Date: Sun, 22 Aug 93 04:00:09 CDT From: numan@cs.uwp.edu Reply-To: numan@cs.uwp.edu (Gary Numan) Subject: Gary Numan Digest V1 #40 Gary Numan Digest Sun, 22 Aug 93 Volume 1 : Issue 40 Today's Topics: 1993 UK Gary Numan Fan Club Yearbook - a summary D.E.B. Mallory Batteries NAGNFC Varous A's to various Q's ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 21 Aug 93 23:16:16 PDT From: dlangs%sunstroke@sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: 1993 UK Gary Numan Fan Club Yearbook - a summary To: numan@cs.uwp.edu 1993 UK GARY NUMAN FAN CLUB YEARBOOK ____________________________________ After many promises here is the summary of the 1993 UK Gary Numan Fan Club Yearbook. I received this at the end of May. Sorry it has taken so long to get it onto the Digest but I hope you understand that more important things have been distracting me this summer. The 1993 Yearbook is 16 pages of photos and text summarising 1992 with a nice thick glossy cover depicting Gary on stage in his leather gear with one of those gawky expressions a la Ghost cover. Most of the photos inside are of Gary and his flying escapades, concert shots and video shoot photos. 1992: personal account by Gary Numan ------------------------------------- Gary was glad to see 1992 pass it seems. After describing how he doesn't believe in God, likes to live life to the full, sometimes pushes the limits a bit, hates wasting time and gets impatient with people, foolishness and stupidity, he launches into a review of 1992. He was happy with "Isolate" and its cover (from the Metal Rhythm shoot). He thought the tour was "outrageous"; "never laughed so much in my life" due to Susie Webb and Kipper being in the band. Kipper "added energy and excitement" he says. He liked how Kipper moved around the stage. It enabled him to be more demonstrative and more accomplished due to the extra confidence that Kipper's obvious enjoyment of the shows was giving him. Susie and Kipper are now good friends of his. He thinks it will be hard to beat this tour. After the tour it was immediately back into the studios to finish the "Machine and Soul" album. He found it hard to finish having been slipping into a confidence crisis. The rejection (presumably by IRS, Radio 1 and the music press) was taking its toll. He slid further than ever before, "further than is safe or desirable to go". He things that his creativity comes from experiencing the ups and downs of his situation and that it shows up in his music. Getting it down on paper releases many of the emotions he feels and gives a release of the destructive things that would be too hard to keep inside. Sometimes he hates the imbalance of it all. The crisis in confidence hindered his ability to write and was frightening. He became isolated, insular, edgy, irritable, unpleasant and pathetically sorry for himself. It was a big relief to finish the album. He leaned on Kipper for advice and support. Ideas he might have thrown up were kept because Kipper liked them. Eventually he felt that "Machine and Soul" was a fine record. He acknowledges that some fans are tired of him speaking about the radio problem but he feels that this is the one thing that could kill his career. He feels that his sentiments are only in a tiny handful of songs and then only as a quick line or two. He doesn't feel he goes on about it ad nauseam. His survival is dependent on radio play and he loves doing what he does and doesn't want to have to give up. He will keep his career, his life going as long as possible so he asks us to forgive his whining about the radio. Fan loyalty means a lot he says. It keeps him going. If the radio would play just one of his singles he thinks he could make it back. M+S was a big move towards guitar, a trend that will continue with the next album. He's been listening to Sisters of Mercy, Faith No More, and Dan Reed Network. He wants to fuse the best power elements of dance and guitar. He was enjoying the writing that he was doing when this yearbook was printed. He feels the next record will be special and he doesn't really care if it is successful or not. He feels the M+S video was the best he's ever done, thanks to Tracey Adam who directed it. Flying remained important to him with the start of The Radial Pair, a new display team of formation aerobatics in WWII aeroplanes. He flies lead with Norman Lees his number 2. Formation acrobatics requires higher skill levels than solo aerobatics or just formation flying. It was busy and stressful getting up to speed especially with Gary's plane being troublesome.which resulted in modification of some routines. But he flew the most he has ever done in a display season. He realises it is dangerous. Some friends were killed this year but he finds his flying both exhilarating and highly satisfying. He appreciates fans coming to see him fly and hopes they will continue to do so. He put his plane up for sale in late 92 but the recession has sent prices plummeting (about 60%). He has decided to keep it though he intends to make flying a secondary part of his life. He actually evaluated 5 pilots for their air display authorisations at one invitation. He especially liked his time flying in an RAF Phantom - a veteran aircraft from the Vietnam War. Gary did vocals on a cover of AFE by Kipper and Mike Allen which was scheduled for Mar 93 release (anybody see it?). He recorded "Down in the Park" with Yen. Several compilations came out and also NUMA back catalogue reissues came out. He wrote articles for flying magazines and appeared on the cover of "Future Music" magazine. He wing walked too. He enjoys his days with the fans on the competition prize days. Even though some of the comments he gets are not what he would like to hear or are naive he values the input. He says "Don't be frightened of me. If you see me, talk to me". Overall 1992 was a very mixed year. For parts he hasn't been happier, other times he felt crushed. He feels he has changed in the 12 months for the better. "There is no substitute for time and there is no substitute for life. Make it a good one." Machine and Soul: the video --------------------------- Promo videos can be very expensive - it's not uncommon for them to cost up to L100,000. Even IRS allocated L10,000 for a low key promo for the "Heart" single. Making a