Synopsis

The Human League perform "Open Your Heart" in a stark studio setting shaped by close-ups, graphic compositions and experimental video effects. The clip opens with a montage of the six members' portraits, echoing the cover design of the then-unreleased album Dare. Phil Oakey dominates the performance imagery, while Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall appear in slow-motion dance passages. Static portraits of the other musicians interrupt the action, and the video closes on a lingering image of the Dare album cover.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Open Your Heart" was the Human League's first purpose-made studio music video. Earlier promotional material had largely combined concert footage with Philip Adrian Wright's slides and visual projections.

• The video was designed to promote both the single and Dare. Its visual style deliberately matches the album's cover photography, including the portraits, styling and makeup.

• The clip was shot in a studio on videotape and used contemporary analog video effects, giving the otherwise simple performance footage a distinctly early-1980s electronic look.

• The single was released on October 2, 1981, only a few weeks before Dare. It reached No. 6 on the UK singles chart.

• The song was written by Philip Oakey and Jo Callis. It was the first Human League single to feature Callis as a full member of the reconfigured group.

• Virgin Records classified the single as "Blue" in a short-lived color-coded marketing scheme intended to distinguish different sides of the band's musical identity.