Let Loose's Lee Murray interview: How Gary Numan changed my life
I talk to Let Loose drummer Lee Murray about his pop career, his lifelong love of Gary Numan, and how Numan shaped his life and music.
In this episode of Electric Friends: A Gary Numan Podcast, I do something a little different. Instead of speaking to band members or collaborators from Gary’s world, I sit down with one of his most passionate famous fans — Lee Murray from Let Loose.
Lee and I talk about his journey through music, from growing up glued to Top of the Pops to finding his own success in the 1990s as part of Let Loose, the band behind the huge hit ‘Crazy for You’. He opens up about the long road to success, being mislabelled as a boyband, record deals that fell apart, and the pressure that came with sudden fame — before finding a healthier, more joyful relationship with music in later years.
At the heart of the conversation is Gary Numan. Lee shares how seeing Gary on Top of the Pops changed everything for him — how Gary “looked how I felt”, and why that sense of otherness made such a powerful connection. We talk about first gigs, the Warriors tour, idol-to-friend moments, and the surreal experience of eventually supporting Gary on tour.
Lee also reflects honestly on mental health, regret, stepping away at the wrong time, and how Gary’s openness and kindness left a lasting impression on him. It’s a warm, thoughtful and often emotional conversation about fandom, creativity, resilience and why Gary inspires such deep loyalty across generations.
If you love Gary Numan, 90s pop history, or hearing artists speak candidly about fame and its realities, this episode is for you.
Transcript
Electric Friends, a Gary Newman podcast.
Speaker A:The songs and stories of a music icon.
Speaker A:I just don't understand.
Speaker B:My name is Ruan.
Speaker B:My name is Van John.
Speaker C:So for this episode of Electric Friends, something a little different.
Speaker C:I've obviously interviewed people who have performed with Gary in various capacities or his band members and family, but I figured, how about his famous fans?
Speaker C:And starting off, I'm delighted to introduce not only a famous fan, but a good friend of Gary and the Newman clan, Lee Murray.
Speaker C: ose, who had a massive hit in: Speaker C:I'd actually interviewed Lee and the band a couple of years ago when they reunited, and Lee was very lovely and we followed each other on social media and only recently did I realize he was also a humanoid.
Speaker C:So I emailed him and he very kindly said he'd appear on the show.
Speaker C:So here is Lee's story and I'll be back at the end of the episode.
Speaker D:I'll start off by saying that in, yeah, 94, I was 8 and it was the first year I probably got into music.
Speaker D:So on one hand it was the year I discovered Gary Newman and we'll.
Speaker D:And began that journey, which we'll get onto a link.
Speaker D:But on the other hand, it was the first show I was into, like, current music too.
Speaker D:And one of the best songs of that year, and still to this day is one of my favorite pop songs of all time is Is Crazy for your by Let Loose.
Speaker D:So it was really exciting for me when you announced not too long ago that you were reforming and not only I got to interview for my other job, but it was, it was only very recently that I discovered that you were a fellow humanoid.
Speaker D:So we'll obviously talk about Gary in general throughout the show.
Speaker D:It's always exciting for me to do.
Speaker D:But firstly, what was, what was the music you.
Speaker D:You were brought up on?
Speaker D:What was it Gary and his contemporaries, or was it something completely different?
Speaker A:Well, I, when I reflect on it, actually, when.
Speaker A:So I was probably 8 or 9 in the late 70s, early 80s, and actually back then there wasn't a lot for kids to do.
Speaker A:You know, we weren't sort of bombarded with all the content that there is now, so, you know, you might kick a ball around a bit if you're into football.
Speaker A:I, I didn't go to scouts and all those kind of clubs and things like that.
Speaker A:I was just glued to Top of the Pops, as were, you know, 20 million other people on a Thursday night.
Speaker A:I remember watching it with my sister sort of on the carport like that, you know, watching all the acts that came on and we were pretty brutal with the top 40 countdown.
Speaker A:You know, we'd go like a, like eight.
