Gary Numan Digest Sun, 8 Dec 96 Volume 1 : Issue 286 Today's Topics: ADMINISTRIVIA "THE DIGEST ASKS GARY - November 1996" CD re-releases, Chelmsford, and Gary's eyes Change Of Address Congrats Derek Fury & Strange Charm reissue problems Gary Numan Digest V1 #284 Ghost of a White Faced Clown, NEC Ghost Of The White Face Clown God Only Knows????? New member New Numan Compilation "Whisper Of Truth" Numan midi files, and the L.A. fan club. Numan on the "X-Files" NuWORLD news update Oh Dear! Bad news. Photograph LP for sale Testing the waters Tom Robinson Was Warriors a cool image and other things What to debate? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 13:03:04 -0800 From: dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: ADMINISTRIVIA To: numan@cs.uwp.edu I have not been able to comment on the latest series of discussions due to lack of available time and I do not want to go into each point one by one, but I do feel the need to make a few statements to clarify my role as producer of the Digest and to rebutt accusations of censorship. This Digest was originally moderated by me but has been predominantly unmoderated since the summer of 1993. I do not see any posts in the coming Digest unless: 1. The author cc's me with their post; 2. Dave happens to see something at which he feels I should look. When does 2 occur? When I alert Dave to altercations in the Digest which result in a lower signal to noise ratio and violate the charter of the Digest is violated. Dave and I so not monitor the Digest before distribution. How do you think all those subscribe, unsubscribe, multiple messages and bounced Digests get in? Charter? What Charter? The one each subscriber is sent upon subscribing: ---- CHARTER FOR NUMANEWS - The Gary Numan Digest -------------------------------------------- This list is for the purpose of the acquisition and dissemination of information about Gary Numan. Suitable material should have some connection with Gary or his music. This includes info on new releases, concerts, reviews, sightings of Numan collectibles, sale of or requests for Numan items, reports of radio play, interviews, discussion of available releases, critiques of past releases, Numan trivia, other Numan Fan organisations/publications, musical influences, musical influencees, artists with some connection to Gary Numan (collaborators, others on his NUMA label, past backing band members etc): basically anything that can be seen to have relevance to the group. Discussion of other 80's synth artists should be left for other mailing lists/newsgroups if no relation to Gary is an integral part of the contribution. Personal email, subjects off topic and flames of other subscribers are not appropriate and will be viewed with disdain by other subscribers. ---- Do we just remove messages that we deem inappropriate? No! We email the poster and tell them that their post was not appropriate and we tell them why. We also say that they can resubmit the post with changes. This happens very rarely. I recollect it happening back when Matthew was first insulted by Alex and again when the controversial CD and video seller, Karl Miller, tried to post a personal email to the Digest. I only knew he was doing that because he cc'd the Digest and I saw that in his email headers. We are not trying to stifle discussion or criticism of Gary or other subscribers but in my book there is a distinct difference between disagreeing with someone's opinions or acts and calling them a derogatory name. I think virtually everyone loses if people resort to name calling. Everyone can express an opinion. But personal attacks are often off-charter and should be done in email, no matter if they are veiled by real discussion. As for missing posts. I would like to make it absolutely clear that Dave and I do not intentionally remove posts from the Digest or Q&A sessions without telling the author. If your post to the Digest has not been posted and we have not notified you about it then it must have gone gone awry via one of the following: 1. Been sent to the wrong address, in which case it should have bounced back to you; 2. Been lost en route with no bounce message being returned; 3. lost at uwp due to some technical problem. If you do not see your post, try again the following Digest. Everything collected at numan@cs.uwp.edu before the 1 am central US time on Sunday and Thursday mornings gets distributed. The Digest operation is basically completely automated. If a Q for Gary has not been posted in "THE DIGEST ASKS GARY" sessions and you have not heard from me then it has either: 1. Not been received by me, although I do try to extract Qs from the Digest when people forget to email them to me, or 2. Been mislaid due to you using the wrong subject line in your Q to me or my overlooking when I collate the Qs. I am only human. Again, if you do not see your Q asked, and you have not heard from me about it, please resubmit your question. Have I covered all the bases? I hope so. Derek -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Derek H. Langsford Ph.D. dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu Dept. of Biology Tel. (619) 594 2885 San Diego State University Fax (619) 594 7831 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 10:16:01 -0800 From: dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: "THE DIGEST ASKS GARY - November 1996" To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Again, a reasonable number of questions this month. I am sure Gary appreciates not being swamped as do I. Some intriguing info this month especially in his answer to Q1. 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.worldwidewebb.ab.ca/confession/index.html -- note the new address) where all of the previous "THE DIGEST ASKS GARY" sessions are archived. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Mayer of Waterford, Connecticut, USA asks: You have many live albums in your catalog but nothing from the 'Dance' through 'Warriors' era. The 'I, Assassin' tour was musically spectacular as you really worked up the songs in the 'I, Assassin' style - very different and you had great musicians in the band. Q1. Were any soundboard recordings of a concert made from that tour? If so, are they held by you or Beggars Banquet? A1. We did have a recording made of the Pittsburgh show but not via a mobile studio. It was taken, I think, from the out front sound desk itself or possibly even from a video camera that was filming the evening. We did look recently at the possibility of making this available but felt that the quality just wasn't up to it. We may look at it again and see if we can try and improve things but it's a little way down the list of things to do at the moment. ---- Dave Carlson from Westmont, Illinois, USA: Q2. Gary, you have done an extensive amount of work with female backup singers over the course of your career. Could you explain how you usually went about the process of incorporating them into your music (i.e. did you send them a demo tape and let them come up with some ideas of their own, or did you "conduct them" right from the start, etc.)