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Are 'Friends' Electric? Came out on the 4 May Gary never expected it to become such a mammoth hit. Are 'Friends' Electric? was actually two songs put together and over five minutes long, it was also decided to release it as a picture disc. Picture disc were a very new thing back in them days and serious record collectors were buying anything that came out in Picture disc format, over 20.000 picture disc where pressed but Gary did not get any royalties on the picture disc. The release of the picture disc helped propel 'Friends' Electric? Into the top75 the rise to fame was on its way. Gary and the band were asked to appear on Top Of The Pops.Top Of The Pops had been running a feature called Bubbling Under featuring bands whose single was outside the main chart but showed significant movement yet another stroke of luck, after this performance Are 'Friends' Electric? Was selling 40,000 copies a day. After several appearances on Top Of The Pops Are 'Friends' Electric? Progressively climbed the chart in at 48 then 27 then 20, 13, 7, then at last number 1 and spent an amazing four weeks at the top and a total of 16 weeks in the top 75 listings. Are Friends Electric? the quintessential Gary Numan record and surely a template for any of today's aspiring synth-rock wannabes, Numan's fractured, disembodied vocals sit perfectly against a wall of analogue trickery, a timeless classic which captured the hearts and minds of many disillusioned youngsters back in 1979, the charts had at last given birth to a 'proper' solo star unlike any
other.
Are 'Friends' Electric?
Lyrics
Are 'Friends' Electric?
(1979 single, from "Replicas" album)
It's cold outside
And the paint's peeling off of my walls
There's a man outside
In a long coat, grey hat, smoking a cigarette
Now the light fades out
And I wonder what I'm doing
In a room like this
There's a knock on the door
And just for a second I thought
I remembered you
(7.4)
So now I'm alone
Now I can think for myself
About little deals
And S.U's
And things I just don't understand
A white lie that night
Or a sly touch at times
I don't think it meant anything to you
So I open the door
It's the 'friend' that I'd left in the hallway
'Please sit down'
A candlelit shadow on a wall near the bed
You know I hate to ask
But are 'friends' electric?
Only mine's broke down
And now I've no-one to love
(7.4)
So I found out your reasons
For the phone calls and smiles
And it hurts
And I'm lonely
And I should never have tried
And I missed you tonight
It must be time to leave
You see it meant everything to me
We Are So Fragile
(B-side, 'Are "Friends" Electric?' single, 1979)
We are so fragile
Advertising lies
That are whiter than yours
We are so fragile
They could give us a war
Just to keep us amused
We are so fragile
I could stay here inside
And say 'It's all been done'
We are so fragile
Just pretend I never tried
I'll leave up to you
We are still so young
And it must be wrong
Byt I'll do it all the same
We are really so shy
There's nothing I can do
Except believe in you
We could always go home
But everyone says
This is the place to be
We are so unnatural
But you wouldn't understand
You only deal with men
