GARY NUMAN - 'The Pleasure
Principle' CoverNuWORLD - Gary's
Official Site
Caring for Cats
cat and kitten rescue - Gary is
patron of this lovely moggie charity
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GARY
NUMAN
Gary
Numan, along with OMD, was the pioneer of British
synthesizer music in the late '70s, with his
still fresh sounding 'Are Friends Electric' and
'Cars'.
Originally
Gary Webb, Gary Numan was born on March 8th, 1958,
and replaced the Webb surname with Numan whilst
looking through the Yellow Pages.
Numan's
rise to the top was swift. Though his first two
singles made little impression on the charts, in
1978, his first album, 'Tubeway Army', sold out
in the same year.
In 1979, Numan had two UK number one singles -
'Are Friends Electric' and 'Cars', and two number
one albums - 'Replicas' and 'The Pleasure
Principle'. The latter being a remarkably
inventive effort, and self-produced in a
fortnight. A third chart-topping album,
'Telekon', followed in 1980, but Numan was not
doing so well on the singles charts that year,
and his career had already reached its highest
point at the age of 21.
Said by some to be a difficult character, and an
eccentric one, whose love of flying planes is the
stuff of legend, it was not known for years that
his personality had been affected by Asperger's
syndrome (Gary Numan had been ridiculed by many
at the height of his fame, being perceived as
pretentious and obnoxious). But things are a bit
different today, as that unearthly, futuristic
electronic sound, allied with Numan's android-like
vocals, have influenced many respected artists,
including Nirvana, The Foo Fighters, and Nine
Inch Nails. Sugababes sampled 'Are Friends
Electric' on their 2002 UK number one, 'Freak
Like Me'. In the same year Basement Jaxx had a
hit with one of the most played songs of the 21st
Century so far, with 'Where's Your Head At?',
which featured a sample from the Gary Numan 'N.E.'
late 1970s track. Numan's 'Cars' has also been
sampled more than any of his other tracks, and
reached number nine in the U.S. singles charts -
his only U.S. top ten.
Gary
Numan is now more at peace with himself, married,
and the father of a small child. He's also more
in control of his own career, and his legacy
means he shouldn't find work in the music
industry too hard to come by.
-
Paul Rance, booksmusicfilmstv.com.
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booksmusicfilmstv.com
1970s Music Index
booksmusicfilmstv.com
1980s Music Index
booksmusicfilmstv.com
1990s to Contemporary Music Index
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