higher profile video for M+S would have to remain an idea if prices couldn't be slashed. Videos can be useful but without radio play there are few ways to bring attention to a record at the national level. A half page b&w add in a national magazine for one week can be L3000 to L4000; a press campaign can get outrageously expensive. Reading about a record is unlikely to make you buy it if you don't like the artist. The only thing that might change your mind is to hear the song. Without radio you only have TV and Video promos. A video only gets played on TV if the song does well which needs radio play. One could spend L10,000 on a video that no one will see. Tracey Adam went to work. She brought the Emotion video in at L2000. He wanted to do this one for even less. (What happened to the millions he had all those years ago?) He was amazed that she made a high quality video for little money. She got the facilities, camera. camera man, assistant and all editing for free. The whole video cost L950. Andy Keithly did the lights as he has done on recent tours. Tracey directed. Friends and friends of friends helped with the camera work. The band was Kipper, Susie, Gary's brother John, Pete Clarke on bass and JC on drums who has worked on Gary's back line crew for sometime now. Tracey had a clear idea all along: fast edit, all action rock style, no static shots. The camera would never be still. Gary wasn't sure about all this at the time. They filmed to 6am the following morning. The heat from the lights made the make-up fall off within minutes. Everyone was soaked through especially Gary wearing a winter biker's jacket. Because they only had one camera they had to film each shot again and again to make sure they got each angle right. Despite the long hours, people remained good natured. Although Gary doubted Tracey during the shoot he changed his mind when they edited it. It became his favourite Numan video ever. He was wrong about the angles and lighting, the pace, all round really. It looked like a real performance and it didn't cost the earth either. It was seen on TVAM, BBC1 and across Europe on SuperChannel. He finishes off with a thank you for our support in 1992. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 93 12:44:42 PDT From: Subject: D.E.B. To: > > In 'We take mystery to bed', what does 'D.E.B.' stand for? > In the video for the song, I recall Gary breaking three windows in a row. Each window has a letter on it: B. E. D., As in "we take mystery to..." However, since the thing is filmed from the other side of the glass, it reads DEB with the letter backwards. From that I'd guess that DEB is nothing more than bed spelled backwards. Then again, maybe the video just makes use of a coincidental anagram. Speaking of videos, I first became prompted to go out and buy Gary Numan records when I saw the video for "She's got claws" on MTV, Back when it was new and hurting for material to broadcast. I did see the Saturday Night Live apearance, but at the time It didn't tweak me. Judging by how many people remember that SNL show, I'd say it has to be the catalyst for Gary's U.S. following. Gregor. ----------------------------------------------------------- Gregor Torrence greg@image.com (Attention Internet users: do not use your mailer's reply. "image.com!greg" fails, but "greg@image.com" works.) ----------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 93 09:29:05 EDT From: Richard=Paiement%DCN%DGBT=CRC=ADMSR@dgbt.banyan.doc.ca Subject: Mallory Batteries To: numan@cs.uwp.edu In the last digest, "Sean J. Crist" asked about the reference to Mallory in the song 'Metal'. I don't know about Britain, but Mallory is a brand name of battery sold here in Canada. Richard Paiement Ottawa Ontario Canada richard@dgbt.doc.ca ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1993 11:14:45 -0600 From: bhammond@diana.cair.du.edu (BRIAN D. HAMMOND) Subject: NAGNFC To: numan@cs.uwp.edu I too have not gotten my June or July issues of the fanzine so "something's wrong." I have heard nothing from Jim Napier so for now I can only suggest that fellow Numanoids do not bother joining this club until things have been straightened out. I'm a rather patient person but I do wish those of us who are members could have been kept better informed as to the nature of the problem and to when things would resume. BTW: I've been here all along, just horribly unispired to post anything. Me! I Disconnect From You. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1993 17:51:05 -0500 (EST) From: Kay Teel Subject: Varous A's to various Q's To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Kay here. First of all, to Richard, nope I have received no Fan Club newsletters since June, and the last one I got didn't have any convention info in it at all. Secondly, welcome to the new members, and I'm glad to see someone with almost exactly the same "first Numan exposure" story as mine: saw him on SNL, and ran out the next day to get his album. Next: 1.) D.E.B. stands for his ex-girlfriend Debbie. SHE was the one who used him to get a newspaper story, and a rather lurid one at that. (If you have a 1980 "Smash Hits" article that's all pictures with captions from Gary's songs, Debbie is in one of the pictures, sitting next to Gary.) I'm still not certain what the deal with Su was, but as she did work for Beggars Banquet she might have been using him to further her own career or something. By the way, the name/spelling of Jo in "Jo the Waiter" came from yet another girlfriend. 2.) Yes, I'm fairly certain Mallory is a brand of battery. 3.) To add to the Roche clarification: in his teens, Numan had problems in school, etc., that eventually led to his being on valium and other doctor-prescribed drugs, a situation he thinks did more harm than good. 4.) And yes, if you read Philip K. Dick you see where a lot of Numan's inspiration came from (particulary Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep). Also read William S. Burroughs. All this reminds me yet again of how rich his lyrics used to be, and even if he was getting his words or phrases from other sources, at least it was more interesting than "I need [fill in the blank]." ---Kay Teel teelk@elmer1.bobst.nyu.edu ------------------------------ End of Gary Numan Digest ******************************