Gary Numan Digest Thu, 15 Oct 98 Volume 1 : Issue 477 Today's Topics: "Valarien" name source found 471 ! Bowie said? and Mark Radcliffe Crisis? What crisis? Dominion day single Favorite Lines/singles Gary Numan Digest V1 #476 Gilbert O'Sullivan HELP! Moebius/Valerian My Album Ratings, etc. My Web Page.... new releases Numan related article from Philadelphia City Paper PTTA paperpack / non-singles Re-master re-mixes single that never was Thanx for Numan/Dawn Replies U got the look Valerian ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 21:12:02 +0200 (MET DST) From: Anders Wahlbom Subject: "Valarien" name source found To: numan@cs.uwp.edu On Sun, 11 Oct 1998 numan@cs.uwp.edu wrote: > I wondered where Numan came up with that early "Valaerien" name. I was > watching behind the scenes of the movie the 5th Element. They said some = sci > fi artist named Mobieus has been doing sci fi stuff since the 60's and on= e > character was Valerian. I think they said sort of Han Solo type. It was = a > French comic back in the 60's Ah, something I can shed some light on... First, Moebius was involved in "The Fifth Element", that's right; he was also involved in the filming of "Alien" for a couple of weeks as a designer, but I am unsure whether or not any of his contributions, apart from the space suits, survived. Clearly, Giger was the more important visual contributor. (As an aside, Moebius is a very interesting artist: apart from his sometimes surrealist sf comics, he's also drawing Blueberry, a realistic wild west comic in a completely different style, under his real name Jean Giraud.) But Val=E9rian is another thing. First of all, Moebius has nothing to do with the comic; instead, it is drawn by Jean-Claude M=E9zi=E8res, who was a= lso a designer for "The Fifth Element", and written by Pierre Christin. The full title of the comic is _Val=E9rian, agent spatio-temporel_, and the seventeenth volume was released only a month or so ago. The main characters are Val=E9rian himself, a brave and able if sometimes rigid and unimaginative space-time agent from the 27th century, and his partner Laureline. The aliens are also worth mentioning; it is not unlikely that they inspired the Mos Eisley cantina scene in _Star Wars_, as George Lucas has praised the comic and it has been running since 1968... It is available in English as well as French; I have seen one or two import volumes in Stockholm. More info can be found on some of the following pages: http://www.geo.fmi.fi/~tmakinen/cartoons/books/mezieres_enx.shtml http://www.dargaud.fr/valerian.html [in French] As for Numan's choice of pseudonym, it's far from impossible that this is the source (in fact it was my first thought when I heard about the pseudonym in 1993 or so), as the comic has been available in English since the mid-70s, but it is of course far from confirmed. Maybe one ought to ask Gary?=20 Sorry about the low Numan content in this post; maybe next time I post (in a year or so) I will have some Numanities for you... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= - Anders Wahlbom | http://www.update.uu.se/~awahlbom/ (Finger for geek code) | http://www.cutoff.se/dss ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= - NOW PLAYING: Viva!: "Flykten" ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 18:26:48 +0100 From: tina freeman Subject: 471 ! To: numan@cs.uwp.edu The Pleasure Principle now has 471 pictures online , many exclusive :) If you find any dodgy links please let me know. Tina http://www.principle.simplenet.com THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 20:52:12 +0100 From: "downstat" Subject: Bowie said? and Mark Radcliffe To: "Gary Numan" > Just incase this one actually goes to the digest this time. I did > respond to the question about what David Bowie said in the interview. > I'm still working on that one, because I can't remember What do you mean you can't remember???? It's v important! And Matthew Roberts said: > Mark whatisname certainly isn't a Numan fan. > When he introduced Gary on The White Room (a UK rock show), he made a > couple of pretty sarcastic comments. My Dad saw it and said what a snide > little shit Mark sounded like! Well that's odd. I always took Mark Radclife's introductory comments to be quite respectful...well certainly not disrespectful anyway. For those who didn't see GN's appearance on The White Room, Mark introduced him something along the lines of "His friends are electric, he dreams of wires, and evidently his batteries are duracell.....Gary Numan!". His comment afterwards was something like "That was Gary Numan....back ....and cooking on gas". Not bad really. Mark R is sarcastic (and IMO v funny) by