Gothic rock (also referred to as goth rock or simply goth) is a musical subgenre of post-punk that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes. According to both Pitchfork^[2] and NME,^[3] protogoth bands are Joy Division,^[2][3][4] Siouxsie and the Banshees,^[2][3] Bauhaus^[2][3] and The Cure.^[2][3] The genre itself was defined as a separate movement from punk rock during the early 1980s largely due to the significant stylistic divergences of the movement; gothic rock, as opposed to punk, combines dark, often keyboard-heavy music with introspective and depressing lyrics. Gothic rock then gave rise to a broader subculture that included clubs, fashion and numerous publications that grew in popularity in the 1980s.

Style, roots and influences[link]

According to music journalist Simon Reynolds, standard musical fixtures of the Gothic rock include "scything guitar patterns, high-pitched Joy Division basslines that often usurped the melodic role; [and] beats that were either hypnotically dirgelike or 'tribal'".^[5] Reynolds described the vocal style as consisting of "deep, droning alloys of Jim Morrison and Leonard Cohen".^[5] Siouxsie and the Banshees tended to play the flanging guitar effect, producing a brittle, cold, and harsh sound that contrasted with their psychedelic rock predecessors.^[6] Several acts used drum machines that do not stress the back beat in the rhythm.^[7]

Gothic rock typically deals with dark themes addressed through lyrics and the music atmosphere. The poetic sensibilities of the genre led gothic rock lyrics to exhibit literary romanticism, morbidity, religious symbolism, and/or supernatural mysticism.^[8] Musicians who initially shaped the aesthetics and musical conventions of gothic rock include Marc Bolan,^[9] The Velvet Underground,^[10] The Doors,^[10] David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and The Sex Pistols.^[10][11] However, Reynolds considers Alice Cooper as "the true ungodly godfather of Goth" due to his "theatrics and black humor".^[9] Nico's 1969 album, The Marble Index, was also particularly influential.^[12] Gothic rock creates a dark atmosphere by drawing influence from the drones used by protopunk group The Velvet Underground, and many goth singers are influenced by the "deep and dramatic" vocal timbre of David Bowie, albeit singing at even lower pitches.^[7] J.G. Ballard was a strong lyrical influence for many of the early gothic rock groups; The Birthday Party drew on Arthur Rimbaud and Charles Baudelaire.^[13]

In 1976, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice was published. The main character, although dark, wanted companionship and love. The book, according to music journalist Dave Thompson, slowly created an audience for gothic rock by word of mouth. The same year saw the punk rock band The Damned debut. The group's vocalist Dave Vanian was a former gravedigger who dressed like a vampire 24 hours a day. Brian James, a guitarist for the group, noted, "Other groups had safety pins and the spitting and bondage trousers, but you went to a Damned show, and half the local cemetery would be propped up against the stage".^[14]

History[link]

Origins and early development[link]

The term gothic was used to describe Velvet Underground singer Nico as early in 1971. The term was used occasionally in the years that followed.^[14] In the late 1970s, the word "gothic" was used to describe the atmosphere of post-punk bands like Joy Division. In 1979, Martin Hannett described Joy Division as "dancing music with Gothic overtones"^[1] and in September, their manager Tony Wilson described their music as "gothic" on the television show Something Else.^[15] In 1980, Melody Maker wrote that "Joy Division are masters of this gothic gloom".^[16] When their final album Closer came out a couple of months after the death of their singer, Sounds noted in its review that there were "dark strokes of gothic rock".^[17] Not long after, this appellation "became a critical term of abuse" for a band like Bauhaus that had arrived later on the music scene.^[1] However, the term would not be adopted as "positive identity, a tribal rallying cry" until a shift in the scene in 1982.^[1] In addition, Simon Reynolds identifies The Birthday Party and Killing Joke as essential proto-goth groups.^[18] Despite their legacy as progenitors of gothic rock, these groups disliked the label.^[19] Adam Ant's early work was also a major impetus for the gothic rock scene, and much of the fan base came from his milieu.^[20]

Bauhaus's debut single "Bela Lugosi's Dead", released in late 1979, is retrospectively considered to be the beginning of the gothic rock genre.^[21] According to Peter Murphy the song was written to be tongue in cheek but since the group performed it with "naive seriousness" that is how the audience understood it.^[14] Around the same time, post-punk bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure included more gothic characteristics in their music.^[22] According to Simon Reynolds, with their fourth album, 1981's Juju, Siouxsie and the Banshees introduced several Gothic qualities, lyrically and sonically^[22] but for The Guardian, Juju was also art-rock on certain songs and pop on the singles.^[23] Bassist Steven Severin attributes the aesthetic used by the band around that time to the influence of The Cramps.^[22] The Cure's "oppressively dispirited" trio of album Seventeen Seconds (1980), Faith (1981) and Pornography (1982) cemented that group's stature in the genre.^[24] The line "It doesn’t matter if we all die" began the Pornography album, which is considered as "The Cure’s gothic piece de resistance".^[25] They would later become the most commercially successful of these groups.^[26] The Cure's style was "withdrawn",^[24] contrasting with their contemporaries like Nick Cave's first band The Birthday Party, who drew on funk, blues, and spastic, violent turmoil.^[27] With the Birthday Party's Junkyard album, Nick Cave combined "sacred and profane" things,^[28] using old testament imagery,^[29] with stories about sin, curses and damnation.^[29] Their 1981 single "Release the Bats" was particularly influential in the scene.^[30]

