Tubeway Army

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Tubeway Army
TubewayArmy2.jpg
Tubeway Army's line-up for most of their recordings
(L to R): Gary Numan, Jess Lidyard and Paul Gardiner
Background information
Origin London, England
Genres
Years active1977–1979
Labels Beggars Banquet
Past members
Website garynuman.co.uk

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.

Contents

History

Early years

Aged 18 years, Gary Webb had fronted London band Mean Street in 1976 (their song "Bunch of Stiffs" appeared on the Live at the Vortex compilation, and was the B-side of the Vortex 7-inch). After leaving this band, he auditioned as lead guitarist for another band called The Lasers, where he met bass-player Paul Gardiner. The Lasers soon became Tubeway Army, and were eventually reformed with Webb's uncle Jess Lidyard on drums. [1] Webb rechristened himself "Valerian", Gardiner "Scarlett" and Lidyard "Rael".

Webb was a prolific songwriter. The band began playing gigs on the punk scene in London and managed to secure a record deal with the independent Beggars Banquet label. In February 1978 the punk rock style debut single "That's Too Bad" was released, but failed to make much impact. Shortly after the band made demo recordings (later released as The Plan ) to give Beggars Banquet an idea of the songs they had. In summer 1978 a second single, "Bombers"/"Blue Eyes"/"OD Receiver", [2] was released, but failed to chart.

During this time the band went through some line-up changes, changing drummers and briefly adding a second guitarist, but due to musical differences Webb and Gardiner split with them as they wanted to move away from punk rock. [2]

By this time Tubeway Army had decided to abandon live shows – Webb was unhappy with pub-venue gigs on the often violent London punk scene. Their last gig in July 1978 (sharing the bill with The Skids) was abandoned halfway through the set because of violence and Webb decided that Tubeway Army would become a studio-only band. [1] (There are only 2 known recordings of Tubeway Army concerts – Live at the Roxy in 1977 and a London show from February 1978 – this was released as a bootleg album in the early 1980s. It was later officially included under the title Living Ornaments '78 as bonus tracks on the 1998 CD re-release of the Tubeway Army album). [3]

Debut album

Soon afterwards, the Tubeway Army album was quickly recorded by the original line-up. At this point Webb adopted the name "Gary Numan", taking his new pseudonym from a local Yellow Pages where a plumber called "Arthur Neumann" was listed, the singer abandoning the German spelling, to become Numan. [4] Whilst still largely guitar/bass/drums-based, the album saw his first tentative use of the Minimoog synthesizer, which he had come across by accident in the recording studio during the album sessions. Lyrically the record touched on dystopian and sci-fi themes similar to those employed by authors J. G. Ballard and Philip K. Dick, of whom Numan was a fan (the opening lines of the song "Listen to the Sirens" are a direct lift from the title of Dick's book Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said ).

At this point Numan was keen to distance his music from punk rock and wanted to drop the Tubeway Army group name and release the album under his own stage name, but the idea was rejected by Beggars Banquet and the album was released with the title Tubeway Army on blue vinyl in November 1978. [1] Whilst the album's modest initial pressing of 5000 copies sold out, [5] it did not enter the album charts at that time, and no singles were lifted from it.

Replicas and commercial success

Following swiftly on, Numan took Tubeway Army back into the studio to record their follow-up album, Replicas and also a session for John Peel in early 1979. The result was more synth and science fiction oriented than the last album. The first single from the album, the bleak, slow-paced keyboard-driven song "Down in the Park" failed to chart, although it would prove an enduring cult track in the years to come, and has to date been covered by Marilyn Manson, Foo Fighters, Flight, and nine other bands. [6]

The next single, "Are 'Friends' Electric?" was very successful, reaching the No. 1 spot. By the end of 1979 it had become the fourth highest selling single in the UK that year. [7] The underlying context of this song was also a reference to another Philip K. Dick novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? A special picture-disc helped boost sales but what particularly grabbed the British public's imagination was Tubeway Army's appearance on the BBC show The Old Grey Whistle Test , followed soon after by a slot on Top of the Pops on 24 May 1979. The band, now including Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie, Chris Payne, Paul Gardiner and drummer Cedric Sharpley, appeared all dressed in black and near-motionless, Numan in particular giving a performance often referred to as being "like an android" (a style that was later reported to have been a means of covering stage nerves but which then became his trademark). The single remained at number one in the UK charts for four weeks, with Replicas following suit in the album charts. [8] With Tubeway Army still avoiding live shows, Numan recruited some additional musicians to make these television appearances (see below).

At the peak of success, a John Peel session in June 1979 was credited as Gary Numan, and the Tubeway Army group name was dropped. [9] Numan would however keep the same musicians as his backing band on his subsequent solo releases and tours.