? A2. Most of the time for the main parts I already had the lines worked out and so I just asked them to sing what I'd prepared but on many occasions they had ideas of their own that went way beyond what I'd come up and so I always use to let them get on with it. A good idea in some ways in that you make good use of someone's talent but on the other hand you ran the risk of beginning to sound like everybody else. Although many of the performances were stunning it may have been better if I'd kept things along the lines I'd first thought to keep that 'Numan-ness' feel to the songs. I've never really made up my mind whether I was right or wrong, I just enjoyed hearing excellent singers sing bits of my songs. ---- Erin Tavano, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Q3. I was wondering if you had any opinion on educated or trained musicians, versus those that just learned to play by ear. I went to Berklee College of Music as a synthesis (electronic music) major here, largely under the influence of Numan, and it was there that I first came across some strong views: clubs don't book Berklee bands because they're not "punk rock" enough or supposedly lack soul, self-taught musicians don't have the technique. what do you think? A3. I do believe that some highly trained and talented musicians tend to use music as a way of simply showing off their skill and technique and that untrained people often have a better ear for a tune or melody. This is not absolute by any means but why do some people play a thousand notes a second when one will do, on every song they write? I use music to put across feelings and atmosphere and will openly admit to being a very poor musician. I really can't play anything very well. I'm also aware of extremely talented musicians who write complicated music, complicated in structure, melody, timing and whatever else they can find to make difficult so that they can show you how good a musician they are. This, in my opinion, makes the music very impressive but very dull. On the other hand I've worked with some brilliant, college trained musicians who were incredibly inventive and were interested solely in the song and not making themselves look good. I think it would be wrong to assume anything about any musician simply because they're trained or untrained. You have to hear them play. ---- Andy McHaffie, Reading, Berkshire, UK Hi Gary Q4. When I write songs for my band, I probably present less than half of them to the band becasue after I finish writing them I decide they don't work. Do you throw many songs away or are you inclined to keep working on them until they are right? For example did you start writing or finish writing any songs for Sacrifice that you either never recorded or never released on the album or B-sides or such ? A4. I tend to dump many but very rarely do I go back and look at them again. I probably have about 5 that I abandoned on the way to 'Sacrifice' and, so far, about the same for 'Exile'. I find it far easier to write a brand new song than to go back and try to resurect one that I wasn't that keen on in the first place. Q5. Do you ever go back to older unfinished / unreleased songs and rework them years later for new albums when you have new ideas for them or do you just drop them completely ? A5. Whoops, I Answered this one in Answer 4. Q6. Your first 2 albums contained a lot of images of homsexuality. Was this just because youd read a lot of Burroughs, or did you hope that people would pick up on it and think you were gay in order for you to be noticed ? A6. I have always said 'I' a lot when song writing because I tend to write everything from the point of view of the song subject. This doesn't always mean that the 'I' in a particular song is actually me. I wrote a lot of slightly uncertain lyrics in the early days because it was fun to make people wonder, it wasn't anything to do with Burroughs. Sometimes I'm nowhere near as deep as some people think. In fact I'm not deep at all but I do like to play little games and see what the reaction is. The last line of 'I Still Remember' for example, although not a sexually uncertain line, was written for effect. Q7. (I think) you once said that "Jo The Waiter" was about a girl, but on Basic J, Jo seems to be a man: "Jo the waiter smiled at me . . . I keep him in a book by my fireside" What prompted the change of sex ? :) A7. Basic J is about something else entirely. Q8. Do you like any of the so-called Britpop bands at the moment such as Pulp, Blur, Elastica etc etc...? A8. Yes, some of it is excellent. Then again some of it leaves me cold. I enjoyed the V96 festival a lot but I wonder what Brit Pop actually is and what bands seriously think they are a part of it. I can remember in the punk days when The Stranglers were called a punk band. Not true. I would imagine that many of the so called Brit-Pop bands feel that they have nothing in common with each other musically, they just happen to be around at the same time. Thanks a lot... ---- Alyssa, Riverside, California, USA Wow...to think I spent all those years dispairing of ever getting a chance to tell you how much I enjoy your music...of course, it's probably best that I didn't write you when I was a 13 year old and completely lovesick over you. Much better now that I'm twice that and settled. Anyhow, my question is actually a little off subject for your music. I am a player in a role play game called CyberPunk 2020 (think Blade Runner if you've never heard of it) and I wanted to run you as one of the supporting characters. Q9. I've never written a character based on a real person before and I thought it would only be polite to ask you if it would be okay since I play on an IRC channel on the Undernet and it's open for anyone to see? A9. Hello, I'm glad to see you're settled but I have to confess I have no idea what you're talking about with this CyberPunk 2020 thing. In fact I don't really know what a role playing game is, apart from the obvious, so I would like to know more. How do you 'write' characters? How do you play? A good death is preferable to bad roleplay. Alyssa ---- Jeff Tolva (The