Released October 1997 (vinyl), March 1998 (CD). DAVE CLARKE – Techno DJ. STEVE STOLL – Techno DJ.
Special note: 2500 copies of Random vinyl sold out on the day of release.
STEVE STOLL: The first live act I ever saw was Gary Numan. It was at the Capital Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey in 1980. It was “The Teletour”, for the Telekon record. That’s why I chose to remix the track “Remember I Was Vapour” for Random 2, because it’s off Telekon.
DAVE CLARKE: Frankie D, who used to run Euro beat 2000, knew Gary, then Steve Webbon got in contact with me and a load of other artists to do some mixes, all the remixers, Hell, Armani, Dearborn, chose tracks and I was given "Cars", it was the first mix I did on my new 02R desk, but the interface was so intuitive it took me two days and I remember using over 20 compressors, but to hear a track you loved as a kid in all it's composite parts is both weird and extremely daunting, so I chose to update the track as opposed to deconstruct it (like the Aphrohead and DJ Hell remixes I did). I don't think Gary understands what techno is. I also think techno is too clean for him, he's still a Goth. Gary Numan had more influence on me than Kraftwerk ever did - he's the dark side of electronica.
THE 1998 BEGGARS BANQUET CD REMASTERS
Released 1998 (TO 2002). STEVE WEBBON – Beggars Banquet Records.
STEVE WEBBON: CD decimated vinyl and cassette in the 90’s, and, more importantly the digital technology improved enormously. The big criticism of CD's was that they sounded flat and lifeless compared to analogue vinyl. All true! Luckily, I'd established a relationship with John Dent who has been mastering for years, is very diligent and has his analogue to digital equipment specially adapted by leading 'inventors' - he really cares about (and invests in) getting the best sound, which is more than many mastering studios. So by 1998 we've worked hard with Gary to raise his profile and it became viable to remaster the albums using today's equipment. Now, I know 90% of the public do not have expensive hi-fi domestic systems and probably can't distinguish the difference between the old and new CD's (maybe "the new ones sound louder" they say). I'm well aware that all the record companies slap a “digitally remastered” sticker on the CD's hoping it will increase sales - actually, it's utterly meaningless because you have to digitally remaster to get the music onto CD anyway. Whilst most CD's done in the last few years are perfectly good I'm a bit of a perfectionist and want the best sound available. Having sat in John Dent's studio and listened to source comparisons on a great hi-fi, I can tell you there is a big, big difference. Previously, most CD's were mastered from vinyl cutting tapes. These were the tapes made when the vinyl record was cut. What happens is the artist brings the studio master tapes to the cutting room and then the sound is altered to achieve the best sound for the vinyl album. This often meant taking a little of the bass out and compressing the sound, especially if it's a long album, to fit on the limited groove space. However, with CD's there were no such sonic restrictions and comparative tests showed me that the earlier generation studio masters sound more detailed and brighter that the subsequent cutting masters. For the Beggars Banquet re-issues I tried to track down all the masters of a song, we analyzed which sounded the best, and used that. However, these were dangerous waters. Basically, it wasn’t always clear which tapes were originally taken to the vinyl cut. During the recording there can be a track mixed and marked up as a master, then the artist later does it again, with slight changes and calls that the master. For instance, I borrowed a studio master of Telekon side one from Gary's archives and that had a note with it stating that “Remind Me To Smile” was a USA mix. At the time I wasn't sure if it had actually been used, (subsequently I suspect not), but I decided to go ahead and use it on the 1998 reissue of Telekon. “I Die: You Die” wasn't on the original vinyl UK album and we've previously used a single cutting copy to master it. However, I found a studio tape which sounded much better, but turned out to be a slightly different mix. As the original single mix was remastered on The Premier Hits I thought it would be a bonus for fans to include this version. I wasn't aware that “Remember I Was Vapour” was different; again, this must have been another mix. Actually, I think it's cool for fans to have these alternatives. I try to ensure we're using the correct versions but the sonic rewards of using the studio tapes outweigh the risks of wrong mixes. Before anyone asks, I left off “Fadeout 1930” and “Don't be a Dummy” From Tubeway Army because there wasn't time with adding the ’78 Roxy show. They were added to The Plan instead.
THE MIX
Released April 1998. KURT HARLAND –Musician (Information Society). ROD REYNOLDS – Designer.
KURT HARLAND: In the fall of 1997, Brian McNellis at Cleopatra Records asked me to do a re-mix of a Gary Numan song. I was glad to do it since Numan's music has been both an inspiration and a salvation to me over the years. He's one of the only artists I've ever "idolized." The Mix album is a bit hard to explain: When an artist records his/her songs and a record company releases them, the artist generally had to have a "re-record clause" in their contract, which states that for some number of years (usually 10), the artist cannot go get a record deal with another label, re-record the same songs, and compete with the original company. Gary's restrictions on re-recording his own songs had expired for his first 5 albums and in 1996 he recorded all new versions of a bunch of them. “Are “Friends” Electric?” and “I Die; You Die” are two of my favourite songs by Gary. In fact, “I Die; You Die” was the first song I ever performed in public, in 1981, with a friend of mine called Paul Robb and some other friends of mine for a one-time only performance in Minnesota. I was just happy to get a chance. Brian sent me a DAT with Gary's vocals, and the original remake that he’d made on the Techno Army CD, and I made a new version for the "re-mix" album. (more like a "remake" album, actually). Just for fun I sang the vocals too and I gave a copy of the versions with my vocals on them to Cleopatra as well. For some reason, the liner notes for this album say “additional vocals by Kurt Harland.” This is a mistake: the version with my vocals on it is not the one actually used.
GARY NUMAN: The Techno Army album was sent to Cleopatra for a possible North American release. The label didn't like the music at all and decided to have bands on their label write cover versions of my music and just use the newly recorded vocals. So, the CD is a mixture of several different projects all rolled into one. The only thing I was slightly unhappy about was that the CD was marketed as a Gary Numan album when in fact it has very little to do with me. The music was entirely written by other bands, even if they were cover songs. I simply donated guest vocals on the album.
ROD REYNOLDS: I designed the cover for this CD after Cleopatra asked to do it.
