Automatic (Sharpe & Numan album)

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Automatic
Sharpe numan automatic.jpg
Studio album by
Sharpe & Numan
ReleasedJune 1989 (1989-06)
RecordedEarly 1988
Genre
Length54:28
Label Polydor
839,520-2
Producer Bill Sharpe
Gary Numan chronology
Metal Rhythm
(1988)		Automatic
(1989)		 Outland
(1991)
Bill Sharpe chronology
Automatic
(1989)		Famous People
(1989)
Singles from Automatic
  1. "Change Your Mind"
    Released: 9 February 1985
  2. "No More Lies"
    Released: 30 January 1988
  3. "I'm on Automatic"
    Released: 3 June 1989
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic positive [1]

Automatic is a 1989 album released by Sharpe & Numan (a collaboration between Gary Numan and jazz keyboardist/producer Bill Sharpe, member of the jazz fusion group Shakatak).

Sharpe & Numan was a British synth-pop duo formed by Shakatak's Bill Sharpe and Gary Numan.

Gary Numan English guitarist, singer, and songwriter

Gary Anthony James Webb, better known as Gary Numan, is an English singer, musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first entered the music industry as the 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. His commercial popularity peaked in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the No. 1 singles "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars", but he maintains a strong cult following.

Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States. It originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".

Contents

Background

Automatic was an attempt to recapture the success of Sharpe & Numan's collaboration single "Change Your Mind", which reached number 17 in the UK charts in 1985. Although "Change Your Mind" was initially supposed to be a one-off single, Numan recalled that "the whole experience was great fun and Bill and I left the door open for more work together." [2] However, Numan was ambivalent about recording a Sharpe + Numan album:

Change Your Mind is a song recorded by synth-pop duo Sharpe & Numan.

Numan wrote the majority of the song lyrics on Automatic and performed the lead vocals, however, he did not contribute to the writing of the album's music. Backing vocals were provided by Tessa Niles, who had sung on Numan's four preceding solo albums. Automatic has a more lightweight-pop and commercial style in comparison to Numan's solo material of the time, although its sound is not especially incongruous in the Numan discography. The opening line of the track "I'm on Automatic" ("This is metal rhythm/A new song on the radio") explicitly references Metal Rhythm , Numan's previous solo album. Most of the album was recorded in late 1987 and part of 1988, but took 18 months for the deal to come together with Polydor Records.[ citation needed ]

Tessa Margaret Niles is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of contemporary artists. She began her professional singing career in 1979.

<i>Metal Rhythm</i> 1988 studio album by Gary Numan

Metal Rhythm is the ninth solo studio album by English musician Gary Numan, originally released in September 1988 by I.R.S. Records.

Release

Automatic includes "Change Your Mind" and a remixed version of the third Sharpe + Numan single, "No More Lies" (1988, UK#34). The second Sharpe + Numan single, "New Thing From London Town" (1986, UK#52) was not included on Automatic, presumably because it had already been included (albeit in re-recorded form) on Numan's 1986 solo album, Strange Charm . "I'm on Automatic" was the only single to be released from Automatic; it reached No. 44 on the UK singles chart. The album itself reached No. 59 on the UK Album Chart, eleven spots lower than Metal Rhythm, which was released nine months before. [4] Its disappointing sales led to plans for a second Sharpe + Numan album being abandoned, however, the electro-jazz-pop style of Automatic would influence the general sound of Numan's next solo album, Outland (1991).

<i>Strange Charm</i> 1986 studio album by Gary Numan

Strange Charm is the eighth solo studio album by 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.

<i>Outland</i> (Gary Numan album) 1991 studio album by Gary Numan

Outland is the tenth solo studio album by English musician Gary Numan, released in 1991. It was Numan's second and last studio album to be released by IRS Records. It reached Number 39 on the UK charts. The songs "Heart" and "My World Storm" were released as singles; "Heart" charted at Number 43, while "My World Storm" eventually became a US-only promo single after a planned UK release was shelved due to the inner turmoil at the label around the release of the album. The latter however reached Number 46 on the US dance chart.

