The Men was an alias used by The Human League as a result of Virgin pressing the group to record material which used more 'conventional' instruments, rather than just synthesizers. Virgin were afraid that the general public would not accept a synthesizer-only group at that time. Martyn Ware had previously declared that the League would certainly consider recording material using non-electronic instruments, but not under the name Human League. So, to appease their new label, they recorded I Don't Depend On You, with session musicians providing bass guitar and drums, and Katie Kissoon and Lisa Strike providing backing vocals.