Electric Friends: A Gary Numan Podcast

About Electric Friends: A Gary Numan Podcast

Celebrating the music of electronic pioneer Gary Numan, track-by-track. Each episode delves into a different Gary Numan song from various albums and eras in a non-linear journey.

Publisher

Tom Eames

Category

arts · music · music

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Mar 2022

Latest episode

13 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

65 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   13 Sept 2026

   Voix

   In this episode of Electric Friends, Tom goes deep on 'Voix' — the standout track from Gary Numan's 1988 album Metal Rhythm, and the song that survived the worst year of his career on its own terms. In early 1988, Gary stood on a TV show promoting someone else's single alongside Bros and Sinéad O'Connor, and called it the lowest point he'd reached. Nine months later he released a song that says, more or less, I don't need your opinions, I don't need your rumours, I don't need to listen to strangers. It was never a single. It didn't make the tour. It didn't make the live album from that tour. And 31 years later he walked back on stage to play it as his encore. We trace the whole story: Radio 1's refusal to play him, Steve Wright apologising on air for 'This Is Love', the fan protest outside Broadcasting House, the collapse of Numa Records, Radio Heart, the £200,000 tax bill and the lies that went with it, Miles Copeland's million-pound lifeline, and the man at IRS who picked 'New Anger' as the single and then denied he ever had. Then we get into the record itself — Mike Smith's programming, the PPG Wave and the Roland D-50, Peter Haycock and Keith Beauvais as the only two guitarists to appear on the same track, Tessa Niles on backing vocals, and why this is one of the catchiest things Gary has ever written. Why is the title French when he sings it in English? What do the pronouns do across the three choruses? Why does the second "one" interlude curdle every image from the first? And what happens if you read a song about illegible people and untrustworthy voices through what Gary has since written about machines, people and his Asperger's? Plus the two versions — the 1988 original and the heavier 'Voix 98' from the Dominion Day EP, sitting alongside 'Metal' and 'Down in the Park' — and the remarkable live history that takes the song from nowhere in 1988 to the first song of the encore on the 2019 tour. Featuring excerpts from Gary's autobiography (R)evolution, read by the man himself, and a big batch of your comments and emails. Mentioned in this episode: Classic Pop Magazine EXCLUSIVE OFFER FROM OUR SPONSOR: Try your first issue of Classic Pop magazine for free! Get exclusive interviews, expert features, and must-read reviews delivered straight to your door every single month. ➡️ classicpopmag.com/electricfriends Classic Pop is the UK’s only magazine dedicated to 80s music. If you love synthpop, new wave, and electronic pioneers, there’s no better place. Find out more at classicpopmag.com.

2. 

   25 Jul 2026

   Radio Heart: 1987 to 1994 - a history

   In this episode of Electric Friends, I tell the full story of Radio Heart — Gary Numan's strangest detour, and the closest he ever came to being a pop star for hire. With Numa Records struggling at the end of 1986, Gary accepted an offer to sing on 'Radio Heart', a bright pop single written by Hugh Nicholson — and to his own surprise found himself back on the Radio 1 playlist and in the Top 40. We trace the whole saga: the Nicholson brothers, the singles 'Radio Heart', 'London Times' and 'All Across The Nation', the Numan-penned B-sides 'River', 'Rumour' and 'Mistasax' (and how 'River' quietly announced his soundtrack ambitions), Elton John's blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo on the Radio Heart album, the album's withdrawal, and the 1994 finale 'Like A Refugee (I Won't Cry)' with Italian robot marching band Dadadang — the single Radio 1 wouldn't play, even while making Gary 'God of the Day'. Joining me is Steve Thorpe, compiler and sleeve-note writer of the new deluxe 2CD collection Radio Heart featuring Gary Numan: All Across The Nation – A Collection (Edsel Records, out 7th August 2026). Steve reveals how the original Roundhouse master tapes were rediscovered, the two previously unreleased tracks found on them, how Tessa Niles's uncredited backing vocals were finally confirmed — and tells one of the all-time great "meeting Gary" stories, involving an unanswered front door and a voice shouting "Spooky!" Plus, in Gary's own words: excerpts from his autobiography (R)evolution on the money that felt like "a lifeline to a drowning man", the arguments with his dad, and why he refused to sell his soul completely. And at the end of the show, your verdicts on the Radio Heart era — the defenders, the executioners, and "Gary's Tin Machine". All Across The Nation – A Collection is available to pre-order now from Amazon, Rough Trade, Proper Music, Burning Shed and all the usual outlets.

3. 

   29 Jun 2026

   Bleed

   In this episode of Electric Friends, I take a deep dive into 'Bleed', one of the standout tracks from Gary Numan's 1994 album Sacrifice — the record many fans, and Gary himself, regard as the album that saved his career. We explore what 'Bleed' might really be about: anxiety, intrusive thoughts and the terror of lying awake at night with your own mind turning against you. We look at how the song fits into the dark, spiritual world of Sacrifice, the huge influence of Depeche Mode and Alan Wilder, the heavier Sulphur rework on 2003's Hybrid, the song's live and acoustic history, and why 'Bleed' marks the beginning of the modern Gary Numan sound that runs through Exile, Pure, Splinter, Savage and Intruder.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

323,837

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

16 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

57 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 62 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

38

Social presence

91

YouTube

86

Engagement

85

Contact Electric Friends: A Gary Numan Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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