Gary Numan Digest Thu, 14 Jan 99 Volume 1 : Issue 503 Today's Topics: ADMINISTRIVIA <none> Angel Wars can't be a single now! A redirection Christianity Desert Island Top 10 Fav Albums Gary Numan Digest V1 #499 Gary Numan Digest V1 #500 Greatest Albums, eh? Older equals better (whatever that means) R3 again Reply to Axeman The Apple Interview Top Non-Numan poll ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 00:10:20 -0800 From: Derek Langsford <dlangs@sunstroke.sdsu.edu> Subject: ADMINISTRIVIA To: numan@cs.uwp.edu I emailed Gary about the 500th issue of the Digest (for anyone who might think he reads it, no he does not), and he recognized the event with the following response. He apologized for missing the deadline for getting anything into issue 500, but said he's been ignoring email that has not been to do with the new album. So he's clearly immersing himself in that process. He'll need to in orderto meet a March, or even June delivery to the Eagle. My estimate would be a traditional fall release - September or October. Anyway, here's Gary's message: ================= Hello All, So Issue 500 of the Digest has come and gone. I would like to pass on my thanks and appreciation to all the Digest subscribers for your interest and enthusiasm. It's been many years since my career has looked so positive and been so exciting. I genuinely believe that it is the continued support of people such as you that has allowed me to survive long enough to grasp this new opportunity. Thank you. Thanks also to Derek Langsford for his long standing commitiment to the Digest and the obvious hard work involved. Bye for now, Gary Numan. ================= Cheers, Derek ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Derek H. Langsford "Numanews" San Diego, California, USA The Gary Numan Digest email numan-request@cs.uwp.edu to subscribe -----------------------------------------------------------------------------uwp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 13:40:26 -0000 From: "Simon Joseph" <s.joseph@virgin.net> Subject: <none> To: "The Digest" <numan@cs.uwp.edu> Hello my name`s Simon Joseph and I`m an alcoholic.........oooh sorry wrong room!! Well not really an alcoholic, but I`ve not had a cigarette it 9 days so I kind of feel like one, pail, nervous and very very irritable. I`ve been a noid since I Assassin and first saw Numan during the Warriors tour. It was heaving that night but we still managed to get to the front, we were only 13 so I suppose people felt sorry for us. >From then on I was hard core and managed to listen to nothing else for the next 3 or 4 years. Thankfully I`m very much more balanced now, musically at least. I`ve not long been on line and it feels strange to see all this interest going on seemingly with quite an American bias which is a suprise. Before the only interaction with other like minded people was and hour or so in the bar during the usual dire support bands slot (except tic & toc and Larry Lober/Lowber? because at least he was funny). One of my biggest fuck ups in life was not going to see Numan in New York. I have this image of Blondie, B52`s, Talking Heads all playing there in the early 80`s and it being the eppy centre of American new wave, please dont tell me if it wasn't, its my image:) Looks like I`ll get another shot though. People are talking about asking his nibbs to drop afe and cars. Cars yes, in fact he did one year but the following year had to reinstate it for the premier tour, for obvious reasons. But Electric?? drop electric? I think its practically a treasonable offence to even suggest such a thing. Electric has been played at every show that any of us have ever seen. For me thats about 55 times and I enjoy it for the sentiment behind it. No matter which way you look at it, it is still an excellent track and before I die I want to hear Numan sing the Tele tour/Wembley outro of the song in fact he has even mimed it a few times while the fans have sung a long. Remember the days when we take "misery" (good song but not best suited to the stage) was played for 20min at a time, after sitting through that year after year I`m sure nobody will be too hostile towards a 3.5min master piece that shaped all our lives. Sometimes the world is quite small, Richard King (the bad guy) has a name shake who is also a noid here in England. In some ways I`ll have to agree with Richard in that M+S is not as bad as people make out. OK love isolation is a pile of