Speaker A:And music was really tribal back then, you know, there was, there was mods and there were factions, you know, mods and skinheads and rockers and futurists and so on.
Speaker A:And I was pretty young to sort of absorb that.
Speaker A:But, yeah, I mean, I, I, I listened to sort of whatever was in the top 40.
Speaker A:It was, it was totally eclectic.
Speaker A:You'd have Pam 69 and then Elo and then you'd have like Lena Martel, country singer, you know, it was mad.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I mean, I, I, it was only when I think our friends Electric asked me by.
Speaker A:I don't really remember much about that until I sort of got into Gary a bit later on and then went backwards, if you like.
Speaker A:But it was Cars, actually, that really chimed with me when I saw that on the pop.
Speaker D:What a life.
Speaker A:Lively stuff indeed.
Speaker A:And from the disco groove of the Gibson Brothers to the machine music of Gary Newman, this week's highest new chart entry, Cars.
Speaker D:So for those who may not know, tell us how like, Net Loose came about and how they, how that group was formed and, and that whole story at the very beginning.
Speaker A:Well, it's actually quite closely connected with the whole Top of the Pops thing, really.
Speaker A:I mean, I, I was, I was quite a, an insular sort of kid, you know, I didn't go to like, like I said, I didn't really go to the scouts and different clubs and all the things and football clubs that all my mates went to.
Speaker A:You know, I just shut myself away in my bedroom, really, and sort of dream about music from quite a young age.
Speaker A:It was probably because the top of the box, you know, because that was the, that was my, that was a highlight of my week and probably my life, actually.
Speaker A:You know, I was just, for whatever reason, I was just really, really into music from sort of eight or nine.
Speaker A:So, you know, that was, that was really why Gary had such a, a profound effect, really, because I wasn't massively engaged with a lot of the, the content on top of the box, but it was just the fact that it was music, you know, and that really chimed with me.
Speaker A:But, you know, when, when he came on, it was, it was a weird kind of revelation in a way, because he looked, this is going to sound odd.
Speaker A:He looked how I felt, you know, he didn't give Any eye contact, the camera and usually, you know, that, that engagement with.
Speaker A:With people, like when you give eye contact, it's quite a big.
Speaker A:It's quite a big thing, you know, in terms of, you know, it's know, that kind of rapport and understanding.
Speaker A:And I remember all the artists on Top of the Pulse would look straight down the barrel of the gun, you know, in the camera and it was weird.
Speaker A:That sort of.
Speaker A:He didn't.
Speaker A:And that sort of really sparked my interest, really sparked my interest in music.
Speaker A:I thought, you know, this is quite a strange, strange kind of thing, you know, and he in it away, the way he.
Speaker A:The way he looked, how I felt.
Speaker A:That sounds really odd, but sort of, you know, disengaged and whatever.
Speaker A:It just really chimed with me and.
Speaker A:And then after that I was just absolutely obsessed, absolutely obsessed with music.
Speaker A:So then I got into, you know, bands and things in my local area from about 12.
Speaker A:11 or 12, you know, we used to play in the local church hall and rehearse and so on.
Speaker A:And then, yeah, I was just absolutely obsessed with it.
Speaker D:And was.
Speaker D:Was the other guys we've let loose, were they like friends for a while first?
Speaker D:How, how.
Speaker A:No, I. I didn't.
Speaker A:So there.
Speaker A:These were a couple of mates, local mates really, that I got into a band with and we were doing little gigs and things like that.
Speaker A:Parties again.
Speaker A:I was 12 or 13 and.
Speaker A:And I think they got a bit.
Speaker A:They got a bit fed up in a way because I was always really sort of pushing and pushing even at that age.
Speaker A:I was like, we've got to make it, we've got to make it.
Speaker A:And they were like, well, you know, we're going to go off, play football and we're going to go do this, that and the other.
Speaker A:So I always found that really, really frustrating.
