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UPDATED 18 OCTOBER 2008 ABOUT THIS
SITE We
hardboiled Gary Numan collectors keep a strict, hierarchical, almost ruthless
order to our collecting obsession. Preeminent in importance is that we acquire
every song, composition and jingle our man has ever done. Next, when such a
library has become reasonably complete, we turn our attention to the
variations -- earlier versions, remixed versions, extended versions, acoustic
versions, instrumental versions, and live versions; alternate sleeve covers
and artwork; rare picture discs and colored vinyl; the varied moods captured
by mellifluous signatures of white, silver or gold. Wanting the apocrypha alongside all the orthodox releases, we sometimes embrace our
darker nature, pruriently draw the shades, and fondle the sleeves of the
bootlegs. Finally, when the primary objets d'Numan run out, soon to follow is
our secondary interest in the followers, themselves: those disciples who have been touched
by Gary in ways lyrical or instrumental, in production or collaboration. We
desire, in essence, the essence of Numan.
In
the spirit of such tribute, then, I created this site with a two-fold
purpose: first, to give
something back to the community of Gary Numan fans and to Gary Numan,
himself, from whom I have derived so much wisdom, shared so much enthusiasm,
and received so much soulful enjoyment over the decades; and second, to
initiate the building of an archival source of information for further
research on a topic that, up until now, has not been presented in any
cohesive or credible fashion:
the brief tenure of the other Numa label artists. Since
the information you find on these pages will avail itself to further
research, Numa Records: The
Formative Years is, and will continue to be, a work in progress. As the lives, careers and stories of
these artists continue to emerge or evolve, so too will this site. It is my sincere hope that serious
collectors and fans will partake of this site by exchanging information,
adding further detail and emendation, and, ultimately, find a comfortable
community here of likeminded individuals. Although, in its own way, it is a
Gary Numan tribute site, it is not my intention to make this a fan page as so
many other sites have done with considerably more creativity and
breadth. Should you have
questions or ideas to offer, never hesitate to write me at
karl.sherlock@gcccd.edu. |
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Thanks
is owed in no small measure to the Numan Digest, run by Derek Langford, from
which scores of newsy tidbits have been culled and coalesced into a more
meaningful whole. Jim Napier,
founder and implacable president of the North American Gary Numan Fan Club,
deserves my warmest and loudest thanks for being the keeper of the flame all
these years. No one so warmly and so passionately wishes to ignite the
world's interest in all things Numan.
His newsletters and web site have opened up whole arenas of
Numan-collecting that hitherto had been blocked to me, including some of the
artists to which this site is devoted. A
big shout of thanks to Rob's AFE Forum.
For a long time now, I've stood behind the "mirrored glass" of
the forum, both as a gatherer of data and as an observer of human nature, and
distilled a great many bits of fact, fiction and hearsay that have woven
themselves into these pages.
More recently, Rod Pember has helped to fill in some of the gaps of my
music education with his generous downloads and his lively badenage about
"celebrity" in the music world. His able assistance has emboldened me to consider avenues
of research and modes of contact hitherto shut off to me because of my
natural timerity. Cheers, Rod,
for all your help! In the first
weeks this site went on-line, I had the great pleasure to begin corresponding
with Peter Steer, whose warm and earnest assistance has added more content,
accuracy and circumspection to this site than I could possibly have
hoped. To Peter, I owe a debt of
gratitude that I may never be able fully to repay, and I wish him and his
music-making partner, Geoff Pinckney, the greatest success in their current
project. Since that time, many
of the artists or their family members have come across the site and reached
out to me with surprising levels of enthusiasm. I thank them profusely: Les Campen; Tony Edwards; Justin Loeber; Stephen Brown;
Melanie Redmond; Judd Hamilton; Barry Grimes; Tony Webb; and many others
whose names I've included in the acknowledgments of individual pages on this
site. Ziggy
Allen, who runs the Official Tik and Tok fan site, deserves considerable
mention here for his enthusiasm, friendship, wisdom and support during the
recent development of Numa Records: The Formative Years. Ziggy was the first person to contact
me with helpful advice and has since been a steadfast and caring comrade, an
intelligent colleague, an open-minded counselor, and a great joy to
know. He's helped to spark
creativity in me as well as contribute his own creativity to the site. (The recent additions of Flash
animation are all his work.)
Ziggy, you're a true Mensch! Barry
Sturdy and Lewis Lewellyn have also been supportive contributors to this site
and started their own website, NuReference, in the same spirit of research
and collecting that I began Numa Records TFY. We have since begun an enjoyable and mutually supportive scholarly
relationship, and I thank them for rekindling my interest in some otherwise neglected
portions of my site. Dedication
of this project goes in part to the memory of one of my dearest and longest friendships,
Michael Allen Wiorek, from whose untimely death in 1999 I will probably never
recover. Mike Wiorek accompanied
me to my first Gary Numan concert in 1980 at the Milwaukee Arena and watched
me obsess over Numan collecting in the twenty years that followed. I'll always remember Mike and I alone
in Club 219 listening to "This Wreckage" being played for the first and last
time in a Milwaukee dance club! Mike, this wreckage I call "me" loves you more than I
can say. Deep
and abiding thanks must go, of course, to my husband, Max, without whose
patience, support, and interest (even if it is sometimes feigned, my Dear) I
would never have had the emotional wherewithal to reopen the old boxes of
vinyl records and continue on with projects like this one. Those of you whose spouses, lovers or
partners are more steadfast fans of the collector than of the collected, you
know of what I speak. And
finally, my warmest affection and gratitude goes to Gary Numan and the eight
artists who, for a brief span of three years, made music history in their own
inimitable way. You
are held dear in memory, one and all.
Be well. Sincerely, Karl J. Sherlock |
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Unless otherwise indicated, quotations and other details
have been taken from the following: Gimarc, George. Punk
Rock Diary: 1970 - 1979.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. Gimarc, George. Post-Punk
Diary: 1980 - 1982. New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1997. Numan Digest, The. Moderated by Derek Langford. Numan, Gary, and Peter
Gilman. Images: A Recorded Autobiography (Volumes 1 - 11). Numan Music Ltd. 1986 - 1994. (Rock City
Studios and Outland Studios, U.K.) Numan, Gary, and Steve
Malins. Praying To the Aliens:
An Autobiography. London: Andre Deutsch Publishers, 1997. Other facts and
observations have been collated from a variety of internet and periodical
sources, including occasional hearsay. Photographed images have
been taken from the artwork of the individual singles releases, and from the
following: Assorted ephemera such as
posters, tour programs and
advertisements Costello, Tim,
photographer. Gary Numan
Warriors Tour '83. (Tourbook) Silverheath Trading, Ltd., 1983. Csillag, Andre, photographer. Numan, Gary. The Fury Tour
'85: Official Photobook Of the
U.K. Tour. Cambridge, U.K.: Sound Publishing, 1985. Gary Numan Electric
Shadows: A History In
Cuttings. Vol. 1. London: Way
Ahead Readers Series,1985. Gary Numan Newsletter,
The. Beryl Webb, ed. Staines, Middlesex, U.K.: Gary Numan Fan Club (NuWorld). Numa Records: Year One. NUMA 1004.
Numa Records, 1985. Vermorel, Fred and Judy,
eds. Gary Numan, by Computer.
London: Omnibus Press, 1980. Song samples are provided
in excerpted format only, to protect the rights of the relevant artists,
music publishers, and record companies. |