I have previously indicated in an earlier post of the Marquee gig (here) that in 1993 I shot myself in the foot when it came to Gary Numan. For 1993 was the year when the revival started. Something clicked for him (I believe with the help of Gemma) that enabled him to reverse his ailing fortunes (musically speaking). A big part of this could be put down to a major rethink of the set. Compare the set below to the 1991 Electric Ballroom set posted recently. Basically, he went back to the songs that meant the most to his loyal but (surely) dispirited fanbase. He did this to the extent that songs that hadn't been heard from a stage since 1978 were getting an airing again, 'That's Too Bad', 'Jo The Waiter' and 'Bombers' (at least in the Marquee set if not this one).
Maybe there is something in the psychology of musicians, whereby in order to avoid accusations of standing still you have to keep moving forward such that older material always loses out to the new. I get it. Then a musician comes to the point in their career when suddenly the old stuff is suddenly cool again... people start referring to songs as classic this and classic that. For Numan that came at around this time, 15 years or so into his recording career. It was in the mid to late '90's too that the generation that had grown up on watching Tubewsay Army/Numan on Top of the Pops were now in bands themselves (some of which at this time were in bands that ultimately became part of the yet to be named Britpop scene) and telling the likes of Sounds and NME who their influences were. Here Numan hit pay dirt, for the first time ever, his back catalogue was in vogue and he was being given the respect within the music industry that had eluded him for so long. The return to form 'Sacrifice' album of 1994 firmly established his current upward trajectory and he has not looked back since. Furthermore, Numan has fully learned that there is nothing wrong with nostalgia so long that it is done well and whole-heartedly.
FLAC: https://we.tl/t-CIjfrahKRZ
Artwork: https://we.tl/t-uak1VvkAN8
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