Killing Joke were originally inspired by Public Image Ltd., borrowing from funk, disco, dub, and later, heavy metal.^[31] Calling their style "tension music", Killing Joke distorted these elements to provocative effect, as well as producing a morbid, politically charged visual style.^[31] After being a punk band, The Damned performed dramatic surges with a crooner's voice on The Black Album.^[32]

Gothic rock thrived in the early 1980s. In London, the Batcave club opened in July 1982^[33] to provide a venue for the goth scene.^[34] That same year, Ian Astbury of the band Southern Death Cult used the term "gothic goblins" to describe Sex Gang Children's fans.^[35] Southern Death Cult appeared on the cover of NME in October:^[36] they became themselves icons of the scene, drawing aesthetic inspiration from Native American culture.

Expansion of the scene[link]

Rubella Ballet at the Clarendon Club, London 1985.

In February 1983, the emerging scene was described as "positive punk" on the front cover of the NME:^[10] in his article, journalist Richard North described Bauhaus and Theatre of Hate as "the immediate forerunners of today's flood" and declared, "So here it is: the new positive punk, with no empty promises of revolution, either in the rock'n'roll sense or the wider political sphere. Here is only a chance of self awareness, of personal revolution, of colourful perception and galvanisation of the imagination that startles the slumbering mind and body from their sloth".^[10] That year, myriad Goth groups emerged, including Flesh for Lulu, Play Dead, Rubella Ballet, Gene Loves Jezebel,^[37] UK Decay, Blood and Roses, The Virgin Prunes and Ausgang.^[29] The 4AD label released music in a more ethereal style, by groups such as Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance and Xmal Deutschland.^[29] The Icelandic group Kukl also appeared in this period, which included Björk and other musicians who later participated in The Sugarcubes.^[29]

Simon Reynolds speaks of a shift from early Goth to gothic rock proper, advanced by The Sisters of Mercy.^[38] As journalist Jennifer Park puts it, "the original blueprint for gothic rock had mutated significantly. Doom and gloom was no longer confined to its characteristic atmospherics, but as the Sisters demonstrated, it could really rock".^[39] The Sisters of Mercy, influenced by Leonard Cohen, Gary Glitter, Motörhead, The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, The Birthday Party, Suicide and The Fall, created a new, harder form of gothic rock.^[40] In addition, they incorporated a drum machine.^[40] Reynolds identifies their 1983 single "Temple of Love" as the quintessential Goth anthem of the year, along with Southern Death Cult's "Fatman".^[41] The group created their own record label, Merciful Release, which also signed The March Violets, who performed in a similar style.^[42] According to Simon Reynolds, The March Violets "imitated Joy Division sonically".^[43] Another band, The Danse Society was particularly inspired by The Cure in their Pornography period.^[42]

Subsequent developments[link]

Fields of the Nephilim, Live at the Agra Hall, Leipzig, Germany 2008.

Southern Death Cult reformed as The Cult, a more conventional hard rock group.^[41] In their wake, The Mission UK, which included two former members of The Sisters of Mercy, achieved commercial success in the mid-1980s,^[44] as did Fields of the Nephilim and All About Eve.^[45] Bands who continue to be associated with gothic rock include Alien Sex Fiend, All Living Fear, And Also the Trees, Balaam and the Angel, Claytown Troupe, Dream Disciples, Feeding Fingers, Inkubus Sukkubus, Libitina, Fields of the Nephilim, Nosferatu, Rosetta Stone and Suspiria.^[46]

American gothic rock began with 45 Grave and Christian Death, both of whom were strongly influenced by The Cramps.^[47] This style is often described as deathrock.^[48] European groups inspired by the style have also proliferated, including Xmal Deutschland^[49] and Clan of Xymox.^[50] These groups are associated with Dark Wave, which draws on gothic rock in addition to synthpop and industrial.^[51]

In the nineties, several mainstream acts including PJ Harvey,^[52][53] Marilyn Manson^[54] and Nine Inch Nails^[55] put gothic characteristics in their music without being assimilated to the genre. According to Rolling Stone, PJ Harvey's music in 1993 "careens from blues to goth to grunge, often in the space of a single song"^[52] where as American bands like Marilyn Manson combined "atmosphere from goth and disco"^[56] with "industrial sound".^[57]

In the years 2000s, critics regularly noticed that new comers were marked by the genre.^[58][59] English band The Horrors mixed sixties garage with eighties goth.^[58] When presenting female singer Zola Jesus, writers questioned if she announced the second coming of the genre^[60] as her music was described with this term.^[61][59]

Gothic subculture[link]

Members of the Toronto goth scene after leaving a goth rock event in 2008.