Machman), Elgin, Illinois, USA writes: Q10. How are the acting lessons going in preparation for your part in "Kinsmen"? A10. Today is Friday December 6th and I had my second lesson yesterday. The first lesson was simply writing notes about the mental approach and so yesterday was my first attempt at actually acting. My tutor had an actress bought in for me to work with and I was so frightened that my hands were shaking. My hands didn't even shake when I was in the plane crash so that sums up my fear quite nicely. It actually went okay and even though I'm a long way from enjoying it I can already see the crack of light at the end of the tunnel. Not the tunnel of becoming a good actor which I'm not sure I could ever be but the tunnel of basic understanding of how to at least be acceptable. Q11. What made you decide to go ahead and "go for" the part you're going to play in that movie? A11. Many things but one of the the main ones was that it would be a major experience that I would always hate myself for not accepting should I choose not to. The other main reason was the vague chance that, if I could perform reasonably well, it would give me a fingerhold on another career that was less dependant upon on age. I'm constantly aware of time with my music career and although things look better I have a long way to go to re-establish myself musically. Q12. Is the role a major or minor role of some sort? Do you have any insight into the role you'll be playing at this time? A12. It's a major role within this particular film as I play the lead bad man but I have no idea whether the film itself will be a major success or not. Q13. You've mentioned before your liking some music of Sisters of Mercy and Depeche Mode. Would you consider doing any covers of their songs, as much of Depeche Mode's last album and Sisters of Mercy's music seems to follow much of the atmosphere of your own recent material (i.e. Sacrifice and Exile)? A13. I don't see the point in doing covers of other peoples songs when I'm writing some of the best songs of my life at the moment. Best Numan songs I hasten to add not best songs period. I've only done covers in the past when I was forced to apart from 'On Broadway' live in the very early years. Many thanks for your answers, Gary! ---- Jorja Fullerton (jorjaf@erols.com) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA. Gary, I have always loved the multi-layering of sounds in your songs which gives them such depth. Please forgive my total lack of understanding of the physics of music, but I am so intrigued by your use of what sounds like "choral voices" in some of the songs on your later works (M&S, Human, Sacrifice). Q14. Is this sound (taken from) actual voices, or is it purely instrument produced? A14. I'm fairly sure the sound you refer to is a part of a patch on the M1. The patch is called 'Beauty' and the part of it that you're picking up on is called 'Stratos' I think. The sound is made up of two main sounds, one is the 'Stratos' sound and the other a low piano. I think The Life Machine is lyrically one of the most powerful songs I have ever heard (and a favorite because of it). Q15. Is there a reason that you have not included this song in your shows and would you consider it on a future tour? A15. Only that I have too many songs and have to leave some out each time. I may be wrong in thinking this but I'm fairly sure that if I played a different 20 songs on every single UK tour I've ever done I would still not be able to play all the songs I'd written so far. If that isn't quite true it's not far off and doesn't allow for the repeated playing of certain standards and hits like 'Cars' and 'Are Friends Electric?'. I will think about it for next tour though as I'm considering doing acoustic versions of one or two songs anyway. ---- Mike Damrath of Richmond, Virginia, USA asks: I have heard the story a number of times (most recently from my brother and fellow Numan-fan) that the original concept for Replicas was for a double-album. The rumor-mill continued to state that Beggars Banquet at the time refused to allow you to issue a release that size due to (perhaps understandable) marketing concerns. It is an easy theory to believe after hearing the volume of material you obviously had prepared at the time. ('Only a Downstat', 'We Have A Technical', 'The Crazies', etc.) These songs all have a common theme. So the question is: Q16. Were the songs intended to be included in a double release? A16. No a double album was never considered, not by me anyway. if so... Q17. What might have been the song order? (How do we put the STORY 'Replicas' together?) A17. If it had happened I don't know what the song order would have been and I douby that I could have remembered this far along anyway. Believe it or not I can't remember the song order to 'Sacrifice' or even the current demo version of 'Exile'. I don't listen to my own stuff very often and so you just forget what you did. Q18. Who (or what) put the damper on the project, which IMO would have been an incredibly excellent double-album? A18. As it was never considered no-one put the damper on it, obviously, but it would have been Beggars Banquets, with input from WEA I would imagine, decision at the end of the day. Sincerely, Mike Damrath ---- Derek Langsford, San Diego, California, USA. Q19. Having escaped losing your driving license, do you drive more carefully now? I find I do after getting a ticket a year ago although the increase in the freeway speed limits from a paltry 55 to 65 have helped too. A19. I did for about a week then I just drifted back into my normal style. I don't usually drive like a madman, nor do I plod along on the inside lane. If the fast lane traffic is flowing at 95 mph I just go with it. I normally travel on motorways at about 90 mph though if I'm not holding anyone up. Q20. Following up on Mike's question about Replicas, many of your albums have been very long, pushing the limits of vinyl (Telekon, Dance). Did you ever want to issue either as a double LP? The reason I ask is that Telekon was over 50 minutes, yet didn't have either "We are Glass" or "I Die, You Die" and I remember you saying that some tracks you had recorded such as "Stories" didn't make it either due to space limitations on a single LP. A20. No, I don't think I'ver ever seriously considered a double album of new stuff. I seem to write a little bit too much for a single album but not really enough for a double, hence the occasional squeeze. Q21. I have recently acquired OMD's "Liberator" CD, after avoiding it for several years due to poor reviews. Against expectation, I find I