"I Don't Depend on You" is a disco-influenced
song by the The Human League released under the pseudonym The Men. It was
released as a single in February 1979, but failed to chart. It was written by
Philip Oakey, Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh; produced by Colin Thurston and
featured guest backing vocalists Katie Kissoon and Lisa Strike.
After hastily signing the Human League in 1978 it became
apparent to Virgin Records that the band wasn’t very profitable, with none of
their previous releases on Fast Product making any impact on the charts. Virgin
began putting pressure on the group to justify their large advance signing fee,
to abandon their no traditional instruments rule and use conventional
instruments in an attempt to be more commercial and sell more records. Ware
reluctantly agreed but insisted that any material recorded this way should be
released under a pseudonym to ensure that it wasn't confused with the pure
electronic sound of The Human League. "I Don't Depend on You" was the
only product of this compromise with Virgin. It was recorded with the addition
of session musicians and was released under the name The Men. The song also
features the synth riff from their debut single Being Boiled towards the end of
the track. Afterwards the band was able to record tracks in their original
style for Virgin but before any further conventional records could be recorded,
the original Human League had split; Oakey then took the newly reformed band
down a different commercial route.
Later, it would be commented on that in recording "I
Don’t Depend on You" (two years prior to the arrival of schoolgirl
vocalists Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall) Oakey, Ware and Marsh had inadvertently
already produced a Human League Mk 2 style track complete with commercial pop
sound and female backing vocals.