Gary Numan’s reality check – ‘I’m essentially a guy who wears make-up for a living’

Seven hundred fans have contributed to ‘Gary Numan: A People’s History’, a lavishly published compendium of memories of discovering, hearing and watching him over the 50 years he’s been making music. As you might imagine, he’s immensely touched, not least because – in this honest and extremely modest conversation – he feels his roller-coaster career was down to “perseverance not God-given talent” and that if he hadn’t come along, that devotional space in his fans’ lives would have been filled by someone else. He talks to us here from his home in Los Angeles and touches on …

… the extent of what music can mean to people

… how careers pan out – “huge highs then you fall off a cliff for a while”

… ‘I made though perseverance more than God-given talent’

… meetings with upstarts and superstars

… why he doesn’t listen to new music

… ‘Don’t call me, the Gothfather!’

… the press he got in the early ‘80s “that made fans hide their Gary Numan albums”

… how hip-hop and Afrika Bambaataa absorbed his music

… ‘I’m not unique, I simply supply a service”

... and having your Gary Numan tattoo sketched for you … by Gary Numan!

Order copies of ‘Gary Numan: A People’s History’ here: https://burningshed.com/richard-bowes_gary-numan-a-peoples-history_book

Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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