NICK SMITH – Studio engineer. RRUSSELL BELL - Musician, former Gary Numan band member. CEDRIC SHARPLEY - Musician, former Gary Numan band member. DENIS HAINES – Musician, former Gary Numan band member. STEVE HILLIER – Musician (Dubstar). STEVE MALINS – Gary Numan PR and biographer. STEVE STOLL – Techno DJ. MARTIN MILLS – Beggars Banquet Records.
Early copies of the album (the first 100,000 copies) featured a free two track live single; the two tracks included were part of a planned 4 track live E.P. that eventually never saw the light of day.
GARY NUMAN: Telekon was written originally about a man who could harness the power of telekinesis, a man who could move things around by thinking about it. He realises he can do it, and it just increases and snowballs. Because of his power he ends up destroying every thing, including himself. The album was originally going to be a very guitar oriented album but it didn’t turn out like that at all. I turned out mainly a violin and piano album. I wrote it just after getting famous and suddenly found it wasn’t at all like I thought it was going to be. Very cynical lyrically, the ramblings of a confused chap I’m afraid. The Telekon album was my reaction to becoming famous. It wasn’t like I expected it to be. In 1980 I was just 22; I had gone through being an absolute nobody sitting at home to one of the biggest things in the world. It was also a reaction to the surprising and unwelcome aspects of a sudden rise to fame. The whole album has a hint of goodbye to it, songs like “Remember I Was Vapour”, “This Wreckage”, “The Joy Circuit” and “Please Push No More” were all written with that thought in mind. I was aware throughout writing Telekon that I was going to have to end it fairly soon.
RRUSSELL BELL: Gary had an old upright piano at home where he wrote all the tunes. The sustain pedal was gone so it only half sustained and it was tone flat. When I came to the studio he tried to get a similar sound to that, which he succeeded admirably in doing, even if the studio had a brilliant Steinway. It ended up sounding honky tonk. In a couple of the Telekon tracks we snuck in some nicer sounding “pretty piano.”
NICK SMITH: Gary had started the Telekon sessions and he was working with another engineer and things were not going too well in terms of sound quality. I’d just finished working with The Police at Surrey Sound Studios and Gary’s father/ manager Tony Webb heard about this and asked me to do a remix of a track that was nearly finished, which I did. Gary was really pleased with it, and we virtually did the whole album together. It was a very exciting time because he was a massive star and he played the part really well. He was a born pop star. Gary was the real deal with flash cars like the Corvette and the Ferrari. He used to arrive at the studio in all the gear-the make up-the black cloths the whole bit. I’ve got a great picture of Gary and myself sitting at the console during the making of Telekon and he’s got a black leather cat suit thing on and the make up. Fantastic. One of the reasons he used to do that was that there used to be 200 fans, mostly girls, waiting for him at the gate when we made that album at Rock City, Shepperton. So he’d drive up and it was amazing. It was even great for me, and I was only the engineer, to drive up through all that hysteria, it made you feel good about going to work.
RRUSSELL BELL: I was very into electronic music. Tubeway Army were one of my favourite bands, from the time I first saw them on the BBC’s The Old Grey Whistle Test. In fact before the auditions were advertised I know they were looking for a guitarist so I phoned up Gary’s record company Beggars Banquet to find out who I should get in touch with. No-one had a clue what I was talking about there, and then I saw the ad in Melody Maker a week later saying “Guitarist wanted, into Ultravox and Tubeway Army.” So I turned up at the audition, I suppose the violin playing is what swayed him to take me on, he was looking for a guitarist/ synthesizer player so I took the guitar synth. We got on very well together as well which I think was very important to Gary. Also because I played violin and Chris Payne played the viola Gary virtually had his own string section during the Telekon period. Generally I didn’t turn up in make up for recording, although we all had our little compact of make-up on tour. I carried around Max Factor, some kind of translucent powder, eyeliner, grey eye shadow-that was my basic kit. Gary was very big on Biba, which he used to guard because you couldn’t get it anymore.
NICK SMITH: There was a fantastic vibe at Shepperton. First of all the artists, especially Gary, felt very safe there. And it was a fantastic environment to work in because it was all arty- it was either films or music. There were always bands rehearsing there. We would be in one of the studios and on one of the stages opposite the stage door there might be Duran Duran, or the big stage down at the bottom, Sting might be there. There were always big artists there.
