This group has been put together for fans of Gary Numan and visitors of the Numanme site, to discuses all things Numan sell/trade share stories and images
from all aspects of Numan's career.
Numanme Radio Podcast will be playing you some of the best Classic Alternative, New Wave, Dark Wave, Synth-Pop, and Punk. Also, a staple diet of Gary Numan/Tubeway Army without question. Shows will be updated here when they become available.
The gallery contains Gary Numan-related photographs. They range from the Tubeway Army days to the present day. Feel free to browse and if you would like to add any of your images please get in touch.
Discover Gary Numan quotes Here you will find a list of random quotes from the man himself Mr. Gary Numan some about life and he's success, little snippets into the life of Gary Numan....
Born on 14 January 1961 in East Ham, London, I grew up as the son of a policeman and a bookkeeper, with one brother, Garry Robson. When I was five, we moved to Ashford in Middlesex, a change that quietly set the stage for everything that followed. It was there that I became friends with Gary Numan — then still Gary Webb. Garry was closer to Gary’s age, which mattered enormously when you’re young, so I was the baby of the gang. I didn’t mind. I simply attached myself to Gary’s parents, Beryl and Tony, who became my surrogate family. I was the orphan child who turned up at their house every morning, impossible to shake off. To this day, Beryl remains one of my favourite people in the world.
We all went to St. Anne’s Primary School in Stanwell, long since demolished. After that, Gary went to Ashford Grammar, Garry to Feltham Comprehensive, and I ended up at Hampton Grammar — where I was promptly sent home at age eleven for dyeing my hair silver. Garry, incidentally, drew the face that later appeared on all Numan merchandise.
One afternoon at Gary’s house, I fell hopelessly in love with a Rickenbacker semi‑acoustic guitar he had borrowed from his uncle, Jess Lidyard. Later came the Gibson Les Paul Gold that Tony bought for Gary, and I swore I’d own a Les Paul one day. It took decades, but three years ago my wife bought me one for Christmas. I still can’t play it very well, but the promise was finally fulfilled.
Around 1973, it was obvious Gary was going to make it in music. He began experimenting with hair colour, makeup, and clothes, and naturally the rest of us followed. We haunted Shelley’s for shoes and Kensington Market for clothes you simply couldn’t find anywhere else. We worshipped Marc Bolan & T.Rex first, then Bowie, Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground, and Roxy Music. Once, we saw Mott The Hoople at Hammersmith Odeon — only to watch them blown off stage by their support act, a band called Queen.
I vaguely remember Gary’s first performance in a band, probably at Stanwell Village Hall. The band was Meanstreet, and their bass player — Henry Sabbini, if memory serves — looked uncannily like David Bowie. They played electrifying versions of White Light/White Heat and Waiting for the Man. It didn’t last long. Gary soon broke away to form Tubeway Army.
By then, Garry was becoming a skilled sound engineer, and the two of us ended up as occasional roadies for Tubeway Army at venues like Dingwalls, Ronnie Scott’s, and The Marquee. Garry mixed the desk; I lugged gear. Gary released Bombers and That’s Too Bad, then began recording his first album. I remember hearing Jo The Waiter in the studio — still one of my favourite songs of his.
We spent nights at London clubs like The Blitz, Billy’s, and Hell. It was the perfect moment to be part of the underground scene between 1976 and 1980. Meanwhile, I left Brooklands College, where I’d studied languages, and stumbled into film editing — knowing absolutely nothing about it. It turned out to be the best accidental decision of my life. I was at the dawn of the video age without realising it.
In 1979, walking down D’Arblay Street, I saw a poster for a strange-looking act playing the next night at the 100 Club. I went along and was blown away. The performer was Prince. Two years later, I was editing his video for Little Red Corvette.
Around the same time, Gary recorded Replicas. You could feel it was going to be huge. I watched him coax impossible sounds from a Mini Moog, then a Polymoog and an ARP Odyssey. Replicas remains one of my favourite albums of all time.
We were meant to go on holiday to Greece — Gary, Garry, and me — when Gary was invited onto The Old Grey Whistle Test. He cancelled, of course. It was the best thing that ever happened. Weeks later, Are ‘Friends’ Electric? hit number one.
I threw myself into work. There was no money in editing then, so I worked nights at a petrol station and edited by day. Eventually I met Andy Morahan and Matt Forrest, who became a lifelong friend. We made a promo for The Quick, whose musician George MacFarlane I would meet again a decade later and write songs with.
