Gary Numan

Editorial

Gary Numan owes a debt of gratitude to The Might Boosh. The cult UK TV series and its obsession with Mr Numan played a significant role in reviving his career. It introduced a whole new generation of 20-somethings to the electro pop sounds of Cars and Are Friends Electric.

Numan broke through internationally in 1979. Obsessed with dystopian science fiction, he had been creating synth-heavy, melancholy pop songs for a number of years when he was signed by the Beggars Banquet label. When Cars went top 10 in the US, it was one of the first synth-based tracks to do so and helped popularise electro. All of this was backed up by Numan's outlandish stage outfits and his aloof, androgenous persona.

While Numan continued to release albums throughout the '80s and into the '90s, his pop career stalled and he became the object of jokes in the media. That was the general attitude towards Numan for several years until people like Marilyn Manson, Dave Grohl and Trent Reznor started talking about the influence he had on their music and he was resurrected as the creator of 'electro'. Throw in some pop-culture love courtesy of The Might Boosh and Numan's legacy has undergone a spectacular about-face in recent years. When all is said and done, Cars is still a brilliant pop song.
Mikolai, October 2008