Gary Clail On-U Sound System - Human Nature (12" On The Mix)

Gary Clail On-U Sound System - Human Nature (On The Mix) / 12 Inch Extended Remix (HQ Audio)

On-U Sound is the record label and sound system founded by legendary British dub producer Adrian Sherwood.

In the late 1980s, the label's roster included Sherwood's own band, Dub Syndicate, as well as Tackhead, African Head Charge, and Mark Stewart (who later collaborated with Tricky, Massive Attack, and Primal Scream).

Clail also released records on the label in the 1980s, and collaborated with other acts, hanging out in the studio while they recorded - sometimes contributing ideas, sometimes developing his own.

Sherwood frequently DJed opening sets for the label's live bands, with Clail also present. Over time, Clail became part of the performances, eventually leading to him being the first On-U Sound act to sign to a major label.

"I passed Adrian a tape and said, 'Put that on,'" Clail recalls. "He asked me if it was banging, and I said yeah. I asked him for the mic and did spoken word over it. So I became the opening act for On-U Sound acts, opening for Tackhead and Dub Syndicate and so on, and

that's where Paul Oakenfold saw me and signed me to RCA."

Human Nature originally featured a sample from a speech by evangelist Billy Graham, but permission to use it was denied. As a result, Clail re-recorded parts of the speech himself. (Some promotional versions were mistakenly pressed with the original speech still included.)

Produced by Adrian Sherwood, Human Nature features backing vocals from Lana Pellay, who, in addition to her singing, theatre, and cabaret career, appeared in the 1980 alternative comedy TV show The Comic Strip Presents.

The track was the lead single from Clail's second solo album, Emotional Hooligan, which spawned four singles - all of which were remixed from Sherwood’s originals by Steve Osborne and Paul Oakenfold (later known as Perfecto).

Clail speaks highly of the remixes: "I never dreamt I'd get Steve Osborne and Paul Oakenfold to remix Adrian Sherwood's mixes of my stuff. It takes some balls. I was in the studio with Adrian when the mixes arrived. They were banging."

"Paul Oakenfold was going around the world playing my stuff in his DJ sets," Clail continues. "He said it was so off the wall, he had to play it at the end. It just didn't fit with everything else. But everybody kept coming up asking him what it was."

Human Nature was released in various formats, including 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl. The 7-inch single contains Human Nature (On the Mix Edit) and Human Nature (Why Is It? Mix). The 12-inch single includes Human Nature (On the Mix) and Rumours.

Upon its release, Human Nature was named Single of the Week by Record Mirror and Melody Maker. It also became the theme tune for the BBC show Snub TV and reached the UK Top 10.

Clail continued to release records until 1995, when he took a 10-year break from, and which he became actively involved in some of the causes he refers to in his lyrics, in particular, playing a key role in a homeless shelter.

When some of the shelter's residents heard he might be a musician, they visited their local library and looked up his Top of the Pops performance.

After singing about people needing food, clothes, and shelter, Clail went on to dedicate himself to providing exactly that, and other social services work, returning with new albums of his own in 2014, and 2022, with a series of very well received live dates accompanying the latter.

Year: 1991 Label: Perfecto Cat no: PT44402