Who influenced Gary Numan, and what came after

Every connection with its receipt

Gary Numan turned a punk guitarist's frustration into Britain's first chart-topping synth-pop, after an accidental encounter with a Minimoog left in a studio during the Tubeway Army sessions. His world was built from Kraftwerk's machine pulse, Bowie's Berlin alienation and a shelf of science fiction paperbacks. This mix traces the android lineage forward into industrial rock and sample-built pop.

The Kynda mix for Gary Numan

• Key Influence · The Man-Machine by Kraftwerk (1978). Numan has repeatedly named Kraftwerk as the band that showed him electronics could be pop rather than experiment, and "The Model"-era Kraftwerk's rigid rhythmic grid and depersonalised vocal delivery map directly onto Replicas and The Pleasure Principle. His decision to drop guitars entirely for the 1979 solo album, building tracks on Minimoog and Polymoog layered over live drums, is a direct response to the template Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider established here.
• Influencia Obscura · Systems of Romance by Ultravox (1978). Recorded with Conny Plank in Cologne, this commercially ignored third Ultravox album is the missing link between Kraftwerk's rigour and British synth-pop melancholy, and its sound sits startlingly close to what Numan would release months later. Its failure left its keyboardist Billy Currie free to join Numan's band, carrying the album's textures directly into the Pleasure Principle tour before Ultravox regrouped around Midge Ure.
• Local Roots · Pink Flag by Wire (1977). Numan grew up in Hammersmith and Wraysbury on London's western edge and began as a punk guitarist chasing the 1977 circuit before synthesisers intervened. Wire's austere, abbreviated art-punk came from the same London scene and the same impulse to strip rock to its skeleton; Tubeway Army's earliest singles share that clipped guitar economy before the Minimoog arrived and rewrote Numan's method entirely.
• Beyond the Medium · Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (1968). Replicas takes its very title and conceptual frame from the android fiction Numan was reading, a world of machines passing as people and humans unsure of their own authenticity. Dick's question of whether a synthetic being can feel underwrites "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and the Machmen characters of Numan's unfinished novel-in-songs, making a paperback dystopia the actual source material for a UK number one single.
• Peer · Metamatic by John Foxx (1980). Foxx left Ultravox and made the starkest British electronic album of the period, all drum machine, cheap synthesiser and car-crash imagery, released months after Numan's chart conquest. The two were pursuing the same Ballardian future from opposite commercial positions — Numan on Top of the Pops, Foxx on his own Metal Beat label — and Foxx's influence on Numan's earlier records makes them the era's closest-orbiting rivals.
• From the Canon · Telekon by Gary Numan (1980). His third consecutive UK number one and the darkest of the early trilogy, Telekon turns outward alienation into autobiography — fame, press hostility and exhaustion rendered through viola, piano and massed synthesisers. It closes the first phase of his career, after which he announced his retirement from live performance at Wembley, and explains the themes of isolation that every later Numan record returns to.
• Key Collaborator · Vienna by Ultravox (1980). Billy Currie played keyboards and viola in Numan's 1979 touring band and on Pleasure Principle-era material, bringing the classically trained string sound that distinguishes Numan from purely synthetic rivals. He left to rebuild Ultravox with Midge Ure, whose title track became one of the defining British singles of 1981 — the same viola-and-synthesiser palette, redirected into European romanticism rather than android dread.
• Legacy · Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails (1989). Trent Reznor has consistently named Numan among his formative influences, and his debut's fusion of synthesiser hooks with alienated first-person dread is unimaginable without Replicas and The Pleasure Principle. Reznor later invited Numan onstage in London to perform "Metal" — a song Nine Inch Nails had already covered — publicly closing the loop between the British android and American industrial rock.

