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Tubeway Army “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?”

sfilzen — Tue, 03 Jan 2023 18:35:43 +0000

Tubeway Army “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” 1979. Beggar’s Banquet. 12″ single, German pressing. I absolutely adore this single from Tubeway Army’s LP Replicas; it went to #1 in the UK. It was Tubeway Army’s last single before composer/vocalist Gary Numan (Gary Webb) dropped the Tubeway Army band name and continued on as a solo artist (keeping many of the same musicians, though). “Are ‘Friends’ Electric” is icy synthpop, inspired by sci-fi: the song references Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Numan says about the song, “The lyrics came from short stories I’d written about what London would be like in 30 years. These machines – “friends” – come to the door. They supply services of various kinds, but your neighbours never know what they really are since they look human. The one in the song is a prostitute, hence the inverted commas. It was released in May 1979 and sold a million copies. I had a No 1 single with a song about a robot prostitute and no one knew.” Side B of the 12″ is another electronic new wave synthpop track, “We Are So Fragile” which leans more towards rock than the A side – there’s a bit of guitar solo! – but still has a bit of that sci-fi flavor.

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Tubeway Army “Replicas”

sfilzen — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 21:25:51 +0000

Tubeway Army “Replicas” 1979. Beggars Banquet Records. Today, March 8th, is Gary Numan’s 60th birthday (b. 1958). Numan fronted the ice cold pre-industrial synthpop Tubeway Army before finding long-lasting success as a solo artist (I still love “Cars”). Replicas is science fictiony (influenced by Philip K. Dick) and heavy on synth and drum machines (influenced by Kraftwerk and John Foxx-era Ultravox). Tubeway Army released two singles from Replicas: “Down in the Park” and the utterly amazing “Are ‘Friends’ Electric” which hit #1 in the UK where it remained for four weeks (and notably covered by The Dead Weather as the b-side for “Hang You from the Heavens”). Also notable are “You Are In My Vision,” “The Machman” and “Me! I Disconnect From You.” Replicas had a lasting influence on synth rock: the industrial bands of the 80′s and 90′s evolved the sound and kept the dark nihilistic attitude (i.e. Nitzer Ebb, Nine Inch Nails, Marily Manson, etc.).

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The Dead Weather “Hang You From the Heavens”

sfilzen — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 17:50:14 +0000

The Dead Weather “Hang You From the Heavens” b/w “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” 2009. Third Man Records. The debut single from the indie supergroup, the first 150 copies (which I’m pretty sure this is not one of) given out to the audience at the band’s first performance in 2009 at the Third Man offices, reached #8 on the US singles chart. The B-side is a cover of Gary Numan’s band the Tubeway Army’s “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” so it has a very weird, very cool blend of sleekly ominous new wave synth with dirty, dark garage rock. “Are ‘Friends’ Electric” was the first song that Jack White (White Stripes), Alison Mosshart (the Kills), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) and Jack Lawrence (the Raconteurs) recorded together; the formation of The Dead Weather came soon after, with their debut LP Horehound, upon which “Hang You From the Heavens” is featured, dropping the summer of ‘09.

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