shite but then apart from 3 or 4, all of Numans ballads are. Poison is a great track, brilliant words. However there is a but, a major one, Exile. Normally Numans albums never ever impress me initially, maybe I expect too much or I`ve been waiting so long It is always going to be an anticlimax, only after a few plays does it start to grow on me. Not so with Exile, Dom day really impressed me, then things just started to get better and better. Well worth the day I booked off work to listen to it, a lot of my friends thought that was really sad but what do they know. Exile still gets 4 or 5 plays a week and about a year and a half down the line still sucks me in. It would always have been difficult to choose a favourite in the past I Assassin, Warriors or the very best debut LP in the history of mankind Tubeway Army, but Exile stands head and shoulders above them all. With sacrifice, I thought he was about to rediscover himself, a little bit like Dance and Assassin. The first was very good, but was lacking something while the second addressed those issues, mind you the audio quality crucified Sacrifice I never play it any more even though I would like to, but It hurts my ears, shame. I have great vibes about the new LP that I here Numan talking about the "hard in yer face industrial sound", could Exile be bettered? who knows but this kind of sound is the best thing he could do without it being thought of as Exile 2. Strange Charm, now theres a duffer. The albums only redeeming feature is that it is now 13 years old and probably right at the bottom of peoples collection. A lot of people seem to look at Numan albums with a lot of nostalgia talking of the "great sound of analogue", Telekon,pp and replicas like they are holy grails that they found. Great albums but lets face it compared to todays stuff they sound tinny. I wonder what people would say if Numan released an album like that now? Think about it? The biggest appeal of Numan music for me is that he constantly changes style, and those style changes seem to suit my musical tastes perfectly, maybe they shape them who cares. Every one has their favourite periods and it just so happens that we are presently in mine. Telekon is dead, long live Exile. Dying for a cigarette Simon Joseph ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 15:35:02 GMT0BST From: "James Chapman" <James.Chapman@newcastle.ac.uk> Subject: Angel Wars can't be a single now! To: numan@cs.uwp.edu In the last digest, Ben Iglar-Mobley wrote: > > On that note, I should take a moment and say I hope my post about the > "Angel Wars" video idea didn't offend anyone. Nobody has complained > about it, but I realized only after I sent it that it was going out on > the eve of the highest of the high holy days on the Christian calendar. > (As far as I know, anyway.) I didn't mean to be disrespectful; I just > wasn't thinking about the timing. I am a rabid anti-Christian, but I > have a great appreciation for my fellow Christian 'noids for sticking by > the man despite his atheism. I must confess, I imagine there probably > aren't too many atheists who listen to Christian music. > Well I think the idea is very good, and The Angel Wars would have made a MUCH better single than Dominion Day - but I think it's a bit late, unfortunately, because it seems the whole Exile era has gone on far too long. 3 years, or 4 if you count the fact that Absolution was a single as long ago as 1995, through the new songs played on the '96 Premier Tour and V96, the snippets on NuWorld, through the search for the record deal, and the release of the album and UK tour in '97, and the Eurpean and US tours , the 2 DD singles and extended versions in '98. Gary needs to move on to something new. Take earlier albums in the 80s, for instance, Warriors. There were the two singles, the album, the tour and that was it, by the following year he was making the next album. I hope the next album comes out before Oct. 2000! And Mike Damrath wrote: > > I for one think Numan's new music is incredibly great. Exile and > Sacrifice rank in my top 5 of all time to be sure. However... > > OF COURSE people tend to love strongest the music they listened to the > most while living their most exciting years of life. 18 years ago I was > 16 years old (lesse... 