|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
PRAYING TO THE ALIENS
|
|
|
|
At the end of the 1970's Gary Numan, a 20 year old ex-punk from West London, was virtually alone in seeing the potential for a 'synthesisier star'. His unique style, born out of a paradox of introspection and showmanship, touched a chord with a huge international audience and within two years of his breakthrough single 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' Numan had sold more than 10 million records.
Fuelled by the enthusiasm of a huge fanbase, Numan released over 20 albums of forward-looking, oddly personal electronic pop between 1978 and 1994 and survived for several years out of the spotlight with his cult status still intact.
Avoiding the conventional rock 'n' roll excesses of drink and drugs, Numan blew his money on the pusuit of innivative extremes; gigantic stage sets and new, death-defying adventures as a pilot. He flew around the world in 1981 and by the early 1990's had become one of the top aerobatic display flyers in the country.
Finally, in Praying To The Aliens, Gary Numan tells his own story. It is a story of an eccentric and at times improbable star. We follow his life, from the unequalled live shows, through media hatred and tax exile to near isolation from the music industry. From hair raising aerobatic stunts to his love of sci-fi. From the decline of his career in the late eighties, to cult status and the huge resurgance of interest in his music in the late nineties.
Numan is the embodiment of the fin de siecle sentiment; combining his gothic music fascination with a devotion to technology, he conforms to none of pop's boundaries. Defying musical frameworks he is a definitive point of reference for the serious music scene's newest and most wanted. Namechecked by such diverse entities as Tricky, Nine Inch Nails and Beck, Numan is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with; past present and future.
Steve Malins |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
