Gary Numan

Gary Numan at Ben and Jerry's Double Scoop Sundae Festival in Heaton Park, Manchester (23 July 2011)

Gary Numan (born March 8, 1958 in Hammersmith , London ; actually Gary Anthony James Webb ) is a British musician and pioneer of electro pop and synth pop .

Life

Gary Webb's father was a bus driver for British Airways . That is why Gary wanted to become a pilot at an early age, but this career dream could not be fulfilled due to a lack of educational requirements. Webb tried numerous other professions. He started writing songs at the age of 15 and played in various bands. Together with his uncle Jess Lidyard and Paul Gardiner he founded the band Tubeway Army . Initially he appeared under the pseudonym "Valerian". He took his stage name "Numan" because of an advertisement in the Yellow Pages .

In 1997 Numan married Gemma O'Neill. Today he lives in East Sussex with her and their three children . He keeps his family and private life largely out of the public eye. Numan claims to have a "mild form" of Asperger's Syndrome .

Career

Gary Numan at Bestival (September 2008)

Numan's career began in the late 1970s when he formed the new wave band Tubeway Army, which worked with Are 'Friends' Electric? Made a worldwide hit in 1979. In the same year, his third album, Replicas, was number one in the British charts for four weeks , followed by another number one single hit with Cars . The success of the two follow-up albums (now under the name Gary Numan) The Pleasure Principle (1979) and Telekon (1980), which also returned to number one in the British charts. Very successful, especially in England, until the mid-1980s, a long artistic low followed, from which Numan was only able to free himself again in 1994. The album Sacrifice represents a completely new beginning with gloomy, claustrophobic soundscapes.

Numan is named as a role model by many bands and musicians, including Dave Grohl ( Nirvana , Foo Fighters ), Trent Reznor ( Nine Inch Nails ), Billy Corgan ( The Smashing Pumpkins ) and The Prodigy . He counted many fans and followers, especially in the New Wave and Gothic scene. In 1998 the crossover band Fear Factory released a reinterpretation of his classic Cars , in which Gary Numan appeared as the second vocalist. In 2002 the English girl group Sugababes had a hit with a mashup- inspired blend of Adina Howard's Freak Like Me (lyrics, melody) and Tubeway Army's Are 'Friends' Electric? (Instrumental hook).

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	CH	UK	US
1979	Replicas	DE45 (3 weeks) DE	-	UK1 gold (31 weeks)UK	US124 (10 weeks) US	with Tubeway Army
1980	The Pleasure Principle	-	-	UK1 gold (22 weeks)UK	US16 (30 weeks) US
	Telecon	-	-	UK1 gold (11 weeks)UK	US64 (10 weeks) US
1981	Dance	-	-	UK3 (8 weeks) UK	US167 (4 weeks) US
1982	I, assassin	-	-	UK8 (6 weeks) UK	-
1983	Warriors	-	-	UK12 (6 weeks) UK	-
1984	Berserk	-	-	UK45 (3 weeks) UK	-
1985	The Fury	-	-	UK24 (5 weeks) UK	-
1986	Strange charm	-	-	UK59 (2 weeks) UK	-
1988	Metal rhythm	-	-	UK48 (2 weeks) UK	-
1989	Automatic	-	-	UK59 (1 week) UK	-	Sharpe & Numan, Producer: Bill Sharpe
1991	Outland	-	-	UK39 (1 week) UK	-
1992	Machine + Soul	-	-	UK42 (1 week) UK	-
1994	Sacrifice	-	-	UK94 (1 week) UK	-	US album title: Dawn
1997	Exile	-	-	UK48 (1 week) UK	-
2000	Pure	-	-	UK58 (1 week) UK	-
2003	Hybrid	-	-	UK99 (1 week) UK	-	Remix album
2006	Jagged	-	-	UK59 (1 week) UK	-
2011	Dead Son Rising	-	-	UK87 (1 week) UK	-
2013	Splinter - Songs from a Broken Mind	-	-	UK20 (2 weeks) UK	US175 (1 week) US
2017	Savage (Songs from a Broken World)	DE87 (1 week) DE	CH94 (1 week) CH	UK2 (5 weeks) UK	US154 (1 week) US