18 + 16 = 34 years old! EGAD what a fossil!), and > thus my favorite Numan records are I, Assassin and Telekon. It only > makes sense, that's how humans work. I'm not totally sure if that theory works either - by your theory I should like Exile best (I'm 20) and I'm sure everyone saw my post about that a couple of digests ago! My favourite album came from when I was six years old, and my favourite song (I Die : You Die) was from when I was two (eek!). Anyway, in 10 years time, I'm sure we'll all say that the people who love Exile best are clinging on :-) Oh and while saying Berserker was the best album of all time, I thought I'd add my favourite non-Numan albums. New Order-Substance 1987 Depeche Mode- 101 Pet Shop Boys-Alternative (you're allowed double CDs I hope) Kraftwerk-The Man Machine Jean-Michel Jarre- Equinoxe Jamiroquai-Return of the Space Cowboy (yes really !) I think that's a bit more constructive than my previous fave album post :-) James ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 07:13:26 -0500 From: "Masterpc" <masterpc@charlotte.infi.net> Subject: A redirection To: numan@cs.uwp.edu You know, when I read this digest I am amazed at the people who rant and rave over how others do not agree with them what "the best album is/was". Opinions are like assholes...everyone's got one. I currently scroll past the messages that are nothing more than argumentative and caustic replies from previous digests. Nothing more than a waste of space, really. We are all Gary fans and that is where the comradery should lie. We all have different "favorites" and there are many personal variables that make those pieces of music that way. Let's redirect the digest to something a little bit more productive and entertaining like trying to figure out what kind of music will Gary be churning when he is 55 years young. In the year 2013 I predict that, by that time, Gary will be a producer of other bands while occasionally recording an instrumental/new age movement. How many of us will still be avid fans? Don't know. I, for one, will follow him always through his journeys of musical explorations...I may not like all of them but will definitely be listening to see what flavor he's prone to. Cary Wiltz ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 23:04:58 -0700 From: "Joey Lindstrom" <joey@lindstrom.com> Subject: Christianity To: "numan@cs.uwp.edu" <numan@cs.uwp.edu>, Just my own personal take on the issues Ben raised. I too support Rick's call that we stop attacking each other. We are a small group of people - we're growing, but in the face of the Spice Girls and Alanis and whatnot, we're miniscule. We need to cherish what we have, and that includes our DIFFERENCES. Numan has influenced people from all walks of life. Now, on to the Christianity thing: I consider myself a "Christian", although I do confess to some doubts as to whether or not Jesus Christ was actually the son of God or just a really, really good preacher. :-) But I believe in God, and I believe in an afterlife, and all that stuff. The point I wanted to address was your kudo to "us Christians" for sticking by the man despite his atheism. Actually, there's two things I want to say here: 1) A real Christian... one who lives and breathes the *VALUES* that the faith teaches, rather than just parroting back verses that are convenient at the time, realizes that somebody isn't less of a person just because they don't happen to share the faith. Gary is an atheist. No problem. I sometimes might wish that he had faith, but even then, not necessarily *MY* faith. Faith is a wonderful thing and a great comfort sometimes, and I just wish the best for him, as I do everyone. I think if he had faith, he might be a little happier, that's all - even if that faith turned out to be Judaism or Hinduism or whatever. Then again, some people are able to turn atheism itself into a faith of sorts, insofar as having something to lean on and comfort oneself during times of trouble. For a "real Christian", it would be against their religion to abandon Gary Numan because of his atheism. I'll even go so far and say, controversially, that it would be against their religion to TRY TO "CONVERT" GARY as well. If Gary were to come to me and ask me to help him understand my faith, I would do so - but I would never, ever in a million years try to push it on him. Nor would I push him away because he doesn't share my faith. And that leads to: 2) Gary has stated, many times, that he wished he had faith, because he has seen that, at least for some people, it is a pillar of strength and comfort - the implication being that he lacks these