1998 was quite an interesting year to be a Gary Numan fan. Renewed interest, both at home and abroad, has meant increased visibility and, we hope, increased sales for Our Man Gary. And, thanks to a pair of non-UK tours, a whole host of fans have been able to see him play live who may have never before had the chance.

And that's why I felt that it was a good time to inaugurate the "Gary Numan Fan Of The Year" award. Given annually, it will recognize the fan that exhibits the most exceptional dedication, perserverence, and loyalty to the man who has meant so much to all of us.

This is not to say that those of us who don't win this award are somehow any less fans. Rather, the point is to highlight those who really go to the wall, and perhaps do the things we really, deep down, wish we had the opportunity to do.

Nominations opened on October 1st 1998 and closed November 30th 1998. Voting, by YOU, took place between December 1st and December 31st 1998. All four candidates got their share of votes, but at the end it was a neck-and-neck race between two candidates. At the final count, the winner had won by a single vote.

All four candidates were certainly worthy of winning this vote, as you will see by reading these short bios:

George Ellis
(Nomination by Joey Lindstrom)

George, pictured here on the receiving end of a lovely hug by an even lovelier Gemma Webb, hails from Germany. In 1998, George scored a unique triple play - he saw Gary play several dates on the European tour, then flew over for the North American tour, and then, to top it all off, flew out to London to catch Gary's one-off performance at Shepherd's Bush on September 12th. Along the way he saw Gary play in large, crowded ballrooms and small seedy dives, and everything in-between. Like most fans, the venue didn't much matter to George - what mattered was that he was here to see Gary Numan play. And see him he did - a LOT - he probably saw more Numan live shows in 1998 than anyone outside of Gary's entourage.

I had the good fortune of being able to spend 9 days with George in May, as we drove all over Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest, then down through Oregon and California, stopping every so often to grab a bite to eat, something to drink, and a Numan concert. George is a seasoned traveller and his expertise was a tremendous boon to a relative novice such as myself. He's also one of the nicest guys you'll ever have the privilege to meet. Indeed, the only black mark against him was booking us into the hostel in downtown San Francisco - indeed, I'll never forgive him for that.

Just kidding, George. ;-)

Living in Germany is something of a handicap for a Numan fan. Press coverage is non-existent and even finding Numan music can be quite difficult. For him to remain such a strong fan, to the point of booking expensive flights halfway across the world to see Numan play live, speaks volumes about his devotion. The man is a walking encyclopedia of Numan lore - indeed, in our various discussions, he frequently corrected me on obscure details but I was never able to trip him up. And I tried. :-)

But the thing that struck me most about George, having spent so much time with him, is just how nice a guy he really is. Nine days cooped up in a car with the same person, then motel and hostel rooms at night, can be a difficult thing - but with George it was effortless. From the moment I met him, it was like we were old friends, pals who'd known each other forever. It was an experience I'll treasure forever. Thanks George.

Rob Eggleston
(Nomination by Joey Lindstrom)

Rob, pictured at left along with Kirsten Meigh, Jason Smith, and Matthew Holbrook, lives in the UK and is a long-time Numan fan. Most of you know him as the author of the "Are 'Friends' Electric?" Numan website. I'm sorry about the photo - it's the only one I've got of him! :-)

In making a determination of who would best fit the description of "Fan Of The Year", many of the Numan site authors deserve consideration, because of their ongoing service to the community of Numan fans on the internet. But Rob deserves special recognition. His site has always been one of the better ones, but early on the "big" site was Matthew Holbrook's "Nu-Zone" site. None of us could touch Matthew Holbrook - he used his many contacts in the Numan camp to bring us the latest info well before anybody else possibly could - indeed, Gary himself is on record as saying that, on occasion, Matthew was informing us of stuff that Gary himself was as yet unaware. And therefore none of us really tried to compete with him... instead, we concentrated on other ways to keep viewers interested in our sites.

But then Matthew's site went down, and a tremendous informational void was created. Thankfully, nature abhors a vacuum, and Robert Eggleston stepped up to the plate. And promptly hit a home run. He quickly developed his own network of contacts and was thus able to step into the breach. Rob delivers the latest hard news as well as rumours, whispers, and don't-tell-anybody's, along with a full slate of other features.

It is the manner in which he was able to take on the awesome job of filling Matthew Holbrook's shoes which merits him consideration for this award. What makes him a front-runner is the fact that he has not only succeeded Matthew, he has EXCEEDED him as well. Robert's website is the FIRST place most Numan fans turn to for the latest information - more so than even Gary's site. And that, my friends, is the ultimate compliment.

The next time you drop by his site, consider sending him a thank-you note. The man holds down a full-time job that has him travelling all over the world, yet he's consistently able to keep us all up to date with the freshest news - in fact, I can't recall any period this year in which his site went longer than six days without an update, and that was when he himself flew over to America to catch a few Numan gigs!

Through thick and thin, Robert is there for us, and we all owe him a lot. Certainly, being a Numan fan wouldn't be quite as much fun without him and without "Are 'Friends' Electric?"

David "Numanboy" Ellison
(Nomination by Riana Pfefferkorn & Jim Napier)

Pictured here on the left with Gary Numan at a recent Exile Tour gig, David is the author of the "Numanboy" website.

Riana sez:

Two words: David Ellison.

David Ellison, aka Numanboy, is a familiar fixture of the Numanoid community. As well he should be - he followed Gary all over the eastern States during the May tour, and recently flew out for the Shepherds Bush one-off! He got his own domain name on which to host his excellent website, and has just generally spent a shitload of money over the past year - all for Gary. Well, okay, for his own edification, but for Gary too. :-) I've only exchanged a couple e- mails with Numanboy, but I've found him to be very nice and cheerful and all that cute crap. :-) He deserves respect, and I think being named Numan Fan of the Year would be justified recognition. :-)

Jim sez:

David "Numanboy" Ellison should easily be nominated for the title. This man travelled 7000 miles for the US/Canada Exile tour alone and as you may know, just came back from England to see the one-off show. He is a great person and actually answers everyone's e-mail! LOL

Over the past year, Cleo went back and released several Numan albums, after their release of Exile had moderate success.

First they released "The Mix" in the US, then they went through the back catalog and picked out "White Noise" to release. Then they did more and released "Dark Light," "Sacrifice," the "Dominion Day" single, and now "The Fury." Since I just started listening to Numan last year, this was truly a great thing for me.