RRUSSELL BELL: There was a little studio and a big studio at Rock City. I got there early in the morning and I knew we were getting a new tape operator that day and there was this bloke in the kitchen. So I said “Oh, make us a cup of tea, I like it nice and strong.” I sat down and this bloke comes over and hands me the tea and it was Sting! He was using the little 16 track studio to put some ideas down. There were always a lot of people around when we were making those albums.
NICK SMITH: There was no hassle at Rock City. Gary could go out, he could walk around, go to the bar, go to the restaurant, and no-one would take a blind bit of notice. So from the moment you went through the barriers it was a great vibe. Gary liked Rock City so much he set up an office there so his dad Tony could start operating from there. Beryl, Gary’s mum also worked from there, she ran the fan club from there. And then Gary used to do all his rehearsals for the tours there on H-stage, which was vast. There were PA companies in Shepperton and he had a big warehouse full of gear. Gary had an unbelievable amount of keyboards-the money he spent on equipment was astronomical! It was a building literally stacked with keyboards. RRUSSELL BELL: There was a fairly set way we worked in the studio, Gary would come in with a song for which he’d have a slack of ideas and put them down with the compurhythm. At that point no-one knew what the vocal line would sound like unless we’d demoed it already. Then we’d put down another keyboard track and possibly Cedric Sharpley on top of the synthesized drums. Then probably another keyboard, guitar, viola and drop the bass in somewhere. It was all built up with each of us almost always doing it one at a time while the others are in the control room working out sounds. It was a very stark way of recording but it worked and it gave very good separation. The rhythm section was often at completely different ends of the day. That’s probably why it sounds unique.
DENIS HAINES: Gary couldn’t quite play piano with two hands and keep it up for the three and a half minutes a song required without drastic mistakes because he’s not trained as a piano player, I guess that’s why he wanted me.
GARY NUMAN: The lyrics for Telekon came from my notes. There I’d find a title and when I had a piece of music I looked through the lists that I had made on tour and take out lines that relate to the mood of the music and the title, adjusting them accordingly as I went on. It wasn’t a cut up technique; everything I took out would mean something to me. Everything I listened to which I thought would make a good line, I wrote down and then I took out what actually did mean something and fit it together so that it said what I wanted it to say.
GARY NUMAN: On Telekon we did a track and I hated everything except a viola solo, so we got rid of the lot and just kept the viola track and percussion and of course it was in perfect time for us to build on another way, which is why I like using a drum machine. I do things backwards often leaving the drums until last.
CEDRIC SHARPLEY: The main thing Gary wanted from me was the heaviest drum sounds I could come up with. He loved lots of bottom end, almost to the point of overkill. He always went for big sounds, sometimes layer after layer of gut wrenching, shake your bones bass sounds. Often there would be three or four instruments playing the bass line. That always crossed over to our live shows. We’d have three or four people playing the same bass line. He liked a lot of hypnotic, repetitive stuff, which was quite different to other more conventional bands.
RRUSSELL BELL: There are parts that were luck of course. You can often put down a track on a drum machine and then when Cedric puts his part down you find that there’s an accent there that you wouldn’t have thought of, the drum doing a snare beat syncopated with your guitar part which might not have happened if you’d been aware what the drummer would do. One of the most refreshing parts of Gary’s technique is happy accidents
RRUSSELL BELL: I think Gary’s a good guitarist, very distinctive. He’s got a good chuggy style and he has a very nice rhythmic feel, which is very laid back and right in the pocket.
NICK SMITH: Gary made himself very involved in the sound. He was very much in control from day one. He knew what sort of drum sound he wanted. He had his own effects racks which he personally brought in, and he’d say “I want the snare drum to go through this effect” and so on. He had a mental picture of the sound that he wanted and it wasn’t down to anyone else.
RRUSSELL BELL: Gary was always in control as far as recording was concerned, he knew what he wanted basically. We’d make a suggestion but at the end of the day there was only one person in the driving seat.
NICK SMITH: I’m sure Gary would admit he isn’t a great singer but he is unique. He has a sound. He created a very unique style with the help of some studio effects and it worked. He would never spend too long on a vocal, he’d go in, run it through once, make a few adjustments in his mind, sing it again and 99 percent of the time that would be the finished vocal. He might add a harmony or an octave thing to it but that would be it.
