Gary Numan Digest Thu, 3 Jul 97 Volume 1 : Issue 344 Today's Topics: "Fan" Definition 4in1 Another very positive review of Random AOL Numan chat sessions! AOL Subscribers and Others Interested Gary Numan Digest V1 #343 LOOKING FOR RANDOM? SEARCH, IT'S THERE....SOMEWHERE Radioheart RANDOM review subscribe To: Craig and others..... Musical Tastes Zappa>Numan ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 22:41:06 +0000 From: Michael & BethAnn Damrath Subject: "Fan" Definition To: Gary Numan A reply to Dominic Plant's open letter to Gary. > A1. A little sad to read that you only think I've made one great album > since 1980, I'm a little surprised that you still consider > yourself a fan. Amen, Gary. Dominic, perhaps you need to look up the dictionary definition of the term 'fan'. Merriam-Webster defines a fan as "an ardent admirer or enthusiast (as of a celebrity or a pursuit)". My initial reaction to your "question" when I read it in the Q&A was: 'This guy calls himself a fan? How embarrassing!' To paraphrase your introduction and question, you said: *Hi Gary. My name is Dominic. I really liked a couple of your albums, everything else sucked. I had tickets to one of your concerts once, but I couldn't be bothered to go. Remember that EP you failed to deliver to your fans? How about making a love song EP for general release? You may want to rework that heartfelt love song you wrote about your wife-to-be, because you fucked the music up.* > I am only expressing my opinion on the music, there is no right or > wrong here, you like the music you put to it I do not. Excuse me, Dominic, but it's one thing to have a personal interpretation of a song after listening to it. I could tell you a few of my personal interpretations of a few of Gary's songs that were a bit off the mark. (usually without the benefit of printed lyrics) It's entirely something else to have the AUTHOR of the song tell you EXACTLY what it REALLY means. At that point, there can hardly be any other interpretation. You got it from the horse's mouth, son. > That I say 'you' had no great album since Berserker should not be seen > as a personal attack, Are you kidding me? You are telling someone who makes his life and living out of making music that he hasn't done any 'great' work for 13 years. If that's not a personal attack, I don't know what one is. Especially since you are saying this in the audience of the inner sanctum of Gary Numan's most ardent true fans. I'm just suprised that Gary didn't verbally clean your clock. I chalk his reserved reply up to pure professionalism. Dominic, you might be someone who REALLY liked a couple of Numan albums, but I certainly wouldn't define you as a 'fan'. Mike Damrath http://home.eathlink.net/~damrat ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Jun 1996 20:34:51 +0100 From: "nick" Subject: 4in1 To: "Gary Numan" ******************************************* My article generated a bit of feedback CONFUSION ------------------- Lyssa said Lprofit rather than going bankrupt I agree Lyssa but there seems to be a lot of confusion about Garys financial status. Some say he is a millionaire and some say he is close to bankruptcy and others say it aint none of our business. BTW Gary publicly said he is pulling a cool 1 million a year just on royalties Can Gary afford to do things he keeps saying he cant afford like tour the states where there are thousands of very loyal fans waiting for him. Or make a video to promote the Exile ? Don't slag me for saying it, I just keep reading conflicting things which don't add up. --------------------------------- Questions and Politics --------------------------------- Matthew Roberts MR> So Gary is arrogant, ungrateful and greedy? Blimey, what do you think MR> of the rest of the human race? Some are arrogant and some are ungrateful and some are even greedy. MR> P.S. You must be devastated about the demise of the Labour movement. :) We shall see -------------------------------- Speaking as a Citizen ------------------------------- Paddy Vickers, PV> Speaking as an Englishman, I have to admit that a certain PV> number of people on the left are unwilling or unable to PV> distinguish between democratic monetarist politics and PV> fascism. Hey Paddy perhaps people on the left have a missing gene that disables their reasoning powers. ......... PV>Why can't "Nick" just accept PV> that Gary N. is a musical phenomenon, but not superhuman? PV> Overcriticalness comes from expecting too much in the first PV> place. I've met Gary, and he seemed a nice guy, although he PV> does express himself quite forcefully and openly at times. PV> Is that really a bad trait? I agree I expected too much from Gary. How Gary chooses to express himself is entirely up to him. He does however have a little responsibility in the position he's in and therefore should exercise a little restraint now and then. Gary is a little snappy at times :) -------- TINA -------- Tina Freeman Hello Tina TF> I would just like to point out a few things to Nick I am listening. TF> Here in the UK we have a freedom of speech policy and that applies to TF> Gary