Gary Numan 1980's Artist Profile
Gary Numan 1980
We Are Glass .... I Die ; You Die .... This Wreckage .... Telekon ....
About Us Gary Numan was the last pop star of the nineteen seventies and the first pop star of the nineteen eighties.
Right Now
| Signed | Indie |
| Genre | Electronic Gloom. |
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
| Influences | Science Fiction. |
| Sounds Like | Gary Numan / Tubeway Army |
| Biography | Numan's recorded output during 1980 was the fall-out of the stardom he had achieved during the second half of 1979. 1980 was a major year for the Numan machine. He released the first ever commercially available music video cassette 'The Touring Principle'. He won the award for the best vocalist as voted for by the public, beating Sting in 2nd place and David Bowie in 3rd, in the British Rock And Pop Awards. He toured America, Japan, Australia. Collaborated with Robert Palmer, who was the first act to cover Numan in his live shows performing 'Me! I Disconnect From You' and 'Cars', on his album 'Clues' at his studio in the Bahamas. Released three singles, 'We Are Glass' and 'I Die; You Die', which both were top ten hits, and 'This Wreckage'. The album 'Telekon' was released in September and was supported by a British tour. 'Telekon' was Numan's third successive number one album; and his last. The album was issued with a bonus 7" vinyl single featuring live recordings of 'Remember I Was Vapour' and 'On Broadway' from the 1979 tour. Neither of the singles that preceded the album were included on the record which adds to it's conceptual quality, and value for money for those who bought the albums and singles by Numan. 'We Are Glass' and 'I Die; You Die' are 'pop' singles but the album is not. Hardly typical christmas stocking-filler for thousands of young teens on whom the bleakness of much of the album would have the biggest impact. In contrast to 'Replicas' and 'The Pleasure Principle' which were very spontaneous creations, 'Telekon' is a well-considered and conceived LP. It was completed over a period stretching as far back as at least mid '79 with 'Remember I Was Vapour', 'I Die; You Die' late '79. 'Remind Me To Smile' early '80. The songs reflect Numan's perception of what was happening around him; his fame, the damning of his music by the critics, his desire to quit while ahead. Numan began to hint of imminent retirement from touring. The album's opening track has some Japanese words that translate as 'I Leave You'. 'Remind Me To Smile' has the lyrics 'Reconsider Fame, I Need New Reasons, This Is Detention It's Not Fun At All'. The track is one of the most uptempo, 'fun' tracks, along with 'I'm An Agent, on a collection of mostly dark, ambient settings for Numan's odd lyrics and highly unique vocal which on 'Telekon' sounds less artificial than on the previous albums. Numan's look for this 'era' was a black leather boiler suit with diagonal and horizontal belts, or the red leather boiler suit as worn in the 'Cars' video. His hair was dyed black in semi-buzz cut with a red streak at the parting. By chosing to release 'This Wreckage' as a single from the album Gary Numan was committing commercial suicide before the music business killed him. It was an artistic statement no other popular artist would have made in a climate of very safe 'pop'. It would be another year before The Human League became a household name, and 'alternative' acts such as The Cure and Simple Minds were several albums away from being big sellers. In fact on 'The Aircrash Bureau', track two on 'Telekon', Simple Minds are credited as providing some of the hand-claps. The Band supported Numan on his American in support of 'Telekon' in 1980. 'Telekon' stands alone within it's musical landscape. It sounds like nothing else; nothing else sounds like it. Numan was badly damaged by his sudden success contrasted with a virtually blanket hostile response from the critics. The situation enhanced the strength of 'Telekon'; the criticism hadn't yet seriously damaged the confidence he had in himself as an arranger of sounds and as a vocalist, as it would come to do post mid-1980's. |
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| Gary Numan 1980's blogs |
| Article in Sonics magazine, Oct - Dec 1980 issue. |
| The taped music fades - ironically, the strains of "I Want to be a Machine", by one of Numan's seminal influences, Ultravox. The announcement is made: "Ladies and... read more |
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