GARY NUMAN: I’ve rarely ever sung the songs the way they’re going to be before I go into the studio to do them; I’ve never sung them at home. I normally write the vocal line on the piano, playing the notes because I don’t like singing. Where I wrote was back at the family house where people could hear me getting it wrong as I was writing whatever it was I was working on. So I did it very quietly and tended to play the vocal on piano because I didn’t like them to hear me singing. It’s funny but it’s true, I’ve always been embarrassed about it.
DENNIS HAINES: Gary found one particular sound for Telekon on the ARP-Soloist which was very moody, more an emotional sound as opposed to electronic. It was a very weepy, sugary sweet sound. He decided he wanted to put a bit more emotion into his music so he used it in quite a few different ways on the album.
STEVE HILLIER: At the time Telekon was a bit sophisticated for a 12 year old kid but I definitely appreciated it a few months later.
MARTIN MILLS: We were pretty, completely occupied with Gary Numan at this point and we were a bit concerned about being just Gary’s record label. This was why we later started the 4ad label.
“THE TELEKON ALBUM SESSIONS – TRACK BY TRACK"
“THIS WRECKAGE” Debut live performance: UK 1980 “The Teletour.”
Recorded June 1980 Rock City, Shepperton. Released as a single in December 1980.
GARY NUMAN: “This Wreckage” was part tongue in cheek about the way I was seen by some people, I was referred to as a demo-god by someone quite early on so I was playing around with popstars being seen as gods. I certainly didn’t think I was one, a critism levelled at me after its release. It was as close to a self portrait as I could get. “This Wreckage” was the last song that I wrote for the Telekon album; in fact its inclusion altered the albums track list. Originally the track list for the Telekon album went “Remind Me To Smile”, “I Dream Of Wires”, “Telekon”, “I Die; You Die”, “Sleep By Windows”, “I’m An Agent”, “The Aircrash Bureau”, “Remember I Was Vapour”, “Please Push No More” and “The Joy Circuit.” The Japanese lyrics on the song said “I leave you.” A Japanese girl who I went out with briefly spelled out the characters for me. I was already sure I was finished with touring so it was a disguised way of saying goodbye to the fans long before I announced it for real.
GARY NUMAN: “This Wreckage” was a bloody stupid single though, I don’t think it’s a bad song, but it was a bad single. I choose songs simply from a “How much do I like them” point of view, I think the reason that, in retrospective, I haven’t always gone with the most suitable A-side is because I’ve been listening to some of those songs for about two years or more and by the time it comes to make choices and I’m sick to death of hearing them. The more recently written songs in an album session can often sound better because they seem fresher. The end of a recording session is not a good time to be choosing material for an album or for singles for that matter but what choice is there? Looking back though, a year or so later, I often wonder why I chose the songs I did.
GARY NUMAN: “This Wreckage” was how I saw myself at the time. I felt was being damaged slightly in various ways. The writing process for it took quite a long time.
“THE AIRCRASH BUREAU” Debut live performance: UK 1981 “The Farewell Concerts.” Recorded at Rock City, Shepperton January 1980.
GARY NUMAN: This song was basically a supernatural horror story about a pilot who was killed during the D-Day invasion of WW2. He comes back to warn people before they fly if their aeroplane is about to have an accident.
“TELEKON” Debut live performance: UK 1980 “The Teletour.” Recorded in June 1980 at Rock City Shepperton.
GARY NUMAN: I remember being in a nightclub in Japan one time and they played Telekon because I was there. They’d obviously spotted me, run out and bought the album and stuck on the time track because they thought, “oh that’s got to be a good one.” I was so embarrassed when this dirgey, world weary thing came on the PA and emptied the dance floor in seconds. I scurried away as quickly as possible. The “No conversation” line was all about the pressure, some day’s I’d sign something as Numan and some days I’d sign something as Webb. The two begin to come together as one. I always wanted to keep them separate, I wanted Numan to be almost a kind of a job, Numan was just a creation. The “I leave the table” line was all about the public’s reaction to me, I would have pieces of paper shoved under my nose and get “sign this.” I wasn’t used to this as I’d had a limited contact with people anyway. I felt like I was being treated, not like a human being, but like a chimpanzee in a zoo, something to be stared at, like an exhibit. It was then what I realised what being so called public property was all about. The word Telekon actually comes from the words Telekinesis and Telekinetic.
“REMIND ME TO SMILE”
Debut live performance: 1980 “The Touring Principle.” Recorded November/ December 1979 at Rock City Shepperton.