just as much as anyone else. I Agree TF> Compare Gary to the likes of Bowie ( Drugs in the 70's ) , Kurt TF> Kobane(sp?) (drugs ) TF>,Elvis Presley ( drugs alcohol etc ) Oasis ( General morons who think TF nothing of letting their fans down ) Bowie, Elvis, Oasis really threw themselves into rock 100% and the results surely speak for themselves (musically) No I wouldn't really call them morons far from it. TF> Gary may be arrogant yes but isn't he entitled to be after all he is a TF> musical genius. That is your opinion For what its worth I think Gary was very good at what he did. I liked his early stuff a lot but from Strange Charm onwards things went down hill bigtime. I wonder why ? TF>) Last I would just like to point out that if you wish say such purile TF> rubbish please refrain from sending it here , send it to the NME instead TF> where other brainless Morons can read it. You are FOR censorship then :) Lord "Nick Fox" -------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 29 Jun 97 08:54:49 -0700 From: "Joey Lindstrom" Subject: Another very positive review of Random To: "Gary Numan" On Sun, 29 Jun 97 01:00:01 CDT, Andy McHaffie wrote: >Secondly - Gary Numan and Random in favourable comments >in the British music press shocker !!! - Its true. >Taylor Parkes reviewed Random and gave it a pretty good >write up, also mentioning that its about time Gary was >re-evaluated.. On that note.... The following review by David Veitch appeared in the Sun Newspaper chain here in Canada: RANDOM Various Artists (4 stars out of 5) This two-CD set is much more than a tribute to GARY NUMAN; it's a validation of an artist who's often unfairly viewed as an odd, quaint remnant of the British new wave. Yet over the course of 26 tracks - which find Numan's neurotic electro-pop redesigned as thumping disco, ambient dub, industrial metal, hip-hop and piano balladry - three conclusions can be reached: (1) Numan has written many killer robotic riffs and beautifully mournful melodies, all of which are still fresh and indelible; (2) his songs of alienation and loneliness (M.E., Are 'Friends' Electric?), though sci-fi themed, are painfully sincere and brimming with human emotion, belying his image as some sort of outer-space automaton; and (3) the man did forge an indestructible style all his own. RANDOM remains unmistakably Numan-esque, regardless of how radically his songs are reinterpreted by the likes of ST. ETIENNE, THE ORB, JESUS JONES, POP WILL EAT ITSELF, DAMON ALBARN of BLUR and MATT SHARP of WEEZER. One can only hope this fascinating and hugely entertaining project sparks a serious re-evaluation of the Numan canon and a domestic reissue of his back catalogue. /--------------------------------------------------------- / From: The Desk Of Joey Lindstrom +1 (403) 606-3853 / EMAIL: joey@lindstrom.com numanoid@netway.ab.ca lindstrj@cadvision.com / WEB: 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: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 13:37:22 -0400 (EDT) From: DCGaySLP@aol.com Subject: AOL Numan chat sessions! To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Hi Numanoids!! If you are on AOL, please join us for Numan chats and open discussions (or just complain about your work week) in Town Square - TheMondayTroop. Lately we've been discussing Random (usually as people play it simultaneously on their CD ROM's....hee hee hee) and meeting new Numanoids all over the world... We meet at 9pm EDT (2am for you guys in the UK) on Monday evenings...usually at least 3-7 people show up. Hope to see you there. If you need more information or want specifics on finding the room, please email Rick at dcgayslp@aol.com. Bye for now!! Rick S., Washington DC, USA ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 21:13:13 -0400 (EDT) From: BDay0000@aol.com Subject: AOL Subscribers and Others Interested To: numan@cs.uwp.edu For everyone on AOL: Every Monday evening at 9PM EDT (Eastern Coast US) there is a Numan chat session the the room named "Town Square TheMondayTroup." Please drop in sometime. And, hey, if you're not on AOL and you have one of those pesky start up disks laying around that you got for free in the mail, boot it up for just this occasion... Brad Day, et al Atlanta, GA ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 03:07:18 -0800 From: Lyssa Subject: Gary Numan Digest V1 #343 To: numan@cs.uwp.edu (Gary Numan) > From: Tom Gorham > Following on from the message that identified a Queen song in Earl > Brutus's M.E., I spotted another sample in Dubstar's Every Day I Die. > It's from an Apple Macintosh's speech options - select the 'Fred' voice, > and you'll hear the background vocalist on that track. EEEK! I just typed up the segment and had Fred do it...yer right! Of course, it sounds better in 'Bubbles'.... > From: Ashley Pomeroy > Later on, at some point, I will write an incredibly detailed and really > rather brilliant review of Random. I don't care if there have been other > reviews already - mine will be much, much better. Pish Tosh...I hate your review already and haven't even seen it...don't mess with us shallow Americans!!!! ;) > If any of you find this post offensive, you are obviously hairy. =46ine...I'll shave, ya tweak headed arrogant Brit!!! ;) > From: "Craig Land" > On a side issue, as a long time Numan fan I have seen his music > develop right through all his styles, perhaps the list members would > like to post their current music tastes as well as Numan so that we > can see if there are any patterns in the way we have changed in our > music tastes. Well, looking at my disc collection one wouldn't say I'm narrow in my views.