The gothic subculture that grew up with the beginnings of the genre in London, spread to continental Europe and North America in the 1980s.^[62] Although going through periods of decline, as in the late 1980s, it has enjoyed several revivals and has continued to diversify and develop, with active subcultures in places such as Portland, Oregon, New Orleans and Toronto.^[63] In terms of dress it incorporated influences from 19th-century Gothic literature along with horror films and to a lesser extent the BDSM culture.^[64] Gothic fashions within the subculture range from deathrock, punk, androgynous, Victorian, some Renaissance and Medieval style attire, or combinations of the above, most often with black clothing, makeup and hair.^[11] Modern gothic novels and films, particularly the works of Anne Rice and Poppy Z. Brite, have been highly influential on the development of the sub-culture.^[62] Gothic subculture has also become incorporated into works of fiction, including graphic novel The Crow and role playing games, including Vampire: The Masquerade, which has also been adapted into two video games.^[65]

See also[link]

• List of gothic rock bands

References[link]

Footnotes

Bibliography

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Lacrimas Profundere is a gothic rock band from Germany. Their name means "to shed tears" in Latin. Their stylistic aesthetic has evolved over time; originally a death doom rooted gothic metal band, they have progressively changed their style to a more mainstream gothic style with the later albums.

Biography[link]

Lacrimas Profundere was founded in 1993 by guitarist Oliver Schmid. At the time, the band was influenced by doom metal, and also made use of feminine vocals and classical elements. With the entrance of vocalist Anja Hötzendorfer, they drew enough attention to themselves to be able to record their debut, entitled ... and the Wings Embraced Us, which was released in 1995 and was followed by La Naissance d’un Rêve (French for "Birth of a Dream"), from 1997.

After the said releases, the band was granted a deal with Napalm Records which included five albums. A harpist was added to the band's line-up and they proceeded to record Memorandum (1999).

Burning: A Wish from 2001 was Lacrimas Profundere's first album to receive attention from the international specialized press. This album featured the removal of the band's classical elements to some degree, and was also the first time they employed baritone vocals, supplied by Oliver's brother, Christopher Schmid. Their first international tour then began, including countries of Europe and Latin America.

Lacrimas Profundere's subsequent albums were Fall, I Will Follow from 2002 and Ave End from 2004.

Filthy Notes For Frozen Hearts received considerable attention from Jackass star Bam Margera and the songs My Velvet Little Darkness, Short Glance, Should and Sweet Caroline along with a vocal excerpt from Sad Theme For a Marriage were played on his show Bam's Unholy Union.

In April 2007, Christopher Schmid, the band's founding member and vocalist left the band; citing prolonged stress from touring. It did not take long to find a new vocalist: Peter Kafka, who also sings for the German band Sonicslave. A Few months later basist Daniel Lechner left the band and vocalist Peter Kafka became the new basist and Rob Vitacca employed as the new vocalist, who also sings for the German Rock band Lost. Long time keyboardist Christian Steiner also left the band but supplied some parts for the new album. The album called "Songs For The Last View" was released in the summer of 2008. This was the first album featuring their new singer, Rob Vitacca.

Lacrimas Profundere's new album, The Grandiose Nowhere has been released on 30 April 2010.

Members[link]

Current members[link]

• Rob Vitacca - Vocals
• Oliver Nikolas Schmid - Guitars
• Tony Berger - Guitars
• Domonik Sholtz - Drums

Former members[link]

Guitars[link]

• Marco Praschberger
• Christian Freitsmiedl
• Stefan Randelshofer
• Manuel Ehrlich (Seraph (Ger))
• Ryan Gabriel Short

Bass[link]

• Markus Lapper
• Rico Galvagno (ex-Darkseed)
• Daniel Lechner
• Peter Kafka

Drums[link]

• Willi Wurm (ex-Darkseed)
• Christian Greisberger
• Stefan Eireiner
• Lorenz Gehmacher
• Kevin Sumner

Other[link]

• Christopher Schmid - Vocals
• Christian Steiner - Keyboards
• Anja Hötzendorfer - Violin, Backing Vocals
• Ursula Schmidhammer - Harp
• Eva Stöger - Flute, Keyboards

Extra Members[link]

• Tony Cheirichetti
• Alexandra Diehl

Discography[link]

• ...And the Wings Embraced Us (1995)
• La Naissance D'Un Rêve (1997)
• The Crown of Leaving (1997)
• The Embrace and the Eclipse (1998)
• Memorandum (1999)
• Burning: A Wish (2001)
• Fall, I Will Follow (2002)
• Ave End (2004)
• Again It's Over (2006)
• Filthy Notes for Frozen Hearts (2006)
• Songs for the Last View (2008)
• The Grandiose Nowhere (2010)