What influenced Gary Numan

• Nine Inch Nails. Nine Inch Nails is described as a pivotal influence on Numan’s later direction. (also via Metal, Pretty Hate Machine) “Nine Inch Nails (NIN), who were influenced by Numan's music, and other bands with industrial tendencies were contemporaneously becoming famous, and Sacrifice received critical acclaim.” (Wikipedia)
• Kraftwerk (1961). Gary Numan's synth-pop style shows Kraftwerk's influence. (also via The Man-Machine) “Kraftwerk's musical style and image can be heard and seen in 1980s synth-pop groups such as Gary Numan” (Wikipedia)
• Ultravox! by Ultravox (1977) “Ultravox's third studio album Systems of Romance (1978) was the main influence behind Tubeway Army's transition into an electronic sound.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Slow Motion by Ultravox. Numan identified the song as a blueprint for his music. “Numan cited the album, and particularly the song " Slow Motion ", as the blueprint for what he wanted to achieve.” (Wikipedia)
• Crash by J. G. Ballard (1973) “Exhibit A by Exodus, The Burning World by Swans, various songs by Joy Division (most famously "Atrocity Exhibition" from Closer and "Disorder" from Unknown Pleasures), "High Rise" by Hawkwind, "Miss the Girl" by Siouxsie Sioux's second b…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Systems of Romance by Ultravox (1978) “Ultravox's third studio album Systems of Romance (1978) was the main influence behind Tubeway Army's transition into an electronic sound.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Songs of Faith and Devotion by Depeche Mode. The Depeche Mode album inspired Numan’s darker direction. “Depeche Mode 's eighth studio album Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993) that came out during the recording of Sacrifice became a massive influence on Numan that both musically and lyrically inspired his new, darker direction.” (Wikipedia)
• Be-Bop Deluxe. Be-Bop Deluxe was among Numan’s favourite bands. “His fifth solo studio album Warriors (1983) started as a collaboration with Bill Nelson , guitarist in Be-Bop Deluxe , which was another of Numan's favourite bands in the 1970s.” (Wikipedia)
• The Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (1959) “He is also cited as a major influence by musicians Roger Waters, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Genesis P-Orridge, Ian Curtis, Lou Reed, Dutch musician and painter Herman Brood, Icehouse, Laurie Anderson, Todd Tamanend Clark, John Zorn, Tom W…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (openlibrary.org)
• The Man-Machine by Kraftwerk “Kraftwerk's musical style and image can be heard and seen in 1980s synth-pop groups such as Gary Numan, Ultravox, John Foxx, Visage, Simple Minds, The Human League, Soft Cell, and Yellow Magic Orchestra.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Metropolis by Fritz Lang (1927) (themoviedb.org)
• Low by David Bowie (musicbrainz.org)

Peers and kindred spirits

• Ade Fenton. Numan sang on four tracks of Fenton’s album. (also via Artificial Perfect) “I now have absolute faith in him” (thequietus.com)
• Jean-Michel Jarre. Numan and Jarre co-wrote Here for You. “Jean Michel came to me with the music already ready in demo form. I added a few little things musically but it’s essentially Jean Michel’s music. My main role was to come up with the vocal melody and lyrics, and the vocal itself of course.” (en.jeanmicheljarre.es)
• Michael R. Smith. Numan and Smith co-composed music for The Unborn. “Mike [Smith] and I saw it as a 'door opening' opportunity, as writing music for films was something I'd long wanted to do. We wrote well over a hundred pieces of music which we would regularly send off to Rodman in California.” (numanme.co.uk)
• Battles. Numan contributed vocals to a Battles track. “For directing duo DANIELS ' clip for Battles ' Gary Numan -assisted "My Machines", that idea was a man tumbling down an escalator... for a really long time.” (pitchfork.com)
• Officers. Numan collaborated with Officers on Petals. “Leeds-based band Officers have announced that they’ve collaborated on a brand new track with electro pioneer Gary Numan in support of the CALM charity.” (soundspheremag.com)
• Bill Sharpe. Numan collaborated with Sharpe as Sharpe & Numan. “Then, of course, he, knowing the studio, came in and we listened through to it and he went and started singing there.” (numanpodcast.com)
• Persia Numan. The interview description identifies Numan’s collaboration with his daughter on ‘A Black Sun’. “Elsewhere, Gary talks about collaborating with his daughter Persia on the song ‘A Black Sun’, the surprising stories behind classic hits ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ and ‘Cars’” (noise11.com)
• Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (1980) “However, Numan's success began to wane as he was outsold by the Human League, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, and his prior support act, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD).” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Vienna by Ultravox (1980) “Ultravox's third studio album Systems of Romance (1978) was the main influence behind Tubeway Army's transition into an electronic sound.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Gazelle Twin. Numan’s producer describes receiving Gazelle Twin’s vocals for a track on Numan’s album. “The moment Gary had with the Yaybahar, I had when Gazelle Twin sent the vocals back to us for the piano version of ‘The End Of Dragons’” (thequietus.com)
• Metamatic by John Foxx (1980) “Back to the Phuture was billed as a special electronic music event, featuring live sets from Foxx, Gary Numan, Mirrors and Motor, plus a DJ set by Daniel Miller.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Jayce Lewis. Numan collaborated with Lewis on Redesign. “In June 2014, Numan collaborated with Jayce Lewis on the track "Redesign" which originally featured on Lewis's Protafield studio album Nemesis” (Wikipedia)
• Görkhem Sen. The interviewer reports that Numan invited Sen to record for Intruder. “A lover of Middle Eastern music, Numan stumbled across online videos of Sen performing and invited him to remotely record parts for the album.” (thequietus.com)
• Grace Jones. Jones recorded a cover of Gary Numan's “Me! I Disconnect from You.” “The set contains most of the 12" mixes of singles from that album, plus two previously unreleased tracks from the Nightclubbing sessions, including a cover of the Gary Numan track "Me! I Disconnect from You".” (Wikipedia)
• For Future Reference by Dramatis (1981) “With his former backing band, Chris Payne (keyboards; viola), Russell Bell (guitar), and Ced Sharpley (drums) now reformed as the synth-pop band Dramatis, Numan contributed lead vocals to the minor hit "Love Needs No Disguise" from the s…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Tubeway Army. Numan was the frontman of Tubeway Army. “He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army .” (Wikipedia)
• Artificial Perfect by Ade Fenton (2006) “Numan contributed lead vocals to four tracks on the April 2007 release of the debut solo studio album by Ade Fenton, Artificial Perfect, on his new industrial and electronic label, Submission, including "The Leather Sea", "Slide Away", "…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Pink Flag by Wire (1977) (musicbrainz.org)
• Damned Damned Damned by The Damned (1977) (musicbrainz.org)
• Fulham Fallout by The Lurkers (1978) (musicbrainz.org)
• Reproduction by The Human League (1979) (musicbrainz.org)