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

More studio albums

1978: First Album (US) / Tubeway Army (EU) (Tubeway Army feat.Gary Numan) 1987: Radio Heart (Radio Heart feat.Gary Numan) 1989: New Anger 1994: The Radial Pair (Video Soundtrack) 1995: Human (with Michael R Smith) 1996: Techno Army (Techno Army feat.Gary Numan) 1997: Random (02) Mixes of Gary Numan 1998: Exile Extended (long versions of the songs on the Exile album )

2000: The Dramatis Project (Tubeway Army feat.Gary Numan) 2001: Purified 2007: Pterodactyl Tubeway (Esoteric vs. Gary Numan) 2008: Jagged Edge (remix album, 2 CDs) 2011: Ghost Stories 2012: Dead Moon Falling 2014: From Inside (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (with Ade Fenton)

Live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1981	Living Ornaments '79	-	UK47 (3 weeks) UK	-
	Living Ornaments '80	-	UK39 (3 weeks) UK	-
	Living Ornaments '79 and '80	-	UK2 (4 weeks) UK	-	Double album
1985	White noise	-	UK29 (5 weeks) UK	-	Double album
1989	The Skin Mechanic	-	UK55 (1 week) UK	-
1994	Dream Corrosion	-	UK86 (1 week) UK	-	Double album
2018	Savage (Live from Brixton Academy)	-	UK75 (1 week) UK	-
2019	When the Sky Came Down (Live at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester)	-	UK51 (1 week) UK	-	with the Skaparis Orchestra

More live albums

1984: In Concert - Warriors Tour - 323 1988: Living Ornaments '81 1988: Ghost (2 CDs) 1995: Dark Light 1996: The Radio One Recordings (UK) / The BBC Sessions (US) 1996: Time to Die - Live 2003: Scarred (2 CDs) 2004: Hope Bleeds (2 CDs, also as DVD) 2004: Live at Shepherds Bush Empire

2005: fragment 1-04 2005: fragment 2-04 2006: Jagged - Live 2008: Telekon - Live 2008: Engineers 2009: Replicas Live Manchester 08-03-2008 2010: The Pleasure Principle Live 2012: Big Noise Transmission (2 CDs) 2013: Machine Music Live

Other albums

Non-music albums 1986: Images One & Two (Interview, Fan Club Edition, 2 LPs) 1987: Images Three & Four (Interview, Fan Club Edition, 2 LPs) 1987: Images Five & Six (Interview, Fan Club Edition, 2 LPs) 1987: Images Seven & Eight (Interview, Fan Club Edition, 2 LPs) 1988: Images Nine & Ten (Interview, Fan Club Edition, 2 LPs) 1994: Images Eleven (autobiography) 2006: Eko (Interview, 2 CDs) 2006: Small Black Box (Interview, 2 CDs) 2008: Replicant (Interview, 2 CDs)

Mini albums 1995: Babylon 1 1995: Babylon 2 1995: Babylon 3 1995: Babylon 4 1995: Babylon 5 1995: Babylon 6 1995: Babylon 7

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1982	New Man Numan - The Best of Gary Numan	-	UK45 (7 weeks) UK	-
1984	The plan	-	UK29 (4 weeks) UK	-	Demo recordings from 1978 with Tubeway Army
1987	Exhibition	-	UK43 (3 weeks) UK	-
1993	The Best of Gary Numan 1978-1983	-	UK70 (1 week) UK	-
1996	The Premier Hits	-	UK21st silver (3 weeks)UK	-	with Tubeway Army
2002	Exposure - The Best of Gary Numan 1977-2002	-	UK44 (2 weeks) UK	-

