''Dance'' is the third solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

by English musician

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 ...

, released in 1981. It was the first studio album Numan released after his "Farewell Concerts" staged 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- ...

(although Numan would return to performing live shows in 1982). ''Dance'' features the UK Top 10 single "

She's Got Claws "She’s Got Claws" is a 1981 song by Gary Numan. It was the first and only single released from his 1981 album ''Dance''. The song signalled a different musical style for Numan, featuring jazz-influenced saxophone and fretless bass, as well as a ...

". The album itself reached #3 on the UK charts.

Overview

''Dance'' was Numan's most experimental album to date with a

minimalistic Minimalism is a movement in visual arts, music, and other media that began in post–World War II Western art. Minimalism may also refer to: *Minimalism (computing), a philosophy of programming and configuring computers *Minimalism (philosophy), ...

approach featuring sparse electronic sounds and prolific use of drum machines and

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 ...

. With

synth pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

music in the mainstream by 1981, Numan made a conscious effort to explore new musical areas. Influenced by

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop a ...

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize t ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, Numan hired Japan's bass player

Mick Karn Andonis Michaelides (Greek: Αντώνης Μιχαηλίδης; 24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was an English-Cypriot musician and songwriter who rose to fame as the bassist for the art rock/ new wave band Japan. H ...

to play on the album.Steve Malins: Gary Numan ''Dance'' Beggars Banquet BBL 28 CD Booklet liner notes Lyrically the songs were inspired by the imagery of authors

William Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

and

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass med ...

and features Numan's own personal experiences, particularly a relationship that had turned bitter.

Reception

Reaction to the album was mixed, some critics applauding what they saw as a less commercial career move and others viewing the change of pace with cynicism. A positive review appeared in

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

magazine which gave the album a 9 out of 10 rating, describing the music as "timeless". NME's

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...

argued that the album elevated Numan above many synthesizer contemporaries: "Dance does prove that when judged against his proper peers he can come out well... It's a thoughtful response to the new competition: Numan self-controlled and sophisticated. He can filter and exploit past noises as sensibly, even surprisingly, as anyone" but that the music lacked other things: "Dance is Numan's neatest, cleanest and most responsible homage to

. The elements of Eno's meditative adjustments and slippy neology are used well, but ''Another Green Worlds breathtaking personality, intimacy, grace and irony is missing." A few years after ''Dances release Numan conceded, "if I was supposed to be a pop star doing music for the masses, it probably wasn't the right thing to do", but he praised the standard of playing on it.Stephen Webbon & Gary Numan (1985). "Complete Gary Numan UK Discography". ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

(December 1985, No. 76)'': p.16 "She's Got Claws" was the album's sole single release, making number 6 in the UK charts, whilst the album itself peaked at number 3. It was Numan's first album to miss the number 1 spot since

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 ...

's debut album in 1978, dropping out of the charts after 8 weeks.

Legacy

Numan very rarely performs any music from the album in concert. However live recordings and visual footage of "She's Got Claws", "Cry the Clock Said" and "Moral" ("Metal") appear on Numan's video/DVD ''Micromusic'' and album ''Living Ornaments '81'', taken when they were previewed prior to the release of ''Dance'' at his

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

'farewell' concerts in April 1981. On his website on 30 March 2010, Numan mentioned that "Crash" was one of the songs rehearsed for his set at the Manchester and London "Back to the Phuture" shows.

Track listing

* Previous CD releases of ''Dance'' (Japan in 1990, and the UK in 1993) included "

Love Needs No Disguise "Love Needs No Disguise" is a 1981 single by Dramatis featuring 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 ...

", Numan's 1981 single with Dramatis, as a bonus track. The track was subsequently replaced by its B-side, "Face to Face", for the subsequent edition of ''Dance'', although "Love Needs No Disguise" would be included on the 1996 Numan compilation, ''

The Premier Hits ''The Premier Hits'' is a compilation album by Gary Numan released in March 1996 on the Polygram TV record label. The album reached No 21 in the UK Albums Chart, leaving the chart after three weeks. It currently stands as the best selling comp ...

''. On 19 January 2018, Beggars Arkive released ''Dance'' as a vinyl double-album, with the following track listing: * The only previously-unreleased track in the 2018 edition of ''Dance'' is the extended version of "Moral," which is over a minute longer than the version in the original album. The 2018 edition of ''Dance'' otherwise replicates the track listing of the standard CD edition.

Personnel

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 withou ...

Polymoog The Polymoog is a hybrid polyphonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to electronic organs and string synthesizers of the time. Histo ...

, SCI Prophet-5,

Roland Jupiter-4 The Roland Jupiter-4 (JP-4) was an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1978 and 1981. It was notable as the company's first self-contained polyphonic synthesizer, and for employing digital control of analog circ ...

Yamaha CP-30 This is a list of products made by Yamaha Corporation. This does not include products made by Bösendorfer, which has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation since February 1, 2008. For products made by Yamaha Motor Company, see the ...

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 ...

, Roland CR-78, Linn LM-1,

Claptrap Claptrap is a fictional character that appears in the Gearbox Software video game series '' Borderlands''. He is considered the franchise's mascot, and often serves as the comic relief throughout the games. Claptrap initially received widespread n ...

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 string ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

claves Claves (; ) are a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of short, wooden sticks about 20–25 centimeters (8–10 inches) long and about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter. Although traditionally made of wood (typically rosewood, ebony o ...

handclaps A clap is the percussive sound made by striking together two flat surfaces, as in the body parts of humans or animals. Humans clap with the palms of their hands, often quickly and repeatedly to express appreciation or approval (see applause), ...

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 ...

- bass, guitar, ARP Odyssey *

Cedric Sharpley 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 ...

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

* Chris Payne -

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

* John Webb - Roland Jupiter-4, Linn LM1, handclaps * Jess Lidyard - drums *

fretless bass A fretless bass is a bass guitar whose neck does not have any frets. While the instrument is played in all styles of music, it is most common in pop, rock, and jazz. It first saw widespread use during the 1970s, although some players used them befo ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

Nash the Slash James Jeffrey "Jeff" Plewman (March 26, 1948 – May 10, 2014), better known by his stage name Nash the Slash, was a Canadian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he was known primarily for playing the electric violin and mandolin, as well as the h ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

* Roger Taylor - drums,

tom-toms A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, though floor toms can go as la ...

Rob Dean Rob Dean (born 23 April 1955) is a British musician turned professional illustrator, who rose to prominence playing lead guitar as a member of the British new wave band Japan from 1975 to 1981. Biography He is from the Clapton district of ...

- guitar * Tim Steggles - percussion * Sean Lynch - Linn LM1 * Connie Filapello - vocals * Roger Mason - SCI Prophet-5, Yamaha CP-30 * Mick Prague - bass

Charts

Notes

References

* Paul Goodwin (2004). ''Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan'' *

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dance (Gary Numan Album) Gary Numan albums 1981 albums Beggars Banquet Records albums