Gary Numan Digest Thu, 14 Nov 96 Volume 1 : Issue 279 Today's Topics: "THE DIGEST ASKS GARY - October 1996" Berserker videos Gary Numan Digest V1 #278 JAPANUMAN NumanMania NEWS Numan Trek: The Next Trivialization Screen Savers ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 15:27:50 -0800 From: dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: "THE DIGEST ASKS GARY - October 1996" To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Only a short session this time, perhaps reflecting the low subscriber activity of late. I didn't advertize the need for Qs as last time that resulted in a flood totalling some 53 questions after all was said and done. Details of how to go about asking Gary a question are given at the end of this section. If you forget the info you can find it at the World Wide Webb (http://www.netway.ab.ca/worldwidewebb/confession.html) where all of the previous "THE DIGEST ASKS GARY" sessions are archived. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- =46rom: Jeff Tolva (The Machman), Elgin, Illinois, USA Hi Gary! Here's another music video question from the early eighties: Q1. Do you recall where the promotional video to "Metal" was shot? (It looks as though it was at a powerplant of some sort) A1. It was filmed in a place just outside Newcastle in the Nort East of England. It wasn't actually a promo video as such as it was filmed by a local TV company for one of their programmes. Q2. Why was this video never released on videocassette to the general public? A2. As above. It wasn't filmed as a commercial video but as a one off TV slot. It's a great video in my opinion! Just curious... Many thanks as always for answering our questions on the Digest. ---- =46rom: Austin Baggett, London, UK The V96 Festivals were probably the most important Numan Events to happen within the last 15 years. 60,000 new pairs of ears heard 45 solid minutes of the Numan sound. It also generated a lot of press coverage. Q3. It must have been difficult to decide on the balance of new and old songs. IMO, you got it right: the dominance of Exile and Sacrifice being the only way to go. What were your feelings on the choice of songs? Was there a lot of outside pressure, (from the organisers/other bands/ fans) to play more of the old hits? Q3. I had lots of advice from virtually everyone I spoke to and a great deal sent in by post. Didn't get too much actual pressure to do any particular thing but the general feeling I got was that I should do old stuff. My own thoughts were that I didn't want to go on as a blast from the past but as someone who is still very much putting out music that is viable today. It seemed to me that the majority of people there would be unlikely to have heard most of my early stuff anyway and so why not go with the most recent. Most fans seem to like 'Sacrifice' a lot and I think 'Exile' is sounding good. I did 'Are Friends Electric' on the second day as I'd left it out on the first. I think in hindsight it was a mistake to have left it out on day one. Apart from that I thought it was the right set. Q4. Any good parties? A4. No to be honest. There was a party after the Warrington show but it was a bit strange. Not many bands as far as I could see but lots of other people. I really wanted to talk to some of the other bands. You did a TVAM interview in the Summer of 1995 (promoting Your =46acination). Fellow guest was Toyah, who made some wise cracks about plan= e crashes. They asked you about what had prompted the new "normal" image and you said that you felt that the previous year's "Berserker" image had been too strong and had had the opposite effect on sales in that it had attracted 1 buyer, but turned off 10. (I have a very good memory!). Your "dressed-down" look at V96 was great. Unlikely to turn anybody off from buying the record. Q5. Is this something you will be doing more of in the future? A5. I think the interview you're referring to was on TV in 1985 not 1995 although this could be a typing error in the question. The '96 image wasn't a reaction to Berserker or down to anything I said in 95 or 85. I just thought it suited the sound and lyrical content of the the new album and 'Sacrifice'. Many thanks. ---- >From Philip Jacobson, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA: Q6. The last time I asked you a question, it was concerning your feelings about cats, and you informed us all about Nog. How's he (she?) doing? A6. Nog is a boy and is doing well. Actually Nog is allergic to fleas and comes up in horrible sores even if he comes into contact with a single flea. Q7. I saw a picture of your dad on Matthew Holbrook's web site dedicated to you. You two definitely look like father and son. I think it's cool your father has shown such interest in your career. Can you tell me more about him, about your relationship? My father and