More than any other Numa artist in the mid 80s, including Gary Numan himself, Steve Braun exuded a palpable concupiscent energy: that mixture of musky seduction and suave sophistication heralding love's ol' sweet song. Pin it down to his white silk scarf and debonair jacket, his penetrating, slightly vulnerable gaze, or his silken yet masculine voice--whatever the winning combination of attributes might have been, he managed to carry the image of Sade's "Smooth Operator" with a credibility that neither Bryan Ferry nor Robert Palmer could sustain for very long. In fact, "credibility" is the watchword of Braun's appeal to his fans and his record producers alike. Amidst the flagging relations between Gary Numan and his two bankable bands, Grey Parade and Hohokam--both of which could trace their roots to New Wave / Punk crossover artists like Bill Nelson, Tubeway Army, and Ultravox--the music of Steve Braun held the promise of stability, like a conservative investment. That stability, though, came with a certain sacrifice of pioneering spirit, such as the radical use of synthesizers and programming that was already branding other Numa acts. In songs like "When I See Your Eyes" and "Love Could Be So Good" the tradition of techno was clearly present, as were the fingerprints of Ian Herron and Mike Smith's PPG Wave programming. But the more pronounced quality of these songs was that they stood with feet firmly planted in the tradition of disco jazz and therefore were more commercially mainstream than anything Numa Records had managed so far. I use the word "mainstream" here without apology or prejudice. Clearly, Numan himself flirted with more mainstream Italian disco remixes of two songs from his Berserker album previous to Braun's arrival. In short, mainstream music brought commercial credibility to a label that was sadly, and unjustly, in deficit of credibility in 1985. For this one reason alone, Steve Braun trumped the other Numa acts in his potential to command some radio rotation and bring the label desperately needed profit.

But, by 1987, Braun's chances to bring Numa Records such a prize were unequivocally hobbled. Soon after, Braun left the label, and Gary closed its doors to outside artists altogether. When and how did it all go disappointingly wrong? Because Steve Braun's story is so much a symptom of the broader story of Numa Records, with a bit of patience and intrinsic analysis we might uncover how even talent and production know-how of the highest credibility were no match for a carefully constructed campaign of character assassination and the tactical terrorism waged by a large music company.

RETURN TO TOP

Numa Records' official "Golden Throat" was actually born "Stephen Brown" in 1958 and raised in London until the age of twelve, at which point he and his family moved to Sussex. His father tragically died before Steve was two years old, an event that held little detail in his memory but which nonetheless affected his family life and, by extension, his character and his personality as a developing artist. By age 12, he had experienced the benefit of a thorough education in music, with Grade 8 classical training in piano and cello. In fact, his intentions were to become a classical musician, not a pop vocalist. Not wanting to become locked into a career of playing classical music, though, he decided instead to pursue pop music's lure of variety and star appeal.

His classical music education, coupled with a naturally independent disposition, is possibly the reason why Brown took so comfortably to writing and performing his own music early on. In fact, he never collaborated, either lyrically or musically, on any of his work. Citing influences by David Bowie, Todd Rundgren, and the band Japan, he also tips his hat to a great many sources of Soul, R&B, Jazz and other traditionally black influenced genres--features that would later surface as commercial qualities in his songs. With this rather broad experience in back of him, it is no wonder that Brown's music career in 1979 was composed of session work. And plenty of it! Says Steve, "I did hundreds and I'm embarrassed by most of them . . . it was just a way of getting into the music business. Most of the sessions were me playing guitar."

Session work, in fact, compelled him to change his name to Steve Braun. Some have accused him of contriving a legacy of influences by Kraftwerk and the New Romantics with this minor alteration to a German diphthong, while others have even charged him with trying to imitate Gary Webb's now famous bit of folklore: changing the spelling "Neumann" (a name he found in the phone book) to "Numan." In reality, agencies frequently confused Brown with another musician sharing his name, an obvious drawback. The subtle variant, "Braun," inevitably staid the confusion and set his name apart from the others.

At one of these sessions (performed at someone's home), Steve Braun met Ian Ritchie for the first time, a saxophone player of extraordinairy talent whom Steve was determined to hire for his own studio sessions when the time came. That time did come, and the result was an extensive collection of demos, one of which eventually received the attention of Radio London and thereafter was proudly submitted to Gary Numan for Braun's consideration to Numa Records. But in the meantime, in 1982, Steve put out a scarce 7-inch single on Universe Records (UNI-S1) called "Steve Braun's Universe," which included Ian Ritchie playing sax on the original version of "Red Light Districts." The name of the record company more than obviates that it was a project of self-promotion, intended to showcase a multi-talented and accomplished performer of musical competence, singing talent, and production skill. Hence the "universe" that was Steve Braun. A tad given to hubris perhaps, but Braun did in fact have the goods to his credit: his solid music education and his resumè of diverse session work. The songs that appeared on this single would later become the b-sides to Braun's Numa releases, "Out To Play" and "Red Light Districts". The production on both songs are in the vane of Numan's Pleasure Principle album, showcasing the use of Arp synthesizer with a slightly dispassionate, robotic direction. Good stuff, really. "Out To Play" was an overture to the persona of Braun as a one-man band; the song title perhaps is even an ironic reference to Braun's motivations: out to play as many instruments as he could, and to impress record producers with his range of abilities. "Red Light Districts," on the other hand, demonstrated more shades of those abilties. Some of the song's distinctive qualities lay in the sultriness of Ian Ritchie's jazz sax (accompanied by Keith Walters on drums), but the mellowness of Braun's voice spreads smoothly across that sound, like a linen tablecloth across a café table. It was a vocal style equally apt for a Blues singer as it was for a New Wave artist.

