I created this website on December 2, 2025. That was over 3 months ago now :( and as a regular music listener, I was bound to go out to discover some new music. The first artist I decided to check out since starting the site was Gary Numan. Discovering Numan for the first time was… a journey for sure, full of unexpected twists and turns, but usually enjoyable.
Like with so much of my music taste, my foray into the music of Gary Numan began with my dad. One day at dinner we were talking about one thing or another, and eventually he mentioned Gary Numan. Perhaps we were talking about David Bowie. I already listened to Bowie, and it is a well known topic that “Gary Numan is a Bowie knockoff”. I will address my thoughts on this later, but for now, the origin story. My dad tends to show rather than tell when he’s talking about something, so he decided to play us the video for Cars. My initial impression of Cars, and by extent, Numan, was that it was kind of weird or quirky but still fun to listen to. I also thought the same thing about the video. Dad said that when he was a kid, he would see that video and think it was really goofy because of Gary putting his face on the tambourine and stuff. I personally think that the weirdest part is towards the end when it shows the keys of a synthesizer moving side to side, with little Garys standing over it. Despite that, I did like the song. I actually went back and listened to it several times on my own, joking halfheartedly to my siblings about listening to Gary Numan. I never explored any more songs other than Cars, because I thought that I would like to explore his music and not spoil it before listening to an album.
After Christmas, I was allowed to pick out one CD to get for free. I decided that I wanted a Gary Numan album, and so I searched the Internet for a viable option to start off with. Some searching entailed, and I ultimately settled with the Premier Hits compilation album. The Premier Hits is a 1996 compilation CD packed full with all of Gary’s greatest radio hits, during both his solo career and his tenure in the punk-turned-new-wave band Tubeway Army. I found a specific copy for sale on Discogs that I liked. It was in very good plus condition which cost $20 including shipping. I thought it was a pretty good deal until I saw the seller’s note. Then I thought it was a VERY good deal. The booklet was autographed by the G Man himself! Albeit made out to a previous fan, I was super surprised. An autographed CD for $20? I quickly purchased it and waited patiently for its arrival.
Fast forward a week or two later, and the album arrived. I was pretty excited to hear it, so after checking to make sure that the autograph was legit by holding it up to the light and seeing the marker reflect differently (Gary was here!), I put it in my stereo and threw on the headphones. After the first few songs, I really liked it. The remix of Cars was a powerful reboot, I Die You Die was spacey and dramatic. Then I got to my first Tubeway Army songs, which were Are Friends Electric and Down in the Park. I thought that both of them were really good. Are Friends Electric, which I commonly joked as "the ultimate headbanger" was still pounding and very cool. Down in the Park was more subtle and slow, and I didn't like it as much initially, but it's grown quite a bit on me. Similar sentiments continued all the way up to track 7, which is She's Got Claws from Gary's 1981 album, Dance. If you don't know, in 1981 or so Gary got really overwhelmed from being a huge star at such a young age, he dramatically retired from live performance in what was meant to be an indefinite hiatus (he resumed soon after). Apparently that was enough for him, and rather than continuing to make icy new wave synthpop, he took a huge step in a vastly different direction. I could tell right away from the... jazzy sax and slap bass... that he had pivoted to funk music.
My initial reaction was "Why oh why Gary Numan? Why do this to us?" I am not a funk listener. Never have I ever sat down and just listened to funk music. Unless you count TM Stevens' Heavy and Funky Bass Technique video (if you don't know it's not meant for you). Apparently it was in the cards for me to try it out. To be honest, I genuinely had indifferent to negative opinions on everything from She's Got Claws through the original version of Cars. Except for one track which stuck out to me, that being Stormtrooper in Drag, written with ex Tubeway Army bassist Paul Gardiner shortly before his 1984 death. I still quite like that song, with the flanged guitar and somber mood. The lyrics are dark and very real, like Gary finally wiped off all of the alien makeup, stepped out of the armored exoskeleton, and acted like the human he may be on the inside.
I kept listening to the album in the following days, and some songs slowly began to grow on me. Namely the song Warriors. I was drawn in by the unison acoustic guitar and synth chords in the intro, and while I still wasn't a fan of the slap bass, it sounded like New Wave, and so I liked it. It had more traditional rock pacing, a relatively muted verse into a triumphant chorus, and is that a guitar solo? What are we doing now, Gary? This direction was preferable to the straight funk/jazz of the middle of the album.
To be totally honest, I stopped listening to Gary Numan as seriously for a time. I guess I got tired of playing the same 6-8 songs from the album that I really liked. None of the others really grew on me, probably because I just didn't listen to them. I also began casually exploring Gary's discography and his musical timeline when something struck me as interesting. After a period of decline and aimless meandering from roughly the mid 80s to the early 90s, Gary came back in 1994 with Sacrifice, an album that was dark and human. Being a goth music fan, I was intrigued by this. Gary as a dark, melancholic figure was interesting to me, as I already liked the guy as a personality or individual, but found some of his work (ahem the funky stuff) lacking. As I often do, I looked to see if there were any cheap CDs from that time I could purchase. At the time of writing, Sacrifice in CD form is incredibly pricey universally, so that was off of the table. I looked at the next album in the timeline, which is 1998's Exile. Also at the time of writing, I do not own Exile or any other Numan album besides the Premier Hits. I saw that the only song that had an accompanying video was called Dominion Day, a song which would soon revive my fandom.
One Sunday on the trampoline (about a week ago) I was bored, and so, trying to find some remix or live version on Youtube of the same old New Order songs I've listened to for years, I suddenly recalled Dominion Day. I was thinking, "Ah whatever. I'll give it a shot, it may be good," and so I played it. I was pleasantly surprised by the song. I'm not going to say that Gary Numan became a goth messiah in his middle age. But he came pretty damn close. The heavily distorted yet light, fluid electric guitar was absolutely awesome, which was very well accompanied by the doomy lyrics pondering a heady question: "What if God and the Devil are one and the same?" The song was a wall of nightmare sound. Hearing such a song with Gary's voice was just mind blowing to me. In my head the whole time I'm thinking, "This is the guy who wrote Cars..." but I loved it. I don't know if it's my favorite Gary Numan song, but if not, it's surely right up there with Cars and Are Friends Electric. With my newly revived interest in Numan, I went back and listened to the Premier Hits, revisiting old favorites and finding that some songs from the funk era are now tolerable, if not fun little earworms. Particularly Music for Chameleons and Love Needs No Disguise have gotten played recently, and I can't say that I don't like them. Well Love Needs No Disguise wasn't really a funk song, it was actually written by musicians Gary had worked with in the past, but I used to not care much for it anyways.
So I like Gary Numan. I really do. He's an interesting character, and from interviews and stuff, he seems like a really friendly, humble, down to earth guy. Which is funny considering his songs about future worlds and scifi themes. And I don't think he's a Bowie mimer. If you listen to Bowie's stuff, and then Cars... I mean I can hear the influence. The New Wave pioneers weren't called the Bastard Children of Bowie for nothing. But, compare Heroes or Ziggy to Cars. Really, do it. How similar is it? I don't hear rip off, well except perhaps for Gary's singing style. That's the biggest tell for me. They're both from London though, aren't they? Anyways, I like Gary Numan and I would reccomend you give his music a shot.
Favorite songs: Cars, Dominion Day, Are Friends Electric, Stormtrooper in Drag, I Die You Die