My editing career took off. I worked with The Pet Shop Boys on their video album Television, with Grace Jones, The Human League, George Michael — around 200 videos in total. But I still wanted to write music. After a bet with Gary that I couldn’t write a song, I formed a band. Terry Lee Miall (later of Adam & The Ants) was on drums, Alex Godson and Andy Hale on keyboards, and later Simon Kunz on drums. Andy and I wrote most of the songs. Gary liked what we were doing and signed us to Scratch Records. We released one single, Stars, and recorded Boys, which never came out — the label went bust, or maybe they just didn’t like us. Hard to remember now.
I realised I didn’t love the record industry and focused on editing. In 1985, I bought into my company with the money I’d saved from the petrol station. Gary and I drifted apart as his career took him to the States. Around 1992, we reunited to make the video for Machine & Soul. He was at a low point, financially and creatively, but the video was a joy to make. We went on to create The Radial Pair, and I filmed his Hammersmith show that became the Dream Corrosion tour video. We also wrote together again — including What She Wants. It was a wonderful period of mutual creativity.
Life moved on. I met Jayne, married her, and we had our daughter Lucy. With my stepdaughter Harriet, they are my love, my life, my soul — the reason I exist. When Lucy was born, Gary was the first person to arrive at the hospital. That meant more than I can say.
I haven’t seen Gary since he and Gemma married. We still exchange Christmas cards. But some friendships are built on foundations that never erode. If I saw him tomorrow, we’d pick up exactly where we left off.
What She Wants
What She Wants A little bit of history on the track - I hadn't written anything since I left Scratch Records back in 1982, and while talking one day with Gary, I said I had a couple of new ideas for songs, and he suggested we try them out. I've known Gary since I was 5 years old, and at this point in time, I was making the Radial Pair programme, the Machine & Soul video and the Dream Corrosion tour video with him. It was one of those fantastic periods when our relative professions became entwined, and we had a fantastic time working together. So to cut a long story short, we recorded this track, What She Wants, in one single day and then it took me another six to nine months to put a film together for it. Everyone who worked on it gave their time for free, so I am forever indebted to those people for their time and effort.
Numanme Interview
1. Do you still keep in touch with Gary?
NICK: I haven't actually seen Gary since he and Gemma got married. We still exchange Christmas cards, of course, but to be honest, you build friendships in life that will never diminish through time, because of the base on which they are built. For instance, if I saw Gary tomorrow, it would be as if no time had passed, and we'd just pick up from our last conversation. He has always been a good mate, underlined by the fact, that when my daughter was born, he was the first person to arrive at the hospital to see her. That meant a lot to me.
2. Do you have the lyrics to your songs?
NICK: Yes, I have lyrics to all my songs - somewhere!
3. And what do you think of Gary's Pure album
NICK: I love Pure. Had to buy it from HMV - can't believe the swine didn't send me a free copy!
4. What is Gary like as a person in an out of work situation
NICK: I suppose many people have made incorrect assumptions and generalisations about Gary, without ever truly knowing the man. I really only know him as a friend, that being someone who would do most anything for you, at the drop of a hat. However, we did have a few contretemps actually working together, but that is pretty much always to be expected if you are involved in a creative process. You don't get the result if you don't fight a little bit!
5. What are your plans in life and music etc,
NICK: My plans in life are much like anyone else's. Live long, enjoy every day, take care of my wife and daughters and maybe write a little bit more music along the way.
6. Dose it bother you when people show interested in you because of the
Numan link
NICK: No, it doesn't bother me. I'm flattered that anyone took an interest in the first place! I only ever started writing because Gary made a bet with me once, that I couldn't write a song. So I went away, wrote four, he liked what I'd done, and we re-recorded them with Gary producing. Having attended many studio sessions with Gary, it taught me a lot about the science of recording. He is a prolific talent, never properly hailed as such, and it was fantastic to share part of the experience in the 70's, 80's and the
90's.
Lyrics
RAIN
Hoping and praying
The night will get no longer
I know what to do
To make me feel much stronger
I'm awake inside my bed
As I start to wonder
What the night will bring
My god, this sounds like thunder
Here comes the rain again
Here comes the rain
Here comes that pain again
Here comes the rain
Watching and waiting
For signs it's getting better
My nose tastes the rose
I think she's getting wetter
I wish I had the time
While this beauty slumbers
High up in the sky
The clouds begin to rumble
Here comes the rain again
Here comes the rain
Here comes that pain again
Here comes the rain
Thinking about the time
That we spend together
She's got something warm
I must enjoy her weather
I know it's 4 o'clock
But I think she's waking
Just in time I guess
I feel like celebrating
Here comes the rain again
Here comes the rain
Here comes that pain again
Here comes the rain
Here comes the rain again
Here comes the rain
Here comes that pain again
Here comes the rain
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time's forgiven, most things
But the ones that you love
Seem to bear the pain
You can't be all things
To all men
Just be something special
To the one that you're with
Stay with me
Lay with me
My gentle lover
Won't you just stay with me?
