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Gary Numan


A little something about Gary Numan
In 1976 guitarist Gary Numan, born Gary Webb in 1958, hooked up with the Lasers, a London punk outfit playing in the standard Sex Pistols-style of the day. Taking in the new guitarist would be the group's undoing, however, as Numan and bassist Paul Gardiner would soon depart and put together their own punk band, Tubeway Army. They caught the attention of indie label Beggar's Banquet, then still a young label looking to make a name for itself by jumping on the punk bandwagon. It quickly became clear that Tubeway Army was not a typical punk band. Numan's music relied more on literary allusions rather than teen angst, and parallels could be drawn between his work and that of science fiction writers Philip K. Dick and William S. Burroughs. The next major difference came to light when Numan was first exposed to synthesizers during a recording session, prompting Numan to put aside his guitar in favor of the instrument which would carry him into the '80s. Tubeway Army crafted a new electronic sound which was a drastic departure from the angry music that their fellow punks had been playing, a style that was becoming stale by the late '70s. Numan had grown up listening to the more ethereal music of Marc Bolan and David Bowie, and was influenced by European synth-rock groups of the '70s such as Kraftwerk, Can, Ultravox! and Roxy Music, artists who had quietly earned respect in the industry for their musical experimentation. As the punk scene faded, experimental bands and artists such as Numan's Tubeway Army, Ultravox, M, Joy Division, and in the States the Talking Heads found that there was room on the charts for their more melodic, more marketable styles of music. In 1979 Tubeway Army's second album, Replicas, yielded their first hit, "Are 'Friends' Electric?", which made it to the top spot in the British charts. The song, about a future world in which robots and man exist side by side, was electronic in subject matter as well as sound, and the futuristic theme was continued in the single's picture-disk format. The first two albums had been credited to "Tubeway Army featuring Gary Numan," Numan having been the driving force behind the rapid development of the group's new synth-driven sound. In 1979 Numan made the decision to drop the Tubeway Army title and took his solo show on the road. His stage was an elaborate collection of pyramids, robots and fluorescent light that captured audiences and gave the press something to focus on. His music - more dependent on slick production techniques than energy and talent - was widely considered a bit flat when performed live. Still, Numan packed them in, and the media caught on to Numan's out-of-this-world act and was eager to add to the mystique. Numan's mastery of hype and visual effects became further apparent when he began putting together his first videos, Numan being among the earliest wave of artists to take advantage of this new medium of musical promotion. His slick promotional video for "Cars," from the 1979 "Pleasure Principle" LP, went to number 1 in the UK and helped him crack the US charts for the first - and last - time. By 1981 Numan's sound was already becoming stale, as he was just one of a long list of keyboard-dependent pop artists. His appeal was eclipsed by that of such British new romantic acts as Spandau Ballet and OMD which had found ways to imbue electronic music with more soul than Numan ever could. Numan announced his retirement to pursue his life-long interest in flying, becoming a professional pilot and taking off on a trip around the world. Like that of many attention-seeking rock stars Numan's retirement was short lived, as he both returned to the studio and embarked on a new tour in 1982. However, the press - which had been instrumental to his success just a couple years earlier - now seemed to turn on him, as a series of accidents tarnished the pop star's image. In 1981 he was arrested in India after an unscheduled, emergency landing. Back at home he was charged with possession of a deadly weapon and ordered to appear in court. One of his live shows was canceled at the last minute because his crew couldn't fit his set into the venue. In 1982 he moved to the US amidst tax problems in the UK, and the press picked on Gary Numan the pilot's propensity for breakdowns and emergency landings. Numan has continued to record, although his work has seen lackluster sales since his glory days in the late '70s/early '80s. What eventually led to Numan's fall from the lime light was his resistance to change his style in a music scene brimming with synthesizer bands. In the fast and fickle world of pop music Numan's music has been very slow to progress from his Tubeway Army days. Gary Numan was skilled at selling himself, but his success really stemmed from what, at the time, was a fresh approach to pop music: wrapping a futuristic message within layers of electronic sound, and setting it all to a strong dance beat. His can be felt in the past fifteen years of electronic pop music, music videos and stage shows which have continued to develop in complexity and grandeur.

Finally, the lyrics....

Cars

Here in my car
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
Here in my car
I can only receive
I can listen to you
It keeps me stable for days
In cars

Here in my car
The image breaks down
Will you visit me please
If I open my door
In cars

Here in my car
I know I've started to think
About leaving tonight
Although nothing seems right
In cars

I know I've started to think
I know I've started to think