FT273

Ever since 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' reached the top of the charts in 1979, Gary Numan has ben hailed as a pioneer of electronic music whose obliquely dystopian lyrics and weirdly alien stage persona announced a new personality in British pop. So is he really from outer space?


FT: On your first two single releases with Tubeway Army – before you were known as Gary Numan – you used the pseudonym 'Valerian' and drummer Jess Lidyard was 'Rael'. Could you tell us more about this choice of names, or the –'spaceman' image you created?

Gary Numan: I used to drive by a building in West London that had ‘Valerian’ written on it and I thought it had a nice ring to it.