"That's Too Bad" is the debut single by the English new wave band

Tubeway Army Tubeway Army were a London-based new wave music, 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 music, electronic sound. They were the first band of the elect ...

, the band which provided the initial musical vehicle for

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the New wave music, new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two st ...

. It was released in February 1978 by independent London record label

Beggars Banquet ''Beggars Banquet'' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first Rolling Stones album pro ...

. On the day of its release, Numan quit his job in a warehouse to become a professional musician. Although it failed to enter the UK Singles Charts, "That's Too Bad" nonetheless sold relatively well, taking into account the small numbers pressed (4,000) and the lowly status of both label and artist. Numan later said, "The song was written 99% to get a contract. It was a naive attempt to make punk commercial, which it didn't do!" The B-side of the single was "Oh! Didn't I Say". Both songs are in an aggressive

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

style, very different from the

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

-based music which became Numan's trademark. At this stage of his career, Numan (born Gary Webb) had not yet found his future stage name and called himself 'Valerian'; his bandmates

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

('Scarlett') and Jess Lidyard ('Rael') also used assumed names. Webb's compositional credits on the original vinyl single were under the Valerian pseudonym as well. The back of the original vinyl single's sleeve contained two discrepancies: Valerian was spelt 'Valeriun'; and the band picture featured live drummer Bob Simmonds, not Jess Lidyard who actually played in the recording session. "That's Too Bad" was also later released as a gatefold with the single "Bombers" in August 1979. It was released in its original form in 1983 and reached No.97 in the UK Charts.UK Official Singles Chart – Gary Numan and the Tubeway Army
/ref> These tracks have subsequently been included on CD reissues of the album ''The Plan'' (1984).

Track listing

# "That's Too Bad" (Valerian) – 3:20 # "Oh! Didn't I Say" (Valerian) – 2:16

Credits and personnel

* Valerian (Gary Numan) –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Scarlett (Paul Gardiner) –

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

* Rael (Jess Lidyard) –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Versions

Versions of "That's Too Bad" released to date include: *The original track, recorded 16 October 1977 at Spaceward Studios, near

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. This version was not released to the public until 1983, and re-issued on yellow vinyl in 1985 on the ''1978'' EP of early Tubeway Army recordings. *The single version, a remix by Mick Glossop of the original recording, done at

Manor Studio The Manor Studio (a.k.a. the Manor) was a recording studio in the manor house in the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. Overview The Manor Studio was housed in a manor house which ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. This new mix brought forward the vocals that had been buried in the earlier version. It was released on 10 February 1978 as Tubeway Army's debut. Both the original and single mixes have since appeared on CD reissues of ''The Plan''. *A live version thought to have been recorded in January or February 1978. This was part of a bootleg called ''Live at the Roxy'' that was officially released and retitled ''Living Ornaments '78'' on the 1998 CD reissue of the debut album ''

''. It also contained a recording of "Oh! Didn't I Say" from the same gig. *A live version recorded on 6 November 1993 and released on the double album ''Dream Corrosion'' (1994).

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Versions

References

Further reading