= =2E.. =46avorites are: Gary Numan (*doh*) Gravity Kills (even before Random) Soul Asylum Jethro Tull Altan Midge Ure/Ultravox Altar Boys/Mike Stand/Clash of Symbols Green Day Cranberries Jesus Jones (also before Random) Nine Inch Nails > I know that other Numan fans I have spoken to at concerts almost hate > me for my current music tastes and can't beleive the way I have gone! > What do you think? I think you must have been talking to Arp.... Okay, on to MY yapping bit....well, Random is having great impact from what I can see personally....handing out the wavs on IRC has sold 12 copies just with me doing it (4 more people are just trying to scrape the money together so they can get it, too)! Response has been great...now if only we could smack some deejays around and get them to actually PLAY the songs on the air? The dunderheads at KROQ in LA said they didn't even HAVE the album, although they claimed to not have TPP either...nevermind the fact that I heard Richard Blade play 'Cars' just two weeks ago. According to my friends on the channel #ireland, An Pierl=E9's AFE is getting quite a bit of airtime, which is understandable on the Emerald Isle, but I'm curious as to how BBC radio is crankin it...as well as how it's being received in other areas of North America. Anyhow, off to bed and dreams of Gazza playing Dodger Stadium..... Bye! Lyssa Tearin it up..I'm living on empty... The Madhouse http://home.earthlink.net/~madhouse_/ Home of The Madhouse, Cry of the Celts, My Shadow In Vain, The Octopi Pit, and Selah's Cool Mac CyberPunk Central http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/6115 Home of the CyberPunk Cafe ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 09:31:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Drapop7085@aol.com Subject: LOOKING FOR RANDOM? SEARCH, IT'S THERE....SOMEWHERE To: numan@cs.uwp.edu I couldn't believe that RANDOM was released, here in New York City, without any publicity nor being in the new release section. At Virgin records, I had to search for it. Nobody I talked to knew it was available. That really surprised me. I was waitning for it for so long and then, it appeared. WHERE? On the back wall listening station and that was all. I like the CD alot, a couple cuts are a little bit.....but still, any hype would have been better than NO HYPE!!! I was hoping for at least a poster hanging down with GN's picture on it. I am glad it was released, but I hope when EXILE is released, NUMA won't make the same mistake as Beggar's Banquet with no publicity. NO HYPE=NO SALES. I can't wait for EXILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mark ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Jul 1997 14:07:41 +-200 From: Uffe Silverup Subject: Radioheart To: "'Numan'" Fellow Numanoids Yes, you=B4ve guessed right!! I=B4ve got another Gary Numan "Radioheart" CD forsale. This is possibly the last one (since I havn=B4t seen any in 2 years = now). Yes it is my own original copy. Interested? Please mail me at : silverup@algonet.se ********************************************************************** Uffe Silverup Klaragatan 3 214 34 Malmo Sweden **************#Wir sind dann Helden, fur einen tag#************** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 18:56:35 -0000 From: Markus Dietrich Subject: RANDOM review To: "'numan@cs.uwp.edu'" Hello Numanoids, if someone can't stand another RANDOM review please skip this/my following one !!! Here RANDOM in a german fans point of view. To make it short I like to have this CD, although some songs are (certainly) unstandable!!! But at a double CD with more than 20 songs this is more than normal. ----- THE VERY BEST ------ DUBSTAR Very impressive and dancy. Can't imagine why it is so bad at Robert's AFE current survey standings??? JIMI TENOR At the beginnig of the song I thought "what a fucking version", until the song changed. So it become a very interesting song. Yes a kind of Kraftwerk sometimes ... EMF Pretty good. Isn't that Britpop?!? Deadsy I like it dark, although the original is already dark. St.Etienne I would not be reminded to SID, but it's a very dynamic song, that could have been a chart topper ----- GOOD ------- Earl Brutus Maybe because it sounds that much like the original. M.Sharp/D.Albarn Not a bad punky version. Amanda Ghost A very inspired version of Absolution. Kenickie Almost as good and similar to the interpretation of Dubstar. Underdog Yes. I like the way they use the rythm of Films. ----- BAD ------- An Pierle Sorry, but AFE is toooooo pur for piano only! The Orb Reminds me on TANGERIN DREAM, but