like it despite it's slick seemingly mass produced sound. Did you become familiar with the album when you toured with OMD for that album? Were you an OMD fan before, and if so, what was your opinion on "Liberator"? A21. I became familiar with the songs they played on the tour but I couldn't really tell you which albums they came from. I still have no idea but I would guess that much of the live material would have come from 'Liberator'. I actually found myself going out each night and watching their set which surprised me a little as I'd always thought that they're music was a little too lightweight for me. In a live situation though it sounded really good and I enjoyed it a lot, I even got to know most of the words. ---------------------------------------------- That's it. Bye bye, 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. All recipients of unnacceptable questions will be emailed and asked to withdraw or resubmit the question. Questions are not censored without the author's knowledge! Thanks, as always, to all who participated this month. Derek -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Derek H. Langsford Ph.D. dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu Dept. of Biology Tel. (619) 594 2885 San Diego State University Fax (619) 594 7831 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 12:10:29 -0500 (EST) From: Erin Tavano Subject: To: numan@cs.uwp.edu >If they aren't cool to >you, close your eyes while you fumble for the album or tape over it or do >whatever is necessary to make your life easier, but no need to impose your >version of cool on everyone else. this is idiotic. people have a right to say what they think. nobody's imposing anything. if i am subjected to one more three-screen post about what everyone's attitudes on the digest should be, and who should say what and how, and what their particular moral take on it all is, i'm going to scream. please, please get over it. erin ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Dec 1996 08:28:50 +0000 (GMT) From: Andy Subject: CD re-releases, Chelmsford, and Gary's eyes To: numan@cs.uwp.edu <<2. It's nice that he released the extended version, but with only 51 minutes and 49 seconds used why not include the b-sides? Ahhhhhh... we must spend *more* money and get the Babylon series. Fine.>> I agree that the B sides could have been easily thrown on, but you dont HAVE to buy the Babylon CDs !!! Just stick the B sides on a tape ! <> IS $100 for a few songs really worth it ? If not, dont buy it; if it is, theres no need to complain!!!! :) <> Why should anyone care !!!???? :) <> What drop out ? Never noticed one ! > I only saw him at Chelmsford, but I enjoyed every minute of it - the look on his face when he saw the Numan contingent was a picture, and he seemed genuinely grateful for the crowd reaction, and apart from a really loud bass line to "Bleed", the sound was good for an outdoor gig - I'd say he definately didnt suck ! <> Nope, it can be quite a male thing too ! ;) Andy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Dec 96 19:32:52 From: "Joey Lindstrom" Subject: Change Of Address To: "numan@cs.uwp.edu" In this month's "Gary's Q's", Derek mentioned that the address for the back issues of these Q's has changed. Well, in fact, it WILL be changing, but due to some bureaucratic foul-ups the change hasn't taken effect yet. Also, the main URL for "The World Wide Webb" site will change once again: this time to (hopefully) a more permanent URL as I prepare to install my own hardware to host the site. The new URL for The World Wide Webb will change to: http://www.worldwidewebb.ab.ca The new URL for "Confession" (the back issues) will change to: http://www.worldwidewebb.ab.ca/confession/index.html I cannot give you an exact date on this changeover. Use the old URL for now and when things change, you'll be notified the next time you visit the old URL of what the new one is. The old URL of course is:\ http://www.netway.ab.ca/worldwidewebb/ Thanks for your patience. /--------------------------------------------------------- / 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: Thu, 05 Dec 96 13:19:23 From: "Joey Lindstrom" Subject: Congrats Derek To: "Gary Numan" On Thu, 5 Dec 96 01:00:03 CST, numan@cs.uwp.edu wrote: >After many hard years of setbacks and false starts I am pleased to tell you >all that I can now put the letters Ph.D. after my name. I got the last >signature on my disseration Tuesday afternoon. I am relieved (it's over >at last), elated (I did it) and worried (time to find a job) all at the >same time. A little off topic... but let me offer you a hearty "congratulations, dude!" Or should that be, "congratulations, Doctor Derek!"? :-) I know you've gone through a lot in the last couple of years, and sometimes it can be difficult to see that light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes that light is an oncoming freight train. One of the main reasons I respect the hell out of Gary Numan is his perserverence in the face of tremendous adversity. So believe me when I say my hat is off to you, and I wish you and yours all the best in your future endeavours. /--------------------------------------------------------- / 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: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 15:27:25 -0800 From: dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: Fury & Strange Charm reissue problems To: numan@cs.uwp.edu >Hello everyone. Long time no see. The list's designated drunk is back! Welcome back Aaron. I wonder why you had been so quiet. >The reason I've crawled out of the pit in which I lurk, >and back into the Numan Battle Arena of Non Tolerance, is to complain >about the lack of detail, common sence and attention >that Gary gives to his releases. I hear ya. It has been a constant irritation with Numa. >The Fury (reissue) NUMACDX 1003: >1. The right channel crackles throughout most of the ablum. It is not my > system. I have a 500 watt Dolby Surround receiver and speakers to match. > It is especially worse towards the end, which contains some of Numan's > finest work. I can't comment as my copy has not arrived yet (but should do shortly). Remember the tapes had to be baked and transfered due to damage. I sincerely hope the outro of 'God Only Knows' is not ruined. >2. It's nice that he released the extended version, but with only 51 minutes > and 49 seconds used why not include the b-sides? > Ahhhhhh... we must spend *more* money and get the Babylon series. Fine. Gary does not seem to like to put bonus tracks on. The M&S extended CD was the exception rather than