''Living Ornaments '79'' (1981) is a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

by British musician

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 ...

recorded at the

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

on 28 September 1979. It was also released as a

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

with ''

Living Ornaments '80 ''Living Ornaments '80'' is a live album by British musician Gary Numan, first released in 1981. It was also issued as a limited edition box set with '' Living Ornaments '79'' (as '' Living Ornaments '79 and '80'') the same year. The original ...

'' (1981). An expanded (21-track) version was

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Reco ...

d on a double CD in 1998 before a

remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

ed version was again reissued in 2005. The nine tracks of the original ''Living Ornaments '79'' were included on ''1979: The Live EPs'', a disc available to those who bought the expanded, 2-disc version of '' The Pleasure Principle'' from Numan's website in 2009. ''Living Ornaments '79'' is one of two official live albums from Numan's 1979-1980 tour (billed as "The Touring Principle"), and is a record of the tour's first leg. In 2008, Numan's record label released ''

Engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while consider ...

'', recorded during the tour's final leg (May 1980).

Track listing

All songs written by Gary Numan except where noted.

Original version

Side one

#"Airlane" – 3:12 #"

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

" – 3:20 #"We Are So Fragile" – 2:33 #"Films" – 3:45 #"Something's in the House" – 4:08

Side two

#"My Shadow in Vain" – 2:50 #"Conversation" – 7:45 #"The Dream Police" – 4:12 #"Metal" – 3:25

Remastered version

Disc one

#"Intro" – 2.32 #"Airlane" – 3.07 #"Me! I Disconnect From You" – 3.02 #"

" – 3.25 #"M.E." – 4.42 #"You Are in My Vision" – 3.11 #"Somethings in the House" – 3.55 #"Random" – 3.38 #"Everyday I Die" – 3.36 #"Conversation" – 7.51 #"We Are So Fragile" – 2.46

Disc two

Bombers A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strategic bombing is ...

" – 5.30 #"Remember I Was Vapour" – 4.51 #" On Broadway" (

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and was part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early ...

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (October 18, 1940 – June 1, 2023) was an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Weil and Mann were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987, and in 2011, they jointly received the ...

Jerry Leiber Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...

Mike Stoller Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...

) – 4.38 #"The Dream Police" – 4.19 #"Films" – 3.49 #"Metal" – 3.25 #" Down in the Park" – 5.38 #"My Shadow in Vain" – 2.34 #"

Are 'Friends' Electric? Are commonly refers to: * Are (unit), a unit of area equal to 100 m2 Are, ARE or Åre may also refer to: Places * Åre, a locality in Sweden * Åre Municipality, a municipality in Sweden **Åre ski resort in Sweden * Are Parish, a munici ...

" – 5.33 #"Tracks" – 3.10

Personnel

*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 ...

, producer *

Billy Currie William Lee Currie (born 1 April 1950Ultravox.org.uk
) is a ...

– keyboards *Cedric Sharpley –

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s *Chris Payne – keyboards,

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

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 ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Russell Bell –

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 ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, keyboards *Tim Summerhayes –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

Phil Thornalley Phillip Carden Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter, musician, and producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He produced the album ''Pornography'' by The Cure and was later their bass player. He began releas ...

– assistant engineer *John Dent – digitally master *Peter Gilbert –

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

*Robert Ellis – photographer

Charts

*Original album #47 (

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

) *''Living Ornaments '79 and '80'' box set #2 (UK Albums Chart)

The Touring Principle video

In 1980, an edited version of the 28 September 1979 concert was released on video under the title ''The Touring Principle '79'' and "special video effects" of the time were added to the recording. The songs featured on the video were "Me! I Disconnect From You", "M.E.", "We Are So Fragile", "Everyday I Die", "Conversation", "Remember I Was Vapour", "On Broadway", "Down in the Park", "My Shadow in Vain", "Are 'Friends' Electric?", and "Tracks". The concert itself was preceded on the original cassette by the promo video for "Cars". In 2009, ''The Touring Principle '79'' was released on DVD with the same track listing and with the video effects removed (although the original video version with the effects is included as a bonus feature). The DVD does not feature the "Cars" video although it does include a 34-minute interview with Numan in 2009, recalling his memories of the original 1979 tour.

Notes

References

*
LIVING ORNAMENTS 79 LP
numanme.co.uk *Paul Goodwin (2004). ''Electric Pioneer: An Armchair Guide To Gary Numan'' {{Authority control 1981 live albums Gary Numan live albums Beggars Banquet Records live albums Albums recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo