Tuesday, July 14, 2009

TRIVIA : GARY NUMAN




Some you may know and others you may not..................


An ink tracing by Garry Robson of Numan's face on the single "Bombers" sleeve would provide the design for the 1979 reissue cover of Tubeway Army's eponymously-titled debut album.

In 1982 he attempted to fly his single-engine Cessna around the world. He was arrested in India on suspicion of spying. Charges were later dropped.

His song, "Cars," hit the #1 spot in the UK charts in 1979, and went on to hit #9 in the U.S. charts June 7, 1980. In 1996, the song was utilized for an English TV ad (Carling Premium Beer) which renewed its popularity and returned it to the top 20 in England, UK

The soundtrack to the american horror movie 'The Unborn' was never released, but it is available on Gary Numan's instrumental CD, Human, which Numan released in 1995, Gary recorded it with Michael R Smith.

Gary's real name is Gary Anthony James Webb, he was born March 8, 1958

Gary Numan appeared on Robert Palmer's 1980 "Clues" album.

The first chart number one Gary Numan was involved in was 'Are Friends Electric?', the song was taken off the 'Replicas' album under the name of Tubeway Army, but by the time the album was released Numan was already a solo artist in his own right.

In 1976 Numan was in the band 'The Lasers', London punk outfit playing in the standard Sex Pistols-style of the day, Numan and bassist Paul Gardiner would soon depart and put together their own punk band, Tubeway Army.

The album 'Dance' featured guests Mick Karn (bass, saxophone) and Rob Dean (guitar) of Japan, Roger Mason (keyboards) of Models and Roger Taylor (drums) of Queen.

Gary Numan's 'Cars' features in the video-game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Ultravox's Billy Currie appears in the video to "Cars", even though he didn't play on the single.

According to Numan, the lyrics to "Cars" were inspired by an incident of "Road-rage"

The title and cover art of Gary Numans' third studio album "The Pleasure Priciple", were inspired by the René Magritte painting Le Principe Du Plaisir.

Are Friends Electric? is one of Numan's most frequently-covered compositions.

* Generator (featuring Kipper, a Gary Numan band member, and Numan himself on vocals) covered the song in 1994.
* Replicants covered the song on their 1995 album Replicants
* Nancy Boy produced a version in 1995 as a single (several mixes) and on the album Promosexual
* Information Society included a cover on the 1997 album Don't Be Afraid.
* Republica (with a guest appearance from Gary Numan) covered the song on the 1997 tribute album Random along with two other versions by Moloko and An Pierlé, the latter an arrangement for solo piano.
* American rock band Jessica's Crime covered it on their 2000 single Don't Cry.
* The song Feel Alive by Pure Orange sampled parts of this song. While not a cover per se, it is often considered a cover.
* A Groove Armada cover appeared on the compilation album Late Night Tales: Groove Armada featuring Crazy Girl.
* The Gresham Flyers released a version on the B-side to their 2008 single "Factory Records Museum", sung by keyboard player Sharon Leach.
* Weezer also covered the song for release as the B-side to their 2008 single "Pork and Beans".
* Most recently it has been covered by Jack White's band The Dead Weather in 2009 as the B-side to single track Hang You from the Heavens.

It was also heavily sampled in 2002 on the mash-up track "Freak Like Me" by Sugababes, blending the song's melody with the lyrics of the Adina Howard song "Freak Like Me."; Numan has been quoted on more than one occasion expressing his approval of the result which, like the original, reached number 1 in the UK singles charts.

Tubeway Army drummer Jess Lidyard is Gary Numans Uncle.

Gary Numan was first known to the public under the stage name "Valerian".

Dramatis were a British synthpop band from the early 1980s, the band was made of the original members of Gary Numan's backing band. They formed in 1981 following Gary Numan's announced retirement.




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