– Tubeway Army – In Session for John Peel – January 10, 1979 – BBC Radio 1 –
Punk, turned Post-Punk, turned Electronica tonight, by way of Tubeway Army, fronted by Gary Numan.
Originally known as Tubeway Army. And then Gary Numan and Tubeway Army and finally just Gary Numan – they represented a changing taste in late-70s music. Initially a Punk band, Tubeway Army gravitated to New Wave, but just prior to the direction change, introduced a synthesizer into the mix, and became the first Post-Punk band to do that, opening a whole new sub-genre in the process.
As Tubeway Army, the band scored a sizable hit with Are Friends Electric, along with their debut album Replicas. but after the album’s release, Numan dropped Tubeway Army in favor of just Gary Numan, since he was the sole writer for the band.
Gary Numan became synonymous with New Wave/Synth-Pop throughout the 1980s, scoring an impressive string of hits and well received albums in the process.
But tonight it’s still Tubeway Army – a ways from the name change and the release of their debut album, in a session recorded for John Peel at The BBC on January 10, 1979.
The rest, as they say, is history.