Released as a limited edition edited single in the U.S. and Canada in late 1980.
GARY NUMAN: About being famous and reflects my reaction to it. The line “We could remind ourselves that we must laugh” summed up how fake, how un-natural it had all become. The line “reconsider fame” was me reconsidering if I wanted fame or not, certainly reconsidering what I thought it was all about. The line “I need new reasons” meant the reasons for getting into it weren’t the things that I found when I got there. I needed new reasons to stay in it. The money was the one saving grace of it all that made up for everything; I could at least afford to be paranoid in comfort
STEVE MALINS: “Remind Me To Smile” showed off Numan’s ability to write a big pop chorus.
GARY NUMAN: The intro for the song was done on an old Roland Compurhythm. It played preset patterns. I think I used the Latin American one which was all Bongos’ and Congo’s.
“SLEEP BY WINDOWS” Debut live performance: 2000. April Shepherds bush, London. Recorded in January 1980 at Rock City Shepperton.
GARY NUMAN: This was about the fans; right from the start they were quite extreme. There’s a synth thing towards the end of it and I swear I’m sitting in front of it and have my eyes closed and I’m just hitting whatever notes come to hand.
“I’M AN AGENT” Debut live performance: UK 1981 “The Farewell Concerts.” Recorded November/ December 1980 at Rock City Shepperton (working title “I’m A Driver”).
GARY NUMAN: I thought of this track one morning in a flat that I had in Ealing, I was dreaming it and woke up singing the line “we are clean, don’t ask I’m an agent”, I ran to the telephone and sang it down the line to a friend as I didn’t have a tape recorder and I didn’t want to forget it. 'I'm An Agent' was about would be along these lines. Disenchantment, disappointment, fear, a whole range of things as your dream becomes reality and yet turns into a partial nightmare at the same time. The line in the song “send in dreams, lovers on corners, clean my sheets” refers to all the girls. When I first started touring I was quite shy about the whole sex thing, I would take girls down to breakfast in the morning and be apologetic for sleeping with them. “Secretaries, nothing more, you can be replaced you know” is a reference to Su Wathan, the girl who worked at Beggars Banquet. We’d have a casual relationship on and off for some time. I was very unfair to Su and she did not deserve such childish comments. I very much regret the way it ended, “John the God” was about John Foxx, a slightly tongue in cheek pointer for the press to consider in that if they got rid of me, as seemed to be their intent; John Foxx was waiting to take my place. The “Send in you” line was simple. Ever heard the expression being “stuck up” or having your “nose in the air” or “looking down your nose at someone.” The line refers to someone like that. It was an insult. “Stick on pretty” was a reference to make-up. “Aircraft nose” was a reference to being stuck up or arrogant, “Nothing much to care about” was a reference to a stuck up, caked on make up, arrogant woman of my acquaintance.
“I DREAM OF WIRES” Debut live performance: 1980 “The Teletour.” Recorded January 1980 at Rock City Shepperton.
GARY NUMAN: Pure sci-fi, Do androids dream of electric sheep, the Philip K Dick masterpiece was the starting point for it. The song out-lines the thoughts of the last electrician on earth who is looking back nostalgically at better days when he was known as the sparkle.
The late ROBERT PALMER: I was on the road and somebody sent me this tape. There was no information on it; it just said “bullshit from a far.” So I put it on and in the middle of it there was this “da da da da” sound. I thought that’s me, I like that. I had no idea who it was or anything. Next day at rehearsals we learned it and put it into the set. Anyway, I got to London and I was playing a show and somebody said “Gary Numan’s here to meet you” and he came in and looked like he does and talked, a very interesting guy. And then I began to find out what he represented but it didn’t make any difference to me because I was already committed. Later on he was passing through Nassau on his way to Japan and he said “Lets do something.” Cos he’s not one for lying in the sun. He can’t relax. I think he’s used to being thought of as eccentric. So we did some recording and it worked.
GARY NUMAN: Robert Palmer chose that track for inclusion on his Clues album. He took that song and worked on it mainly without me although I was there for the early sessions. We did work together on two other songs at that time called “Style Kills” and “Found You Now.”
“REMEMBER I WAS VAPOUR” Debut live performance: 1979 “The Touring Principle-UK leg.” Recorded in August 1979 and November/ December 1979 at Rock City Shepperton. Released as a 12-inch single in Germany in 1980.
