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 21 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.
"Down in the Park" is a 1979 song by the English band Tubeway Army, featuring lead vocals by Gary Numan. It was released as the first single from the band's second album Replicas, though was not a hit. The song was written and produced by the band's frontman Gary Numan, and despite its lack of commercial success, has been performed by Numan regularly in his live shows throughout the years.
Replicas is the second and final studio album by the English new wave band Tubeway Army, released on 4 April 1979 by Beggars Banquet Records. It followed their self-titled debut from the previous year. After this, Tubeway Army frontman Gary Numan would continue to release records under his own name, though the musicians in Tubeway Army would continue to work with him for some time. Replicas was the first album of what Numan later termed the "machine" phase of his career, preceding The Pleasure Principle (1979) and Telekon (1980), a collection linked by common themes of a dystopian science fiction future and transmutation of man/machine, coupled with an androgynous image and a synthetic rock sound.
Telekon is the second solo studio album by the English 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.
"Complex" is a song by British musician Gary Numan. It was the second single to be taken from his 1979 album The Pleasure Principle. The single reached number six in the UK Singles Chart.
Tubeway Army is the debut studio album by the English new wave band Tubeway Army, released in 1978. Its initial limited-edition run of 5,000 sold out but did not chart. When reissued in mid-1979, following the success of the follow-up Replicas (1979), the more commonly known cover art featuring a stylised portrait of Gary Numan was introduced. This release made No. 14 in the UK Albums Chart.
"Bombers" is the second single by Tubeway Army, released in 1978.
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.
Living Ornaments '81 is a live album recording of a concert on 28 April 1981 by British musician Gary Numan. It was released as a double CD in 1998. The 28 April 1981 show was the third and last of Numan's 'Farewell Concerts' staged at Wembley Arena. The concert was filmed and released on VHS as Micromusic in April 1982; Living Ornaments '81 is essentially an audio release of the video, albeit one released almost 16 years later.
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 release was recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon on 16 September 1980, as a record of Numan's "Teletour".
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.
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.
The Radio One Recordings is a compilation album of British musician Gary Numan tracks played live and recorded live for BBC Radio 1. The album brings together the tracks from the July 1989 EP of Tubeway Army's 10 January 1979 and Numan's 29 May 1979 sessions for disc jockey John Peel's show and three tracks broadcast by BBC Radio 1 from the Year of the Child concert held at Wembley Arena on 30 November 1979.
"Metal" is a song by Gary Numan from his 1979 album The Pleasure Principle. Lyrically, the song is heavily inspired by science fiction such as the works of Philip K. Dick and William S. Burroughs, and tells the story of an android who wishes to be human but never can be. The song was the B-side of "Cars" in the U.S. The song was released with an accompanying music video. The song recycles lyrics from two outtakes of the songs "The Crazies" and "We Have a Technical" from the recording sessions for Numan's album Replicas, which had been released earlier in 1979.
Engineers is a limited edition digipak live album, released by Gary Numan's previous label, Beggars Banquet. The album was recorded at the Capitol Theatre, Sydney, Australia on 31 May 1980.
The Complete John Peel Sessions is a CD collection of the radio sessions recorded by English musician Gary Numan for the Radio One DJ John Peel.
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.
