"Stormtrooper in Drag" is the debut single by

Paul Gardiner Paul Andrew Gardiner (1 May 1958 – 18 February 1984) was a British musician who played bass guitar with Gary Numan and Tubeway Army, as well as creating material under his own name. Biography Paul Gardiner was born in Hayes, Middlesex. In e ...

, who was the bass player in

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...

's backing band (and in Numan's first band,

Tubeway Army Tubeway Army were a London-based new wave band led by lead singer Gary Numan. Formed at the height of punk rock in 1977 the band gradually changed to an electronic sound. They were the first band of the electronic era to have a synthesiser-b ...

). Numan is featured on the single as a co-composer, producer, musician and vocalist.

Production background

Though the single was released under Gardiner's name alone in 1981, it is often credited as Paul Gardiner featuring Gary Numan, and appears on a number of Numan's compilation albums. Numan not only played on and produced the recording but also co-composed and sang lead vocals. It was published by Numan Music and released by Numan's then-current label, Beggars Banquet. The track was the first product released by Numan, or any of the former members of his backing band, following his 'farewell' concerts at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

in April 1981. It also marked the first time in their four years of working together that the friends and former Tubeway Army bandmates had collaborated in the writing of a published song. The result was a departure from the

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

sound that had been Numan's trademark, featuring a vocal performance and sonic textures that foreshadowed his next album, ''

Dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

''. Gardiner and Numan were credited with

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and bass, respectively, contrary to their usual practice; both also played

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s while Numan's adopted brother, John Webb, played

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. The single made No. 49 in the UK charts in 1981. The 12" cut was a promo-only version on standard black vinyl; its tracks, their mixes and durations, were identical to the 7" single.

B-side

The B-side, "Night Talk", was another Gardiner/Numan co-composition which, unlike the A-side, would appear on Numan's September 1981 studio album, ''Dance''. Whereas "Stormtrooper in Drag" featured conventional

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, "Night Talk" made extensive use of a drum machine, the

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

. Both songs referenced drugs, the former describing "needles in arms", the latter concerning a man dealing with a lover who is an addict (Gardiner was himself a

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

user, while Numan always claimed abstinence from drugs).

Versions

"Stormtrooper in Drag" is included on numerous Gary Numan albums including the CD reissue of ''Dance'' and the compilations '' New Man Numan: The Best of Gary Numan'' (1982), ''

Exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

'' (1987) and '' The Premier Hits'' (1996). A live version appears on his album '' Dark Light'' (1995); this was recorded in 1994, the tenth anniversary of Gardiner's death (Numan also played live the B-side, "Night Talk", as a 20th anniversary memorial in 2004). It was covered by Saint Etienne for the Numan tribute album ''

Random In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of pattern or predictability in events. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no :wikt:order, order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Ind ...

'' (1997); an edited version of this performance also appeared on their album ''

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

''. Terre Thaemlitz recorded a piano version on the tribute album ''Replicas Rubato'' (1999).

Track listing

# "Stormtrooper in Drag" (

) – 4:48 # "Night Talk" (Gardiner, Numan) – 4:19

Production credits

Producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

: ** Gary Numan *

Musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

s: **

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

(

ARP Odyssey The ARP Odyssey is an analog synthesizer introduced by ARP Instruments in 1972. History ARP developed the Odyssey as a direct competitor to the Moog Minimoog and an answer to the demand for more affordable, portable, and less complicated "perf ...

), Backing vocals **

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, Keyboards (ARP Odyssey), Bass, Guitar,

("Night Talk") ** John Webb:

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

("Stormtrooper in Drag") ** Sean Lynch: Linn LM-1 ("Night Talk")

References

* Paul Goodwin (2004). ''Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide to Gary Numan'' {{Gary Numan 1981 songs 1981 debut singles Gary Numan songs Songs written by Gary Numan Beggars Banquet Records singles