nature. Anyway, we've all heard an awful lot worse. Austin ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 11:51:16 +0400 From: "Peter Enright" Subject: Crisis? What crisis? To: "Digest Numan" I was playing Numan in the car the other day (of course, what other music suits playing Dodgems in Moscow traffic?) when the track "The Crazies" came on. My Russian girlfriend laughed - she thought Numan was singing "Where's the crisis?" Ha! Very appropriate I thought as I swerved out of the path of a screaming black Merc. TikTokMan Moscow PS: I have a pretty cool pic of Gaz that I snapped front row at one of his '88 Metal Rhythm gigs in London (pre shaggy dog hairstyle) that I would like to give to all our Digesters. Is it possible to attach a .JPEG file to a Digest message? Or will I break some weird Internet Regulation? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 11:19:47 EDT From: BaiHat@aol.com Subject: Dominion day single To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Can anyone describe for me the 20th anniversary versions of down in the park etc..etc.. from the Dominion day single.Are they in fact any differently treated than the original versions ? Are they worth it to purchase ? Thanks Bai Hat@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 00:52:14 -0700 From: Pythoness Subject: Favorite Lines/singles To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Man, this is a toughie, since one of THE major things I've always adored about Numan is his amazing talent for putting a knockout in just a line or two. I have about twelve thousand favorite lines--these are the ones I love enough to type out despite the stitches in my right hand which have lately curtailed my email communication: I've connections with God What do you need? They say this is like the vengeance of God I can't believe that God would do this to me We need to win like you need to breathe I've an interest in games Me I'm on the ground but that's no place to be How can I save you if you don't confess? Kneel down, bitch, and be truly blessed! This shape comes apart Everything breaks down And me I'm trapped inside And here inside it ends --Plus most of the ones mentioned by others. Favorite single that never was: Metal Beat! Yow! zg Ziggy Blum Ziggy's House O' Vermin zigi@ravenland.com --------------------------- Instead of going chung-chung-chung on the guitar I went nee-nee-nee on the synth. --G. Numan ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 10:20:22 EDT From: NickYak@aol.com Subject: Gary Numan Digest V1 #476 To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Sorry--I could not read a single word of this digest due to the annoying dark red background!!! ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 17:17:08 EDT From: Jamesy999@aol.com Subject: Gilbert O'Sullivan To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Digesters, Look what I found on a Gilbert O'Sullivan Site. A review of GOS Album "Singer Sowing Machine" """On Track 2."In Bed By Ten" is the first big shock on the album. Gilbert does a Gary Numan track. The same throbbing bass synth with all the other synths swirling round and building the tune to the vocals. Where as a track with a sound as heavy as this could be about killer robots from mars, Gilbert instead sings that you can do all sorts of naughty things - but only if you have a reasonable bed time. Don't you just love this guy. Personally I think its a fantastic track, but I can see this being the track that you either love or hate on the album""" What in the beet-root is all this on about .... Does any body know ????? Don't ask WHY I was looking at a Gilbert OSullivan site...er..erm.er it was for my mother...honest !!!!. Tony J Everybody's Infected.....Except me !!!!!!!!!! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 17:34:08 PDT From: "Jenny Beck" Subject: HELP! To: numan@cs.uwp.edu ANYONE. i am doing a newsletter for computer graphics class. I want to do it on gary numan. And i am not a memeber of the fan club. so i dont know what the newsletters look like. my teacher said we can make up our own etc.. i would just like to see a past newsletter to get ideas of sections etc.. if anyone has one and could photocpy it.. or a few pages.. it would REALLY help!!! i would really appreciate it!!!!! it's due in a week .. so i would really appreciate if anyone could get back to me as soon as possible or just mail me something at: Jenny Beck 74 Byron Ave Lawrence MA 01841 USA THAnk you soo much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 06:46:58 -0800 From: alec way Subject: Moebius/Valerian To: numan@cs.uwp.edu The French Sci-Fi artists Jean Giraud (Moebius) and J-C Mezieres