Videos[link]

• "Ave End" (2004)
• "Amber Girl" (2004)
• "Again It's Over" (2006)
• "My Velvet Little Darkness" (2006)
• "A Pearl" (2008)
• "And God's Ocean" (2009)
• "The Letter" (2010)
• "Lips" (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Lacrimas Profundere at Napalm Records
• Lacrimas Profundere at MySpace

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2008)

Gary Numan
Gary Numan – Bestival – September 2008
Background information
Birth name	Gary Anthony James Webb
Born	(1958-03-08) 8 March 1958 (age 54) Hammersmith, west London, United Kingdom
Genres	1977–1994: New Wave, synthpop, electronic, experimental rock 1994–present: Industrial rock, gothic rock, Dark Wave
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, synthesiser, guitar, bass, drums
Years active	1977–present
Labels	Metropolis, Beggars Banquet, Numa, IRS, Eagle, Mortal, Atco
Associated acts	Tubeway Army, Dramatis, Nine Inch Nails, Paul Gardiner, Bill Sharpe, Fear Factory
Website	www.garynuman.co.uk
Notable instruments
Minimoog, Polymoog, ARP Odyssey

Gary Numan (born Gary Anthony James Webb on 8 March 1958) is an English singer, composer, and musician, most widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" (as Tubeway Army) and "Cars". His signature sound consisted of heavy synthesiser hooks fed through guitar effects pedals.

Numan is considered a pioneer of commercial electronic music.^[1][2] His use of themes from science fiction, and his combination of aggressive punk energy with electronics, have been widely imitated.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Born in Hammersmith, Gary Anthony James Webb was the son of a British Airways bus driver based at Heathrow Airport. Webb was educated at Town Farm Junior School Stanwell, Ashford County Grammar School, Middlesex, Slough Grammar School^[3] and Brooklands Technical College. He joined the Air Training Corps as a teenager. He then briefly did various jobs including fork lift truck driver, air conditioning ventilator fitter and clerk in an accounts department. A guitar was purchased for him at an early age and he began writing songs when he was about 15 years old. He played in various bands, including Mean Street and The Lasers, before forming Tubeway Army with his uncle, Jess Lidyard, and Paul Gardiner. His initial pseudonym was "Valerian", probably in reference to the hero in French science fiction comic series Valérian and Laureline.^[4] Later he picked the name "Numan" from an advert in the "Yellow Pages" for a plumber "A. Neumann".^[5]

1970s[link]

Tubeway Army[link]

Numan rose to prominence at the end of the 1970s as front man, writer and producer for Tubeway Army. After recording an album's worth of punk-influenced demo tapes (released in 1984 as The Plan), he was signed by Beggars Banquet Records in 1978 and quickly released two singles, "That's Too Bad" and "Bombers", neither of which charted.

A self-titled, New Wave-oriented debut album later that same year sold out its limited run and introduced Numan's fascination with dystopian science fiction and, more importantly, synthesisers. Tubeway Army's third single, the dark-themed and slow-paced "Down in the Park" (1979) also failed to chart but it would prove to be one of Numan's most enduring and oft-covered songs; it was featured with other contemporary hits on the soundtrack for the movie Times Square, and a live version of the song can also be seen in the movie Urgh! A Music War. After exposure in a television advertisement for Lee Cooper jeans with the jingle "Don't be a dummy", Tubeway Army released the single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" in May 1979. The single took seven weeks before it finally reached No. 1 at the end of June; the parent album Replicas simultaneously reached #1.

As Gary Numan[link]

A few months later Numan found success in the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with "Cars", which peaked at No. 1 in the UK in 1979 and No. 1 in Canada^[6] and No. 9 in US in 1980. "Cars" and the 1979 album The Pleasure Principle were both released under Numan's own (assumed) name. A sell-out tour ('The Touring Principle') followed; the concert video it spawned is often cited as the first full-length commercial music video release.^[7][8] The Pleasure Principle was a rock album with no guitars; instead, Numan used synthesisers fed through guitar effects pedals to achieve a distorted, phased, metallic tone. The Pleasure Principle remains one of Numan's most highly-regarded efforts to date. A second single from the album "Complex" made it to No. 6 in the UK charts.

