This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2018) |
Strange Charm | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 1986 | |||
Recorded | 1986 | |||
Studio | Rock City Sound Studios (London) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 44:56 | |||
Label | Numa | |||
Producer |
| |||
Gary Numan chronology | ||||
| ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
Singles from Strange Charm | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Record Mirror | [2] |
Strange Charm is the eighth solo studio album by the English musician Gary Numan,originally released in November 1986,it was Numan's third release on his self-owned Numa Records label. The album was not released in the United States until 1999 when it was issued in a digitally remastered form with five bonus tracks by Cleopatra Records. In the same year it was also reissued with bonus tracks in the United Kingdom by Eagle Records.
Strange Charm was the last studio album released on his self-owned Numa Records label before he signed a recording contract with I.R.S. Records (he would later release two more studio albums on Numa in the 1990s). Unlike most of his previous studio albums,Strange Charm is a fragmented release with no obvious theme on it,either musically or lyrically. The majority of the album was produced by the Wave Team,who had produced most of Numan's previous offering, The Fury (1985),and continued in a style similar to the previous studio album (with liberal use of saxophone and female backing vocals). However,the album's stand-out tracks,"My Breathing" and "New Thing from London Town",were produced by Ade Orange and Bill Sharpe and Nick Smith,respectively,and offer a departure from the industrial sound of the rest of the album into quite different atmospheres. "New Thing from London Town" was a re-recorded version of the single released by Numan and Bill Sharpe (under the name Sharpe + Numan) a month before the release of Strange Charm. The Strange Charm version of the song retains the original music,but features new lyrics written and sung by Numan (the lyrics on the single version were written by Roger Odell). Elsewhere,the songs on Strange Charm range from radio-friendly pop ("The Sleeproom","I Can't Stop") to slow-burning ballads "This Is Love"),to fast-paced,energetic synth-rock (the title-track).[ citation needed ]
By the time of Strange Charm's recording,Numan had found himself more and more alienated from the mainstream of British pop music,while most of the money he had made during the early part of his career had now been consumed by his costly self-funded record label. Numan later recollected that the studio atmosphere was tense:
It was a hard album to finish. The career problems created a dreadful atmosphere to write in because it felt like everything I was doing was for nothing... I knew I wanted a dark and dreamy sound for Strange Charm. However, I didn't quite know in which direction I wanted to take my songwriting. I was also running out of things to write about. There were quite a few arguments and the studio atmosphere was unusually tense and bad-tempered. At one point I had three different versions of a song on the 24-track and I couldn't decide which way I wanted to go. [3]
Not only did Numan find it very difficult to create the kind of sound that he wanted for Strange Charm, but the protracted recording sessions resulted in the album being recorded in its entirety twice, diluting Numan's enthusiasm for the finished product. Strange Charm was finally released in late 1986, many months after singles from the album had been released. "This Is Love" was released in April and peaked at No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart; "I Can't Stop" was released in June and reached No. 27, and the original version of "New Thing from London Town" was released in October and reached No. 52. No singles were taken from Strange Charm after the album's release in November. The only single Numan released that month was "I Still Remember", a remake of a song from Numan's previous studio album The Fury (1985). Released as a charity single for the RSPCA, "I Still Remember" reached No. 74 on the UK Singles Chart. The Strange Charm album itself peaked at No. 59 on the UK Albums Chart, and spent only two weeks in the Top 75.[ citation needed ]
For the visual look of Strange Charm, Numan abandoned the white suit-clad persona of The Fury and instead dyed his hair blond (again) and wore a Blade Runner -esque long leather jacket and sunglasses. Blade Runner was also the influence for one of the B-sides of the album, "Time to Die", which takes its title and most of its lyrical content from Roy Batty's dying speech during the climax scene of the film. Strange Charm is the third of five Numan studio albums to feature saxophonist Dick Morrissey, who performed on the Blade Runner (1982) film score. Vocal samples from the film can also be heard on Numan's studio albums The Fury (1985) and Outland (1991). Numan has referred to Blade Runner as "one of my all-time favourite films." [4]
Numan did not support Strange Charm with a live tour (making it his first studio album since 1981's Dance not to be supported by a concert tour). However, Numan embarked on the 18-date "Exhibition Tour" in September 1987 to promote the compilation album Exhibition . A live album, Ghost , was culled from the final two shows of the tour (25–26 September 1987) and released in March 1988. Ghost features live versions of several Strange Charm tracks.
Strange Charm was originally released exclusively in the UK. The original cassette release featured "Time to Die" as an extra track at the end of side one.[ citation needed ] The album saw its first CD reissue on Numan's own Numa label in 1991. It was reissued again in 1996. In 1999 the album was reissued in the UK by Eagle Records in remastered form, with five tracks originally released as B-sides as bonus tracks (including "Time to Die"), new artwork and liner notes. In the same year it was also released in the US by Cleopatra Records, who dropped two of the instrumental bonus tracks of the UK reissue in favour of the extended mixes of "New Thing from London Town" and "I Can't Stop". Additionally the US release used a modified version of the original cover and did not feature liner notes.[ citation needed ]
All tracks written by Gary Numan, except for "New Thing from London Town", which has music by Bill Sharpe and lyrics by Numan.
