Gary Numan - Planes, Fans & Automobiles

Between recording and touring commitments, Gary Numan found time to attain his commercial pilot’s licence, and later went on to fly solo around the world (in less than 80 days).  His skyward adventures didn’t go by without misadventure though, including one incident in January of ‘82 when he had to land his plane on a public highway near Winchester.  Numan’s love of flying (he has his own collection of vintage military aircraft) may have been in part spurred on by a need to escape some savage critical reviews of his work, with an increasingly derisive approach being targeted at his perceived neo-futurist posturing, synthetically chilled vocals, allegedly pretentious lyrics (heavily influenced by the work of sci-fi authors), and his apparent support of Prime Minister Thatcher - he was in the vast minority of artists to do so at that time.  Regardless, Gary Numan rarely used his music as a soapbox vehicle for political and social commentary, and moreover he retained a solid grass roots following of all forgiving, clone-like fans who referred to themselves as ‘Numanoids’.

Having parted with his backing band (who went on to form the group Dramatis), Numan returned to the studio in mid ‘81, this time with some well known ‘session’ players in support, including Mick Karn (guitar - Japan), and Roger Taylor (drums - Queen).  The single ‘She’s Got Claws’ clawed its way to #6 on the British charts, and helped push the source album, ‘Dance’, to #3 (OZ#85).  Temporarily unrestrained by the need to record music he could reproduce on stage, Numan took time to experiment in studio.  The album featured a slant on electronic dance beats around varied percussive styles, but received poor reviews from the critics.

In November of ‘81, Numan rejoined his ‘Telekon’ era backing band, now known as Dramatis, and released the single ‘Love Needs No Disguise’ (UK#33 - credited to Gary Numan and Dramatis).  Numan then returned to studio work by himself, with augmentation from session players.  The resultant 1982 album, ‘I, Assassin’ (UK#8/OZ#95), explored a more fluid funk style, not altogether immediately accessible to the listener.  The album was preceded by three British top twenty singles - ‘Music For Chameleons’ (UK#19); ‘We Take Mystery To Bed’ (UK#9); and ‘White Boys And Heroes’ (UK#20).

Numan’s 1983 album, ‘Warriors’ (UK#12), attracted the charge of being pompous from some critical quarters, but yielded two top forty hits in the form of the title track (UK#20 - the video for which highlighted Numan's penchant for flying), and ‘Sister Surprise’ (UK#32).  However, by this time it was evident that Gary Numan was experiencing increasingly diminishing returns on the British charts, propped up in strong part by his core ‘Numanoids’ fan base.  In 1984, Numan set up his own record label, known as Numa, serving to release his own material, and that of brother John’s group Hohokam.  The labels’ first album release was Numan’s late ‘84 effort ‘Berserker’ (UK#45), which managed to spawn just two minor hits in the guise of the title track (UK#32), and ‘My Dying Machine’ (UK#66) - the latter an appropriately titled song reflecting the waning interest in Numan’s brand of synth-pop.

Following his short lived ‘retirement’ from concert work, during which he became a virtual recluse, in early ’85, Numan released the Live EP ‘Gary Numan - The Live (EP)’ - UK#27 - recorded during December of ’84 at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.  In February of ‘85, Numan teamed up with Shakatak’s Bill Sharpe on the UK#17 single ‘Change Your Mind’.  Soon after a full album of live material surfaced as ‘White Noise’ (UK#29/OZ#64), proving Numan still had some considerable appeal for the public at large.

1985 saw the release of the album ‘The Fury’ (UK#24), a critically lambasted effort, that failed to yield any top forty singles - ‘Your Fascination’ (UK#46); ‘Call Out The Dogs’ (UK#49); and ‘Miracles’ (UK#49).  Some may have thought that Numan needed a miracle to bounce back from such a critical and commercial calamity, and no such miracle was forthcoming on the late ‘86 album ‘Strange Charm’ (UK#59), though it did spawn two top thirty singles with ‘This Is Love’ (UK#28), and ‘I Can’t Stop’ (UK#27).  The album proved to be the final release on Numan’s Numa label which folded soon thereafter.

During 1987, Numan hooked up with the band Radio Heart on their eponymous debut album, yielding the hits ‘Radio Heart’ (UK#35), and ‘London Times’ (UK#48).  In early ‘88 he teamed up with Bill Sharpe once more on the UK#34 single ‘No More Lies’.  Numan then signed with the I.R.S. label, still a fledgling operation at that time, for the release of his 1988 album ‘Metal Rhythm’ (UK#48).  The new label failed to yield a resurgence in Numan’s commercial fortunes, with the associated singles, ‘New Anger’ (UK#46), and ‘America’ (UK#49) falling well short of expectations.

1989 saw an absence of any new studio material from Numan, though he once more joined forces with Bill Sharpe on the album ‘Automatic’ (UK#59), which featured the UK#44 single ‘I’m On Automatic’.  The live set ‘The Skin Mechanic’ (UK#55) was also released late in ‘89.

