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Gary Numan “Telekon”

sfilzen — Mon, 06 May 2024 18:43:11 +0000

Gary Numan “Telekon” 1980. Ultra-elecronic new wave/synthpop, Numan’s second solo release and third album in the “machine” trilogy (along with Tubeway Army’s Replicas and Numan’s The Pleasure Principle, both from ’79). Our version is the North American release which has the swirly and danceable single “I Die: You Die” which does not appear on the UK album (that single was a stand-alone in the UK; it went to #6 there and to #102 in the US). Neither the UK nor the US version have the single “We Are Glass” (#5 UK) but that track is on the cassette version released in Japan. Other bright spots (besides the two singles just noted which only halfway count): “Remind Me to Smile” has some funk and some sparkly anthemic keyboards and a bit of hand-clappy fun (it was released as a single in the US; I don’t know if it charted) and “I’m an Agent” has an interesting urgency and groove. The single “The Wreckage” appears on all the releases; it went to #20 in the UK, making it one of his lowest single charts there at the time (heavy and ponderous, it’s not a great song). Telekon itself debuted at #1 in the UK boosted by the two better singles he put out prior to the record’s release. I really like Gary Numan and I love synthpop but this record is….boring. The beats are mostly monotonous in a non-hypnotic, vibey way so it’s easy to just tune the record out – just like a machine making background white noise. Maybe that was the intent?

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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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