RETURN TO TOP

While Numa Records were considering Braun's demo, A&M and two other record companies expressed interest as well. However, the recording industry is replete with cynical artists and musicians whose tales of exploitation and artistic subjugation by companies like A&M reached his ears in time before he signed to them: "I'd heard horror stories about them and I liked the idea of working with Gary, once Numa responded to the [demo] tape." The fate of loyal session musician Ian Ritchie was never really up in the air at this time, either. Braun had every intention of continuing to use Ritchie once he began recording at Rock City Studios; furthermore, Numan actually hired Ritchie to play sax on "Miracles", another Numa single (NUM 13) from the 1985 album The Fury. So, it was a short step to the studio to continue their inspired alliance during the recording of "When I See Your Eyes" and "Love Could Be So Good." To this day, Braun is gratified by the success of Ritchie's career in the decades since Numa--a success that is well deserved.

The Numa years for Steve Braun were a time of intensity and mixed emotions. The greatness of talent and the volatility of personalities combined to form quite a potent cocktail. Of course, a recording studio is traditionally an environment crowded by such artistic egos: "Gary and I are very similar characters in some ways and we clashed in the studio a couple of times. I have enormous respect for him, though, and I think he did a great job as a producer for the two singles." Braun also got on well with the Webb family, especially Gary's mother, Beryl--a welcome dynamic in a family-run business environment. (Recall, for example, the fate of George Kamm of the early Hohokam line-up.) But, adding to the general intensity of the atmosphere was a continual concern for finances, which sometimes manifested in Tony Webb's occasional nervousness around Braun and any potentially profligate production--a concern with which Braun was always sympathetic and therefore never critical of Tony because of it.

The general creativity and talent available to the studio sessions at that time are among the most enjoyable memories for Steve. Foremost of these is the talent of Tessa Niles, who performed backing vocals on the A-side tracks of the singles. Niles was, and continues to be, widely respected by the vast number artists for whom she performed; she did, however, carve out a brief solo career, thanks to her husband, Richard Niles, who co-owned the Rainbow Records which produced her two singles, "The President's Girl" (b/w "You Take My Breath Away" Rainbow Records RBR 3, 1985) and "Tough Girls" (b/w "Directable Jet" Rainbow Records RBR 6, 1986). Braun recalls her as "wonderful--what a talent. She had the ability to wander in to a studio, hit notes effortlessly and then do it in a whole range of styles. No wonder she was the backing singer for so many top acts. I thought she was amazing." Regardless of the intensity of talent in the studio, actual time spent in the studio was typically sparing due to the many constraints presented by other artists who had reserved the space and its equipment, and the increasingly restrictive arrangements made with Shepperton Studios for use of the site. Even if Braun's basic integrity as a recording artist did not already compell him to be especially well prepared in the studio, certainly the need for extreme economy of time and resources would have forced him to be--a recurrent theme in the stories of Numa artists, in fact.

Unfortunately, even with all this enthusiasm and talent on hand to propel Braun's singles into the charts, the climate of Numa Records was already being made hostile by a well orchestrated blueprint to assassinate Gary Numan's career, his reputation, and, ultimately, his business. Like any common administrator of torture who resorts to threatening a prisoner's family to get what he wants, the ringleader in this affair was Radio One who extended its moratorium on Gary's music to include all of the Numa acts! Braun states, "Had I been with Gary in, say, 1980 I'm sure both singles would have charted. By the time I worked with Gary (1985-1987) he was seen--quite wrongly so--as a musical leper and anyone associated with him, me included, was labelled as 'non-playable' on Radio One because of the Numan connection." Proof of this became clear as "When I See Your Eyes" was about to be played five times a week on Mike Read's Radio One Breakfast Show and then pulled from the roster at the last moment (a fact admitted to Braun years later by the show's producer)--all because of Braun's association with Numan.

The injustice of this corporate terrorism not only lasted with Braun for many years, it inevitably transformed him into one of those selfsame musicians who had warned him of A&M those many years ago. In fact, Braun sometimes wonders what would have happened to his career if he had signed with A&M instead--especially in light of the fact that he had already put together an album of songs, ready to publish. Even after he left Numa Records, other record companies continued to stigmatize him as "one of the Numa acts." In spite of the fact that his career took a dramatic change of direction in response to these anti-Numan campaigns, his love for music and performance would remain a constant in his life. And the thought of live performance conjures today as much excitement in Steve as it did back then in 1987.

