The Human League’s debut EP Being Boiled marked the transition of punk’s DIY ethic into new areas like electronic music.

After the first wave of punk burned brightly and burned out in a hail of phlegm and tabloid headlines, the music became more interesting. I’m not sure how it mutated into electronic music in the summer of 1978 – I guess it was the shared DIY ethic of punk.

You couldn’t get more DIY than The Human League’s debut single: it was recorded on a tape recorder, in mono, in an abandoned factory in Sheffield.

The cost of recording Being Boiled was £2.50.

It combined the minimalist electronica of krautrock – Can, Kraftwerk, Neu! – with the funky basslines of Bootsy Collins and Parliament/Funkadelic.

It has an arcane lyric about oriental religion and silk farming (“Listen to the voice of Buddha / Saying stop your sericulture”) written and sung by Phil Oakey.

He had just joined the duo of Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh after the departure of original singer Adi Newton (later of Clock DVA).

I first heard this when John Peel played it, followed by a session where they also performed a cover of You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.

It stood out instantly and I bought the single on the Fast Product label, with its slogan “Electronically Yours” on the sleeve, backed by a B-side called Circus Of Death featuring a spoken-word intro by Oakey.

It wasn’t a hit but they did get to perform it on Granada TV prior to going on tour supporting Siouxsie And The Banshees, where I first saw them.

Being Boiled was re-recorded and re-released in 1980 – now in stereo – as a double single, and although it flopped again, the group were invited to play on Top of the Pops, performing one of the B-sides – a medley of Gary Glitter’s Rock’n’Roll and Iggy Pop’s Nightclubbing.

A third version would appear on their debut album Travelogue later that year.