the rule. He tries to balance value for fans with making money. I think he stepped over the line with Babylon as only 14 of the tracks were new to CD and you had to buy all of them to get them all at some $15 a pop. With The Fury he wanted to do the extended version because most of the songs would be new versions for fans on CD. He probably still has a bunch of Bbabylon CDs on his hands and needs every incentive for fans to ge them :-) >Strange Charm (reissue) NUMACDX 1005: >1. Why did this CD's catalogue number include the X? The X means it's >eXtended! I think that distinguishes it from the original issue. Still it was an unforunate choice as the X has been used in the past for extended versions. >2. And he didn't even throw on "Time To Die". Oh right! I gotta get the >Babylon > series and spend over $100us for a few fucking songs! Fine. Strange Charm was a different kettle of fish as there were no extended versions of the regular songs (non-singles) and bonus tracks would have not seemed very good avalue to many fans (some complained to him they didn't want to buy SC over again to get one or two new songs). Hence it is the same. At least the sound level problems appear to have been fixed TtD is on several compilations including Isolate and Here I Am. I sympathize but at least you can order Babylon via the Web site now. A 2CD set of the b-sdies would be a great relief to many I'm sure. >Now let's go back to the reissue of Berserker. It's catalogue number was >NUMACD 1001. And that was the eXtended version as well. Where's the X? >And guess what. No B-sides. We have to buy the Receiver shit or.... That was an error on his part. I mentioned it to him when the 1995 issue was coming but it was too late. The artwork had gone to the printers. It should have been NUMACDX1001. The 1991 Fan Club disc has NUMANCD1001 on the disc itself, another error. >If I have to shell out $25us a pop for these reissues, and Gary knows we will >regardless of what he says, why can't he just do it right? >Include the b-sides and get the sleeve notes right. That's all I ask. >Well, too late now. I think it is all because Numa are a family-only operation. With professional help they could do a lot better e.g. Premier Hits. While I agree things could be better, it's not something I can bring to Gary's notice in the manner you have done here. I can also see Gary's problem. Having just completed a 110 page dissertation, I found errors on 30 pages (extra spaces, missing spaces etc.) after I submitted it. I bet there are still more but at least I was able to replace the bad pages. Gary needs to have someone proof read his liner notes and check for accuracy. It would be nice if he showed a bit more imagination with the reissues but until Gary signs up with a major label I'm afraid these problems are likely to persist. >If he can make an effort to do that, why can't he >get his own catalogue numbers right? Let's face it Gary is not an accountant or nearly as enthused about his back catalogue as most fans are. Maybe on future remastered issues (if there are ever any) he can get it right. >"Oh, uh, he's busy dealing with his crashing Mac". Get an upgrade. :-) He just did and that was the one that was crashing! >Alright. I'm done. I partially playing anyway, but I do think he should >get his >act together about these little things. It could be horribly confusing to a >casual fan. Agreed. We get what we get. Derek __________________________________________________________________________ Derek Langsford Ph.D. "Numanews" dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu The Gary Numan Digest SDSU, Dept of Biology email numan-request@cs.uwp.edu San Diego, CA 92182 for information or to subscribe __________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 10:38:41 -0500 From: NIN1969@aol.com Subject: Gary Numan Digest V1 #284 To: numan@cs.uwp.edu To all who are concerned: I have been a member of this digest for about six months now and I have slowly watched things turn very negatively towards Gary, life and music in general. What is going on here? I have to say that Joey L.'s littany was a bit boring and unnecessary, that anyone bashing Gary in this forum has lost his mind and that anyone who cannot remember their youth and how his music influenced should exit the digest NOW! I still remember the first time I saw Gary on MTV--I was nine years old, in Conneticut with my best friend at her dad's and we were up really late watching the channel we weren't supposed to. His video "Cars" mesmerized me and to this day, the same feeling I had then comes back to me and I feel nine again and in love with the sound of the synthesizer and look of Gary! He was SOOOO cute and his music was SOOOO cool! Have we all forgotten that feeling of youth and the fun of music from our younger days? I have not, but if the rest of you continue to ruin his music for me, then I ew address. If I get another batch of it, I'll e-mail you directly. God knows why the lads couldn't have properly alerted the post office as to their new address. I suspect administrative tasks are not their strong suit. It might be a moot exercise anyway; didn't somebody recently post on here that the tapes were sold out? I'll snoop around and see what I can find out. -- Lisa in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Dec 96 13:15:03 From: "Joey Lindstrom" Subject: Ghost Of The White Face Clown To: "Gary Numan" On Thu, 5 Dec 96 01:00:03 CST, numan@cs.uwp.edu wrote: > > On 14 Oct 96, I sent a check for $8- to N.E.C. in >Issaquah WA ( USA ) for the cassette of Ghost of a ... Yesterday, (30 >Nov 96 ) my unopened envelope was returned to me. The USPS sticker on >the envelope reads " MOVED LEFT NO ADDRESS > UNABLE TO FORWARD > RETURN TO SENDER " >If anyone out there knows anything about why this happened, please e-mail > me directly or post to the newsletter. Is it still possible to obtain a >copy of this tape from an alternate source? I had sorta the same experience, except I wasn't fortunate to get my letter (or money order) returned. I contacted Mike Ditmore at mditmor1@ix.netcom.com and he tells me that they've had some postal problems: the post office keeps delivering THEIR mail to another address with a similar address. He suspected that's what happened to my order, and promised to send me a copy of the tape. This was a couple of weeks ago. So far, no tape. Will let ya know if it ever arrives. /--------------------------------------------------------- / 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: Sat, 7 Dec 96 16:46:42 UT From: "Jane Yorke" Subject: God Only Knows????? To: "Gary Numan" Well