I have the flu right now so chalk up any typos and mistakes found in today’s post to too much Nyquil and cough drops. Still, I’m not going to let a little crap fever stop me from rocking out and sharing my rocking out with all of you. This post is all Gary Numan-related because…um…I wanted it to be.
I got to interview Gary Numan once. Even though it was just over email it was very cool and definitely served as the highlight of my journalism career at the time. Unfortunately, the interview was for a magazine that went shit up right after I finished the assignment, so it was never printed. I was pissed. This year a very similar thing happened when I scored a phone roundtable interview with David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, but that’s a long story and I already feel like shit enough as it is. Here are some rare Numan-related tunes I picked up last month.
Gary Numan
We Take Mystery (To Bed) (Extended Version)
We Take Mystery (To Bed) (Early Version)
The Image Is
We Take Mystery (To Bed) was a single off of Numan’s 1982 album I, Assassin, and album which in my opinion was his last quality release until he reinvented himself with 1994’s industrial Sacrifice. If you get a chance to pick up I, Assassin I recommend it, in addition to this wonderfully bizarre song (what does “We take mystery to bed” mean? It sounds like the worst/best pick-up line ever) it also has one of my favorite Numan tracks “White Boys And Heroes.” These versions of “We Take Mystery…” and the third song were all taken off of the 12” single.
Sharpe And Numan
Change Your Mind (12” Single)
Fools In A World Of Fire
Remix, Remake, Remodel
I’m On Automatic (12” Remix)
Love Like A Ghost
Voices (’89 Remix)
I wish I had a scanner so I could so you the awesome get-up that Numan is rocking on the cover of “Change Your Mind.” He’s all decked out in white formal wear and make-up, with blue lipstick and eyeliner accenting his paleness. It’s like if Marilyn Manson was forced to grab some formal wear for a wedding on short notice.
Anyways, the Sharpe of Sharpe and Numan is a dude by the name of Bill Sharpe. He was in a band called Shakatak, a group I had never heard of until buying this single and researching him online. Shakatak (aside from sounding like some bizarre never-before-released 8-bit game featuring Shaq) was an early 80s jazz-funk band – which makes his teaming up with Numan even more bizarre and seemingly without reason.
Numan doesn’t sing on “Fools In a World On Fire” or “Remix, Remake, Remodel” and he doesn’t have a songwriting credit on them either, so their inclusion on the single is a little confusing. I’m not going to claim that all of these songs are particually good, but those interesting in Numan may find them pretty interesting (as will the four Shakatak fans who find this page via Google).
Hohokam
Harlequin Tears (12” Version)
Harlequin Tears (Single Edit)
To Sleep
Hohokam was one of the band’s on Numan’s short-lived label Numa Records. I know very little about the band and I’m too tired to research, find out yourself if you wanna!
Hey! Thanks for posting these rarities. I had recently dug out a tape I made of a WRUW (Case Western University radio, Cleveland) broadcast – the DJ spotlighted Gary Numan’s The Fury and for the first time I realized there was life beyond Cars and Down in the Park. I finally tracked down The Fury on CD – amazing album. Can’t wait to hear these!
Kool post – and as a Numan fan I’d like to say many thanks for posting these tracks – I actually saw Hohokam perform in the mid 80’s in the Manchester appollo during Numans Berserker tour where Numan used to appear on stage in the full while & blue make up – I thought Hohokam were great Steve Murtaugh was the lead vacalist – he used to stride around the stage swing “changs” dor more info on the band & to hear some samples of other singles check out the following ling http://www.grossmont.edu/karl.sherlock/NumaRecords/Hohokam/HohokamKing.htm
Sean B (in Ireland)
Thanks for Change Your Mind – I’ve been looking for that for ages! I’ve got the 7″, but nothing to play it on.
I’m surprised you’ve not heard of Shakatak. I’m not a fan – their only song I particularly like is ‘Down On The Street’ – but they were quite well known in their time!
Any fan of Numan is a friend of mine! I have the Sharpe & Numan 12’s, but the I, Assassin stuff is amazing! It’s actually my favorite Numan album. I agree that his stuff took a serious turn for the worst after that, & I haven’t heard anything good since, but his early material was massively ground-breaking & seriously underated.
Relatively unknown fact: when Numan was first signed by CBS/Epic, they also signed a band called After The Fire. Both Numan and After The Fire produced very similar electronic, keyboard-based music, and apparently it was more or less down to a toss of a coin to decide which single they were going to put their financial backing behind. Numan won out, but it would be interesting to know what would have happened if it had gone the other way, and to hear the After The Fire single, for that matter! I think it was called Laser Love or something like that.
just popped in after ending up here for book of love, of all things.
im going to stick around. i have that hohokam 12″ and i love it! when ever i play it out it gets some great reactions from those dancing.
thanks!