I were at odds when I was growing up (I think because he had to be more of a parent then and I was a brat), but our relationship now is wonderful -- I wonder if it was like this for both of you. A7. No we've always got on. He just had his 60th birthday on october 28. He is incredibly private, very intelligent, doesn't like flying and wouldn't step on to a stage if his life depended on it so we obviously don't think the same about everything. I'm very proud of him and have always tried to make him proud of me. Didn't do too well when I was younger but I'm doing better now I think. Q8. This may be a bit to personal, but I was wondering if you have thought much about having children. I believe I will be a good father (if we could just get pregnant), but I must admit it's taken me a while to come to terms with bringing a new life into the world, given the world's condition. Perhaps I'm paranoid. I'd like to know about your consideration of these things -- I don't mean to pry, but much of my wonder about Gary Numan goes beyond the music. A8. I've thought about children. More so recently than ever before funny enough. I'm a little concerned about the way of the world but not enough that I would not want to be a father. I think, horrible as some things are, most people get through life without too much unpleasantness. It's taken me a long time to feel that I was remotely sensible enough, and calm enough, to be a father but I think I'm about there now. If any of these questions make you uncomfortable, I would certainly understa= nd. ---- Larry Dobson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada asks: Q9. For fear of joining the stampede of people offering ideas for the success of EXILE, I have but one suggestion. Would you consider choosing perhaps a more spectacular name for this release? A9. (The answer is after the next bit actually as it forms an extension to the question) You have said before that it may be difficult acquiring a contract since your music is not in line with the current malaise. Maybe your music could be promoted as a cure for the rather bland music scene, today. You could almost call it "An Alien Cure". I remember when I bought my first Gary Numan album, The Pleasure Principle. I had never heard a single note of your music. I bought it as a result of a magazine article I read. What I'm saying is, many record buyers might have their interested peaked by a rather unique sounding album title. And when you start doing concerts for the release, you could call it "An Alien-ated Tour". Whatever you do, be rest assured your fans, like myself, will be fully supportive. A9. In many ways 'An Alien Cure' could possibly be a better title except for the fact that I have spent my entire career since the 'Replicas' 'Pleasure Principle' era trying to get away from the science fiction tag that was stuck on me then. To call the new album 'An Alien Cure' would therefore be unwise. More importantly than that it would give the impression that the album was a sci fi album when it is in fact a slant on religious belief and interpretation of The Word. The song 'An Alien Cure' actually sits quite well as part of the general exploration of this theme but would give a very misleading impression if it were to be the title track of the album. Besides, I feel as though I've been in exile, I don't feel like I've been cured by aliens. I do think 'An Alien Cure' is a good title. I think it would be a good name for a band too. Q10. One of my favourite songs is "A Subway Called You". Can you tell me what it is about? A10. I have no idea without looking at a lyric sheet and I can't find one for that song. I would hazard a guess, with such a title, that it's about some kind of wierd sex. Thanks ever so much, ---- Derek Langsford of San Diego, California, USA asks: Q11. Are plans still on schedule for the Nov. 25 (or so) reissues of "The Fury" and "Strange Charm" and what artwork changes have you had to make? A11. Still on schedule surprisingly enough. The only changes that are really noticeable are barcode being added, slightly different pictures on 'The Fury', slightly different lettering on 'The Fury', a slightly different layout on the lyric print on both albums, slightly different colour on 'The Fury' as it was wrong on the original. Some lyric corrections probably, not too much really. Q12. What inspired you to write more material for 'Exile'? A12. Normally when an album is finished and you go back to it you always think you could have done better. The current delay has meant that that process is now underway at a time when I can actually do something about it. Q13. Did you just get a fine for your speeding ticket? I imagined Gemma playing chauffeur in her pink 2CV and you cringing every time you showed up at an event in it :-) A13. I got a fixed penalty of =A340 (UK Pounds) and 