Are 'Friends' Electric?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Are 'Friends' Electric?" | ||
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| Single by Gary Numan/Tubeway Army | ||
| from the album Replicas | ||
| Released | May 1979 | |
| Format | 7" single | |
| Recorded | Gooseberry Studios, London, January/February 1979 | |
| Genre | New Wave, Electronic | |
| Length | 5:18 | |
| Label | Beggars Banquet BEG 18 |
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| Producer(s) | Gary Numan | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Gary Numan/Tubeway Army singles chronology | ||
| "Down in the Park" (1979) |
"Are 'Friends' Electric?" (1979) |
"Cars" (1979) |
"Are 'Friends' Electric?" is a 1979 song by Gary Numan, released under the name Tubeway Army as a single and on the album Replicas.
Despite being over five minutes long and having no chorus or hook, the single topped the UK charts, and is notable for being the first electronic/synthesizer-based record to become a hit in the post-punk era. Whilst the track's new and distinctive sound stood out at the time, sales also benefitted from the record company's use of a picture disc and Numan's striking, "robotic" performance on the TV shows The Old Grey Whistle Test and Top of the Pops. "Are 'Friends' Electric?" has been a mainstay of Numan's concerts since its release and appears on all ten of his official live recordings to date. A semi-acoustic version is on the 2006 Jagged tour setlist.
The song tells the tale of a lonely and paranoid man whose only friend is a robot that has broken down; its themes of alienation and isolation were a Numan hallmark at this time in his career. The lyrics were inspired by a failed relationship with Beggar's Banquet employee Susan Wathan (cryptically referred to as "S.U.") mixed with and filtered through imagery drawn from Philip K. Dick's science fiction story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (later the basis for the 1982 film Blade Runner). The music is notable for its plaintive, emotional qualities, which were in stark contrast to the deliberately cold and computerized sound preferred by other synthesizer-based artists like Kraftwerk.
"Are 'Friends' Electric?" features three different sections: a recurring 'verse' with synth riff in C and B flat, a recurring section with spoken word over slow arpeggiated seventh chords, and an instrumental break in F. The instrumentation is quite minimalistic: there is a conventional drum and bass guitar backing track, some additional heavily flanged guitar (particularly in the instrumental break), subdued vocals and most prominently, Minimoog synthesizer. These synth parts include a slow-paced sawtooth bass riff, and some soaring portamento background lines.
The song is one of Numan's most frequently-covered compositions. Generator (featuring Kipper, a Gary Numan band member, and Numan himself on vocals) covered the song in 1994. Nancy Boy produced a quirky version in 1995 as a single (several mixes) and on the album Promosexual, whilst Information Society included a cover on the 1997 album Don't Be Afraid. It was sung as a duet between Gary Numan and Republica on the 1997 tribute album Random[1] along with two other versions by Moloko and An Pierlé, the latter a memorable arrangement for solo piano. Most famously, it was also heavily sampled in 2002 on the track "Freak Like Me" by Sugababes; Numan has been quoted on more than one occasion expressing his approval of the result which, like the original, reached number 1 in the UK singles charts.
The B-side of "Are 'Friends' Electric?" was a more rock-orientated number, "We Are So Fragile". Popular in its own right with Numan's fan base, it was played frequently on The Touring Principle series of concerts and appears on the album Living Ornaments '79. Both A- and B-sides were remixed twice for the album The Mix in 1998. A remix of "Are 'Friends' Electric?" also appeared on the 2003 collection Hybrid.
- Tubeway Army - Are Friends Electric excerpt (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- An excerpt from Are 'Friends' Electric?
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[edit] Track listing
- "Are 'Friends' Electric?" (Numan) - 5:18
- "We Are So Fragile" (Numan) - 2:46
[edit] Production credits
- Producer:
- Gary Numan
[edit] References
- Stephen Webbon & Gary Numan (1985). "Complete Gary Numan UK Discography". Record Collector (December 1985, No. 76).
- Gary Numan with Steve Malins (1998). Praying to the Aliens.
| Preceded by: "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward |
UK number one single June 30, 1979 |
Succeeded by: "I Don't Like Mondays" by Boomtown Rats |