Stay with me now
Pray with me now
My lover
Signs are showing, these days
There's no time any more
Just to say the right things
Take a moment
To explain
Just one kiss says much more
Than these words that we say
Stay with me
Lay with me
My gentle lover
Won't you just stay with me?
Stay with me now
Pray with me now
My lover
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know something's on your mind
I believe something happened yesterday
Don't you think that I'm so blind
When the cat's away
That's no excuse for the mice to play
I guess I could show you
How much this would mean
Let's forget emotions
Maybe try this again
I need you love tonight
There's a place I know
Where we can go and be lovers tonight
Don't you ever think of me
When you're making love in somebody else's room tonight?
I'd just like to make you see
Did you ever think about
Breaking up someone else's life?
I guess I could show you
How much this would mean
Let's forget emotions
Maybe try this again
I need you love tonight
There's a place I know
Where we can go and be lovers tonight
I want your love tonight
If the scars don't show
Then nobody knows, let's make heaven tonight
Well you can take it from me
You'd better take it for red
That there's no fun making someone else's bed
It may last days and it may last years
I can tell you something
This will end in tears
Well I've told you once and I've told you twice
But you're too damned stupid to take my advice
You break a heart, that's the master plan
Just to taste satisfaction on the back of your hand
You're still dreaming of love but you're all alone
Now the lights are switched on but there's nobody home
You look pretty good but your eyes ain't so blue
I've got a new way of saying that I love you
"I love you"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And so the story goes
He left her heart in pieces
And now the apple grows
In her heart
It's so full of reason
For the man for all seasons
Like any other girl
Full of hope and emotion
It took one luckless night
She's in love
She lives for the moment
She can't see the burning bed
It's time for you to justify
This feeling that you have inside
Your mind
It's time for you to
Slip away
(dialogue from film-Courtroom sequence)
And as the bruises fade
This girl she starts to forgive
And only time can tell
When she won't take
Any more pain
Another day for the burning bed
It's time for you to justify
This feeling that you have inside
Your mind
It's time for you to
Slip away
(dialogue from film-Farrah beating)
He got so drunk one time
He falls asleep for the evening
She's got the kids this time
And her hands taste like the gasoline
Lying in wait for the burning bed
It's time for you to justify
This feeling that you have inside
Your mind
It's time for you to
Slip away
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shiny shoes, a singles bar
Credit cards and a Mercedes car
Painted nails, a painted face
Any enny bag and a friend called mace
But she knows what she wants
She'll treat you like a brother
She's born to be a lover
And she knows how to tease you
She talks to herself
She makes love to herself
Green eyes like a film star
Wearing dresses that go too far
She's got perfect skin of a certain colour
She's got long blonde hair, just like her mother
But she knows what she wants
She'll treat you like a brother
She's born to be a lover
And she knows how to tease you
She talks to herself
She makes love to herself
Christy, Cindy, Evangelista
Iman, Campbell and all those sisters
In the kitchen, in the hall, on the bathroom floor
She's every mans dream you've been looking for
She likes Otis Redding, she likes T.Rex
She loves hugs and kisses but she never has sex
She loves boys but she's best with girls
Lipstick, she's dangerous, she's kisses and curls
But she knows what she wants
She'll treat you like a brother
She's born to be a lover
And she knows how to tease you
She talks to herself
She makes love to herself
And she knows what she wants
She'll treat you like a brother
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cry like we're babies, and cry all the time
Say all the right things
And never say maybe
Another scene changes, only broken down actors
Trying hard to remember
Lines floating in memories
Another car crashes
Is there life after death?
Another car crashes
Let's never say die
Another car crashes
Never say die
Talk like we're crazies on reincarnation
Let's kneel in a doorway
And wait for last year
Focus one picture, then focus them all
Watch them merge into each other
We're making the all-time film
Another car crashes
Is there life after death?
Another car crashes
Let's never say die
Another car crashes
Never say die
I read "A Brave New World" and my thoughts have turned ugly
It's not the same as when we began
So quiet tonight
I just can't hear a thing
Except my own heartbeat
Which goes on and on and on
Another car crashes
Is there life after death?