3 points on my licence. To be honest I was very lucky to get away with so small a punishment. I was going very fast. Q14. Did you bother to pay any attention to the increasingly alienating political races in the US? It'll be all over later today and most in the US will be heaving a huge sigh of relief. Any opinions? A14. It didn't seem to get the coverage it has done on previous occasions but it could have been that I was just too busy to really take notice. I've had some huge career decisions to ponder upon over the last month or so. Clinton won, is that correct? Q15. Any further details on Babylon 8 (apart from the 2 new AFE mixes)? A15. I'm recording a duet with Saffron of 'Republica' tomorrow of my Nancy Boys mix of 'Are Friends Electric?' I will mix a version of that with just my vocal for inclusion on Babylon 8. The other tracks shortlisted are ready and so I'll put the final thing together later this week. I intend to use most of the digest suggestions that you've supplied to me. Not all of then as I still don't want to use songs that are not mine but most of them. I believe we found the italian remix of 'My Dying Machine' for example. Derek says 'Yay!' in response. Bye for now, Gary Numan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE END PLEASE NOTE! Send your questions via email to: Derek Langsford with a subject line of: Gary's Qs Include your real name, town/city, county/province/state and country. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I reserve the right to delete and edit questions for content or length. Thanks, as always to all who participated. Derek __________________________________________________________________________ Derek Langsford "Numanews" dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu The Gary Numan Digest SDSU Dept of Biology email numan-request@cs.uwp.edu San Diego, CA for information or to subscribe __________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Nov 1996 15:35:04 -0600 From: machman@interaccess.com (Jeff Tolva) Subject: Berserker videos To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Can anyone help sort out the different videos of "Berserker" from 1984 for me? I bought my copy (it looks a bit like a bootleg actually) some years ago. It has a full-length picture of Gary on the front cover with 3 smaller pictures on the back cover (top). The tracks listed on the back cover are ALL wrong. The back cover says it's a Castle/Hendring product, a Castle Communications PLC release and manufactred in the United Kingdom. My copy is in NTSC format and listed on the video are: We Are Glass/ Berserker/ Remind Me To Smile/ Sister Surprise/ Music For Chameleons/ The Iceman Comes/ Cold Warning/ This Prison Moon/ My Dying Machine/ We Take Mystery (To Bed)/ This Is New Love. What's ACTUALLY on the video itself are: Berserker/ Metal/ Remind Me To Smile/ The Iceman Comes/ Cold Warning/ Down In The Park/ I Die: You Die/ My Dying Machine/ Cars/ We Are Glass/ This Is New Love/ Are 'Friends' Electric? I also have another copy of "Berserker" from a friend of mine who lists it as being the Japanese version. I'm not sure if there ever was a seperate version released ONLY in Japan. The tracks on it are: We Are Glass intro with interview/ Berserker/ Remind Me To Smile/ Sister Surprise/ Music For Chameleons/ The Iceman Comes/ Cold Warning/ This Prison Moon/ My Dying Machine/ We Take Mystery (To Bed)/ This Is New Love To top off this question, I'm not even sure what tracks are on the UK release of "Berserker". I only know that the front cover of that release has a head-shot of Gary on it and I believe it was ONLY released from the UK Fan Club several years ago. Can anyone help me sort this out? Thanks, Jeff Tolva (The Machman) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Nov 1996 10:46:52 -0500 From: CFCJim@aol.com Subject: Gary Numan Digest V1 #278 To: numan@cs.uwp.edu, peter@iml-net.com.na Hi Peter, I am also posting this to the Numan digest for those of you that have trouble finding Numan CD's in your local shops. There is a web site that you can find a good selection of Numan recordings... http://WWW.CDNOW.COM You can order CD's by credit card and they will ship them to you !! Best Regards, Jim ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Nov 96 02:35:08 From: "Joey Lindstrom" Subject: JAPANUMAN To: "numan@cs.uwp.edu" A new Japanese Numan site, called "JAPANUMAN", has hit the web. Not the flashiest site out there but very definitely one of the most interesting. As anyone who's seen the Asylum set can attest, Numan had quite a profound impact during his heydey within Japan. This site gives us a good look at the effects he had, both on the music scene there and on one fan in particular. The English is somewhat broken (which the author apologizes for, it's not his first language), yet despite this