1986 release
1999 Cleopatra US CD reissue (CLP 0534-2)
1999 Eagle Records CD reissue (EAMCD074)
Adapted from the Strange Charm liner notes. [5]
Musicians
Production and artwork
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.
Sacrifice is the twelfth solo studio album by English musician Gary Numan, released in October 1994 by Numa Records. Its release is often cited as marking the start of a critical and artistic rejuvenation for Numan. The album was released in the US in 1997 with a different title, Dawn, based on the comic book character Dawn. It also carried cover art by Joseph Michael Linsner.
"That's Too Bad" is the debut single by Tubeway Army, the band which provided the initial musical vehicle for Gary Numan. It was released in February 1978 by independent London record label Beggars Banquet. On the day of its release, Numan quit his job in a warehouse to become a professional musician.
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.
The Fury is the seventh solo studio album by the English musician Gary Numan, originally released in September 1985, it was Numan's second release on his self-owned Numa Records label. It saw him continuing to explore the sample-heavy industrial sound that he had developed for his previous album Berserker in 1984.
White Noise is a double live album by British musician Gary Numan and originally released in 1985. The album was reissued as a double CD in 1998 before a remastered version was released in 2003.
Machine + Soul is the eleventh solo studio album by the English musician Gary Numan, released in 1992. It was a low point, released primarily to help pay off debt, and was the last of his efforts to make his music more radio-friendly. His subsequent work went in the much darker and more industrial direction that would revive his career.
Automatic is a 1989 album released by Sharpe & Numan.
Metal Rhythm is the ninth solo studio album by the English musician Gary Numan, released in September 1988 by I.R.S. Records.
The Skin Mechanic is a live album released by British musician Gary Numan during his stint with IRS Records. The album was recorded in 1988 and released in 1989.
The following is a comprehensive discography of Gary Numan, a British singer and musician. Numan released his first record in 1978 as part of the outfit Tubeway Army. Initially unsuccessful, the band scored a huge hit in 1979 with the single "Are Friends Electric" and their second album Replicas, both of which reached number one in the UK. Numan then decided to release further recordings under his own name, beginning with the single "Cars" later in 1979. Both this and the subsequent album The Pleasure Principle also reached number one in the UK, and Numan became a leading force in the British electronic music scene. He scored a third number one album in 1980 with Telekon, and more hit singles and albums until the mid 1980s when his popularity waned. Despite this, he has continued to record and tour on a regular basis up to the present day. His 2017 studio album, Savage , entered the UK Albums Chart at no. 2, which was Numan's highest chart peak since 1980. His most recent album, 2021's Intruder, also entered the UK charts at no. 2.
Ghost is a live album first released by British musician Gary Numan in 1988. It was recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on 25 and 26 September 1987 during Numan's Exhibition Tour. The original release was only available as a fan club mail order double LP. It went on general release in the United Kingdom as a double CD in May 1992 before being released in the United States in 1999.
Dark Light is a live album by English musician Gary Numan. The album was released in June 1995 in the United Kingdom. The album was not released in the United States until August 1998. In April 2003 the album was remastered and reissued. The album was recorded at Numan's concert at Labatt's Hammersmith Apollo in London on 12 November 1994 during his Sacrifice Tour. The album reached number 107 on the UK Albums Chart.
Isolate – The Numa Years is a compilation album by Gary Numan. It was released in March 1992 on CD and cassette and contains tracks issued on his own Numa Records label during the years 1984–1986. The songs are taken from the albums Berserker, The Fury and Strange Charm. The four page insert contains printed lyrics to all the tracks.
Bill Sharpe is a British musician, who has worked as a member of Shakatak, as a solo artist, and with others, such as Gary Numan and Don Grusin.
Sharpe & Numan was a British synth-pop duo formed by Shakatak's Bill Sharpe and Gary Numan (vocals).
"I Can't Stop" is a song by English musician Gary Numan, which was released in 1986 as the second single from his eighth studio album Strange Charm. It was written by Numan, and produced by Numan and the Waveteam. "I Can't Stop" reached No. 27 in the UK and remained on the charts for four weeks.
Radio Heart was a music project by Scottish brothers Hugh and David Nicholson, formerly of Blue, who are best known for their collaboration with Gary Numan in 1987.
"New Thing from London Town" is a song by the English synth-pop duo Sharpe & Numan, released as a single in October 1986. Composed by Bill Sharpe with lyrics by Roger Odell and featuring lead vocals by Gary Numan, it spent three weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 52.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)