catherall. Many doubted his decision but he proved them wrong when the new look Human League released Dare in 1981.

This number one album produced four chart hits, including the generation-defining school disco favourite Don't You Want Me?

Hailing from a distant time when songs charted low and rose high, Phil is somewhat disillusioned with today's music business.

"It's all about working the media instead of making great records. If I was starting out now, I'd maybe go into television. At least it's a growing industry. There's no money in music any more for artists or record companies. As soon as you could copy CDs the recording industry was finished.

"I don't like most pop music today. It all seems a tiny bit desperate," he says, citing Girls Aloud and Britney Spears as prime pop examples of style over substance. "It's all about them and not the music. Saying that, I do like Britney's Baby One More Time. That's a great pop record."

For Phil, rock is the new pop, but that doesn't mean he has lost his electro leanings.

"I like a lot of the guitar-based bands like The Killers, Interpol, Kasabian and Hard-Fi. I went to see the Arctic Monkeys a few weeks ago. I'm currently listening to Latin American synth covers of The Rolling Stones that I picked up at a Portuguese restaurant in Malaga.

"I've just started writing for the new album. What I really need is a good producer. I'd love to work with Richard X, but I haven't got the nerve to approach him."

Seeing as Richard X is the man responsible for Liberty X's Being Nobody, which mixed Chaka Khan's Ain't Nobody with the League's debut single Being Boiled, it does not seem a big ask. So, Richard, if you're reading this, give Phil Oakey a call. be glad to hear from you.

* Catch The Human League at Newcastle's Carling Academy on Wednesday. [dec 14] For tickets, priced at pounds 20, call 0870 060-0100 or visit www.newcastle-academy.co.uk