GARY NUMAN: ROBOT LOVE AND MODERN DYSTOPIA

Do androids dream of electric sheep? Gary Numan certainly does. Numan's brooding dystopian synth-pop is out of this world!

My first encounter with Gary Numan blew my mind. You know the feeling when you hear a song and immediately know it is going to be your newest obsession? That's what happened with me and Gary. It was a most salacious love affair from the very start.

Allow me to set the scene: Saturday night, one indica joint, a disgusting amount of Trader Joe's cheese puffs, and Youtube autoplay shuffling through recommended music videos. Queuing a 1980 live performance of "Down in the Park" by Gary Numan, the internet algorithm gods smiled upon me that night.

The video opens with Numan emerging in plume of fog, surrounded by blinking, technicolor lights, much like an alien disembarking from his spaceship. The powerful, synth-driven melody rattled me to my core; It's simple chords and repetitive nature nature felt cold and mechanistic, as if written by machine in a dark dystopian future. Emotionless and startlingly pale, Numan glides onstage in his Telekon Car, delivering his trademark robotic, monotone vocal style.

Of course, I was immediately captivated. Who is this strange, sickly looking alien man?

"The strangest living boy you could ever wish to see... That's me." -Gary Numan in "The Machman," Replicas (1979)

Like a vision straight out of a sci-fi movie, Numan's willingness to be so outlandishly strange and avant-garde really appealed to me, as it seemed so deeply ahead of it's time.

There are certain people I believe encapsulate alien-esque, otherwordly auras. David Bowie is one of them. Tilda Swinton is another (although not a musical artist, but still alien-esque nonetheless). I'll probably devote another blog post to this in the future, but Gary Numan is undoubtably a major contender in this category as well.

As if Numan's enigmatic stage presence wasn't enough to draw me in, the lyrics proved equally fascinating, painting a vivid picture of a bleak, post-apocalyptic future dominated by violent, human-killing androids.

Down in the park Where the mach-men meet the machines And play 'kill-by-numbers' Down in the park with a friend called Five I was in a car crash Or was it the war But I've never been quite the same Little white lies like I was there Come to "Zom-Zom's", a place to eat Like it was built in one day You can watch the humans Trying to run Oh look there's a rape machine I'd go outside if he'd look the other way You wouldn't believe The things they do Down in the park Where the chant is "death, death, death" Until the sun cries morning Down in the park with friends of mine We are not lovers We are not romantics We are here to serve you A different face but the words never change

With The Pleasure Principal (1979) and Telekon Released (1980) peaking at #1 in the UK charts, Numan crafted a trans-humanistic alternate universe exploring the relationship of man and machine.

Tracks like "I Nearly Married a Human" and "Are 'Friends' Electric?" illustrated a future in which humans depend on androids for companionship, posing the question: Can you really call them friends if they are a robot designed to act like your friend?

You know I hate to ask... But are 'friends' electric?... Mine's broke down and I've no-one to love." -"Are 'Friends' Electric?", Replicas (1979).

In other songs such as "Metal," Numan writes from the perspective of a self-aware android coming to terms with the fact that it is in fact not human, but a robot being sent to America on an espionage mission.

"I'm in the building where they make us grow and I'm frightened by the liquid engineers, like you... The sound of metal, I want to be you. I should learn to be a man like you... Picture this, if I could make the change I'd love to pull the wires from the wall. Did you?" -"Metal," The Pleasure Principal (1979)

In the age of rapid technological advancement (most notably the rise of Artificial Intelligence), Numan's image of a dystopian tech-infused future draws nearer every day. But that's not what this blog post is about anyways. It's about Gary Numan and how he is a musical genius.

Quirky, bizarre, and profoundly imaginative, I find Gary Numan to be one of the most intriguing musical figures of our time. A pioneer of synth and electronic music, his impact on music is immeasurable. His innovative use of synthesizers and electronic soundscapes, combined with his thought-provoking lyrical explorations of technology, humanity, and dystopia, opened new vistas in music.

His importance in music is not merely historical; it resonates even today, reminding us of the power of innovation, creativity, and the enduring relevance of his groundbreaking contributions.