Another car crashes
Let's never say die
Another car crashes
Never say die
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saw an advert in the paper saying
"Nuclear Fallout Shelters - For Sale"
"Seal your families from the attacks
Maybe you can live again"
A million miles away, a voice is laughing
Another city of people is dead
You imagine, in a moment comes silence
Listen, echoes just drift away
Bid Farewell, Bid Farewell, Bid Farewell
Maybe I'll walk around replying
To myself that "I don't know why"
I, the victim of invisible armies
The survivor of a genocide
I saw you running across the tarmac crying
"I don't want to die like this"
Didn't catch me running towards you
Fell down at my feet, too late
Bid Farewell, Bid Farewell, Bid Farewell
Sitting here, I'm reduced to thinking
About years long gone by
Vacant thoughts of when I was younger
I never dreamed it would end like this
But I remember an advert saying
"Nuclear Fallout Shelters - For Sale"
It's only now that I realise
Exactly what that advert meant
Silly girl
Getting serious now
She takes her money's worth
That's so unnatural now
She pulls me up
But I don't feel like dancing
I'm so tired
No, I don't feel like dancing
Boys, boys'll be boys
They stay out late at night
Slyly slip away
Only after dark
My head is…
My head is turning around
But I'm so nervous too
My hands are shaking tonight
She turns me on
But I am not a yes-man
I'm no fool
Won't let you treat me like that
Boys, boys'll be boys
They stay out late at night
Slyly slip away
Only after dark
Don't feel like dancing
Don't feel like dancing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only time can tell
How long we will see eye to eye
Make love in slow motion
Make love in freeze frame
We're eye to eye
Eye to eye, why do I?
Why do I?
Picture this, picture a thousand faces
Staring at you
See their eyes, they're watching
See their eyes, they see you
Eye to eye
Why do I?
Why do I?
Move these faces
And move these bodies
We are eye to eye
Move these faces
And move these bodies
Picture, eye to eye
Move these times, move these times
See the clock cries "Morning"
And we're broken
With their "eye to eye"
Eye to eye
Love is all motion
Seeing we're eye to eye
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another celebration finds me
Waiting by these walls
Praying for someone to call me
Telephone never rings
So I'll go home and contemplate
The bedroom seems so cold to me
I'm sleeping with myself tonight
So I'll get lost in sleep and some dreams
She's as cold as ice, she's just like ice to me
You're my infatuation, lover
It's written in my heart
You hold my fascination always
But you tell me that you're bored with me
I'm sick and tired of all the lies
Black and white and nothing stays
I'm fed up with the "tender touch"
This girl is just like ice
She's as cold as ice, she's just like ice to me
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the event I will stop breathing
In the event I turn to dust and
It matters not about tomorrow
In the event, in the event
In the event I will recall you
In the event I will remember
My mind's gone blank from every dream
I loved you dear, I loved you dear
In the event my heart stops beating
In the event my eyes can't see you
I walk on air and turn to dreams
There is no point in going on
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mirror Minds watching me, every move
While the Hover Birds screech and fly above me
From a time long lost, and time and time
Vague recollections
Blurred recognition
As time goes by
Now we're making the grade but we're just the actors
|In the silent picture, now the final epic
It's strange the way they forget the old times
But I remember
All the lies and laughs they cried
Of time gone by
Memories, memories
Memories, killing me
Rent a machine like a jerk in the dark
Like a token snatched from a man in the park
Feel your muscles move as you start the action
You forget the motions
So they laugh in your face
As time goes by
See the rent boys walking round in their numbers
"Trick for mister? Doesn't cost plenty"
Make a deal and scream "I need to eat"
Don't cry out for help
'cause they'll rob you on two feet
As time goes by
Memories, memories
Memories, killing me
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stars, don't walk in streets
Stars, don't move their feet, they're stars
When stars are all alone
They wait by telephones
For stars to ring
And stars must look their best
"And we take dreams to bed tonight"
I'd say you're just the same
"And we take dreams to bed tonight"
Gone, gone star
Stars, here they come, here they come
Stars, here they come, here they come
Stars, here they come, here they come
Stars, there they go
They can't be forgotten
Stars, can leave some lasting scars
They are so exciting
Stars, are so derisive
Like you and me
Mere men, we want to be
"And we take dreams to bed tonight"
So please, you've got to hear
"And we take dreams to bed tonight"
Gone, gone star
Stars, here they come, here they come
Stars, here they come, here they come
Stars, here they come, here they come
Stars, there they go
Boys in American suits
Drink soft drinks - whiskey?
Dream about living with a blonde girl
Talk about men, then you talk about gods
Talk about men, then you talk about gods
Stars don't need an ID
Stars, meet up by proxy in Cars
Stars don't need to eat
Stars don't need to sleep
So stars, they aim to please
"And we take dreams to bed tonight"
They change their lives for you
"And we take dreams to bed tonight"
Gone, gone star
Stars, here they come, here they come
Stars, here they come, here they come
Stars, here they come, here they come
Stars, there they go.