sometimes. To me, this is stating that while he may reject some of the tenets that my faith is based on, he does not reject *ME*. And that's all I need to hear. :-) I may not be the best Christian in the world. But I'm happy with myself and I'm happy with my faith. And whether or not Gary Numan shares my faith is, to me, completely immaterial. Same goes for everyone here. Indeed, I'll go so far as to condemn a certain website that itself condemns Gary over the content of the Exile album, because to me it reeks of utter hypocrisy. It's one thing to keep your kids from listening to the album... it's quite another to tell the world that Gary Numan has committed some sort of offense simply by not sharing your faith and SHOWING THAT to us. At the risk of sounding like I, a right-winger, might be tilting somewhat to the left, I ask one and all: "Can't we all just get along?" :-) / From Joey Lindstrom joey@lindstrom.com / Interocitor Dot Net http://www.interocitor.net / / I love to go shopping. I love to freak out salespeople. They ask me if / they can help me, and I say, "Have you got anything I'd like?" Then they / ask me what size I need, and I say, "Extra medium." / --Steven Wright ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 10:25:13 -0800 From: alec way <errora@earthlink.net> Subject: Desert Island Top 10 To: numan@cs.uwp.edu I tip my hat to Matthew Roberts for inspiring people to send in their musical faves that include, but aren't exclusively, Numan. I love reading what other Digesters digest musically besides Numan. It's interesting to read because it gives one a different angle as to how different people get to, or appreciate, Gary's music. So, here's mine. 1. My Bloody Valentine- Glider, Tremolo and You Made Me Realise e.p.s especially (Where else does Eno meet Zepplin meet Hip Hop, meet late '80s Manchester ecstasy culture and somehow have a Numanesque detachment/passion? The spiritual side of sex, drugs & rock 'n roll) 2. Brian Eno- Another Green World, Music For Films. 3. Syd Barrett- The Madcap Laughs. ('No Good Trying' and 'No Man's Land' could be Numan songs, first off.) 4. John Foxx- Metamatic 5. Love- Forever Changes 6. Gary Numan- The Pleasure Principle. ('Airlane' killed me, so did 'Complex') 7. Talking Heads- Fear Of Music. ('Memories Can't Wait' is one of my all-timers) 8. Ultravox- Systems Of Romance (all of it, absolutely all of it) 9. Eno, Moebius & Roedelius- After The Heat 10. Scott Walker- Scott 4 (American exile in Britain for over 30 years and goth by default, sci-fi by default. Scott Walker should be seen as a Numan/Foxx kindred spirit) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 14:45:18 -0000 From: "Smithbolas" <asylum@telinco.co.uk> Subject: Fav Albums To: "Numan Digest" <numan@cs.uwp.edu> Great Idea, I don't know if I can reach 10 but I'll give it a go. These are in no particular order. 1. Exile - Numan. 2. Technique - New Order. 3. Garbage - Garbage 4. First, Last and Always - Sisters of Mercy 5. Soul Mining - The The 6. Leftism - Leftfield 7. Reproduction - The Human League 8. Telekon - Numan 9. Different Class - Pulp 10. Head on the door - The Cure There did it. Gary S 2. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 09:14:54 +0000 From: Emperor <palpatine@imperialcity.demon.co.uk> Subject: Gary Numan Digest V1 #499 To: numan@cs.uwp.edu In message <199812310700.BAA07611@cs.uwp.edu>, numan@cs.uwp.edu writes >I think I know what he means. Maybe now, you do >too..... -- Oh, I have been enlightened, thank you so much !!! -- PALPATINE ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 09:20:44 +0000 From: Emperor <palpatine@imperialcity.demon.co.uk> Subject: Gary Numan Digest V1 #500 To: Gary Numan <numan@cs.uwp.edu> In message <199901030700.BAA08682@cs.uwp.edu>, numan@cs.uwp.edu writes >More power to your elbow Jeff, as we Brits occasionally say... ;-) -- I thought being Brits it was `more power to your wrist` ?? ;) -- PALPATINE ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 23:20:52 -0700 From: "Joey Lindstrom" <joey@lindstrom.com> Subject: Greatest Albums, eh? To: "Gary Numan" <numan@cs.uwp.edu> Hmmm.... well, greatest albums of all time... lessee... ok, I can unload on that... but first lemme state that I'm *NOT* going to include Gary Numan albums on the list. I tend to think of his stuff as in a whole 'nother category of music, and can't objectively (or even subjectively) compare them to work by other people. 