your greedbagGary Numan
profiles
At the end of the '70s Gary Numan, a 20-year old ex-punk from west London was virtually alone in seeing the possibility of a "synthesiser star." In late 1978 Beggars Banquet released Tubeway Army's self-titled debut, mixing electronics with post-punk guitar and solid, no frills drumming by Gary's uncle Jess Lidyard. He immediately created a fresh, garage-electronic style but by the time the album came out he was already back in the studio.He recorded the follow-up, Replicas in three days at Gooseberry Studios in London, utilising a stark synthetic sound for most of the tracks. The album's first single 'Down In The Park' announced this radical change of direction but no one believed that the alienated, rhythmical drone of the follow-up 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' would elbow its way to the number one slot. Within weeks, Numan was posing on TOTP in harsh white light, bringing a touch of showbiz camp to the clipped, motorik repetitiveness of the song. From that moment on he was simultaneously branded "hero" and "villain."
When 'Cars' and The Pleasure Principle album both topped the charts in autumn '79 he put together a complete package of song, promo video and aloof stage image which would act as a catalyst on a new wave of suburban no hopers who broke through a year or two later - Human League, Depeche Mode and OMD all benefited from Numan's success. Nevertheless his detractors continued to attack him as "pretentious" and "bombastic." This was a little unfair as his mixture of neon-tubed futuristic chic and pansticked android posing were born out of a strange combination of shyness and a passionate commitment to showmanship.
Over the next two years Numan scored more hits with 'We Are Glass' and 'I Die You Die' as well as a third successive number one album, Telekon which featured an increasingly opulent sound built out of synths, piano, strings and guitar. Then he announced his intention to give up live performances and made a melodramatic exit with three lavish Wembley Arena shows in 1981.
These farewell shows effectively ended his reign as a multi-million selling popstar and he took time out to enjoy the rags-to-riches trappings of money, Ferraris, sponsored racing cars and, of course, his own aircraft.
On his 1981 album Dance he explored sparser, more ambient textures but for all his idealism about creating a completely fresh sound album by album, the press weren't ready to encourage a millionaire in a Bogart-styled trilby - his latest "image". The gangster headwear partly acted as a way of covering scars from a recent hair transplant and the sight of Oxfam-suited clones wandering down the High Street was too much for the cynics to take. His last albums for Beggars Banquet, I, Assassin ('82) and Warriors ('83) adopted fluid funk styles and he had more chart success with 'We Take Mystery', 'Music For Chameleons' and 'Warriors'.
Although most casual observers knew little about Numan's new releases they were certainly aware of his activities away from the pop scene, in particular his adventures as a pilot. A much publicised round-the-world solo flight in his own plane was initially aborted when he was arrested India on suspicion of spying. Although he eventually achieved his ambition the newspapers had lost interest and his return was hardly acknowledged. He did, however, make the news after he made an emergency landing on a road due to engine failure. His bad luck continued when he was charged with carrying an offensive weapon after queuing up at a hamburger stall with a rounders bat.
The next decade witnessed a gradual decline in his sales as he preached to the converted, releasing a new album on his own label every year and touring every autumn. Musically the likes of Berserker, The Fury, Strange Charm, Automatic with Bill Sharpe from Shakatak, Metal Rhythm and Outland - the latter released through IRS Records - combined bright, forward looking pop with bizarre songwriting, vocal and production habits which can make a song seem original and entertaining one day and infuriatingly cultish the next. Although they continued to chart, in or just outside the top 40, they had more affinity with the glam-slamming funk of Prince than the British music scene.
When 1992's Machine And Soul album followed the usual pattern and stalled at 42, Numan believed he'd reached an all-time low.
Yet only three years later the musical climate start to change in his favour for the first time in over a decade. This cultural backlip was signalled by his best album for years, 1994's Sacrifice and several covers of Numan songs, live and on record, by Beck, Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Shampoo, Marilyn Manson and the Foo Fighters, who covered 'Down In The Park' on an X-Files album. In 1995 Carling Premier lager was advertised with 'Cars' as its musical backdrop, kicking off a chart revival which pushed the song back into the Top 20. A greatest hits compilation also peaked at 21 in spring 1996. Numan supported Pulp at V96 in the same year and wrote Exile, a return to the electronic chill of his earlier work.
1997 was one of his busiest years to date as he's released Exile, toured the UK, had the magnificent RANDOM tribute album released and published his autobiography. Perhaps all this activity will help him become a little better understood in the future. His idiosyncratic songs deserve a fresh listen but hopefully free from any teeth grinding critical angst or ridiculous claims from his obsessive fanbase. His story is of an imperfect and at times improbable popstar who has fulfilled an entertainer's primary role of never being boring - a tale of fame, dreams, lightshows, guns, art, trash, girls, pop, money, Moog synthesisers, sci-fi, introspection, ego, alter egos, paranoia, cult status and Max Factor 28 panstick.