The 90s kicked off for Numan with a hook up with several of his ‘Pleasure Principle’ backing players on the March ‘91 album release ‘Outland’ (UK#39), featuring the single ‘Heart’ (UK#43).  If there were any lingering doubts, 1992’s ‘Machine +Soul’ album (UK#42), proved that Gary Numan’s commercial profile had all but faded from view.  The 1994 live album release ‘Dream Corrosion’ became the first of Numan’s album releases to miss the British charts completely, whilst the subsequent 1995 live set ‘Dark Light’ followed suit.  In late ‘95, Numan collaborated with Michael R. Smith on the album ‘Human’, and rounded out the decade with the 1997 solo effort ‘Exile’ (UK#48).

You could have been forgiven for thinking that Gary Numan had gone into exile as nearly three years elapsed before the release of 2000’s ‘Pure’ album (UK#58), which did garner some positive reviews from the music press, and peers in the music industry who were starting to take inspiration from Numan’s distinctive brand of electro-pop.  By now, only the staunch ‘Numanoids’ remained committed to the cause in terms of buying Numan’s work, but they were soon augmented by a respectable number of mainstream fans, who purchased Numan’s 2002 single ‘Rip’ (UK#29), his highest charting single in over fifteen years.  2003 built further on the resurgence of Gary Numan via the single ‘Crazier’ (UK#13), credited to Gary Numan Vs. Rico, and lifted from the album ‘Hybrid’, a collection of reworked Numan hits.  Over the ensuing decade Numan released three more studio albums - ‘Jagged’ (2006 - UK#59); ‘Dead Son Rising’ (2011 - UK#87); and 2013’s ‘Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind)’ (UK#20) - his highest charting album in thirty years.

Despite critical derision and dwindling commercial returns over the length of the journey, Gary Numan has been cited as a precursor to, and major player in, the synth/electro-pop scene that burst to prominence in the early 1980s - think Human League, Mi-Sex, Flowers, Visage, Real Life, Soft Cell, the Buggles - see separate posts - and early Depeche Mode, Simple Minds, and Duran Duran.  It’s fair to say that the success of ‘Cars’ Stateside also opened the door for the early 80s British invasion of U.S. charts.  Numan has also been a major influence to many artists including Nine Inch Nails, Midnight Juggernauts, and Iva Davies from Icehouse (see previous posts).  Much of his work has been sampled on other artists’ hit singles, including in 2002 by Basement Jaxx.

Following the release of his latest album, Gary Numan undertook a major world tour from late 2013, and extending well into 2014, in the process taking him closer to a music career spanning forty years, a feat deserving of respect in anyone’s book.

Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle Of Synth-Pop

 I confess, I’m an unabashed devotee of all things ‘New Wave’, one of the dominant music genres that hooked fans the world over from the late 70s through to mid 80s.  ‘New Wave’ comprised several factions, including the ‘new romantic’, ‘post-punk’, and ‘power-pop’ movements.  The particular faction that comes under focus for this post is synth-pop, also a major drawcard during that period, and one of its leading exponents (particularly in Britain), in the guise of Gary Numan.  Numan came to prominence as the focal point and chief musical architect behind the group Tubeway Army.  From heading a punk styled rock band to becoming somewhat of a poster child for the British synth-pop (electro pop) movement, the enigmatic Numan carved out a lasting place in ‘New Wave’ folklore.

Born Gary Webb, Numan grew up during the 60s with little more than a passing interest in the pop music of the times.  It wasn’t until the early 70s that he became enamoured with the likes of Bowie (Ziggy Stardust era), Marc Bolan, and early Roxy Music.  But it was almost less about the music and more about the image and stage personas of these artists that registered with young Gary.  He also read sci-fi novels voraciously, and began writing his own lyrics inspired by the works of Philip K. Dick, and William Burroughs.  Numan joined his first band, the Lasers during 1977, aged 19, going under the name Valerian.  His tenure there was brief, and soon thereafter he hooked up with the post-punk outfit the Mean Street, as their guitarist.  He quickly assumed the new moniker of Gary Numan (inspired by an ad in the Yellow Pages for a plumber called Neumann), and also frontman duties, and the band contributed a track to the punk compilation album, ‘Live At The Vortex’.

Towards the end of ‘77 Numan took a further step towards artistic autonomy when he changed the band’s name to Tubeway Army.  The band had been signed to the Beggars Banquet label (a subsidiary of WEA) in early ’78, in the clamouring by record labels for post-Sex Pistols’ punk edged outfits.  During the early part of ’78. Tubeway Army released two aggressively styled singles in ‘That’s Not It’, and ‘Bombers’ (recorded at Spacewood Studios in Cambridge), neither of which made much of a splash on the charts, though ‘That’s Not It’ went on to sell 7000 copies.

It was during this period that Numan became increasingly enamoured with synthesisers and keyboards, and signalled a major stylistic shift from guitar driven punk rock to synth-laced electro pop (heavily influenced by the likes of Kraftwerk, Eno-era Bowie, and early Ultravox).  When it came time for Tubeway Army to enter the studio to record their debut album (the sessions being financed by Numan’s father), there was somewhat of a revolt in the band with several members walking out in protest at the shift in musical direction (they went on to form a new punk group called Station Bombers).  Numan was left to carry on duties with bassist Paul ‘Scarlett’ Gardiner, and drummer Jess Lidyard (Numan’s uncle) to augment proceedings.