had/have a series called Valerian and Laureline. Valerian is a real square-jawed swashbuckler and Laureline is his sexy Emma Peel-meets-Barbarella sidekick. They do battle a host of intergalactic finks, stooges, fantoms, spooks, clowns. Giraud and others started the highly-influential magazine Metal Hurlant (Heavy Metal) and thus paved the way for the grittier, trippier, more erotic Sci Fi animation that we've come to accept as the norm. One could easily say that the Japanese animation styles that really took off in the '80s (Anime and Manga) have something directly to do with Giraud--who was himself influenced by the blatently LSD-inspired US underground comics of the late '60s. What to speak of Numan favorites, like Blade Runner? I get the feeling that young Gary Webb in the early '70s was reading and looking at the pictures, getting inspired. Speaking of gritty Sci Fi, what's grittier than the books of Philip K. Dick? But Valerian, as has been stated at least three times before on this very Digest, is a powerful tranquilizing root herb and has been used in the West for at least a thousand years as teas and various other extracts. More Roche 5 than pain? Valerian is supposed to stablize the central nervous system, like Valerian the superhero stablizes the cosmos, and has a synergistic relationship with other drugs, including alcohol. Now, there's also Dieter Moebius, related to THE Moebius who invented the "Endless Loop" or the Moebius Strip, who makes up the shorter half of the German electronic pioneer act Cluster. Moebius' solo record Tonspuren reminds me of certain Numan atmospheres. I read an article in the early '80s where Numan mentioned the German electronic bands, like Kraftwerk, Can and Cluster, as being among his biggest influences. So, one can't go wrong with understanding any of the various Moebiuses or any of the Valerians in order to gain a wider understanding of the different ingredients that make up the total Numan experience. Best, Alec ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 18:09:02 -0400 From: Stevorama Subject: My Album Ratings, etc. To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Ok, I'll bite. My Numan albums in order of preference are: SACRIFICE DANCE REPLICAS EXILE I, ASSASSIN TELEKON STRANGE CHARM WARRIORS TUBEWAY ARMY THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE THE PLAN THE FURY BERSERKER METAL RHYTHM OUTLAND MACHINE+SOUL Also, a follow up to my previous post about Vinyl Tap Records in the UK: http://www.vinyltap.co.uk I ordered a copy of METAL RHYTHM for a friend (once he heard the copy Ben I.M. sold me he had to have one for himself). I got an e-mail THE NEXT DAY saying it was being sent, and it made it from the UK to Florida in ONE WEEK. Also in the package was a complete list of all things Numan they have (lots not listed on the web site). I was unbelievably impressed and would recommend them very highly. Check them out! cheers- steve in florida "i like some bitch to scare me...." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 13:20:08 -0700 From: dagonet@netwide.net (Don McCrum) Subject: My Web Page.... To: Gary Numan List I finally finished.... MY WEB PAGE! http://www.netwide.net/users/dagonet/ There she be.... GN midis, graphics.... SoM midis, graphics.... And various other, er, sundries.... Feel free to browse and, er, borrow.... :) -- Prof. D. "The mind is an I, the brain is an it" (Wilber). http://www.netwide.net/users/dagonet/ dagonet@netwide.net ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 10:54:14 GMT0BST From: "James Chapman" Subject: new releases To: numan@cs.uwp.edu I got the new reissues of Tubeway Army and Telekon the other day, (I had to get 2 at once because students get 10% off at Virgin on purchases over 10 pounds and they were 9.99 each!) and I was convinced I was going crazy having already got the 2CD sets. But the impreovement in sound quality is very good, and the new music (different IDYD-wonderful, and live-77/8) is very interesting. I also noticed the instrumentation in Remember I Was Vapour was different (for the worse, actually-but I don't care much for the song anyway). that's my only minor complaint. I also love the liner notes-like in The Numa Years. Now I've somehow got to muster up the cash for Replicas and TPP-I'll feel even more crazy getting them as there's absolutely sod all on them musically that I've not already heard. And at last we're going to get Exile extended! JOY!!!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- They crawl out of their holes for me...... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 11:47:17 -0400 From: "Terrence Thoman" Subject: Numan related article from Philadelphia City Paper To: Gary Numan Digest This article ran in the Oct 8-15 edition of Philadelphia City Paper. As of today (10/14) the article is on-line ats: http://www.citypaper.net/articles/100898/music.dark.shtml If you can't find it there, try searching the archives at: http://www.citypaper.net/search?NS-query-pat=/text/CP-advquery.pat The print edition included a quarter-page photo of Gary (the same one as on Cleo's web page). ------------- Dark and Lovely The Church, Jesus and Mary Chain, Gary Numan and Bauhaus - back with a vengeance. by a.d. amorosi The Wedding Singer was the '80s, right? Poofy hair, thin ties and happy songs by Thompson Twins and Kajagoogoo surely defined the new wave. No. What defined the '80s and all it meant to me and my ilk was the scene where a beaten-down Adam Sandler shares a moment with Drew Barrymore by picking up his flanged electric guitar and singing about the love he lost. "I'm laying in bed feeling melan-choly," he wimpers softly before he's roused to screaming -begging - someone to "fucking kill me pretty please" and hoping the girl that left him "fucking chokes." That's my kind of new wave: Dark. Decrepit. Sleazy. Sad. In the last eight months the less-than-shiny sounds of the '80s have been celebrated in new releases and tours from Dead Or Alive (Nukleopatra), upcoming projects from Siouxsie and Budgie of the Banshees, The Church (Hologram of Baal) and the magnetically influential Jesus and Mary Chain (Munki). Along with new records and wildly successful tours from Gary Numan (Exile) and Love and Rockets' original inception, Bauhaus - godfathers of the respective genres of electronica and goth rock - both have released the entirety of their catalog along with a dozen compilations of unreleased, live and remixed material - to say nothing of tribute CDs. By November Depeche Mode, electro-daddies of the dark new wave, will celebrate noir-ness with a tribute CD (Music For The Masses), a dour-est hits package (Singles 86-98) and a stadia tour that hits the Spectrum Nov. 1. Why all the fuss over these spidery men and women in black, these bearers of dark clouds? Several reasons. One is that popular artists like Marilyn Manson, Trent Reznor and Smashing Pumpkins have readily admitted their love of the likes of The Church, Numan, Bauhaus and Depeche many times over. Two, label executives, especially those at smaller independent labels, are of the age where looking back means basking in fishnets and black lipstick. And three, the music, for all its oft-misinterpreted savagery and anti-sentimentalism, is yearningly romantic. Ali O., Cleopatra label director of publicity, can't even remember how many Gary Numan CDs her label has released this year - The Fury, Sacrifice, Live Dark Light among them - let alone all the other dark '80s artists the label has put out like David J., Heaven 17 and Gene Loves Jezebel. Cleopatra is one of the most forceful proponents of dark new wave as well as quirky '70s progressive and gothic rock sounds. When Gary Numan chose to make a comeback in the States, he contacted Cleopatra with an e-mail saying what a big fan he was of the label's twisted output. "He wrote us saying he used to be a famous musician - as if we wouldn't remember," says Ali. "We were his biggest fans. "I never thought when I was 18 that I'd be working for Dead or Alive," adds the 29-year-old. "Everyone here, including label boss Brian Perera, is in their late 20s to mid-30s. We're regurgitating what we've loved since we were adolescents." Regurgitation must be profitable. On the whole, Ali says Cleopatra's numerous '80s compilations sell between 20,000 to 60,000 units. The now-21-year-old Beggars Banquet label is in the same position. Based out of New York and London, the label, home to Numan, Gene Loves Jezebel, Bauhaus and the Fall when they were in their prime (remember Numan was a No. 1 chartmaker with "Cars") is currently rereleasing their catalog with great success. "The fans of these acts - the goths in particular - are incredibly loyal," says Lesley Bleakley, who has been with Beggars Banquet for 10 years. "You don't just see old sad fans either. You see young fans who are equally enthusiastic." One particular band that has drawn rabid enthusiasm from fans and musicians alike is Australia's The Church. Since 1980, singer/lyricist/bassist Steve Kilbey, guitarist Marty Willson-Piper and guitarist Peter Koppes have molded a surrealistic morass of sinewy melody that is the sweet slumber of The Church. With each album - from the blunt, jangly pop of Heyday (1988) to the slow-brooding shoegaze of their new Hologram of Baal (Thirsty Ear) - The Church carefully turn the pages of a