'The Future Tapes' spoken introduction In 1977, two computer personnel, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, together with a long-time friend and colleague, Adi Newton, began a unique experiment in popular music Their goal was to create a new type of commercially-acceptable composition utilising only sound sources of electronic origin Although the means which were available to them at that time were crude - they only had a relatively unsophisticated two-track tape recorder and no mixing facility - these first recordings demonstrate an ambition matched only by their resourcefulness This ambition inspired them to contact several major commercial recording companies in August 1977 The first band on Side One of this record consists of extracts taken from the demonstration cassette which, at the time, aroused only cursory interest in the seven record companies to whom the tape was presented Ironically, one of the few companies whose invitation The Future declined was Virgin Records, who were later to sign The Human League to a long-term worldwide recording contract Bands two to six are representative of material produced immediately after the departure of Adi Newton, who subsequently formed Clock DVA It is of interest to note that Morale... and Depression Is A Fashion were later to form the basis of the instrumental backings for two tracks on the Human League album, Reproduction Bands seven to eleven and thirteen date from the period immediately preceding the formation of The Human League The Last Man On Earth appears here in an abbreviated form, the original lasting a surprising one hour and thirty-seven minutes Band twelve, C'est Grave, is the result of a collaboration with producer, engineer and vocalist Timothy Pearce The Death March forms the basis for this prophetic fusion between contemporary dance music and the classics As mentioned earlier, the rudimentary nature of the equipment and techniques used in these recordings means that inevitably the overall quality of reproduction will suffer We hope these factors will not impair your enjoyment of this record All of the recordings used, except for bands one and twelve, were originally realised in mono and have been electronically re-processed to produce an enhanced stereo effect Here is 1977 - the golden hour of The Future