handicap he manages to really put across the FEEL of that era. An excellent job, and definitely worth checking out! Set your browser to: http://www.first.tsukuba.ac.jp/~aletheia/gerimane.html With the addition of this site, there are now Numan Network web sites in at least six countries (Canada, Germany, Japan, Spain, UK, USA), with more on the way! /--------------------------------------------------------- / Joey Lindstrom numanoid@netway.ab.ca lindstrj@cadvision.com / http://www.netway.ab.ca/worldwidewebb/ / "There's a reason 'Wheel Of Fortune' is on right after 'Jeopardy'. Once / you've been forced to choke down the foul-tasting tequila shot of your / own abject ignorance, it's nice to be able to bite into the refreshing / lime wedge of other people's incredible fucking stupidity." / - Dennis Miller ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 01:18:05 +0100 From: Patxi Villegas Subject: NumanMania NEWS To: numan@cs.uwp.edu New Areas Of Numan Mania (http://www.kender.es/numan) NuSOUND The MIDI / MOD files Look For Section Prox Updates.... (13.NOV.96) -NuMUSIC -Salvation -Receiver -Others -NuNEWS -John Garlands WHISPER OF TRUTH NumanMania Music "Down In The Park" Midi File, Original by the Master... GARY NUMAN. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Nov 96 02:25:51 From: "Joey Lindstrom" Subject: Numan Trek: The Next Trivialization To: "numan@cs.uwp.edu" OK, so what's the (very tenuous) connection between Numan and Star Trek? In the 2nd season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, an episode entitled "Where Silence Has Lease" was aired. To make a long story short, the crew of the Enterprise were captured by a space-alien-dude named Nagilum, who decided that he was fascinated by the concept of death, and to further his interest he would put half the crew to death, one at a time, in different ways. Rather than see his crew tortured, Captain Picard (along with Commander Riker) ordered the Enterprise computer to initiate self-destruct. A time interval of 20 minutes was set, giving everybody that amount of time to make their peace before the end. Picard decided to spend his 20 minutes in his quarters, drinking tea and listening to classical music. Counsellor Troi and Data arrive and question him about what he thinks death really is. While this dialogue takes place, the music playing in the background is Eric Satie's "Trois Gymnopedies 1st Movement", although definitely not the version that Gary Numan recorded. And that's the connection. How's that for trivial? :-) /--------------------------------------------------------- / Joey Lindstrom numanoid@netway.ab.ca lindstrj@cadvision.com / http://www.netway.ab.ca/worldwidewebb/ / "There's a reason 'Wheel Of Fortune' is on right after 'Jeopardy'. Once / you've been forced to choke down the foul-tasting tequila shot of your / own abject ignorance, it's nice to be able to bite into the refreshing / lime wedge of other people's incredible fucking stupidity." / - Dennis Miller ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 1996 21:34:47 -0500 From: tlwalter@accs.net (Troy Walters) Subject: Screen Savers To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Hello all, Digest has been a little dead lately... hum. Anyway, I've been playing around with some things... I've made a couple Screen Savers -- Numan, of course. One Berserker based. One Tubeway Army logo based. I'd like someone to try them to see if it works on their Win95 system. If anyone is interested, e-mail me and I'll get it to you. I need to know if the software I used is required on the system to use it. Any help is appreciated... Waiting in exile, for Exile. -- Troy L. Walters tlwalter@accs.net http://www.accs.net/users/tlwalter -- Beware of the IDGAF Syndrome... (c) ------------------------------ End of Gary Numan Digest ****************************** _______________________________________________________________________ _____ ____ ____ _____ _____ / \ | | / \ / \ / \ / \ | |-----| |-----| | |-----| |-----| | | | G | | A | | | R | | Y | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-----| |-----| | |-----| |-----| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | N | E | W | S |=====| | | | | | | | & | | | | | | | \_____/ I | N | F | O | | | | is produced and distributed by Derek Langsford dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To reply to the messages in this list, mail to: numan@cs.uwp.edu If you want to be removed, or someone wants to be added, you can mail to numan-request@cs.uwp.edu ----------------- The Gary Numan Digest is brought to you via Datta Production and Development, 905 97th Street, Kenosha, WI 53143 USA datta@cs.uwp.edu and computer resources courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Datta Production and Development. 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