Gary Anthony James Webb, known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two studio albums with the band, he released his debut solo studio album The Pleasure Principle in 1979, topping the UK Albums Chart. His commercial popularity peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s with hits including "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars". Numan maintains a cult following. He has sold over 10 million records.
Tubeway Army were a London-based new wave band led by lead singer Gary Numan. Formed at the height of punk rock in 1977 the band gradually changed to an electronic sound. They were the first band of the electronic era to have a synthesiser-based number-one hit, with their single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and its parent album Replicas both topping the UK charts in mid-1979. After its release, Numan opted to drop the Tubeway Army name and release music under his own name as he was the sole songwriter, producer and public face of the band, but he retained the musicians from Tubeway Army as his backing band.
"Cars" is the first solo single by English musician Gary Numan. It was released on 24 August 1979 and is from his debut studio album The Pleasure Principle. The song reached the top of the charts in several countries, and is Numan's most successful single.
Dance is the third solo studio album by the English new wave musician Gary Numan, released on 4 September 1981 by Beggars Banquet Records. It was the first studio album Numan released after his "Farewell Concerts" staged at Wembley Arena.
Telekon is the second solo studio album by the English new wave musician Gary Numan. It debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart in September 1980, making it his third consecutive No. 1 album. It was also the third and final studio release of what Numan retrospectively termed the "machine" section of his career, following Replicas and The Pleasure Principle.
"We Are Glass" is a song by the British singer Gary Numan. It was released as a single in May 1980 and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart.
"I Die: You Die" is a song by the British musician Gary Numan, released as a single in August 1980. Released shortly before his fourth album, Telekon, it continued the anthemic style Numan had begun earlier in the year with "We Are Glass". The composer himself described the two singles as "Much the same thing. Both very chorus-orientated with the guitars as the main rhythmic device and the keyboards tinkling over the top".
"Fade to Grey" is a song by British synth-pop band Visage, released in November 1980 as the second single from their debut album, Visage (1980), on Polydor Records.
Paul Andrew Gardiner was a British musician who played bass guitar with Gary Numan and Tubeway Army, as well as creating material under his own name.
Berserker is the sixth solo studio album by the English new wave musician Gary Numan, released on 9 November 1984, it was his first album to be released under Numan's own record label, Numa Records.
Warriors is the fifth solo studio album by the English new wave musician Gary Numan, released on 16 September 1983 by Beggars Banquet Records. It would be his last studio release on that label.
Living Ornaments '79 (1981) is a live album by British musician Gary Numan recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon on 28 September 1979. It was also released as a limited edition box set with Living Ornaments '80 (1981). An expanded (21-track) version was reissued on a double CD in 1998 before a remastered version was again reissued in 2005. The nine tracks of the original Living Ornaments '79 were included on 1979: The Live EPs, a disc available to those who bought the expanded, 2-disc version of The Pleasure Principle from Numan's website in 2009.
Living Ornaments '80 is a live album by British musician Gary Numan, first released in 1981. It was also issued as a limited edition box set with Living Ornaments '79 the same year. The original Living Ornaments '80 was a condensed version of a concert recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon on 16 September 1980, as a record of Numan's "Teletour".
New Man Numan: The Best of Gary Numan is a compilation album released on the T.V. Records label in 1982 of songs featuring Gary Numan. The album reached number 45 on the UK Albums Chart.
Living Ornaments '79 and '80 is a box set by English musician Gary Numan that was released in April 1981. The box-set contains the two live albums Living Ornaments '79 and Living Ornaments '80 which were also released separately in April 1981. Although Living Ornaments '79 and Living Ornaments '80 only reached numbers 47 and 39 on the UK Albums Chart respectively, the box set reached number two.
For Future Reference is the only studio album released by the British synth-pop band Dramatis. The album itself failed to reach the UK Albums Chart, however, one of the three singles released from the album, "Love Needs No Disguise" with Gary Numan providing vocals reached number 33 on the UK Singles Chart. The other singles from the album were "Ex Luna Scientia" and "Oh! Twenty Twenty Five"—titled "Oh! 2025" on the album. The album was reissued on CD in 2000 and retitled The Dramatis Project. The reissue was also credited to Tubeway Army featuring Gary Numan, despite Numan's only contribution being the vocal to "Love Needs No Disguise".
Denis Haines is an English musician, best known for his time on keyboards for the Hollies between 1983 and 1991. Haines first came to prominence with new wave band the Doll. He played keyboards for Gary Numan on the album Telekon. Together with Chris Payne, Rrussell Bell and Cedric Sharpley, all of whom had been members of Numan's backing band, he formed new wave band Dramatis in 1981.
"Love Needs No Disguise" is a 1981 single by Dramatis featuring Gary Numan on vocals. It charted at number 33 on the UK Singles Chart. It got its live debut on The Warriors Tour in 1983. Of the song, Numan recalled:
"This was just the break they needed; I didn’t have anything to do with the writing of the song and I had a great time recording the video"
The Premier Hits is a compilation album by Gary Numan released in March 1996 on the Polygram TV record label. The album reached No 21 in the UK Albums Chart, leaving the chart after three weeks. It currently stands as the best selling compilation by Gary Numan. The album was promoted by the re-released 1987 remixed version of "Cars", re-titled as the 'Premier Mix' in a TV advert campaign for Carling Premier lager. The single reached No 17, making the third time that "Cars" has reached the top 40 in the UK Singles Chart.
Christopher John Payne is a British musician.