Personnel

Members

Lineups

YearsLineupAlbums
1977
1977–1978
  • Gary Numan – guitar, lead vocals
  • Paul Gardiner – bass, backing vocals
  • Bob Simmonds – drums
1978
  • Gary Numan – lead vocals, guitar
  • Paul Gardiner – bass, backing vocals
  • Sean Burke – guitar
  • Barry Benn – drums
1978–1979
  • Gary Numan – guitar, lead vocals, synthesizers
  • Paul Gardiner – bass, backing vocals
  • Jess Lidyard – drums
1979
(Old Grey Whistle Test and
Top of the Pops performances)
  • Gary Numan – lead vocals, guitar, synthesizers
  • Paul Gardiner – bass, backing vocals
  • Trevor Grant – guitar
  • Billy Currie – synthesizers
  • Chris Payne – synthesizers
  • Cedric Sharpley – drums

Timeline

Tubeway Army

Discography

Studio albums

YearDetailsPeak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
[10] 		AUS
[11] 		NZL
[12] 		SWE
[13] 		US
[14]
1978 Tubeway Army 14 [upper-alpha 1] ————
1979 Replicas
  • Released: April 1979
  • Label: Beggars Banquet, Atco
111837124
2009Replicas Redux
  • Released September 2008
  • Label: Beggars Banquet
96————
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Compilations

YearDetailsPeak chart positions
UK
[10]
1984 [upper-alpha 2] The Plan
  • Released: September 1984
  • Label: Beggars Banquet
29
2019Replicas - The First Recordings
  • Released: December 2019
  • Label: Beggars Banquet
31

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
[10] 		AUS
[11] 		AUT
[16] 		GER
[17] 		BEL
[18] 		IRE
[19] 		NED
[20] 		NZL
[12] 		US [21]
1978"That's Too Bad"97 [upper-alpha 3] ————————
"Bombers"—————————
1979"Down in the Park"—————————
"Are 'Friends' Electric?"112122314398105
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Notes

  1. ↑ The album Tubeway Army did not chart upon its first release in 1978, but following the success of Replicas, it charted in August 1979 and reached No. 14.
  2. ↑ The demos were recorded in 1977 and 1978 but not released until 1984. Beggars Banquet have re-released and re-mastered these recordings numerous times. Current CD editions supplement the original album tracks with all single A and B-sides, 12-inch bonus tracks, studio out-takes, and recovered bootleg live material.
  3. ↑ Charted in 1983. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Numan</span> English musician (born 1958)

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 albums with the band, he released his debut solo album The Pleasure Principle in 1979, topping the UK Albums Chart. While 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cars (song)</span> 1979 single by Gary Numan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Down in the Park</span> 1979 single by Tubeway Army

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Are "Friends" Electric?</span> 1979 single by Tubeway Army

"Are 'Friends' Electric?" is a 1979 song by the English band Tubeway Army. Taken from their album Replicas, it was released as a single in May 1979 and reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, staying there for four weeks. It was written and produced by Gary Numan, the band's frontman and lead vocalist. It was also the band's last single before breaking up.

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Beggars Banquet Records is a British independent record label. Beggars Banquet started as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin and is part of the Beggars Group of labels.

<i>Replicas</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Tubeway Army

Replicas is the second and final studio album by English new wave band Tubeway Army, released in 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 and Telekon, 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.

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<i>Tubeway Army</i> (album) 1978 studio album by Tubeway Army

Tubeway Army is the debut album by 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 album charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bombers (Tubeway Army song)</span> 1978 single by Tubeway Army

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">That's Too Bad</span> 1978 single by Tubeway Army

"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.

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<i>The Plan</i> (Tubeway Army album) 1984 compilation album by Gary Numan / Tubeway Army

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<i>Living Ornaments 80</i> 1981 live album by Gary Numan

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<i>Engineers</i> (Gary Numan album) 2008 live album by Gary Numan

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Gary Numan (R)evolution: The Autobiography Constable 2020, Chapter Four.
  2. 1 2 "Tubeway Army The Early Years". numanme.com.
  3. ↑ "Tubeway Army - Tubeway Army". Discogs . Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  4. ↑ Synth Britannia. 16 October 2009. BBC Four.
  5. ↑ "Tubeway Army". numanme.com.
  6. ↑ "Cover versions of Down in the Park by Tubeway Army | SecondHandSongs". SecondHandSongs.
  7. ↑ "Top 100 1979 - UK Music Charts". www.uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  8. ↑ "Tubeway Army full Official Chart History". Official Charts. Official UK Charts Company.
  9. ↑ Gary Numan The Pleasure Principle - The First Recordings Beggars Arkive
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Tubeway Army - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  11. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 314. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  12. 1 2 "New Zealand chart positions". charts.nz. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  13. ↑ "Swedish chart positions". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  14. ↑ "US charts". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  15. 1 2 "UK certificates: searchable database". bpi.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  16. ↑ "Austrian chart positions". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  17. ↑ "German single positions". musicline.de. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  18. ↑ "Belgian single positions". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  19. ↑ "Irish charts: searchable database". irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  20. ↑ "Dutch chart positions". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  21. ↑ "Tubeway Army Songs - Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Musicvf.com. Retrieved 12 August 2023.

Further reading

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