1) Living With The Law - Chris Whitley. A nice blend of blues and country. Reminds me of dusty Saskatchewan roads late at night in the middle of summer. 2) To Our Children's Children's Children - The Moody Blues. I grew up listening to this and it was one of the first CD's I ever bought. 3) Bonk - Big Pig. I sure wish this Aussie group had recorded more, this is their only recording - brilliant from end to end. 4) A Question Of Balance - The Moody Blues. What can I say, I'm a Moodies fan! 5) Watermark - Enya. The definitive Celtic sound (IMHO) 6) Road Apples - The Tragically Hip. Canadian bar-band makes good, and boy is it ever good. 7) Acadie - Daniel Lanois. Just sorta... out there, y'know? 8) The Crossing - Big Country. Debut album and still their finest. 9) Solitude Standing - Suzanne Vega. If Gary wants some advice on how to produce an engineer an album, have him sit down and listen to this (especially the mic technique!) 10) Perverse - Jesus Jones. I can actually say that I bought this album on the advice of Gary Numan. :-) 11) For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge - Van Halen. How can someone enjoy both Enya and Van Halen? Listen and find out! 12) Bat Out Of Hell - Meat Loaf. Forever a classic. 13) The Great White North - Bob & Doug McKenzie. Just checkin' to see if yer payin' attention. / From Joey Lindstrom joey@lindstrom.com / Interocitor Dot Net http://www.interocitor.net / / Men's minds do not work the way ours do and we will never understand / them. Yet we can't get along without them. / -- Maureen Johnson, "To Sail Beyond The Sunset" / (Robert Heinlein) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 17:22:01 -0500 From: Matthew Roberts <exile@compuserve.com> Subject: Older equals better (whatever that means) To: Gary Numan <numan@cs.uwp.edu> Re Digest 501: Pythoness & SomaCrow, Subjectivity rears its ugly head again. We will no doubt agree to differ about whether we, personally, prefer bands' older or newer material. However if there is such a thing as art, I maintain that later work is normally better. Of course you have much longer to write your first album, just as you hav= e longer to write your first novel (Catch 22 is a classic example). It's tr= ue also that inspiration is a transient thing (Prince, Rod Stewart, Wittgenstein etc). Still, I look through my rather sad CD collection and I'm damn sure a lot= of the bands I like have gotten better with experience (Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins, Duran Duran, Beastie Boys, Sisters Of Mercy... ooops).= = >maybe, just maybe, they have given good, honest listens to every album that has >come along, This hinges on "honest". My point, and I stick by it, is that people don'= t listen "honestly" to newer stuff. Like I said, or should have if I didn't= = - nostalgia. I prefer Replicas to Machine & Soul (slightly) and The Man Who Sold The World to Let's Dance (enormously), so I'm not opposed to early stuff per se. However I think Exile & Earthling are those artists best albums, because I do listen "honestly" to new stuff. Thinking some more about this, and the philosophy of aesthetics in genera= l, I can't deny the significance of nostalgia in judgements of artistic meri= t. I do get a buzz out of playing Replicas in the dark. It's just when I tur= n on the light... Re Digest 502: >I must confess, I imagine there probably aren't too many atheists who listen to >Christian music. I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm sure you're wrong. How many atheists would reject the chance to listen to J S Bach just cos his music was dedictated to the greater glory of God. >Oh well, you'll be an old fart yourself someday Matthew. Someday? Thank you for your small kindness. It's nice to see people talking. Matthew Roberts ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 14:13:10 -0000 From: "Smithbolas" <asylum@telinco.co.uk> Subject: R3 again To: "Numan Digest" <numan@cs.uwp.edu> I know I've asked this question before but does anyone at all know what' happening with the R3 project. Has anyone had any contact with Klaus to find out what is actually happening? I noticed is own Website had been partially update with a picture of Numan with snow falling over the top of it, so I know he's out there somewhere. Gary S ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 10:32:49 -0800 From: alec way <errora@earthlink.net> Subject: Reply to Axeman To: numan@cs.uwp.edu Pearson Mark, I loved reading your