Tubeway Army

United Kingdom, 1977–1979

Band led by Gary Numan. 'Are Friends Electric?' (1979) reached number one in Britain with synthesizer arrangement and lyrics on alienation and machinery.

MusicRoots documents 3 artists who influenced Tubeway Army and 1 artist Tubeway Army influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Tubeway Army?

• David Bowie — Numan's whole persona and sound descend from Bowie — the Low-era alienation and character-play he made his own.
• Kraftwerk — Kraftwerk's machine pop gave Numan the synthesizer language of 'Are Friends Electric?'.
• Ultravox — Numan has named seeing Ultravox (John Foxx era) the moment he turned Tubeway Army toward synthesizers.

Which artists did Tubeway Army influence?

• Tears for Fears — Hearing Tubeway Army's 'Are "Friends" Electric?' (1979) turned Orzabal and Smith toward electronic music — the spark of the Tears for Fears sound.