Personality and style[link]

While angry like his punk contemporaries, Numan suppressed his anger and "got really hung up with this whole thing of not feeling, being cold about everything, not letting emotions get to you, or presenting a front of not feeling".^[9]

Around this time, Numan also developed his distinctive style. According to Numan, this was an unintentional result of acne; before an appearance on Top of the Pops, he had "spots everywhere, so they slapped about half an inch of white makeup on me before I'd even walked in the door. And my eyes were like pissholes in the snow, so they put black on there. My so-called image fell into place an hour before going on the show".^[9] His "wooden" stage presence was, in his words, a result of extreme self-consciousness and lack of "showmanship".^[9] He also wore costumes and openly proclaimed his influences: David Bowie, Marc Bolan, and contemporary electronic acts such as John Foxx's Ultravox. His persona was aloof, alien, and androgynous; Numan was not seen to be part of the punk or New Romantic movements. During this period, Numan generated an army of fans calling themselves "Numanoids", providing him with a fanbase which maintained their support through the latter half of the 1980s, when his fortunes began to fall precipitously.^[9]

1980s[link]

Numan performing in February 1980.

In 1980 Numan topped the album charts with Telekon, with the concurrent singles "We Are Glass", "I Die: You Die" and "This Wreckage" reaching No. 5, No. 6 and No. 20, respectively. The final studio album of what Numan retrospectively termed the "Machine" section of his career,^[10] Telekon reintroduced guitars to Numan's music and featured a wider range of synthesisers. The same year he embarked on his second major tour ("The Teletour") with an even more elaborate stage show than The Touring Principle the previous year. Although considered a success^{[by whom?]}, Numan claimed the tour actually lost him a great deal of money because of the vast expense in mounting it. He announced his retirement from touring with a series of sell-out concerts at Wembley Arena in April 1981, supported by experimental musician Nash the Slash and Shock, a rock/mime/burlesque troupe whose members included Barbie Wilde, Tik and Tok and Carole Caplin. The decision to retire would be short-lived.

Moving away from the pure electro-pop that he had made his name with, Numan then experimented with jazz, funk and ethereal, rhythmic pop. His first album after his 1981 farewell concerts was the bleak, atmospheric and experimental Dance (1981). The album charted as high as No. 3 on the UK charts, with an eight week chart run and produced one hit single ("She's Got Claws") reaching No. 6. The album featured several distinguished guest players; Mick Karn (bass, saxophone) and Rob Dean (guitar) of Japan, Roger Mason (keyboards) of Models and Roger Taylor (drums) of Queen.

With his former backing band, Chris John Payne (Keyboards, Viola) Russell Bell (Guitar) and Ced Sharpley (Drums) now reformed as Dramatis, Numan contributed vocals to the minor hit "Love Needs No Disguise" from the album For Future Reference. However, Numan's career had begun to experience a gradual decline, and he was eclipsed initially by acts such as Adam Ant, and later by The Human League, Duran Duran, and Depeche Mode. Each album also saw a new "image", none of which captured the public's imagination to nearly the same extent as the lonely android of 1979.^[9]

The more upbeat and danceable I, Assassin (1982) fared less well than Dance. Despite producing one Top 10 and two Top 20 singles, the album peaked at No. 8 with a six week chart run. Numan supported the album with a concert tour in America in late 1982 (where he was living as a tax exile), which were his first series of live shows since his farewell at Wembley.

Warriors (1983) further developed Numan's jazz-influenced style and featured contributions from avant-garde musician Bill Nelson (who fell out with Numan during recording and chose to be uncredited as the album's co-producer) and saxophonist Dick Morrissey (who would play on most of Numan's albums until 1991). The album peaked at No. 12, produced two hit singles including the Top 20 title track and, like I, Assassin, spent six weeks in the charts. Warriors was the last album Numan recorded for Beggars Banquet Records, and was supported by a 40-date UK tour (again with support from robotic mime and music duo Tik and Tok) – Numan's first live tour in the UK since his Wembley appearances in 1981. Numan's look for the album artwork and tour was a Mad Max-influenced black leather costume against a post-apocalyptic backdrop, but this latest image change was scorned by the music press.

Now battling against the increasing public perception that he was a spent force, Numan issued a series of albums and singles on his own record label, Numa. As the decade continued, he experienced a creative malaise, trying to recapture his former chart glory with less distinguished albums, some of which were stylistically derivative of artists like Robert Palmer and Prince.

The first album released on Numa, 1984’s Berserker was also notable for being Numan's first foray into music computers/samplers, in this case the PPG Wave. Berserker moved away from the fluid, fretless sound that characterised Numan's previous three albums, featuring instead harder-edged electric bass and drum sounds. The album was also accompanied by a striking blue-and-white visual image, a tour, a live album/video and produced two hit singles, but it divided critics and fans and commercially was Numan’s least successful release to that date. This year also saw the death of Paul Gardiner, who was Numan's bassist and friend since his Tubeway Army days, from a fatal heroin overdose on 4 February 1984. Numan's song 'A Child With The Ghost' is about Paul Gardiner and also featured on Tik & Tok's album 'Intolerance' (1984).

Numan's next album, The Fury (1985), charted slightly higher than Berserker, produced four hit singles and featured another new image of white suit and red bow tie. To date, The Fury is the last Numan album to crack the British Top 30.

