Gary Numan/Ultravox overlap

[Jittlebags]

Pah, I was just about to post this, when listening to a Gary Numan YouTube vid - On Broadway, and it went very Ultravox towards the end. And just as I was going to send this, at the end Gary went Yo Billy or something alongst those lines. I remember seeing Billy in the Are Friends Electric video as well. I could Wikipedia this, however for discussion purposes, apart from guest appearances did Billy form the Numan sound, or just appear here and there.

[crankshaft]

Billy Currie was asked by Gary to join his touring band between the end of Ultravox Mk 1 and the start of Mk 2, so he's in the band for some of the Replicas promo, he's on The Pleasure Principle and he did that tour as well.

The "Numan" sound had nothing to do with Billy, that was all Gary - I'm sure the band had some input to the overall sound but there's no doubt it was all coming from Numan. Gary has been very  open about the influence that Ultravox Mk I had on him, and has said words to the effect of "they came up with the sound, I took the sound and added the image".

Billy was reportedly very rude about Gary when Ultravox finally became successful so there's no love lost there. I do get the impression that the only musician that Billy Currie holds in any regard is Billy Currie.

[Pauline Walnuts]

Gary Numan always said his blueprint was Ultravox!'s 3rd album, Systems Of Romance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIlD6XyX_uE

I don't know if John Foxx's very Numanoid Metamatic album was a continuation of that, or if Numan himself had a influence.