Numan expressed dissatisfaction with Automatic's lack of promotion on the part of Polydor Records. Of the album itself, he recalled:

Re-release

Automatic was out of print for two decades; it was re-released on 18 October 2010 by the London-based reissue label Cherry Pop (CRPOP67). This expanded edition features additional tracks, extensive sleevenotes by Steve Thorpe, track comments from Bill Sharpe & Gary Numan, lyrics to all tracks, and remastered sound by Tim Turan. The release is a Captain Oi! Production (the same team behind the label's Kim Wilde and Animotion reissues released in 2009–2010).

Kim Wilde English pop singer

Kim Wilde is an English pop singer, author, DJ and television presenter. She first saw success in 1981 with her debut single "Kids in America", which reached number two in the UK. In 1983, she received the Brit Award for Best British Female solo artist. In 1986, she had a UK number two hit with a reworked version of the Supremes' song "You Keep Me Hangin' On", which also topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1987. Between 1981 and 1996, she had 25 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK singles chart. Her other hits include "Chequered Love" (1981), "You Came" (1988) and "Never Trust a Stranger" (1988). In 2003, she collaborated with Nena on the song "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime", which topped the Dutch charts.

Animotion 1980s American band

Animotion is an American synthpop band from Los Angeles, California, best known for the songs "Obsession", "Let Him Go", "I Engineer", and "Room to Move".

Track listing

1989 edition

All tracks were written by Gary Numan and Bill Sharpe except where otherwise noted.

  1. "Change Your Mind" (Sharpe, Roger Odell) – 4.14
  2. "Turn Off the World" – 3.58
  3. "No More Lies" ('89 mix) – 4.02
  4. "Breathe in Emotion" – 3.25
  5. "Some New Game" – 4.01
  6. "I'm on Automatic" – 4.08
  7. "Rip it Up" – 4.13
  8. "Welcome to Love" – 3.30
  9. "Voices" (Numan, Sharpe, Odell) – 3.50
  10. "Night Life" – 3.41
  11. "No More Lies" (original 12" mix)* – 7.46
  12. "I'm on Automatic" (12" mix)* – 7.33

2010 edition

All tracks were written by Gary Numan and Bill Sharpe except where otherwise noted.

  1. "Change Your Mind" (Sharpe, Roger Odell) – 4.12
  2. "Turn Off the World" – 3.58
  3. "No More Lies" ('89 mix) – 4.01
  4. "Breathe in Emotion" – 3.25
  5. "Some New Game" – 4.00
  6. "I'm on Automatic" – 4.08
  7. "Rip it Up" – 4.13
  8. "Welcome to Love" – 3.29
  9. "Voices" (Numan, Sharpe, Odell) – 3.49
  10. "Night Life" – 3.42
  11. "Love Like a Ghost" (single B-side) – 3:27
  12. "No More Lies" (7" version) – 3.25
  13. "I'm on Automatic" (12" extended version) – 7.34
  14. "Voices" (extended version) – 5:34
  15. "No More Lies" (12" extended version) – 7.44

Sharpe and Numan tracks not included on this re-release include the 12" extended version of "Change Your Mind"; all known versions of "New Thing from London Town" (original single version, the extended 12" version, and the Strange Charm remake), and the unreleased demo "They Say."

Personnel

Musicians

Production

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References

  1. ↑ Sutton, Michael. Automatic at AllMusic. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  2. ↑ Praying to the Aliens: An Autobiography by Gary Numan with Steve Malins. (1997, André Deutsch Limited), p.197
  3. 1 2 Praying to the Aliens: An Autobiography by Gary Numan with Steve Malins. (1997, André Deutsch Limited), p.180
  4. ↑ Strong, Martin C.: "The Great Alternative Discography", 1999, Canongate, ISBN   0-86241-913-1
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