Collaborations with Bill Sharpe of Shakatak helped little, though two singles the duo recorded, "Change Your Mind", did see chart action, reaching No.17 and "No More Lies" reaching No.35 in 1988 in Britain. Numa Records, which had been launched in a flurry of idealistic excitement, folded after the release of Numan's Strange Charm album (1986). In addition to Numa's commercial failure, a lack of radio play (his records were removed from the BBC Radio 1 playlist) and sales drained the fortune (he estimated £4.5 million) Numan had amassed in the late 1970s. Numan signed to IRS Records and his final studio album of the 1980s, the edgy, industrial-funk Metal Rhythm (1988) found favour with fans and scored some positive reviews in the UK music press, but it sold poorly despite two hit singles. Metal Rhythm's sales were arguably confounded by the lack of strong promotion and IRS's inappropriate choices of singles (the record label also changed the album's title to New Anger, changed the album colour shade from black to blue, and remixed several of its tracks for its American release against Numan's wishes). 1989 saw the release of the Sharpe + Numan album Automatic. A more lightweight-pop effort than Numan's solo albums, Automatic fared less well than Metal Rhythm, and has been out of print since its initial release, fetching high prices on auction sites.

1990s[link]

In 1991, Numan ventured into film-scoring by co-composing the music for The Unborn with Michael R. Smith (the score was later released as an instrumental album in 1995, Human). After Outland (1991), another critical and commercial disappointment and his second and last studio album with IRS, Numan reactivated Numa Records, under which he would release his next two albums. However, even Numan considers his 1992 Machine + Soul, a misguided attempt at a purely commercial release recorded solely to pay off debts, a career low point. The album sold only a few thousand copies. By 1994, Numan decided to stop attempting to crack the pop market and concentrate instead on exploring more personal themes, including his vocal atheism. His future wife Gemma encouraged him to strip away the influences of the previous years. Numan re-evaluated his career and went in a harsher, more industrial direction with his songwriting on the album Sacrifice — for the first time he played almost all the instruments himself. The move was critically well-received, as Numan's harder and darker sound emerged just as Numan-influenced bands like Nine Inch Nails were enjoying their first rush of fame. The influence was two-way; Numan claimed that Nine Inch Nails' song "Closer" is his favourite hit single of all time, and influenced his music. Sacrifice was the last album Numan made before shutting down Numa Records permanently. His next two albums, Exile (1997) and Pure (2000), restored his critical reputation. Numan toured the U.S. in support of Exile, his first stateside concerts since the early 1980s.^[9]

2000s[link]

Gary Numan performing in 2007

Numan has become acknowledged and respected by his peers, with such musicians as Dave Grohl (of Foo Fighters and Nirvana), Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails), and Marilyn Manson proclaiming his work an influence and recording cover versions of old Numan hits.^[11][12] The band Basement Jaxx had a huge hit in 2002 with "Where's Your Head At?", which relied on a sample of Numan's "M.E." – from The Pleasure Principle – for its hook. Fear Factory produced a cover of "Cars" (featuring a prominent guest appearance by Numan himself) for the digipak version of their album Obsolete. Nine Inch Nails covered the song "Metal" on The Fragile remix album Things Falling Apart as did Afrika Bambaataa (with Numan himself) on the album Dark Matter Moving at the Speed of Light. "Cars" remains Numan's most enduring song; it was a hit again in 1987 (remixed by Zeus B. Held) and 1996, in the latter case thanks to an appearance in an advert for Carling beer. In 2000 DJ Armand Van Helden sampled the track and mixed it up in his single "Koochy" which conquered the dancefloors. In 2002, UK pop trio Sugababes scored a No. 1 with "Freak Like Me" – a mashup of Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me" and "Are Friends Electric?" by Numan's Tubeway Army.

Other musicians, and at least one comedian, who have sung Numan's praises in recent years include Beck, Grant Nicholas, Tricky, Damon Albarn & Matt Sharp, Jarvis Cocker, Queens of the Stone Age, David Bowie, Noel Fielding and Afrika Bambaataa, who spoke of the influence Numan's music had on the fledgling American DJ scene: "In the late 70s and early 80s Gary had the rhythms that DJs wanted to get hold of and people waited for his records on the dance floor." "^{[cite this quote]} Cars" was featured on the soundtrack for the blockbuster 2002 videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as part of the New Wave radio station Wave 103, although it did not appear on the soundtrack CD release for the game. "Are Friends Electric" appeared on EA's game Need For Speed: Carbon in 2006.