not as good. Dave Clark Oh my god! What could a really good techno artist do with cars ... We could hope for better versions for RANDOM 2. Chis Holmes ... The Magnetic Fields They should tune their guitars !!! ----- BIG SHIT -------- Sukia Fucking oriental version of my alltime Numan song !!!!!!!!! (same as Moloko) Peck Slip I do better say nothing. (same as Moloko) Moloko I think they want make themselfs ridiculous about Gary. Grrrrrr Posh (same as Moloko) Windscale ... ----------------------------- I haven't known that Gravity Kills is that hard!!! If Gary is so enthusiastic about GK, we all should wonder how the next album of Gary will sound !!!!!! I'm frightened ... It is interesting how many bands used ROBOT or MACHINE voices, which I like very much. But relating to Robert Eggleston's RANDOM survey, it is hard to compare to originals with the cover version and to say which one is better. Because for me the originals are something special behind the music itself. I can only say which of the covers I like or not. Ciao, Markus (Nuremberg/Germany) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 02 Jul 1997 23:57:43 +0100 From: Colin Edwards Subject: subscribe To: numan@cs.uwp.edu PLease send me the NUman Digest ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 22:12:39 -0700 From: "Robert Trousdale" Subject: To: Craig and others..... Musical Tastes To: Right, well here I am again sitting in the cultural wasteland of Pullman, WA. Regarding Craig Land's request that we talk more about music and less about politics, all I have to say is: (SARCASTIC MODE ON) F--- YOU! We WANT to insult and bad mouth each other's political views! HA! What do you think the internet is for you IDIOT?!? (SARCASTIC MODE OFF) Now then, to the real letter.... Right now, in addition to the Random CD which I was sent direct from the Man himself (gee, aren't contests neat? :-) I am into music which is called by many names, but which I have always called "Techno". Ever since the days of Kraftwerk (Sorry, I don't REALLY believe they are putting out a new album, at least not until I see it :-) back in '74 with Autobahn, I have always found myself drawn to synth based music.... right now, I am listening to the entire post-88 catalog of "Underworld", music by the band Seefeal, William Orbit, Chemical Brothers, and other stuff of that nature. Before this current phase, I was into artists such as Cabaret Voltaire, Skinny Puppy, Front 242, NIN, Severed Heads, and such like. I have NO interest in Depeche Mode, as they had a chance to release a great album, and only released a so-so album... but they were also a favorite of years past... hope that answers, inspires, or otherwise stimulates discussion :-) A DEFENSE OF 'The Orb" C'mon guys... this is a tribute in the grandest tradition.... if you are framiliar with the Orb's previous work, this song fits in quite well with their catalog. What would you expect their version of "Jo the Waiter" to sound like? This is an Ambient band... their music is sort of dreamy and atmospheric... I am surprised that they did a cover at all, but I am pleased with the result. In a way, their use of samples from other songs of Numan (Me, I disconnect from you) makes this song MORE of a tribute to me then many of the other songs on the album. But I don't mean to criticize anyone else's views... mearly to offer my defense of a band I happen to like. Cheers! Escher ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 09:31:08 -0500 (CDT) From: SINSFDWF@Admin.UH.EDU Subject: Zappa>Numan To: numan@cs.uwp.edu "E.Stein" writes: >I thought i'd rack my brains to see if I could literally link Zappa >and Numan (it's very sad, but i'm good at that sort of thing for some >reason). Here goes; > >Frank Zappa >1) As we (probably) all know Zappa worked with Captain Beefheart on >their "Bongo fury" album. >2) Drummer, Robert Williams was part of Beefheart's magic band for the >"Shiny beast" and "Doc at the radar station" albums. >3) Robert Williams collaborated with the ex-Stranglers' vocalist, >Hugh Cornwell, on their 1979 "Nosferatu" album. >4) Making a guest appearance on that album are Mark and Bob >Mothersbaugh from Devo (Mark wrote and sung on one of the tracks, a >little known Devo fact). >5) Mark Mothersbaugh contributed a track to the Residents' Ralph >records compilation, "Potatoes-a collection of folk songs" in 1987. >6) One of Ralph records' signings in the mid-eighties was none other >than Nash the Slash, who released at least one l.p. on the label. >7) Nash played on Numan's "Dance" album, and toured with him in >1980/81. >Et voila! Gary Numan. How about this: 1) Frank Zappa -> Adrian Belew (Belew played guitar on many Zappa projects including "Sheik Yerbouti" 2) Adrian Belew -> Trent Reznor (Belew played guitar on two tracks on "The Downward Spiral" (NIN/Reznor) 3) Trent Reznor -> Gary Numan (Reznor co-produced Marilyn Manson's cover of Numan's "Down in the Park" Of course, hopefully link 3 will be even stronger if any of the rumors ever come to fruition. Doug ------------------------------ End of Gary Numan Digest ******************************