GARY NUMAN; “Remember I Was Vapour” was a reminder to the fans that but for a few short months before the success came along I was just like everybody else, I bled, cried, everything that everybody else did. I resented very much being treated like a chimpanzee. I was trying to remind people that everything they feel and everything that they cherish, like their privacy, I would also like to do. The lines “Remember I am human, remember I was someone too, remember I need oxygen” related to my feeling at the time of being treat like a goldfish in a bowl, I found it intimidating when people would just walk up to me, stare and say nothing without a hint of embarrassment. I used to get really nervous and wonder what they would do.
STEVE STOLL (TECHNO DJ): “Remember I Was Vapour” is a classic Numan track because it’s just so dark and moody.
“PLEASE PUSH NO MORE” Debut live performance: 1981 “The Farewell Concerts.” Recorded in January 1980 at Rock City Shepperton.
GARY NUMAN: Written specifically for when I retired. When I wrote that song I knew that I was going to be stopping. It was written to tell the fans when and why I was doing it. The line “The telephone lines blind” was about me feeling that everything had been disfigured, distorted, misconstrued and unpleasant. The song it written as though the final moment has just happened, I was trying to imagine how it would feel the moment after I’d played my last song.
“THE JOY CIRCUIT” Debut live performance: 1980 “The Teletour.” Recorded in November/ December 1979 at Rock City Shepperton.
GARY NUMAN: The touring side was the hardest for me, I had never done it before, the White Hart in Acton to 10,000 people in the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto; very difficult. I had done two big world tours in less than a year. I couldn’t handle it, I had a lot of tantrums, and I just couldn’t cope. I had to stop, I just needed a break. I hadn’t had the years on the road that everybody else had had. I was young and had to learn in public.
GARY NUMAN: In America I only had five days off during the whole time; the band would be going out and I’d be doing interviews 10am to 6pm. I hardly had a day to myself and there was this massive pressure to keep getting No1 hits all the time. I got really fed up. I wanted it to be fun and enjoyable like it always had been but I ended up touring for all the wrong reasons. So I gave up. I mean, if it can’t be fun. Also there was a constant feeling that the next album must sell more than the last. Everyone is breathing down your neck. At the end I thought “what an unpleasant business this is.”
“WE ARE GLASS” Debut live performance: 1980 “The Touring Principle.” Recorded in November/ December 1979 at Rock City Shepperton. Released as a single in May 1980.
GARY NUMAN: This is where I decided that getting rid of guitars had been a mistake so what I was trying to do was re-introduce conventional instruments in a way which made them more modern. There was obviously more that could be done with guitars than I realised. “We are Glass” featured a heavy, choppy guitar riff. Sadly I wasn’t even in the country when the single was released; I was busy finishing up the first world tour in New Zealand and Australia. Live, I can never remember the words, I don’t know why; it must be a mental Ultra rare green vinyl copy block. I’ve written them down I don’t know how many times.
GARY NUMAN: I did an interview with a man from Omni magazine and he said that I was here for a reason which I thought was an odd thing to say. The song was about the various stars that were here for a reason and not just by chance. It was also suggested that they quite fragile. It was recorded in one day just before I set off for the Japanese tour.
GARY NUMAN: I thought the “We Are Glass” video was so much better than the video for “Cars.” .
“I DIE: YOU DIE” Debut live performance: 1980 “The Touring Principle.” Released as a single in August 1980. * Special note: At least two other alt mixes known to exist
GARY NUMAN: Very chorus orientated with the guitars as the main rhythmic side and the keyboards tinkling over the top. STEVE MALINS: “I Die: You Die” was beautifully anthemic, a very pretty circular. melody that is scratched with guitars and an ear piercing electronic sound that sounds like an un-oiled gate opening at the end of the record. “I Die: You Die” also features a vindictive lyric directed at the media.
OUT-TAKES AND B-SIDES
“A GAME CALLED ECHO” Debut Live Performance: 2006 Telekon 2006 Tour Recorded Sat 3rd November 1979. Released for the first time in 1985.
STEVE MALINS: Originally recorded at Rock City as part of the early album sessions.
“PHOTOGRAPH” (B-SIDE TO “THIS WRECKAGE”) Debut Live Performance: 2006 Telekon 2006 Tour Recorded Monday 9th to Thursday 12th April 1979 – Free-range, London.