recollections of by-gone eras that you participated in. But, please don't ever make the mistake again of assuming that all that goes on in the USA is crystalized in Hollywood films, like Pretty In Pink. That's pretty silly of you, don't you think? :) I remember hating that movie, and others, that tried to capture certain trends of the time. Actually, it's worse now than it ever has been. That was just so insulting, what you wrote, even if it was unintentionally so. -A ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 09:45:39 -0800 From: alec way <errora@earthlink.net> Subject: The Apple Interview To: numan@cs.uwp.edu My favorite part of the Apple interview was when Gary was letting us in on his imigination. The Starship Enterprise-style errorless talking computer, walls that become monitors, removable media the size of a sugar cube. I realized when reading this that not only is this kind of imagination conveyed in the Pleasure Principle album cover photo and in the New Thing From London Town, parts of Cars and I Die: You Die videos, but it's what I've never gotten enough of in all things Numan. He stopped that answer far too short and was too elaborate, in comparison, with the more nuts-and-bolts answers about specific gear and software he employs. I guess it's to his credit among some people. But what initially made me such an extreme Numan fan was his imagination, his aesthetic, albeit overtly Sci-Fi, on Replicas through Telekon. I'd like to read an interview in which he unabashedly gushes about his (impractical) ideas. That and maybe a return to Sci-Fi as a concept to explore after these past couple of adventures with Catholicism. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 18:19:35 -0000 From: "Antonio" <antonio@goffboi.freeserve.co.uk> Subject: Top Non-Numan poll To: "Gary Numan" <numan@cs.uwp.edu> This is difficult to keep to a short list, but here goes - (all these in no particular order) Marc and the Mambas - "Torment and Torreros" - completely and utterly different to Numan's music, very very goth, all about suicide and sex, sleaze and other stuff beginning with an 'S'. Placebo - 'Without You I'm Nothing' - a toss up between this and their first album, but this has more depth than any album full of three minute punk/goth/indie songs should have. Siouxsie and the Banshees - 'Kaleidoscope' - another long-term musical affair of mine has been Siouxsie. And this album is just... a dreamland. The Cure - 'Pornography' - so I live in the past. So what ;) Tricky - 'Maxinquaye' - Trip-hop is so much better than Techno. I like the way this guy growls at the listener. And the album is cheaper than the half-kilo of weed you'd need to smoke to get the same effect as listening to Tricky in a darkened room... Ruby - 'Salt Peter' - and when Trip-Hop merges so seamlessly with goth, and has female vocals to die for, then heaven is here. This is a great album, which I discovered by accident. This is what Garbage sound like in their dreams. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - 'The Firstborn Is Dead' - it was either this, or 'The Boatman's Call, or 'Murder Ballads' - I'll stick with the one I chose, as it has 'Tupelo' on it. X-Ray Spex - 'Germfree Adolescents' - Just cause I'm a sucker for trashy old punk rock. Alien Sex Fiend - 'Whose been Sleeping In My Brain?' - for 'Ignore The Machine' and 'Wish I Woz A Dog' and 'New Christian Music'. Alien Sex Fiend are the only band I can think of who could title a song 'Drive My Rocket Up Uranus' and still be good. I like the way they use synths, too. Public Image Limited - 'Public Image Limited' - I like punk rock a lot, and PiL are 1000 times better than the Sex Pistols ever were. This album is great. Ultravox - 'Three Into One' - John Foxx is still a great man, and 'Slow Motion' is good enough to be a Numan song. As is 'My Sex', 'Just For A Moment' and 'Hiroshima Mon Amour'. Ultravox, for me, went downhill after John Foxx left. It's probably just because I could never get into Midge Ure's voal style, though stuff like 'Sleepwalk' and 'The Thin Wall' I can still enjoy. And the other stuff I like an awful lot - White Zombie - 'Astro-Creep 2000' Nirvana - 'In Utero' Hole - 'Pretty On The Inside' Terry Hall - 'Deception' Space - 'Spiders' David Bowie - 'Ziggy Stardust' I think I'll leave it at that, for now. Toni http://www.goffboi.freeserve.co.uk ------------------------------ End of Gary Numan Digest ******************************