In 2002, Numan enjoyed chart success once again with the single "Rip", reaching No. 29 in the UK chart and in 2003 with the Gary Numan vs Rico single "Crazier", which reached No. 13 in the UK chart. Rico also worked on the remix album Hybrid which featured reworkings of older songs in a more contemporary industrial style as well as new material. Other artists and producers who contributed on these remixes included Curve, Flood, Andy Gray, Alan Moulder, New Disease and Sulpher. 2003 also saw Numan performing the vocals on a track named "Pray For You" on the Plump DJs album Eargasm, which was well received. In 2004 Numan took control of his own business affairs again, launching the label Mortal Records and releasing a series of live DVDs. In late 2006, Numan announced on his website that recording would begin on his new album in January 2007, with Ade Fenton co-producing. Numan stated "think of Jagged and Pure, but faster, with bigger choruses, more energy, and more aggression"^{[cite this quote]} to describe the album's intended sound. The album, Jagged, was duly released on 13 March 2006. An album launch gig took place at The Forum, London on 18 March followed by UK, European and US tours in support of the release. Numan also launched a Jagged website to showcase the new album, and made plans to have his 1981 farewell concert (previously released as Micromusic on VHS) issued on DVD by November 2006 as well as releasing the DVD version of the Jagged album launch gig. Numan undertook a Telekon 'Classic Album' tour in the UK in December 2006.

On 6 November 2006, Numan took part in the Sky1 reality show The Race. It pitted ten celebrities (five male, five female) against each other in a series of Formula One-style car races. These races were held at Silverstone over the next five days, and varied in racing styles, ultimately culminating in one final Grand Prix race on Sunday, 12 November. Numan did win on the overall leaderboard, though he lost the final race to AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson.

Numan contributed vocals to four tracks on the April 2007 release of Fenton's debut solo album Artificial Perfect on his new industrial/electronic label Submission, including songs "The Leather Sea", "Slide Away", "Recall" and the first single to be taken from the album, "Healing". The second single to be released in the UK was "The Leather Sea" on 30 July 2007.

Promoting the 2008 Replicas Tour

He sold out a fifteen-date UK tour in Spring 2008 during which he performed his 1979 number one album Replicas in full, and all the Replicas-era music including B-sides.^[13] The highly successful tour also raised Numan's profile in the media again due to the fact that it coincided with his 30th anniversary in the music business. The tour was also notable for the Manchester gig on 8 March 2008 which also happened to fall on his 50th birthday. The band, along with wife Gemma, helped Numan celebrate by bringing a large cake onstage. A recording of the concert was released on DVD under the title "Replicas Live".

In November 2007, Numan confirmed via his website that work on a new album, with the working title of Splinter, would be under way throughout 2008, after finishing an alternate version of Jagged (called Jagged Edge) and the CD of unreleased songs from his previous three albums (confirmed to be titled Dead Son Rising on 1 December 2008 via official mailing list message). He wrote that Splinter was likely to be released in early 2010. Numan has recently completed a four-date run of gigs in Australia and will be touring the UK in the coming months.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2009, Gary Numan appeared as a special guest at the "Wave Goodbye" Nine Inch Nails concert at The O2 arena (London) in London. Before coming on stage, Trent Reznor explained how Numan was "vitally important and a huge inspiration" to him during the past 20 years. Numan then went on to play two songs with Nine Inch Nails; "Cars" and "Metal". Numan appeared once again at the final run of the "Wave Goodbye" shows in Los Angeles, CA. In August 2009 he played at the Hevy Music Festival in Folkestone, UK. On 2 September 2009 at the Hollywood Palladium, Numan joined Reznor on stage to perform "Metal" and "Cars" near the end of the Nine Inch Nails set. He then joined the band onstage a third time at the Echoplex in Los Angeles, CA, this time performing "Metal" and "I Die: You Die" from the album Telekon. He then joined them a fourth time at the Henry Fonda Theater, performing "Down In The Park", "Metal" and "Cars". Mike Garson initially played "Down In The Park (Piano Version)" before they started the song. He then joined them for the final show at the Wiltern Theater.

In a September 2009 interview with The Quietus, Numan says that he and Trent Reznor plan to make music together.^[14]

2010s[link]

He was set to perform a small number of American live dates in April 2010, including a Coachella Festival appearance in California, but had to cancel because air travel in Europe was halted by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud. As a result, the tour was not only postponed but expanded, and his Pleasure Principle 30th Anniversary Tour's American and Mexican dates began on 17 October 2010, at Firestone Live in Orlando, Florida.

Gary Numan toured Australia in May 2011 performing his seminal album The Pleasure Principle in its entirety to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary. Joining him on tour was renowned Australian electronic band Severed Heads, coming out of retirement especially for the shows.^[15]

Numan lent his vocals to the track "My Machines" off Battles's 2011 album "Gloss Drop". He has been chosen by Battles to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas festival that they co-curate in December 2011 in Minehead, England.^[16] Numan's new album Dead Son Rising was released on 16 September 2011 which had a full U.K tour split in two halves, 15–21 September and 7–11 December, Both parts were supported by Welsh soloist Jayce Lewis in an interview during the tour; Gary praised the Welshman to being the best supporting act ever in his 30 years of touring, later documenting the tour in a Tour diary and publicly inviting Jayce to join him for an American tour in 2012.^[17][18][19]

Numan also provided narration for Voltaire's short film Odokuro in 2011.