GARY NUMAN: “Photograph” was basically my version of Beethoven's “Moonlight Sonata.”
“DOWN IN THE PARK (PIANO VERSION)” (B-SIDE TO “I DIE: YOU DIE”) Debut live performance: 1980 “The Teletour”, performed as part of the intro to original “Down In The Park.” Recorded January 1980 at Rock City Shepperton.
GARY NUMAN: Dennis Haines played this version of “Down In The Park” when I asked him to, it was a lovely version.
“TROIS GYMNOPEDIES (FIRST MOVEMENT)” (B-SIDE TO “WE ARE GLASS”) Debut live performance: 1980 “The Touring Principle.”
GARY NUMAN: It was an old classical piece that I adapted for synthesisers, it was written by Eric Sartie in the 1880’s and was, in my opinion, one of the loveliest pieces of music ever written. It was always my favourite piano piece which was the main reason for choosing it and, in those days, I didn't realise it had three parts. I was only aware at the time of the one that I did. I think it was on a TV ad or maybe a nature programme.
IMPORTANT NOTICE All the above comments were extracted from a vast collection of archive Numan interview material. Subsequently I’d like to graciously acknowledge the following publications: Smash Hits magazine, Sounds, NME, Alien magazine, the Gary Numan fan club newsletters, Steve Malin’s autobiography of Gary Numan entitled Praying to the aliens, various on line interviews and other selected publications and news clippings.
TWO FURTHER TELEKON ERA RELEASES OF INTEREST
LIVING ORNAMENTS 80
From the 1980 tour emerged a superb 10 track live album, issued at a time when Numan was bowing out of the live circuit with three lavish shows at Wembley arena in May of 1981 the subsequently dubbed Living Ornament 80 album was 10 tracks of pure Numan nirvana. Dubbed “The 1980 Teletour” this trek was to be Gary’s second world tour in under a year and it saw Numan performing to sold out crowds across the UK as well as the North American continent and neighbouring Canada. By the close of 1980 Gary Numan was a huge international star and was fast approaching the very pinnacle of his early 80’s powers both musically and indeed visually, “The Teletour” was Gary’s most spectacular and ambitious outing to date featuring an raft of bizarre stage props as well as a simply jaw-dropping, state of the art lightshow. This recording effortlessly captured the Numan phenomenon in full flight as Gary and the band powered through turbo charged versions from his exemplary back catalogue to scenes of pure, unadulterated pop hysteria. The live record kicked off triumphantly with the Telekon album’s opening gambit, the leviathan like “This Wreckage.” Deafening cheers greet both the songs opening strains as well as Gary’s typically flamboyant entrance. “I Die: You Die”, “Tracks” and “Remind Me To Smile” are perfect examples of Gary’s knack for penning cool digital pop music with the latter something of a hidden treasure on the Telekon album, a song that really should have been issued as a single. “The Teletour” also saw Gary update a number of his older songs and these were also captured for prosperity on the Living Ornaments ’80 album. Both “Are “Friends” Electric?” and “Everyday I Die” were deftly altered to dramatic effect with the latter featuring a brand new synthesiser solo curtsey of Roger Mason who had been drafted in to replace the temporarily absent Denis Haines. Another track to go under the knife was Gary’s touchstone classic “Down In The Park”, here the song had been coupled with its piano counterpart and live Gary performed the track seated within a sleek, black futuristic motorised car. Living Ornaments ’80 also featured another gem in the shape of the Telekon sleeper track “The Joy Circuit”, a song that lyrically voiced Numan’s increasing career and touring woes. However, far from being downbeat, musically this track was a highlight from the tour featuring opulent synth work and superb musicianship no better typified than with the closing, melodramatic segment of the track. The tenth track on the Living Ornament ’80 album signed off heroically with a powerful, muscular rendition of Gary’s fifth top ten hit, the top 5 smash “We Are Glass.” (2CD VERSION OF THIS ALBUM ALSO AVAILABLE)
ORIGINAL TOUR DATES: THE TELETOUR 1980
SEPTEMBER -UK