magically mysterious book. Calling from a tour stop in Minneapolis (The Church play the Troc October 8), Koppes says he credits The Church's lasting power to the fact that they've consistently broken from routine with solo projects, production stints and self-managed labels. Still, their songwriting process is identical. "We may be exactly the same people we were 20 years ago," laughs Koppes. "We've been applying the same method of writing, playing and affecting that we used on Heyday. That well is so fruitful, so full of continued promise, it will never dry up." Koppes is responsible for the sensual Robert Fripp-like twists and Byrds-like jangling that make Hologram and million-sellers like Gold Afternoon Fix (1990) so spectacularly lush. He quit The Church in 1990 because he was tired of identifying himself as a "band guy" after a decade's worth of material. Working with Kilbey and Church drummer/producer Tim Powles on a series of projects (including a solo CD on his Immersion label), Koppes brought a sense of off-the-wall experimentalism back into The Church for their latest album. "I broke a sound barrier," says Koppes of tunes like "Louisiana" and "Anesthesia," in which the somber string and bell sounds come strictly from guitar. But on ambient soundscapes like "The Great Machine" and "Ricochet," Koppes says, "You can't tell from whom each sound is coming. It's ego-less." Koppes says these mini-revolutionary developments are what keeps them vital to longtime fans, new fans and the bandmembers themselves. "I think our stuff - our lyrics, our art - is mind-expanding, yes, but it can be communicated easily to everyone. And has been." When I spoke to Bauhaus' Peter Murphy several months back he was amazed at the wealth of warm feeling their return generated, especially from live audiences. Koppes can't believe the dedication of fans - Internet and otherwise - who've gathered the most intimate details of The Church's career and made them into an artform. Whole Web sites and fanzines - most particularly www.80s.com and Wheaton, MD's fantastic color 'zine Lexicon - have been dedicated to the bands and the genre. "I love The Church," says Lexicon's managing editor David Richards. "It is because of bands like them I started publishing Lexicon. Because Rolling Stone and Spin never bothered. So much of this music, especially the darker stuff, is so loved by kids who are a little down on themselves. "We're gloomy and mopey and goth rockers and we're proud of it," says Cleopatra's Ali O., who's preparing for the label's "return-to-roots" with The Black Bible, a four-CD primer of the finest of early gauzy gothic rock sounds compiled by Philly's own Athan Margoulis. "It's a perfect starter kit," says Ali. "And I should know. I'm a doomer who lived for Bauhaus and Siouxsie. In the same way that Nirvana got labeled the godfathers of grunge and had to deal with it, people like Bauhaus have had to live with the fact that they've had a foreboding influence on scores of people." Lesley Bleakley, who comes from the north of England, says that she, too, was profoundly affected. "I used to live for Bauhaus and the Southern Death Cult. Their music was so strange and romantic. Quite frankly, I don't see that sort of passion in new music anymore. Do you?" ------------------------- -- Terrence M. Thoman, Sr. Network & Systems Support Specialist University of Pennsylvania Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Clinical Research Computing Unit Voice: 215-573-4420 FAX: 215-573-6262 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 09:12:17 -0400 From: Matthew Roberts Subject: PTTA paperpack / non-singles To: Gary Numan The paperback version of the autobiography is now out in 'all good bookshops'. The book is updated but there are no extra pictures. The new chapter talk= s mainly about the European and American tours of this year. The old closing chapter has also been updated, with Gary talking more abo= ut Random and Exile, including a detailed defense of drum loops!! He also ha= s a bit of a laugh at those people who got upset by the Exile lyrics. The wedding gets covered as well as encounters with various celebs. I was= glad to see the Billy Corgan/ Replicants/ Replicas story explained, albei= t briefly. Tony J asked an interesting question in #476. What track should have been= a single? I think there have been plenty of mistakes, some of which Gary has discussed over the years. Apart from ill-starred collaborations, Complex,= This Wreckage (I agree with Tony - this probably did more damage than any= other release), She's Got Claws & Heart were all colossal blunders. But what should have been released? IMO Tracks, Remind Me To