"That's Too Bad" is the debut single by

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 ...

, 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 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 ...

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

Beggars Banquet ''Beggars Banquet'' is the 7th British and 9th American 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 Ro ...

. 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 style, very different from the

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 ...

-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 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 ...

('Scarlett') and

Jess Lidyard Jess is a unisex given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Jessica, Jesse, Jessie, etc., and a surname. It may refer to: Given name * Jess Atkinson (born 1961), American football player * Jess Cain (1926–2008), American radio host * Jes ...

('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 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 ...

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 ...

* Scarlett (Paul Gardiner) –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Rael (Jess Lidyard) –

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 ...

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 university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. 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 at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. Overview The Manor and its outbuildings are listed Grade II on the Nati ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. 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).

Notes

References

* Paul Goodwin (2004). ''Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide to Gary Numan'' {{Authority control 1977 songs 1978 debut singles Tubeway Army songs Songs written by Gary Numan Beggars Banquet Records singles