those are the words that spring to mind as to when will all this banal bickering end. When I joined the digest I thought (silly as it may seem) that this would be a great place to find out about Gary (whom I thought we were all supposed to be fans of), and to meet other interesting people who like the same music as me. Obviously that was too much to ask. OK so it has boosted the size of the digest, but it is so boring that it might as well not be there, and I am sure that I am not the only person here who feels this way and doesn't bother to read half of it as it is only saying the same things over and over again. Oh and the other thing so many keep raving on about is Gary's performances at the Festivals, well I say rave but that is the wrong word cos nobody who has mentioned it so far was there, one guy apparently read reviews of it, well I need say no more cos we all know the way the media feel about Gary. Now do I have good reason to bring this subject up????? Yes I do cos I WAS THERE. What can I say about it other than I loved it, it was great to see him on such a large stage with screens at the side, this is where the man deserves to be. I feel he played the right tracks but then whatever he played he was never gonna please everybody was he. But the most important thing about it all was people who didnt even know who the bloody hell Gary Numan was got to hear him and from what I saw he got a pretty good reaction from them. I'm not saying everyone there loved him but I am sure there were other bands on that day that not everybody in the crowd enjoyed (I for one). So can we please get back to what this digest is supposed to be about and that is basically Gary Numan, the man, the music and whatever else he is doing at the time, which brings me to another point. Surely some of you out there must know that Gary has accepted a part in a film called 'Kinsmen', this has not even been mentioned which seeing as we are supposed to be fans I would have thought would have made an excellent topic for conversation, but oh know we are all too busy bickering with each other on here to have time for that. I mean personally I cannot wait to see Gary acting, is there no end to this mans talents? He has already had one acting lesson and is taking this deadly serious so why can't we. So come on, let's stop all this now cos...... "I've lost all patience You'll lose all pride". G. Numan Jane ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 13:28:04 -0500 From: Poyner202@aol.com Subject: New member To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Thanks for including me in your mailing list. I live in Gillingham, Kent, UK. Gary Numan has been my favorite artist since 1979. I was only eight at the time and remember saving up to buy "Are friends electric?" single, which I still have today and is still in mint condition. My favorite album is Strange Charm my least is New Anger but this changes all the time. Also I really did like the Automatic album with Bill Sharpe. I've met Gary a few times and he has always been polite though maybe not patient. My last sighting was a few weeks ago in a Halfords store (large car accessory company) in Orpington, Kent. Anyway bye for now. Martin Poyner. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Dec 1996 19:58:25 +0100 From: Patxi Villegas Subject: New Numan Compilation "Whisper Of Truth" To: numan@cs.uwp.edu New Numan Compilation Album, look for it at NUMAN MANIA from Spain. "Whisper Of Truth, Songs To Die For" Drama Records CM004. I buy it by mail at Power Records (Madrid - Spain) It have songs like "Whisper Of Truth", "God Only Knows", Exhibition", Time To Die".... etc... IŽll put the artwork on Sunday 8 or Monday 9, the sound is very good and it have photos of the "Sacrifice" era. More Info.... NumanMania http://www.kender.es/numan ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 05 Dec 1996 10:39:38 -0800 From: "R. U. Real" Subject: Numan midi files, and the L.A. fan club. To: numan@cs.uwp.edu The last couple of weeks I've been trying to find some Numan midi files. All I've found so far is Down In the Park, Cars, and Me I Disconnect From You. I've found lots of Kate Bush, NIN, New Order, even Pink Floyd. But very little Gary Numan, I've even found a whole website dedicated to Peter Gabrial midi files. There's at least five or six Numan websites, but not one webpage dedicated to midi files. Anyway if anyone could point me in the right direction for Numan midi (or even email me some) I would appreciate it, Or better yet some industrious musicians could create some Numan midi files then make a web page of them. One more thing, there used to be a L.A. based Numan fan club that I belonged too. I don't believe anyone has made mention of it in the digest. I'm just curious how many people on this digest belonged to that fan club. Thanx Chris Campbell "There's a time to discrimnate, hate every other hater thats in your way" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 21:22:45 -0200 (GMT) From: gary Subject: Numan on the "X-Files" To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Hi all, having recently visited the official X-Files site(http://www.thex-files.com/), it struck me that Scully and Mulder are after Mr Numan. On the 18/10/96 in America an episode entitled "TELIKO" was flighted. With me in South Africa I didn`t get to see it. Does this mean that the truth is that the "X" stands for eXtended mix C.Ds that Mr Numan has been releasing of late. If so then it is not only Numan fans that are upset about re-releasing old material but that the F.B.I is after him as well. Could the "N" missing at the end stand for "NUMAN"????????????/ The truth is out there and its name is Gary Numan. Should then "Exile" not be titled "Xile" cheers for now Stephen. p.s. If you guys can`t stop critisising Gary, I will inform Scully and Mulder to trace you down. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 10:39:02 -0800 From: dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu (Derek Langsford) Subject: NuWORLD news update To: numan@cs.uwp.edu For those without WWW access: NEW DIRECTION FOR NEW DEAL (News date: Dec 1) It has become increasingly clear that Gary would be more likely to get the sort of record deal that he needs if he was to sign directly to an American based label. To this end we have now changed direction somewhat and are actively seeking such a deal and thus cutting the UK based labels out of the equation to a very large extent. This would obviously require Gary to work and operate from the United States on a much more frequent basis. GARY TO TOUR WITH THE 'SISTERS OF MERCY'? (News date: Dec 1) An offer has been made to Gary with a view to touring with the 'Sisters Of Mercy' in March '97. No more is known at the moment and it would seem to clash heavily with Gary's film schedule but we are asking for more information on the idea. ACTING LESSONS BEGIN (News date: Dec 1) Gary had his first acting lesson on friday November 29. Depressed isn't the word. Much to learn and many doubts and fears to overcome. Derek __________________________________________________________________________ Derek Langsford Ph.D. "Numanews" dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu The Gary Numan Digest SDSU, Dept of Biology email numan-request@cs.uwp.edu San Diego, CA 92182 for information or to subscribe __________________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 05:14:01 +1100 (EST) From: DONALD PEDDER Subject: Oh Dear! Bad news. To: Numanews Well, as you MAY have noticed ;-), still no poll results yet. :-( I'm NOW over in the US, and the DISK I had with the stuff on it DIDN'T survive the trip too well! :-( (Too many last-minute hassles to get it done before I left). I'm waiting for someone to send it over to me, but I don't know when I'll NEXT have access to a computer. Y'all will just have to sit tight, and they'll arrive when they arrive. As a SIDE-NOTE - I have some GOOD news for those who are familiar with my personal situation (or picked up on the subtle references in some of my postings). I found her, and will be showing up in a nice suit, with a HUUUGE bunch of flowers, at about 6pm PST on Tuesday - so THEN would be a good time to be sending positive thoughts my way! :-) DONALD - Down, but not out! Looking for work come March '97!! For my Resume (and eventually other neat stuff) - check out **** http://www.usyd.edu.au/~dpedder **** I'd call it my death, but I'll only fade away And I hate to fade alone. Now there's only M.E. "M.E." - Gary Numan ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Dec 1996 13:11:12 GMT0BST From: "E.Stein" Subject: Photograph LP for sale To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Hi, I have a copy of Gary's "Photograph" LP up for auction. This album was a withdrawn German release (Cat. no. INT 146 606) on Interchord records (?!) under licsence from Beggars. The track listing is as follows; Films A.F.E. Replicas Everyday I die Down in the park This wreckage Cars Metal Remember I was vapour Complex It is in excellent/mint condition, and comes in a gatefold sleeve with several unseen (to my knowledge) photos. Please bear in mind that this is one of the rarest Numan items (a mispressed version also exists!!), and I have personally seen a copy on sale for stlg90 in the past (i.e. several years ago). Therefore, I think it is only fair to start bidding at stlg60 (ca $100?). Unfortuneately, I don't get to read my e-mail as often as I used to, so I apologize in advance for the delay in replying. Every couple of weeks I will post the current highest bid to the digest thereby keeping other interested parties informed, until one person is left. I think this is fair, but if you disagree, feel free to let me know. Erik. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Dec 96 19:46:18 From: "Joey Lindstrom" Subject: Testing the waters To: "numan@cs.uwp.edu" I'm in the early planning stages on what I think is a rather interesting project, and I'd like to see what some people think about it. As I mentioned in another post here, I'm planning on setting up my own internet server hardware down at the offices of my ISP. I've got a large variety of projects that I want to get up and running on that hardware if/when this happens. One of these is something that hopefully would interest you. Since this machine will be a full-fledged Unix machine capable of providing a very large array of services, one thing I had thought about doing was this: 1) Establish a very recognizable domain name, maybe "numan.net" 2) Offer everyone here, and indeed any Numan fan anywhere, an email address using this domain. For example, I might be "joey@numan.net", Mr. Langsford could be "derek@numan.net", etc. Basically, we're looking at something very similar to vanity licence plates. Now obviously I don't plan to offer dial-up services so anyone taking advantage of this would have to already have an internet account SOMEWHERE, and hopefully have email software that is capable of handling multiple accounts (most modern programs will). The account would be flexible. You could use it directly, or have the system forward mail received by this mailbox onwards to your "real" mailbox. A distinctive, unique email address that's short and sweet and tells the world who and what you are. :-) Now, what's the price? OK, here's the situation. Initially, and for the first few months at LEAST, my costs on this will be strictly hardware and software. I gotta buy the network card, cabling, and a copy of Linux to put on the machine. Beyond that, thanks to some excellent contacts i've got at the ISP, I'll likely not have to pay anything for this. BEYOND THAT, however, if those contacts ever dry up, I'm looking at a monthly service fee of $75 in Canadian funds. I've got several other projects that will depend on this service so while this is a lot of money, I think I can JUST BARELY swing it: we'll see when the time comes. So the price to sign up for an account will be: Before my ISP begins charging me: $0/month. Yes, free of charge. After my ISP begins charging me: *EITHER* $0/month or $6/year, depending on my situation and how able I am to pay for this $75/month. What I'd like to know from you is the answer to these questions (please send via email, not to the Digest): 1) Leaving price out of it for a minute: do you think this is a good idea and would you want one of these "numan.net" mailing addresses? 