The new line-up formed after the acrimonious departure of Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh from the band four months earlier.

At the time it was remarked on that Sulley and Catherall were missing from the song, after the mythology that had been started in the media about their recent recruitment to the band from the Crazy Daisy Nightclub four months earlier.

This was because they had both returned to school full-time and "Boys and Girls" was originally written without any female vocals, although both Sulley and Catherall do feature on the record sleeve artwork and publicity material.

Reviewing the single in the NME, Stuart Maconie remarked: "Boys and Girls" is a cold, scary, uncomfortable effort with church bells, an operatic chorus, and, er, minimal contribution by 'Those Girls' (i.e. none)…"[1]Reviewing the single for Smash Hits, critic David Hepworth stated "Sometimes I wonder whether these boys (and nowadays girls) seriously crave a hit or not" and invited the band to "Shape up"[2] With the benefit of hindsight critics now state that 'Boys and Girls' belongs to the earlier pre split Mk 1 Human League experimental electronic sound of Travelogue.

[3] Both "Boys and Girls" and the B side "Tom Baker" were included on the 2003 remastered reissue of the Travelogue album in 2003.Although the song was never included on any of the group's hit singles compilation albums, it did feature on the career-spanning "A Very British Synthesiser Group" anthology.