Smile & You Are, You Are. However My World Storm has to be THE most obvious single th= at never was. Of course it would have been slagged off in the press and received no radio play, but at least if people heard it once, anywhere, there would have been a slight chance of them actually buying it. The las= t original Numan single I knew of a none Numanoid buying was Berserker - an= d it was lucky that she could find it ;-) Matthew Roberts ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 09:53:23 +0100 From: "Andrew West" Subject: Re-master To: "Numan Digest" Hi All A question for you: Is there any significant improvement on sound quality on the remastered = Numan CD's that have been appearing lately. I am thinking of buying = Telekon (for about the 4th time) but i don't want to waist money if = there is no difference to the orig CD's. Your comments would be gratefully recieved=20 Andy West Donut Design 0181-660 4531 http://pages.city2000.net/~donut http://www.city2000.com/bu/donut-design.html ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 17:07:46 EDT From: PRooney1@aol.com Subject: re-mixes To: numan@cs.uwp.edu can anyone enligten me to who is responsible for a steaming re-mix of cars that I heared a couple of years ago-I'd really love to get it on c.d..it is'nt the premier mix or the techno army mix BUT it kicked ass big time.e-mail paul at PROONEY1@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 11:34:00 GMT0BST From: "James Chapman" Subject: single that never was To: numan@cs.uwp.edu I have several ideas for the single that never was.... Metal instead of Complex (his 3rd #1 was staring him in the face) I'm An Agent instead of This Wreckage Crash as Dance's second single My Centurion instead of Sister Surprise My Breathing instead of This Is Love Respect instead of New Anger My World Storm as a full single release Dead Heaven instead of Dominion Day (he should have just gone for it and not worried about the lyrics as the radio never played DD anyway!) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- They crawl out of their holes for me...... --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 12:34:47 -0700 (PDT) From: av578@lafn.org (James Dawson) Subject: Thanx for Numan/Dawn Replies To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Just wanted to (publicly) thank all the Numan list readers who responded to my questions about the Numan/Dawn CD. Now I've gotta run to the store and see if they still have the thing... --James Dawson av578@lafn.org ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 09:46:29 +0100 From: "Gary Hough" Subject: U got the look To: releasing this or 1999 as a single would have totally ruined Gary's credibility once and for all (If it's not already gone). These covers while interesting for fans are complete crap! Gary likes Prince's material and recorded those songs more as his tribute I'd imagine to the artist. incidentally, anyone ever hear Tik's version of 1999 at Heaven in London with his Psychic Mutant Allstars band. This wreckage was an excellent single at the time (You only have to watch the top of the pops recording to know this). Gary Numan doesn't need to release covers he has enough in his repertoire of songs to release his own material. He's missed some excellent opportunities for better single releases though IMHO. If there was one cover version he should have tried releasing then it would have been the Leo Sayer version of on Broadway. Regards Gary H ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 08:09:08 -0400 (EDT) From: Sean Crist Subject: Valerian To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1998 15:48:09 EDT From: WAR4PREZ@aol.com Subject: "Valarien" name source found > I wondered where Numan came up with that early "Valaerien" name. I was > watching behind the scenes of the movie the 5th Element. They said some > sci fi artist named Mobieus has been doing sci fi stuff since the 60's > and one character was Valerian. I think they said sort of Han Solo > type. It was a French comic back in the 60's Valerian is a plant which is used medicinally; I sometimes make a cup of Valerian tea to help go to sleep. The active chemical in Valerian is also synthesized and sold in a much stronger dose under the well-known brand name Valium. Valium comes up quite a bit in some of Gary Numan's early songs, so I suspect that this is the Valerian he had in mind when he picked the name. \/ __ __ _\_ --Sean Crist (kurisuto@unagi.cis.upenn.edu) --- | | \ / http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kurisuto/ _| ,| ,| ----- _| ,| ,| [_] | | | [_] ------------------------------ End of Gary Numan Digest ******************************