1995 single by The Human League "Filling up with Heaven" Single by The Human League from the album Octopus B-side| "John Cleese; Is He Funny?" Released| 5 June 1995 Recorded| 1995 at Human League Studios in Sheffield Genre| Synthpop Length| 4:21 Label| East West Records Songwriter(s)| Philip Oakey and Ian Stanley Producer(s)| Ian Stanley The Human League singles chronology | "One Man in My Heart" (1995) | "Filling up with Heaven" (1995) | "Stay with Me Tonight" (1996) | | "Filling Up with Heaven" is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League. It is taken from the Octopus album of 1995. "Filling Up with Heaven" was the third and final single to be taken from the Octopus album. It was jointly written by lead singer Philip Oakey and Producer Ian Stanley (formerly of Tears for Fears). It was released on 5 June 1995 in a variety of vinyl and CD single formats. These included various third-party remixes of "Filling Up With Heaven" and "John Cleese: is he Funny?", including mixes by Hardfloor. After the success of the previous two singles it was expected to equal the chart position of Tell Me When and One Man in My Heart. But unlike the two previous singles it was not play listed by BBC Radio 1 and received minimal national airplay, affecting sales. The single eventually peaked at number 36 in the UK singles chart, spending a total of two weeks in the charts.[1] ## Contents * 1 Critical reception * 2 Music video * 3 Versions * 4 Charts * 5 References * 6 External links ## Critical reception[edit] Music writer James Masterton said in his weekly UK chart commentary, "The latest single from Octopus sounds almost as if it could have come from their early 80s heyday, a loosely structured song, playing on the juxtaposition of Phil Oakey's voice with those of Joanne Catherall and Suzanne Sulley. Very new romantic and so somehow a bit dated, hence possibly this rather lowly chart entry."[2] Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Oakey and the girls seem to be on a trip through outer space. Bombarded with more bleeps than in Star Wars, in our control room on planet earth we can see that they're still into melodies."[3] A reviewer from Music Week rated the song three out of five, describing it as "a strong third single from Octopus, if not a break from the successful formula."[4] ## Music video[edit] Screenshot of Susan Ann Sulley in music video for "Filling up with Heaven" 1995 The accompanying music video for "Filling Up with Heaven" was filmed on a low budget and in a minimalist studio (London's Limehouse Studios), unlike the other music videos for Octopus which were higher end. With rich saturated background colours. It features a series of sweeping steadicam shots of Philip Oakey, with a mainly seated Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall. It is the only one of the Human League's music videos which Susan Ann Sulley has a long blonde pony tail hairstyle, for the previous two she has short hair, suggesting that she had hair extensions for the video. For the instrumental sections a continual sweeping loop of Neil Sutton playing keyboards is featured. Post production the video was intentionally stylized by deeply enriching the colours and reducing the pixel resolution, giving a digital smudge effect (as illustrated). A licensing fee dispute between EastWest and Virgin Records would prevent the video from being featured on the 2003 Very Best of The Human League DVD. However, in 2016, a remastered version of the video was featured on a DVD included with the deluxe version of the box set A Very British Synthesizer Group. ## Versions[edit] * CD 1 1995, East West (YZ944CD1) 1. "Filling Up with Heaven" 2. "Filling Up with Heaven" (Neil Mclellan Vocal Mix) 3. "John Cleese; Is He Funny?" (ULA Remix) 4. "John Cleese; Is He Funny?" (Self Preservation Society House Mix) * CD 2 1995, East West (YZ944CD2) 1. "Filling Up with Heaven" (Hardfloor Vocal Remix) 2. "Filling Dub with Heaven" (Hardfloor Remix) 3. "Filling Up with Heaven" (Neil Mclellan Club Mix) 4. "Filling Up with Heaven" (ULA Remix) ## Charts[edit] Chart (1995) | Peak position | Scotland (OCC)[5] | 32 UK Singles (OCC) | 36 ## References[edit] 1. ^ Human League Bio 1990-1999 >[1] Archived 19 April 2003 at the Wayback Machine 2. ^ Masterton, James (11 June 1995). "Week Ending June 17th 1995". Chart Watch UK. Retrieved 19 September 2021. 3. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 10 June 1995. p. 6. Retrieved 18 May 2021. 4. ^ "Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 27 May 1995. p. 38. Retrieved 8 May 2021. 5. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100 11 June 1995 - 17 June 1995". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 October 2021. ## External links[edit] * http://www.the-black-hit-of-space.dk/filling_up_with_heaven.htm * v * t * e The Human League * Philip Oakey * Joanne Catherall * Susan Ann Sulley * Ian Craig Marsh * Martyn Ware * Philip Adrian Wright * Ian Burden * Jo Callis * Jim Russell Albums| * Reproduction * Travelogue * Dare * Love and Dancing * Hysteria * Crash * Romantic? * Octopus * Secrets * Credo Compilation albums| * Greatest Hits * Soundtrack to a Generation * The Very Best of The Human League (1998) * The Golden Hour of the Future * The Very Best of The Human League (2003) * Live at the Dome * Original Remixes & Rarities EPs| * The Dignity of Labour * Holiday '80 * The Sound of the Crowd * Fascination! * Dance Like a Star Singles| * "Being Boiled" * "I Don't Depend on You" * "Empire State Human" * "Only After Dark" * "Boys and Girls" * "The Sound of the Crowd" * "Love Action (I Believe in Love)" * "Open Your Heart" * "Don't You Want Me" * "Mirror Man" * "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" * "The Lebanon" * "Life on Your Own" * "Louise" * "Human" * "I Need Your Loving" * "Love Is All That Matters" * "Heart Like a Wheel" * "Soundtrack to a Generation" * "Tell Me When" * "One Man in My Heart" * "Filling Up with Heaven" * "Stay with Me Tonight" * "All I Ever Wanted" * "Love Me Madly?" * "The Things That Dreams Are Made Of" * "Night People" Video and DVDs| * Video Single (1983) * The Human League Greatest Hits * The Very Best of The Human League * Live at the Dome Related articles| * Discography * Heaven 17 * British Electric Foundation * Reproductions * Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder * YMO Versus The Human League Authority control | * MusicBrainz release group | *[v]: View this template *[t]: Discuss this template *[e]: Edit this template