Personal life[link]

Numan is a positive atheist and has incorporated anti-religious motifs and images in his music.^[20] Numan was an outspoken supporter of the Conservative Party and of Margaret Thatcher after her inauguration as Prime Minister.^[21][22] He later expressed regret for giving his public support, calling it "a noose around my neck".^[22] He has recently said that he considers himself neither left-wing nor right-wing and that he does not support Tony Blair or David Cameron.^[22] He also said, "I'm not socialist, I know that. I don't believe in sharing my money."^[21]

Numan married a member of his fan club, Gemma O'Neill, a native of Sidcup.^[23][24] In 2003, after some pregnancy difficulties, the couple had their first child, Raven. In 2005 they had a second daughter, Persia. In 2007 the couple had their third child, Echo. Numan resides with his family in East Sussex.^[25] He published his autobiography, Praying to the Aliens, in 1997 (updated edition 1998), in collaboration with Steve Malins. (Malins also wrote the liner notes for most of the CD reissues of Numan's albums in the late 1990s, as well as executive producing the Hybrid album in 2003.)

Numan is known for his love of flying, a passion which has featured in some of his music videos ("Warriors", "I Can't Stop"). He has owned several small aircraft. Numan was a member of the Air Training Corps. He is one of a very small handful of flyers with the credentials and qualifications to train aerobatic instructor pilots.^{[citation needed]} He was once forced to emergency-land his light aircraft on the A3051 near Southampton. Numan is referenced several times in the BBC TV series The Mighty Boosh as Vince Noir, one of the main characters, is a huge Gary Numan fan. Examples of this are in the episode "Tundra" where Numan gives Noir a lift to the Antarctic in his personal jet (a black jet with a red trim with "NUMAN" written in white), in the episode "Electro" Numan's influence is clear to see on Noir when he joins electro band "Kraftwork Orange". Along with making several other references to Numan (notably a scene where Noir states he's made some 'tapes' for a journey saying "This is the best of the 60s (holding one tape), this is the best of the 70s (holding another tape) and THIS (picks up a horde of tapes) is Gary Numan!"), Numan guest-starred in "The Power of the Crimp", being locked in a cupboard and is used (unsuccessfully) to cheer Vince up.^{[citation needed]}

At age 15, after a series of outbursts in which Numan would "smash things up, scream and shout, get in people's faces and break stuff", he was prescribed antidepressants and anxiolytics.^[9] Numan's wife, then a nail technician, considered him to have Asperger syndrome. He has never been medically diagnosed.^[26] In a 2001 interview, he said: "Polite conversation has never been one of my strong points. Just recently I actually found out that I'd got a mild form of Asperger's syndrome which basically means I have trouble interacting with people. For years, I couldn't understand why people thought I was arrogant, but now it all makes more sense.".^[27]

Following the harassment of his wife while his family was walking on High Street and the 2011 England Riots Numan filed papers to emigrate to the United States. He plans to live in Santa Monica, California. Numan said "Every village and town in England has a bunch of thugs running around in it. The riots were the nail in the coffin".^[28]

In late August 2011, in the Q&A section of NuWorld, in answer to the question "Is it true you now hate England and want to leave?" he replied, "No, that’s utter rubbish." He explained that he'd "never been abused in my local high street," and has "made no firm decision about leaving the UK" but thugs are helping make such a decision, pointing out that the rioting "makes us look like a country of ignorant savages, beating up people already injured, pretending to help while stealing their things, hitting old men, killing them." He went on to explain that soundtracks may be a logical step, as he gets older and since "in the UK we have no meaningful film industry to speak of," a move to the U.S. might be more reasonable. He concluded by saying his family are highest priority and, "If I see somewhere that seems safer, happier and will give them a better life than the UK, I’ll take them there if I possibly can."

Discography[link]

• Tubeway Army (1978) (with Tubeway Army)
• Replicas (1979) (with Tubeway Army)
• The Pleasure Principle (1979) (Numan's first album under his own name)
• Telekon (1980)
• Dance (1981)
• I, Assassin (1982)
• Warriors (1983)
• Berserker (1984)
• The Fury (1985)
• Strange Charm (1986)
• Metal Rhythm (1988) (New Anger in the United States)
• Automatic (1989) (With Bill Sharpe)
• Outland (1991)
• Machine and Soul (1992)
• Sacrifice (1994) (Dawn in the US)
• Exile (1997)
• Pure (2000)
• Hybrid (2003)
• Jagged (2006)
• Dead Son Rising (2011)

References[link]

• Paul Goodwin (2004). Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan.
• Guinness Book of British Hit Singles 7th Edition

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gary Numan

• NuWORLD: Official website
• Complete discography, unofficial
• Review: Exposure – NXLive.co.uk
• North American Gary Numan Fan Club, unofficial