RETURN TO TOP

A few of Braun's performances were actually held at The Flag (the facilities of which he describes as "dire"), and there was usually a support act arranged. Steve's live repetoire featured a combination of uptempo favorites and mellower tracks alike. In addition to "When I See Your Eyes" and "Love Could Be So Good," other songs Steve liked to perform live were the following.

"Easy to Say"

"I Want To Be With You"

"Fall In Love With Me"

"Red Light Districts" and

"Not Waiting Any Longer"

(For complete lyrics and song samples, visit Steve Braun's Fast and Slow further down this page.) His live musicians were usually selected according to their chemistry and their talent. Among them were accomplished musician and engineer Lee Verrin (of Dymaxion) and Gary Numan's brother, John Webb: "I was lucky enough to have John Webb with me for a couple of shows and he was great. I liked him a great deal and found him to be totally genuine, just like Gary, in fact." It's said that Braun had a certain chemistry with concertgoers, too--tantamount to an infectious enthusiasm.

The joy of live performance notwithstanding, Braun's experiences with the music industry during his time at Numa Records left him considerably jaded. The cut-throat and competitive policies of the music industry in its attack on smaller labels, the music press's politics in proferring fame, and the superficiality of image that took precedence over true talent--all these left him with a bad taste about life as a recording artist. While he continued to undertake session work up until the mid 90s, he lost interest in approaching another label to produce any of his work.

RETURN TO TOP

During that decade of sessions, however, he was also shoring up his academic qualifications. Even by the time he had come on board at Numa, Braun had earned his first academic degree. However, when he was later invited to lecture part-time, he rediscovered his other vocation: "academia sort of came into my life when I was invited to do some part-time lecturing. I enjoyed it immensely (and still do) and it became key part of my life." Braun returned to university to matriculate a Master's Degree in Business Administration and a Doctoral Degree in Business. Professor Steve E. Brown is now a full-time Professor of Business Management. In fact, in his academic life Brown now enjoys a level of success that was denied him in his music career. Based at the University of Bath School of Management until only recently (where he was Director of The Centre of Technology and Innovation Management), the world of academia has afforded Brown the opportunity to expand into a range of other credible talents: he is a prolific writer and co-author of books and articles on the subject of business; he runs his own consultancy company; he guest lecturers at universities in other countries; and, he is considered by his peers to be among the top ten Business Management academes in his particular field in the world.

RETURN TO TOP

Amidst all this, Steve still finds the time and the measure of spirit to continue writing and recording music. He keeps a studio in his home and has amassed several albums worth of material that, he says, are "poised and ready for any record company willing to pay me a vast fortune in advances." Whether or not this is ever realized, Steve is content that music will always be the love of his life and will continue to appeal to the creative half of his persona that was once thought of by him as "Steve Braun's Universe." Looking back at his previous career brings a bittersweet taste for him:

I did my best and wrote some good songs. I think I had/have a great deal of talent but I'm very convinced that making it in the music business comes down to a whole lot of luck, which didn't quite go my way (nor for many hundreds of bands each year). I enjoyed my time at Numa and I am grateful to the fans who supported me and were interested in my music. Music will always be my first love. I'm proud of the Numa singles and I'm arrogant enough to say that I think they were the most commercially viable of the Numa acts. I also think that I had/have a bloody good singing voice! I shall always be grateful to Gary, even though it didn't quite work out commercially.

Looking forward, however, has brought its own rewards to Brown. Relatively recently, Steve married and is now the father he, himself, was deprived of--to two small children who, says Steve, "are delightful, as is their wonderful mother."

RETURN TO TOP

My eternal gratitude to Steve Brown for helping me to make this project, not only so informative and interesting, but reliable in its accuracy and comprehensive in its detail. The genuinely magnanimous spirit with which he has volunteered images and media attest to a reputation of graciousness that precedes him as far back as 1985. Steve, once again, my warmest thanks for your participation.

I would also like to thank Derek Wallin for sharing his memories, and his photo, of Steve Braun in concert, and Rod Pember for providing so entertaining a vignette from those events.

STEVE BRAUN

FAST AND SLOW

To hear the song samples, click the "PLAY" icons beside the song titles below.

To find out more about more about Steve Braun's official singles on the Numa Records label, please use the links to, either, "When I See Your Eyes" or "Love Could Be So Good" in the Steve Braun Lobby.

all lyrics © Numan Music and SBA Publishing

reprinted with permission of the author

Written and produced by Steve Braun

Vocals and keyboards, Steve Braun

Backing Vocals, Tessa Niles and Avril Davies

Saxophone, Ian Ritchie

Engineered by Lee Verrin

3:12

5:34

3:00

4:53

3:50