2) If I had to increase the price to $6/year (Canadian, about $5 US), would this change your opinion in regards to question #1? IE: would you still want to come aboard? If/when I go through with this, I'd give everybody 30 days notice if the price had to jump from "free" to "cheap". I'm also considering offering free or cheap web sites to those who want to set up Numan sites: this'll depend on a lot of factors. Other services may follow: the plan here is to set up a super "Numan Server" offering low or no cost services to Numan fans. Again, if you've got an opinion on this, send it email to numanoid@netway.ab.ca - please don't clutter up the Digest with it. Thanks. /--------------------------------------------------------- / 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: Thu, 05 Dec 1996 11:00:23 +0000 (GMT) From: Andy Subject: Tom Robinson To: numan@cs.uwp.edu As well as the Numan list, I'm also on the Tom Robinson list. I posted the following, erm, post, and got this reply from Tom which I found quite illuminating. My original post was pretty tongue in cheek though.. My post to the Tom Robinson mailing list was: >I uncovered an old melody Maker from 1980 >that I bought a couple of years ago simply cos it had >Gary on the cover, and I looked thru it last night and >theres also a long interview with Tom when he was with >Sector 27, and I was SHOCKED and HORRIFIED to find Tom >slagging him off.. > >How should you react when you find your boyhood hero >being slagged off by your other boyhood hero ?? > >Yours in confusion... > >Andy x and Tom replied with... Actually I was shocked & horrified by the article too. You know you shouldn't believe everything you read in the papers - especially not MM. What I actually said was something along the lines of "I'm really pissed off at the way everyone slags off Gary Numan at the moment, just for the sake of it, in fact I rather like some of his records. So I actually paid and went to see his show at Hammersmith Odeon - which I found disappointing *from the production point of view* My acid test for any concert for any artist, famous or not, is: if you'd never heard of this person, would you be won over by what you saw on stage that night. In the case of that particular show on that particular night the answer was regrettably "no". I went *wanting* to enjoy the show, but found it very stilted. I had the impression that GN had been too "hands-on" and organised/dictated everything in the production himself: lights, set, stage act, clothes etc. Whereas an artist at that level serves his/her best interests best by employing professionals in each of those fields. Gary should have used the specialist skills & expertise of others to complement his own - which was the music.) Naturally, because it sells newspapers, the negative comments were a) exaggerated and b) taken out of context and turned into a headline. The positive comments which prefaced them were downplayed or omitted altogether and I ended up (to my great annoyance at the time) appearing to join the army of backbiters and anti-Numan sneerers who used him as an easy target in the press at that time. The very people I was pissed off about. And if you're ever in contact with Gary, you can tell him so from me and pass on my sincere apologies. I should have kept my mouth shut altogether. Tom x === So it seems that Tom and Gary have VERY similar views on the British music press. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 12:30:05 +0000 From: Tom Gorham Subject: Was Warriors a cool image and other things To: numan@cs.uwp.edu While the Warriors image might look dated now, I can remember acting in a school play around 1985 where we had to wear clothes very similar to those on the Warriors album. I thought I looked great at the time. Which goes to show that his image suited the era - and the age of Gary's fan base at the time. If you really want pick on somebody, pick on Michael Jackson. He's still wearing the same shite that he did back in 1983. As for the other comments about alleged censorhsip of the mailing list - I really don't give a toss unless someone can say that a missing message to the list had any relevance whatsoever to Gary's music. Talking of which, I agree with some of the postings regarding the merits of Sacrifice. Sacrifice is a mediocre album, that has been raised in people's estimation because it was so much better, musically and lyrically, that the stuff that went before it. I'm not always given to singing the praises of earlier albums, but if you sit down and listen to Replicas - which is the only Gary Numan album worthy of a place in every music fan's collection - you'll be amazed at cleanness of the sound, the variety of the songs and their catchiness. It was an immense album. Sacrifice, thanks to a turgidly repetitive beat, a couple of very poor songs, and some predictable lyrics, isn't a patch on it. What Sacrifice is, though, is a sign that Numan's career hasn't been in permanent freefall since the mid-eighties. It's a recovery, and an impressive one at that. If that level of improvement can be maintained in Exile, then we really might have an album worth shouting from the rooftops. Tom PS: My favourite Numan songs (1) Me, I Disconnect from you; (2) Your Fascination (extended); (3) Cars; (4) My Car Slides (Part 2); (5) Are Friends Electric; (6) Are Your Real?; (7) I Dream of Wires; (8) The 1930s Rust; (9) Desire; (10) Cold Warning. Regards, Tom Gorham ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 00:50:43 -0800 (PST) From: Rob Trousdale Subject: What to debate? To: numan@cs.uwp.edu So, now that I have had my say about all the crap certain members have spouted about certain other members, I suppose I should get the f--- off my soap box, shut up, and go stand in the corner... FAT F---ING CHANCE MATES!!! BUT instead of mindless, pointless rambling, I have a debate/topic suggestion: Who are your favorite musicians who have played with Gary? This question grew out of one I asked D. PEDDER while riding home from the hockey game (had to introduce him to a REAL sport :-) Me: "Did you like Ced or Chris better?" Don: "What are you talking about?" Me: "Numan drummers." Don: "I don't know if I have an opinion on that." Now look, have any of us known Donald to NOT have an opinion on anything? :-) Anyway, that is my lame excuse for a topic, if you have a better one, I am sure we would all like to hear from you... Lastly- you will have to excuse the sarcasm, anger, and bad feelings in any of my recent postings, it's just that I am getting married soon and am not at all happy about having to leave my nice hometown of Shorline (Seattle North) for the frozen tundra that is Pullman Washington - Population 35000 screaming useless undergraduates who want nothing better than to drink themselves unconsious for four years ;-P Orbit OUT! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- orbit@ad1440.com (orbit@blarg.net) is: Robert Trousdale (206) 367-2254 formerly robt@u.washington.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mandatory .sig quotes: "47.8% of all Statistics are Useless" -Anonymous "I'll be the in to your sane." -Gary Numan "While the kids live in filth and play in dirt, You think that's normal - That's the thing that hurts..." -William Orbit ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [END OF LINE] ------------------------------ End of Gary Numan Digest ******************************