Tubeway Army’s autonomous debut album (recorded in just three days) was released in August of ‘78, but initially failed to garner much attention in commercial terms.  Numan remained firmly committed to synth-based pop-rock and it paid dividends via the June ‘79 album release, ‘Replicas’.  The album, recorded over a period of five days in Gooseberry Studios, London, climbed to #1 on the British charts (OZ#11) on the back of the huge British hit ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’.  Released in May of ‘79, the monotonic styled, futurist/sci-fi themed, song entered the British charts the following week.  It sold well initially on the back of a run of 20,000 picture discs.  But the song received a huge boost in profile via a memorable performance from Numan on ‘Top Of The Pops’.  Before going gold the song went electric over the next month and by the end of June had replaced ‘Ring My Bell’ by Anita Ward (see separate post) at #1.  After a four week reign atop the British charts, ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ (OZ#12) was supplanted in top spot by ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ by Boomtown Rats (see future post).

‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ was in essence two pieces of art spliced together, a ballad with robotic styled spoken vocals, married to a clipped, relentless synthesiser riff - the resultant whole being exponentially greater than the sum of its parts.  The ‘Replicas’ album was filled with the same bleak, synthetic sound throughout, punctuated by a handful of guitar dominated songs.  It soared to #1 in Britain (replacing E.L.O.’s ‘Discovery’) during July of ‘79, and Tubeway Army’s debut set was re-released soon after, charting at #14 in Britain at the second attempt.

Prior to entering the studio to record a follow up set, Numan found time to play on Robert Palmer’s 1979 ‘Clues’ album (see future posts).  During this brief detour, Numan decided to drop the Tubeway Army band tag (which he claimed had only ever been in place for touring purposes), formerly assuming solo status, and returned to the studio, this time with backing players Paul Gardiner (bass), Cedric Sharpely (drums), Chris Payne (synth, viola), and Ultravox member Billy Currie (keyboards).

In August of ‘79, Numan released his first official solo single, the hypnotic electronica of ‘Cars’.  Written and produced by Numan, the single entered the British charts almost immediately and sped to #1 for 1 week in September of ‘79, replacing Cliff Richards’ ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore’, and in turn being replaced by ‘Message In A Bottle’ by the Police.  The single was backed by an arresting promotional video which highlighted Numan’s neo-futurist posturing, and Bowie-esque look.  Numan recorded the original demo for ‘Cars’ on a bass guitar, and later claimed the song took little more time to write than it did to play.  ‘Cars’ peaked at #9 in Australia, and became Numan’s only foray into the U.S. top 40 (#9), early in 1980.  The song has taken on an almost cult status over time, and several remixes and re-releases have returned ‘Cars’ to the British charts - in fact for a time Numan held the honour of having the only #1 hit to return to the British charts twice more in different forms (a live version in ‘85 and a remix in ‘87).

The follow up single, ‘Complex’, took a decidedly simple route to #6 on the British charts.  The source album, ‘The Pleasure Principle’ (UK#1/ UK#16/ OZ#24 - where it spent 38 weeks inside the top 100) hit the top of the British charts the same week as its release.  The album featured a heavily synthesised sound, and unworldly/futurist lyrical themes. Keyboardist Dennis Haines replaced Currie (who had returned to Ultravox), and guitarist Russell Bell was added for the subsequent tour which took in Europe, North America, Japan and Australasia.  In April of 1980, the first full length music video went on sale capturing Gary Numan’s latest tour, and titled ‘The Touring Principle’.

In May of 1980, Numan returned to the charts once more with the synth-laced single ‘We Are Glass’ (UK#5/ OZ#15), followed a few months later by ‘I Die: You Die’ (UK#6/ OZ#86).  Both songs were lifted from Numan’s second solo album release, ‘Telekon’, which like its predecessor bolted to #1 on the British charts immediately upon its release (OZ#24).  Once again the album featured an idiosyncratic selection of Numan penned songs, attired in an increasingly opulent sound of layered synths, strings, and guitars.  ‘Telekon’ also yielded the UK#20 single ‘This Wreckage’ in late 1980.  However, despite maintaining a high profile in Britain, interest in Numan in the States quickly waned following the initial bout of curiosity surrounding ‘Cars’.

A live double album, ‘Living Ornaments 1979-1980 (live)’ was released in April of ‘81 and peaked at #2 on the British charts.  By this time, Numan had become well renowned for his elaborate live shows, which typically featured a pyramid-shaped stage setup built around fluorescent tubes - Numan would on occasion wave a neon tube about the stage accompanying mock android poses.  Soon after came an announcement that he would no longer tour.  Numan staged three elaborate Wembley Arena shows by way of a fond farewell to fans. But it would prove a short lived decision - Numan would be back touring by June of ‘83 - but one that doubtless bolstered sales of the ‘Living Ornaments’ set.