You have just taken your first cross country plane trip alone. You are 13 years old. You are at the Washington University planetarium watching a laser show. You hear "Cars". It is like nothing you have ever heard before. You MUST own it. Due to travel plans, you cannot play the record you have bought until two weeks after you have it. By then you have memorized all the lyrics to all the songs even though you have never heard any of them except "Cars" and "Metal" which were on a jukebox in Eugene, Oregon. You are hooked.

I don't know what I would do without two artists: William Orbit and Gary Numan. The first because his music helps me with my chronic insominia brought about by clinical depression, the latter because of the brilliance of the pictures he paints with his music. Many may find his music dark, or brooding - I do not. I know what dark and brooding are - I listen to Skinny Puppy :-)

Gary Numan has been my favorite singer for 16 years. I love Sting, Phil Collins, and Peter Gabriel - can put up with Bowie, but Numan has THE VOICE. I would buy any of his new releases even if all he did was sing the telephone directory - just to hear THE VOICE.

My favorite Numan song is "My Breathing". It is the only song which I consider to be enhanced by the addition of female vocals. It is to me the quintessential Numan song. I am looking forward to Exile perhaps more than any other album ever...

Unlike most Numan fans who have posted here, I do not have any use for the "Tubeway" years. While I recognize what they must have meant to some people, I just don't enjoy the music that much. Gary doesn't sound like Gary on those albums ;-)

I welcome your comments....

Robert Trousdale
Shorline, Washington, USA
robt@u.washington.edu

What does it mean to you to be a Gary Numan fan? Send your story to Joey Lindstrom