4th – Birmingham Odeon 5th – Birmingham Odeon (Matinee) 5th – Birmingham Odeon (Evening) 7th – Manchester Apollo 8th – Manchester Apollo 10th– Southampton Gaumont 11th– Southampton Gaumont 12th– Bristol Hippodrome 13th– Bristol Hippodrome 15th– London Hammersmith Odeon 16th– London Hammersmith Odeon 17th– London Hammersmith Odeon 18th– London Hammersmith Odeon 21st– Brighton Conference Centre 22nd– Coventry Apollo 24th– Deeside Leisure Centre 25th– Preston Guildhall 26th– Glasgow Apollo 27th– Edinburgh Playhouse 29th– Newcastle City Hall
OCTOBER –NORTH AMERICA
14th – Toronto Maple leaf Gardens 15th – Montreal The Forum 17th – Boston Orpheum Theatre 18th – Passaic N.J Capitol Theatre 19th – New York Palladium 21st – Pittsburgh Stanley Theatre 22nd – Akron Civic Hall 24th – Ann Arbor Detroit Hill Auditorium, Michigan 25th – Chicago Granada 27th – Madison Civic Centre 28th – Milwaukee Auditorium 29th – St Paul Civic Centre, Minnesota
NOVEMBER –NORTH AMERICA
1st – Los Angeles Forum 2nd – San Diego Fox Theatre 6th – San Francisco Warfield Theatre 9th – Vancouver Queen Elizabeth Theatre 11th – Edmonton Field House 12th – Calgary Max Bell Arena
MICROMUSIC THIS LEGENDARY CONCERT IS TO BE RE-ISSUED ON DVD IN THE NEAR FUTURE (please note sleeve may vary)
1980 TV APPEARANCES
Feb: SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE . TWO PERFORMANCES: ‘Cars’ and ‘Praying To The Aliens.’
May: French TV: live from La Palace Paris: ‘Replicas,’ ‘I Die: You Die,’ and Down In The Park.’
May: Check It Out: interview and screening of ‘We Are Glass.’
Rage TV: ‘Down In The Park’ Hybrid mix: (1979 visual, 1980 Teletour audio).
‘We Are Glass’ promo.
‘I Die: You Die’ promo with alt mix audio track.
‘I die: You Die,’ version 2 featuring correct single mix.
Japanese TV: Parco store advert briefly featuring Numan and the song ‘Conversation.’
TOTP’s: ‘This Wreckage’ live in the studio (two screenings, one edited).
Swap Shop: interview and screening of ‘This Wreckage’ live from the Teletour.
‘Remind Me To Smile’ (live from the Teletour).
‘Down In The Park’ (live from the Teletour).
Newcastle City Hall: interview.
Toronto Music Hall – interview.
The Kenny Everett Show; ‘I Die: You Die (alt mix).’
Canadian TV: hotel room interview.
US hand held footage discovered in 2005 featuring: ‘Me! I Disconnect From You’ (in full)/ ‘Cars’/ ‘Conversation’/ ‘AFE’ (all are three part recordings from the Teletour)/ ‘Replicas’/ ‘Cars’ - from The Touring Principle.
TELEKON ERA FOOTAGE
M.E. (live version from the forthcoming Wembley DVD MICROMUSIC) Visit www.utube.com (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oat8D5LpD9s)
I DIE: YOU DIE (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocUditgCgDg) KENNY EVERETT VERSION OF I DIE: YOU DIE (www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI4XS4l5SS4)
WE ARE GLASS (www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgaUuYUcuvk)
REMIND ME TO SMILE (www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW3MSS7hjAY)
THIS WRECKAGE (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtn7Rx8P49k)
GARY NUMAN: “This Wreckage” was how I saw myself at the time. I felt was being damaged slightly in various ways. The writing process for it took quite a long time.
Both “Are “Friends” Electric?” and “Everyday I Die” were deftly altered to dramatic effect with the latter featuring a brand new synthesiser solo curtsey of Roger Mason who had been drafted in to replace the temporarily absent Denis Haines. Another track to go under the knife was Gary’s touchstone classic “Down In The Park”, here the song had been coupled with its piano counterpart and live Gary performed the track seated within a sleek, black futuristic motorised car. Living Ornaments ’80 also featured another gem in the shape of the Telekon sleeper track “The Joy Circuit”, a song that lyrically voiced Numan’s increasing career and touring woes. However, far from being downbeat, musically this track was a highlight from the tour featuring opulent synth work and superb musicianship no better typified than with the closing, melodramatic segment of the track. The tenth track on the Living Ornament ’80 album signed off heroically with a powerful, muscular rendition of Gary’s fifth top ten hit, the top 5 smash “We Are Glass.”
