Gary Numan - crap / not crap

[Pigeon]

Gary Numan=third rate Fad Gadget. Fact.

 

[Pigeon]

CV certainly do...but I'm not talking about the trully appalling lyrics but the massive bass in the track...nothing like that had been heard at the time....

Other than by people who listened to Fad Gadget.

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

True to a point. Kraftwerk were the synthesizer visionaries, but they simply weren't breaking the lyrical form down in quite as abrasive and alienated way - let alone taking it into the mainstream consciousness as well. Their words were closer to electronic tone poems, still directed at harmony rather than discord.

Kraftwerk had done exactly that on Radioactivity, Man Machine and TEE before Numan had cruised the portabello for his maiden totp wardrobe.

I would class a US/UK top 10 from the Big K as very much 'mainstream consicousness' btw.

Numan=the Lionel Blair of Electronic Music

Oh and I've read the Pascal Bussy book too

 

[poului]

Oh and I've read the Pascal Bussy book too

It's obviously doing the rounds...

 

[Negativland]

Were the Normal the first JG Ballard influenced electro act then? David Bowie also has a claim to lyrical detatchment in electronic music in '77.

 

[nino_savatte]

CV certainly do...but I'm not talking about the trully appalling lyrics but the massive bass in the track...nothing like that had been heard at the time....

Not a Numan fan btw just playing devils advocate.....

See Pigeon's post.

 

[futurejazz]

not crap. he's not the best but is not crap.

 

[Reno]

True to a point. Kraftwerk were the synthesizer visionaries, but they simply weren't breaking the lyrical form down in quite as abrasive and alienated way - let alone taking it into the mainstream consciousness as well. Their words were closer to electronic tone poems, still directed at harmony rather than discord.

Kraftwerk weren't any more influential on Numan than on many other bands of the time. As I said before, he was doing exactly what John Foxx had been doing for a few years with Ultravox!, musically and lyrically. He just did it in a Smash Hits friendly "android" get up.

Even says so in Wikipeadia:

When he was having hits in Britain, the Electropop star Gary Numan made it no secret that it was the Foxx-era Ultravox that was his major influence.

Cars was a good electro pop song and Numan's only valuable contribution to pop music and still, I don't like it anywhere near as much as My Sex, Just for a Moment or Hiroshima Mon Amour by John Foxx/Ultravox!.

 

[Louloubelle]

Bullshit. Numan is to electro as UB40 are to Reggae - cod.

UB40 are seen as heroes in jamaica. they've covered loads of wonderful old reggae songs and many formerly obsucre and impoverished reggae artists are living comfortably on royalty cheques thanks to UB40

so the comparison is really not at all valid

*pedant mode*


And while numan does have a pilot's licence and did have his own plane, he kept on getting lost and disappearing for months on end to the extent that at times I wondered if him and mark thatcher were planning military coups in remote parts of the globe

 

[Maggot]

he is a stunt pilot as well tho...


gotta give him props for that.

It's hard to be a pilot without props:

 

[nino_savatte]

I can't believe this: more people think Numan is not crap as opposed to those of us who think he is crap.

Wake up people, the man is a phoney.

 

[slowth]

I can't believe this:

Diverse range of people with different musical taste shock.Is it really that hard to comprehend?

 

[nino_savatte]

Diverse range of people with different musical taste shock.Is it really that hard to comprehend?

 

[longdog]

I die, you die... not crap.

Everything else...utter bilge.

 

[lunatrick]

pleasure principle was one of the first albums I owned.....quality. not sure about the influence stealing - but what band hasn't done this? the rich synth sounds were fantastic as far as I was concerned - and I still like them now....not really interested in his politics.....but to slate him for when he first got famous very young (around 20ish) seems stupid. what artist at this precocious age doesn't wear their influences on their sleeve? the execution was good....

 

[rhod]

"Living Ornaments '81" still stands up as a fantastic live album. Really crisp production & great synth sounds & atmosphere (before he went all digital & goth).

 

[Meltingpot]

Numan ripped off what John Foxx had already been doing for a few years with Ultravox (who were a ground breaking band before Foxx left and Midge Ure joined).

To be fair, John Foxx wasn't complaining; when he was interviewed after Metamatic came out (1980) and was asked about Gary Numan, he said he liked Numan for acknowledging him as a major influence and was hoping to work with him in the future.

His TOTP friendly "android" image and permanently sulky expression at the time made me think that Numan was probably was a bit of a prat.

He has Asperger's syndrome and admitted he was scared when he was first on TV, that probably accounts for a lot of it.

 

[Geri]

I hate the cunt.

 

[43mhz]

(Not Crap) Replicas and Pleasure Principle are excellent albums.. still listen to them.. all went downhill after Telekon I thought..
(Crap) He did a remake of Down in the Park that was utter shite..

 

[Meltingpot]

(Not Crap) Replicas and Pleasure Principle are excellent albums.. still listen to them.. all went downhill after Telekon I thought..
(Crap) He did a remake of Down in the Park that was utter shite..

Yeah, Replicas is good, I bought it when it came out in '79 and still play it sometimes.

 

[marksims68]

Yeah, Replicas is good, I bought it when it came out in '79 and still play it sometimes.

I played it last night! Saw him on his latest mini tour in London and it was awesome, one of the best shows I have ever seen from Numan.

BTw I've seen him live something like 27 times.....

 

[Orang Utan]

Not crap.
He did loads of good stuff.
And even if you didn't like him, you can't vote crap, purely cos without him, you wouldn't have the classic scene of Alan Partridge playing air bass to Music For Chameleons

 

[badseed]

I thought I was the only one...

His last 4 (studio) albums have been excellent.

 

[dash_two]

All the album covers where he was trying to look moody or hard were pretty funny. He did some alright tunes though.

 

[nino_savatte]

Numan is still a cardcarrying member of the Tory Party iirc.

 

[dash_two]

Which synth-loving pop superstar recently had a party where he plied his guests with ecstacy, cocaine, acid and GHB? The Tory-supporting, fading star finally managed to persuade one pretty 17 year-old fan to have lesbian sex with his wife, while he watched.

Now that can't be true can it.

 

[badseed]

Numan is still a cardcarrying member of the Tory Party iirc.

No he isn't
He voted tory in the eighties (not excusing him) but has regretted it ever since. It has been like a noose around his neck since then.

How come Weller got away with it?

 

[xenon]

Very un crap.

Late 70's - early 80's very good. Late 80's "I can't Stop." No really Garry, you can and should have. Redeamed by the dark industrial stuff of recent times. Pure and Jagged.

 

[A Dashing Blade]

Total shite. (Any album, any track any chord, any note)
Sort of thing your 14 year old younger brother liked.
No redeeming qualities whatsoever.

 

[Meltingpot]

Very un crap.

Late 70's - early 80's very good. Late 80's "I can't Stop." No really Garry, you can and should have. Redeamed by the dark industrial stuff of recent times. Pure and Jagged.

Agreed, they're both very powerful especially the final tracks like "Little In Vitro" and "Jagged". Definitely not party music though.