tubeway army

TUBEWAY ARMY was the name of Gary Numan’s band.

Formed in 1977, their self-titled debut album was released at the tail end of 1978. In addition to Gary, the band consisted of Paul Gardiner on bass and backing vocals and Jess Lidyard on drums. The album was a segue from the punk-leaning sounds of their early singles, to the pioneering electronic music that Gary Numan became known for. The phrase “garagey sci-fi rock” was used in reference to this album. This album truly paved the way for Gary Numan to become an electronic pioneer. It was during the sessions for this album that he came across a minimoog synthesizer by accident in the recording studio, and the rest is history. Shortly after this album’s release, Tubeway Army recorded their follow-up, Replicas, which contained “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?”, which became the first synthesizer-based number 1 hit of the electronic era in 1979. After its release, Numan opted to drop the Tubeway Army name and release music under his own name, retaining the musicians from Tubeway Army as his backing band. In a career that spans over forty years, Gary Numan’s music evolves and the themes change. But fans remain fascinated by Numan for the very fact that he’s so uncompromising. Gary recently released his twenty first album Intruder in May 2021.