Who Gary Numan influenced

• Fear Factory. Fear Factory is named among bands influenced by Numan. (also via Cars) “Since the 1990s Numan has been cited as a major influence by a variety of bands and artists from hip-hop to industrial rock and Britpop , including Afrika Bambaataa , Fear Factory , Nine Inch Nails ,” (Wikipedia)
• Afrika Bambaataa. Afrika Bambaataa is named among artists influenced by Numan. (also via Metal) “Since the 1990s Numan has been cited as a major influence by a variety of bands and artists from hip-hop to industrial rock and Britpop , including Afrika Bambaataa , Fear Factory , Nine Inch Nails ,” (Wikipedia)
• Prince (1958) (via The Pleasure Principle) “Prince gave highly specific music and equipment recommendations from the era they were drawing on, including Gary Numan, whom he loved.” (Rolling Stone)
• Curt Smith. Smith cited Numan’s style as an inspiration during The Hurting. “Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears , another new wave act of the 1980s, cited Numan's style as one that inspired them while recording their debut studio album The Hurting (1983).” (Wikipedia)
• Damon Albarn. Albarn is named among the tribute-album artists influenced by Numan. “Random was released shortly before Exile and featured artists, such as Blur 's Damon Albarn , EMF , Jesus Jones , the Orb , Moloko and Pop Will Eat Itself , who had been influenced by Numan.” (Wikipedia)
• Marilyn Manson (1969). Marilyn Manson is named among artists influenced by Numan. “Since the 1990s Numan has been cited as a major influence by a variety of bands and artists from hip-hop to industrial rock and Britpop , including Afrika Bambaataa , Fear Factory , Nine Inch Nails , [ 160 ] Marilyn Manson ,” (Wikipedia)
• Roland Orzabal. Orzabal cited Numan’s style as an inspiration during The Hurting. “Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears , another new wave act of the 1980s, cited Numan's style as one that inspired them while recording their debut studio album The Hurting (1983).” (Wikipedia)
• Kim Wilde. Wilde credited Numan as an influence while making her debut single. “He has been credited as a key influence by fellow English musician Kim Wilde as she was working on her 1981 debut single " Kids in America " with her brother Ricky .” (Wikipedia)
• Rooty by Basement Jaxx (2001) “The English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx had a hit in 2002 with "Where's Your Head At", which relied on a sample of Numan's "M.E."—from The Pleasure Principle—for its hook.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Angels with Dirty Faces by Sugababes (2002) “In 2002, the English girl group the Sugababes scored a No.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Where's Your Head At. Where’s Your Head At uses a sample of M.E. (via M.E.) “The English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx had a hit in 2002 with " Where's Your Head At ", [ 174 ] which relied on a sample of Numan's "M.E."—from The Pleasure Principle —for its hook.” (Wikipedia)
• Koochy. In context, the sampled track is Numan’s Cars. (via Cars) “In 2000, the American DJ Armand van Helden sampled the track in his single " Koochy ".” (Wikipedia)
• Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails (1989) (musicbrainz.org)
• Janelle Monáe (1985). Prince pointed Monáe toward Gary Numan as a sonic reference for the album.
• Stephin Merritt. The passage includes Merritt in its list of artists influenced by Numan.