Beggars Banquet release two special titles to commemorate the legendary albums Gary Numan/Tubeway Army issued in 1979 – these editions are titled Replicas – The First Recordings, and the debut under his own name, The Pleasure Principle – The First Recordings.
While both of these albums have remained in print, these releases concentrate on the early recordings made prior to the completed albums and present the evolution of the albums. The tracks have been sequenced as they appeared on the original tapes and the audio has been taken from the high resolution digital transfers made by John Dent in 2007. One of the Freerange studio tapes suffered irreparable print through damage on two tracks so they were not used in the 2009 release. However an alternative source has been located so the tapes can now be presented as complete for this release.
In late 1978, Gary Numan was booked into a small studio in London’s Chinatown with the same musicians that had played on Tubeway Army’s debut album, released a month earlier. Two stereo master tapes were compiled of eleven tracks. A month later they again went to Gooseberry Studio and recorded an additional three tracks, including “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” and “Replicas”. At the same time, the band recorded a session for the BBC’s John Peel show, taping alternate versions of three songs from the December recordings. Finally Numan returned to an upgraded studio, Marthus Music, in February to overdub and remix the Gooseberry recordings into their released versions. Only one alternative out take still exists (“Down In The Park”) which is included in this release.
TRACK LISTING
CD
DISC 1
1. You Are In My Vision (Early Version)
2. The Machmen (Early Version)
3. Down In The Park (Early Version)
4. Do You Need The Service? (Early Version)
5. The Crazies
6. When The Machines Rock (Early Version)
7. Me! I Disconnect From You (Early Version)
8. Praying To The Aliens (Early Version)
9.It Must Have Been Years (Early Version)
10. Only A Downstat
11. I Nearly Married A Human 3 (Early Version)
12. Replicas (Early Version)
13. Are ‘Friends’ Electric? (Early Version)
DISC 2
1. Replicas (Early Version 2)
2. Down In The Park (Early Version 2)
3. Are ‘Friends’ Electric? (Early Version 2)
4. We Have A Technical
5. Replicas (Early Version 3)
6. Me, I Disconnect From You (BBC Peel Session)
7. Down In The Park (BBC Peel Session)
8. I Nearly Married A Human (BBC Peel Session)
LP
A1. You Are In My Vision (Early Version)
A2. The Machmen (Early Version)
A3. Down In The Park (Early Version)
A4. Do You Need The Service? (Early Version)
A5. The Crazies
A6. When The Machines Rock (Early Version)
B1. Me! I Disconnect From You (Early Version)
B2. Praying To The Aliens (Early Version)
B3. It Must Have Been Years (Early Version)
B4. Only A Downstat
B5. I Nearly Married A Human 3 (Early Version)
C1. Replicas (Early Version)
C2. Are ‘Friends’ Electric? (Early Version)
C3. We Have A Technical
C4. Down In The Park (Outtake Mix)
D1. Are ‘Friends’ Electric? (Early Version 2)
D2. Replicas (Early Version 2)
D3. Me, I Disconnect From You (BBC Peel Session)
D4. Down In The Park (BBC Peel Session)
D5. I Nearly Married A Human (BBC Peel Session)
