Gary Numan’s reality check – ‘I’m essentially a guy who wears make-up for a living’
6/26/202639 min
Seven hundred fans have contributed to ‘Gary Numan: A People’s History’, a lavishly published compendium of memories of discovering, hearing and watching him over the 50 years he’s been making music. As you might imagine, he’s immensely touched, not least because – in this honest and extremely modest conversation – he feels his roller-coaster career was down to “perseverance not God-given talent” and that if he hadn’t come along, that devotional space in his fans’ lives would have been filled by someone else. He talks to us here from his home in Los Angeles and touches on …
… the extent of what music can mean to people
… how careers pan out – “huge highs then you fall off a cliff for a while”
… ‘I made though perseverance more than God-given talent’
… meetings with upstarts and superstars
… why he doesn’t listen to new music
… ‘Don’t call me, the Gothfather!’
… the press he got in the early ‘80s “that made fans hide their Gary Numan albums”
… how hip-hop and Afrika Bambaataa absorbed his music
… ‘I’m not unique, I simply supply a service”
... and having your Gary Numan tattoo sketched for you … by Gary Numan!
Order copies of ‘Gary Numan: A People’s History’ here: https://burningshed.com/richard-bowes_gary-numan-a-peoples-history_book
Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDavid Hepworth· Host0:01
[guitar music] Now look, Word In Your Ear comes to you at least once a week in the form of a podcast, a videocast, or a thing so new it has no name, and it's free. All we ask is that you subscribe, like, and wherever possible, leave a comment. And if you feel like getting further involved, you can become a Patreon supporter, which could mean you're inviting us to rifle through your record collection, our inviting you to join us for our very special Friday night quiz, and all of us feeling the sum of human happiness has been increased. Details at Patreon.com/WordInYourEar. And now, on with the show.
Mark Ellen· Host0:44
[guitar music] You're listening to a podcast from The Word. Welcome to this. Now, 700 fans have contributed to a book called Gary Numan: A People's History, which is vivid memories of seeing and meeting and listening to him over the last 50 years. It's a terrific book, and he's joining us here from LA. Gary, lovely to see you again.
Gary Numan· Guest1:15
And you, and you. Thanks for having me.
Mark Ellen· Host1:16
Last time we talked to you, you, you were in a, a, a suitably gothic-looking pile in Scotland. [laughs] So this, LA's where you live, isn't it? It's, it's the home base.
Gary Numan· Guest1:25
Yeah. Yeah. Mo- we moved here towards the end of 2012, but we,