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.
Record Collector, May, 2005
Excellently presented and immaculately researched...will have fans salivating from the first page. Personally endorsed by Numan himself.
Book Description
Since his astonishing breakthrough in 1979 with ‘Are Friends Electric?’ and ‘Cars’ - selling an incredible 10 million records in 2 years with Tubeway Army and solo - Gary Numan has built up an impressive body of work- from the well-known hits to the idiosyncratic and obscure - and retained a devoted cult following. From his earliest recordings with Tubeway Army in late 1977 to his current, Nu-Metal championed solo works, Electric Pioneer, An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan is the first ever guide to his recorded output, documenting every single and album and featuring sections on his live shows, memorabilia and DVD releases. Includes:Complete discographies and videographies. A full concert guide.- Detailed sections on bootlegs, books, tribute albums and so much more.- Electric Pioneer, An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan is the ultimate reference guide to one of the world’s most consistently refreshing and challenging artists.
PAUL’S ELECTRIC PIONEER
A Bradford man is hoping his first book on his pop idol will storm up the literary charts.
Thirty eight year old Paul Goodwin left Hanson school in 1982 with no formal qualifications but always dreamed of writing a book, he said I worked in a warehouse when I left school then I passed my driving test, I become a delivery driver and now I work in a plumbers merchants behind the till.
Paul has written an armchair guide to Gary Numan called Electric Pioneer which is out now. Keyboard wizard Numan’s first hit was Are Friends Electric with Tubeway Army in 1979 and he followed it with solo hits like Cars and We Are Glass.
Paul lives with his partner, Kathy Doyle 36 and five year old son James in Kings Road Worse, Kathy said she often woke up in the middle of the night to find Paul scribbling ideas. She said he’d be sitting writing while pushing the pram and watching tellytubbies.
Paul finished writing the book in may 2003 and sent it off to helter skelter publishing who snapped it up. With things going well he decided to contact Gary Numan and asked him if he would write the book’s foreword. Paul said: I sent him an email and didn’t hear anything for a while. Then one day out I was checking my inbox and there it was he’d sent me a full page foreword. The book then became the official guide to Gary Numan.
Paul said: You'll all love this book, its huge, packed to the gills with Numan Memorabilia from the last 26 years, facts, figures, oh everything you can imagine. I worked solidly on this book for something like two years so it's pretty trippy. There is a small section dedicated to some of the Numan internet sites, it's not particularly big as I was limited space wise and I'm sorry if I didn't include the right sites, all I can say is I tried my best. Perhaps a revised edition of the book will rectify any mistakes.
Paul Goodwin
Interview
Numanme: How long have you been a fan?
Paul: I’ve been a fan since mid 1980, I heard “I Die; You Die” on the radio and that was it, total devotion. For me, Gary Numan’s music is uplifting, highly charged with emotion and utterly unique. In a strange way the huge critical onslaught that Gary received has prevented anyone from trying to emulate him. My parents by the way did not “get” Numan at all, my father in particular was completely baffled by his appeal so I was constantly derided for playing his music at home when I was younger. It was also increasingly tough to be a fan as the mid 80’s swung around because Numan’s career began to swing wildly between solo endeavours and guest projects and that unique Numan sound began to disappear. I remember buying “No More Lies”, the third Sharpe And Numan single and really not liking it at all. Flipping the single over though was another new track entitled “Voices.” I thought this song was fantastic yet here it was thrown away as a mere B-side. Something was clearly wrong. In the book I describe the Numan Army as fracturing at this point in time and visibly trickling away. I have to confess that I was one of those that trickled away for a few years.
Numanme: What Gary Numan album do you consider your favourite?
Paul; “Pure”, I love that record. I think that “A Prayer For The Unborn” and “Walking With Shadows” are proof, if ever it was needed, that Gary Numan has plenty of life left in him yet. Of the early records I’d plum for “Telekon.”
Numanme: Are you a serious collector?
Paul; Within reason yes, I buy all the latest releases, all formats, all countries. It’s an obsession I think. I’m 38 now and I can’t see my love of all things Gary Numan diminishing yet.
Numanme: What do you think Gary will make of the book?
Paul; Gary has had a copy of “Electric Pioneer” since the spring and from speaking to both Tony and Gary I think they, by and large, approve of it. I’m very, very lucky to have been given the seal of approval via a foreword and I can’t thank Gary enough for taking time out of his busy professional life to write what he did. I wasn’t sure whether the include the two bootleg sections in the book because the one thing I wanted the book to be was positive throughout, however, by not including the truly illegal ones I think I’ve written a fair account of the bootleg scene and hopefully upset no-one as a result.
Numanme: What subjects do you cover in the book?
“Electric Pioneer” is all about the music of Gary Numan, it’s a 26 year, 288 page journey and I think fans will really like this book. Its crammed to the teeth with Memorabilia, singles, albums, artwork, dvd’s, videos and a very detailed live history. Its not a price guide but it is written in such a way that once you’ve read it you can start all over again and approach it in a different way. You can ignore my comments and read it simply as a reference guide or you can check the book against your own collection to see if I’ve included something that you missed originally or you can pick over it like a detective and see if I either made a mistake somewhere or failed to include something that I should have. Don’t forget, I’m a fan too and this is no band wagon jumping cheap tatty book full of cleverly cut up pictures and hardly anything to read, “Electric Pioneer” has 288 A4 sized pages of text. I could fit another word on if I tried!
Numanme: How long has it taken to write?
Paul; I started writing the book in March 2002 and finished it in November. Then in February 2003 I finally began typing the book up and finished that in August 2003. Ever since then I’ve been updating it, correcting it and rewriting bits. Helter Skelter Books came it to the picture early this year and finally the end is in sight!
Numanme: Where did you get all your information from?
Paul; Everywhere really, thing is, I’ve always felt that when Numan finally succumbed to cultdom in the early 90’s all the fans kind of went their separate ways and everyone it seemed took a piece of the Numan legend with them. I’ve found that everyone I spoke to knew certain things and what I have done is piece this jigsaw puzzle back together. There will obviously be things in the book that are very well known but you see I also wrote this book for the isolated fans in countries that do not stock Numan CD’s.
Numanme: Will the book be out on time?
Paul; that is down to me I’m afraid, the cover photo copyright has yet to be resolved though we are close. Also I’m re-scanning a few items for the book too. I’m very busy and trying desperately to tie up all the loose ends. Don’t worry, we’ll be on time I promise.
Numanme: Is the book if full colour?
Paul; My version is, I don’t know about the published version yet. I hope so though.
Numanme: How many pages is the book?
Paul; I know I’ve stated 288 but there is actually a few more, I think the full page count is closer to 292.
Numanme: Do you think this book will appeal to all Numan fans or just to the serious collector?
Paul; On November the 10th I’m about to find out. Helter Skelter love it and I’m sure everyone else will too.
Numanme: Are you proud of the book?
Paul; Yes, I’ve never wrote a book before so it’s a tremendous achievement and to get it published is just unreal. The second book “Electric Pioneer 2” is almost completed and I hope to interest Helter Skelter in that one as well. I’ve loved ever second of writing the second one. I hope and pray that I can get a deal for this one too because I think this book will be very much cherished by fans.
