Gary Numan:
Brief Biography:
Gary Numan is
one of the founding
fathers of synth
pop, Gary Numan's
influence extends
far beyond his lone
American hit,
"Cars," which still
stands as one of the
defining new wave
singles. That
seminal track helped
usher in the synth
pop era on both
sides of the
Atlantic, especially
his native U.K.,
where he was a
genuine pop star and
consistent hitmaker
during the early
'80s.
Numan was born Gary
Anthony James Webb
on March 8, 1958, in
the west London
section of
Hammersmith. A shy
child, music brought
him out of his
shell; he began
playing guitar in
his early teens and
played in several
short-lived bands.
Inspired by the
amateurism of the
punk movement, he
joined a punk group
called the Lasers in
1976. The following
year, he and bassist
Paul Gardiner split
off to form a new
group, dubbed
Tubeway Army, with
drummer Bob Simmonds;
they recorded a
couple of singles
under futuristic
pseudonyms (Valerium
[or Valerian],
Scarlett, and Rael,
respectively) that
attempted to match
their new interest
in synthesizers.
Scrapping that idea,
Webb rechristened
himself Gary Numan
and replaced
Simmonds with his
uncle Jess Lidyard.
Thus constituted,
Tubeway Army cut a
set of punk-meets-Kraftwerk
demos for Beggars
Banquet in early
1978, which were
released several
years later as The
Plan. That summer,
Numan sang a TV
commercial jingle
for jeans, and
toward the end of
the year the group's
debut album, Tubeway
Army, appeared.
Chiefly influenced
by Kraftwerk and
David Bowie's
Berlin-era
collaborations with
Brian Eno, the album
also displayed
Numan's fascination
with the electronic,
experimental side of
glam (Roxy Music,
Ultravox) and
Krautrock (Can), as
well as science
fiction writer
Philip K. Dick.
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