For Travelogue, the band worked with a new coproducer, Richard Mainwaring, who went on to produce OMD's platinum-selling Architecture & Morality the following year. "Tracks like 'The Black Hit of Space' are way ahead of their time," observed Martyn Ware. "Pumping the synths through massive distortion and overloading the desk. How prescient is that? The ethos of what we were doing was to kind of future-proof it all. We were envisaging people playing this music in ten or twenty years' time." Travelogue entered the UK album chart at #16, which was also its peak, and remained on the chart for nine weeks in 1980 – a vast improvement on their debut album, Reproduction, which failed to chart at all the year before. However, that did not prevent the departure of founding members Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, who went on to form Heaven 17. Remaining members Phil Oakey and Adrian Wright moved The Human League in a new direction with a new lineup. When they began to make a commercial impact the following year, Travelogue re-entered the chart in August 1981 for a further 33 weeks, and was certified Gold by the BPI in May 1982.
Singles
Two songs were released as singles from the album; a re-recorded version of the band's first single, "Being Boiled", and a cover of Mick Ronson's "Only After Dark". Neither of these were successful. The album also featured a cover of the famed advertising jingle for Gordon's Gin, written by Jeff Wayne.
Re-issues
Virgin Records remastered and re-issued Travelogue on CD in 1988, with an expanded track listing which included the Holiday '80 EP, the disco single "I Don't Depend on You", and the single "Boys and Girls", which had been produced by Oakey and Wright after the line-up split. The Canadian issue of Travelogue was released in a different sleeve, similar to the Holiday '80 front cover, and the track listing also differed: The Voice of Buddha, The Black Hit of Space, Only After Dark, Life Kills, Dreams of Leaving b/w Crow and a Baby, The Touchables, Gordon's Gin, Rock 'N' Roll/Night Clubbing, WXJL Tonight. Similarly, the Australian issue also featured a different track listing, though the original sleeve and song titles were retained for this release: Being Boiled, The Black Hit of Space, Only After Dark, Life Kills, Dreams of Leaving b/w Crow and a Baby, The Touchables, Rock 'N' Roll, Marianne, Gordon's Gin, WXJL Tonight. In 2016 both Travelogue and its predecessor Reproduction were re-issued on 180g vinyl.
Legacy
In 2015 Travelogue was the subject of a BBC 6Music documentary as part of the "Sounds of a City" series. The programme examined the album's sound and how it grew out of the city, going on to influence a new generation of musicians. The documentary features interviews with Martyn Ware, Jarvis Cocker and Roisin Murphy, among others. - BBC6 Music, 27 Dec 2015.