More compilations

1981: Photograph - The Best Of 1982: Replicas / The Pleasure Principle (with Tubeway Army) 1985: 1978/1979 1987: Tubeway Army / Dance 1987: Replicas / The Plan (Selections from the Albums) 1987: The Pleasure Principle / Warriors (Selections from the Albums) 1987: Telekon / I, Assassin (Selections from the Albums) 1989: Double Peel Session (with Tubeway Army) 1989: The Collection 1992: The Other Side of… Gary Numan 1992: Document Series Presents - Classic Hits & Album Tracks 1978–1983

1992: Isolate (The Numa Years) 1994: Here I Am 1996: Archives 1996: The Best of Gary Numan 1984-1992 1996: The Story so Far (box with 3 CDs) 1996: The Sleeproom 1997: Black Heart 1997: Gary Numan Vol. 2 1998: Remodulate: The Numan Chronicles 1984–1995 (2 CDs) 1998: The Numa Years (box with 5 CDs) 1998: The Mix (remix album)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		DE	UK	US
1979	Cars The Pleasure Principle	DE45 (1 week) DE	UK1 gold (11 weeks)UK	US9 (25 weeks) US
	Complex The Pleasure Principle	-	UK6th silver (9 weeks)UK	-
1980	We Are Glass New Man Numan - The Best of Gary Numan	-	UK5 (7 weeks) UK	-
	I Die: You Die New Man Numan - The Best of Gary Numan	-	UK6 (7 weeks) UK	-
	This wreckage telecon	-	UK20 (7 weeks) UK	-
1981	Stormtrooper in Drag New Man Numan - The Best of Gary Numan	-	UK49 (4 weeks) UK	-	with Paul Gardiner
	She's Got Claws Dance	-	UK6 (6 weeks) UK	-
	Love Needs No Disguise For Future Reference	-	UK33 (7 weeks) UK	-	with dramatis
1982	Music for Chameleons I, Assassin	-	UK19 (7 weeks) UK	-
	We Take Mystery (To Bed) I, Assassin	-	UK9 (4 weeks) UK	-
	White Boys and Heroes I, Assassin	-	UK20 (4 weeks) UK	-
1983	That's Too Bad 1978/1979, Volume 1	-	UK97 (2 weeks) UK	-	with Tubeway Army
	Warriors Warriors	-	UK20 (5 weeks) UK	-
	Sister Surprise Warriors	-	UK32 (3 weeks) UK	-
1984	Berserk Berserk	-	UK32 (5 weeks) UK	-
	My Dying Machine Berserker	-	UK86 (3 weeks) UK	-
1985	Change Your Mind Automatic	-	UK17 (8 weeks) UK	-	Sharpe & Numan
	1978/1979, Volume 3 (EP) Unreleased Recordings	-	UK76 (2 weeks) UK	-
	1978/1979, Volume 2 (EP)	-	UK82 (2 weeks) UK	-
	The Live EP	-	UK27 (4 weeks) UK	-	including Are “Friends” Electric? , Berserker , Cars and We Are Glass
	Your Fascination The Fury	-	UK46 (5 weeks) UK	-
	Call Out the Dogs The Fury	-	UK49 (2 weeks) UK	-
	Miracles The Fury	-	UK49 (3 = weeks) UK	-
1986	This Is Love Strange Charm	-	UK28 (3 weeks) UK	-
	I Can't Stop Strange Charm =	-	UK27 (4 weeks) UK	-
	New Thing from London Town Strange Charm	-	UK52 (3 weeks) UK	-	Sharpe & Numan
	I Still Remember The Fury	-	UK74 (6 weeks) UK	-
1987	Radio Heart Radio Heart	-	UK35 (6 weeks) UK	-	Radio Heart feat. Gary Numan
	London Times Radio Heart	-	UK48 (4 weeks) UK	-	Radio Heart feat. Gary Numan
	Cars ('E' Reg Model)	-	UK16 (7 weeks) UK	-	Remix: Zeus B. Hero
	All Across the Nation Radio Heart	-	UK81 (4 weeks) UK	-	Radio Heart feat. Gary Numan
1988	No More Lies Automatic	-	UK34 (3 weeks) UK	-	Sharpe & Numan
	New Anger Metal Rhythm	-	UK46 (2 weeks) UK	-
	America Metal Rhythm	-	UK49 (2 weeks) UK	-
1989	I'm on Automatic	-	UK44 (2 weeks) UK	-	Sharpe & Numan
1991	Heart Outland	-	UK43 (2 weeks) UK	-
1992	The Skin Game Machine + Soul	-	UK68 (1 week) UK	-
	Machine + Soul Machine + Soul	-	UK72 (1 week) UK	-
1993	Cars '93 Speed (Soundtrack)	-	UK53 (1 week) UK	-	with Tubeway Army Remix: Charles Pierre, Francis Usmar
1994	Like a Refugee (I Won't Cry) 1987-1994	-	UK78 (1 week) UK	-	with Dadadang
	Dream Corrosion (The Live EP) Dream Corrosion	-	UK95 (1 week) UK	-
	A Question of Faith Sacrifice	-	UK88 (1 week) UK	-
1995	Absolution Exile	-	UK91 (1 week) UK	-
	Dark Light (The Live EP) Dark Light	-	UK92 (1 week) UK	-
1996	Cars (Premier Mix) The Premier Hits	-	UK17 (4 weeks) UK	-	Remix: Zeus B. Hero
1998	Dominion Day Exile	-	UK89 (1 week) UK	-
2002	Rip Hybrid	-	UK29 (2 weeks) UK	-
2003	Crazier Hybrid	-	UK13 (3 weeks) UK	-	Gary Numan vs. Rico
	Pray for You Eargasm	-	UK89 (2 weeks) UK	-	Plump DJs feat. Gary Numan
2006	Jagged in a Dark Place	-	UK63 (1 week) UK	-
2007	The Leather Sea Artificial Perfect	-	UK72 (1 week) UK	-	Gary Numan vs. Goodbye Fenton

More singles

1980: Remember I Was Vapor 1980: Remind Me to Smile 1984: This Is My Life (with Tubeway Army) 1987: Are “Friends” Electric? ( Picture Disc ) 1989: Selection 1990: Exhibition 1991: emotion 1991: My World Storm 1994: Are Friends Electric (Generator feat.Gary Numan) 1996: Radio (with “NRG” Inc.)

1997: Cars '97 (Remixes: Witchman, Astral Body) 1997: Magic 2004: Metal ( Afrika Bambaataa feat.Gary Numan) 2007: Healing (Ade Fenton vs. Gary Numan) 2007: Little Invitro 2008: Replicas 2008 Tour Edit (with Tubeway Army) 2010: Replicas: Mixes + Versions (with Tubeway Army) 2011: The Fall 2012: Pleasure in Heaven (Motor feat.Gary Numan) 2014: Here in the Black (Early Version)

Videos

• 1979: The Touring Principle '79
• 1982: Micromusic
• 1985: Berserk
• 1992: Shadow Man
• 2003: In Concert
• 2005: Hope Bleeds
• 2003: Broadcasting Live (30th Anniversary Special Edition)
• 2008: Cold Warning
• 2009: Conversation (The Pleasure Principle Tour 2009 DVD Program)
• 2011: decoder
• 2012: Machine Music The Best Of Gary Numan (2 DVDs)

literature

• Kai U. Juergens , The Man from Dystopia. Gary Numans early years 1977–1980 , in: AufAbwegen - Magazine for Music and Culture , No. 34, Cologne 2004.

swell

1. ↑ HOW WE MET . September 21, 1997.
2. ↑ Question 7, archive link ( memento of the original from February 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Asperger's syndrome: The ballad of Nikki Bacharach . January 8, 2007.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: DE CH UK US
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} UK gold / platinum database

Web links

Commons : Gary Numan  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website
• Gary Numan at Allmusic (English)
• Gary Numan at Discogs (English)
• Gary Numan at laut.de
• Gary Numan in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Gary Numan in the nndb (English)
• Literature by and about Gary Numan in the catalog of the German National Library