Speaker A:So, you know, by the time I got to 15, 16, I started writing to newspapers and reading Melody Maker and trying to figure out what I wanted to do.
Speaker A:It was difficult for me because I was very, very shy.
Speaker A:Not, not sort of an outgoing musician, you know, in.
Speaker A:In that sort of respect and, you know, answering adverts and really selling myself.
Speaker A:So it was quite a difficult time, but I knew I really wanted to do it, but that sort of hamstrung me a little bit.
Speaker A:But yeah, no, I just noticed the singer in the bat in Let Loose, put an advert in, you know, drummers and musicians and so on.
Speaker A:So I got my dad to take me all the way down to Bethel Green when I was about 17 and I'll sort of audition with a whole bunch of other musicians that people think we were put together because it was like that whole boy band thing and we weren't.
Speaker A:We put ourselves together through melody.
Speaker A:Mike.
Speaker A:I was going to say.
Speaker D:Yeah, I think I feel like at the time you often like for like smash hits and things like that, they always put you alongside boy bands and it's very clear that you weren't boy band, you were, you know, you're a proper band and you're writing your own songs.
Speaker D:And was that annoying at the time or didn't you really care?
Speaker D:Because it was just great to have the attention.
Speaker A:Really frustrating.
Speaker A:Yeah, really frustrating.
Speaker A:I mean, I think we protested a little bit too much about it because Smash Hits, although they really championed us at the beginning, they gave us a front cover before we'd actually had a hit record.
Speaker A:And they put Britain's best new pop band, something like that.
Speaker A:We were like, oh, goodness is amazing.
Speaker A:But we'd always, you know, we'd go on all these television shows and they'd say, oh, this is the, you know, coming up it's the boy band let loose.
Speaker A:And we'd be sort of spectacularly offended by all that because we were like, I've been.
Speaker A:I've been playing my drum since I was 10, you know.
Speaker A:And Richie's.
Speaker A:Same with Richie.
Speaker A:He really pushes his songwriting.
Speaker A:Loves the Beatles, you know.
Speaker A:Eric, our guitarist was.
Speaker A:Was Led Zepp and Thin Lizzy, you know, he went to Nebworth, used to sleep in ditches in these festivals, you know, long hair.
Speaker A:He was a sort of a grungy rocker.
Speaker A:But we were kind of.
Speaker A:We morphed into this Durani sort of pop band and yeah, it really frustrated us.
Speaker D:But crazy for you though was.
Speaker D:Was such a big, big success because I didn't realize till know later on how it was obviously first released in 93 and then thankfully was led to a re release in 94.
Speaker D:Was one of the biggest hits of the year.
Speaker D:Was.
Speaker D:Was there a period there where you thought last.
Speaker D:It didn't quite do it and said.
Speaker D:But thankfully it did come around again.
Speaker D:Is that what happened?
Speaker A:Well, yeah, it took us about eight years to even get a.
Speaker A:Get any kind of traction.
Speaker A:We just gigged and toured and gigged everywhere.
Speaker A:Wrote loads of songs.
Speaker A: to Virginia records in about: Speaker A:I forget now, but we went into very, very expensive studios and recorded an album and then got dropped and it was crushing, absolutely crushing.
Speaker A:So we went back on the Doll and went back to sort of Writing songs and then really just.
Speaker A:Just kept pushing and kept pushing, you know.
Speaker A:I mean, I think that's when a lot of bands give up.
Speaker A:They sort of get that record deal.
Speaker A:If it doesn't happen and it folds, they say, oh, we gave it a go, let's just leave it.
Speaker A:But we just actually kept going because we were all obsessed with trying to get some kind of success.
Speaker B:Intuition tells me what I mean When I look at him so tell me, honey, am I dreaming or do you feel it?
Speaker B:Cause I feel that you know that you got me just where you want me Crazy, Crazy for you.
Speaker A:We ended up getting.
Speaker A:We got signed to Phonogram, I think, in 92, something like that.
Speaker A:But it took us forever.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, we released Crazy like you spent a fortune on a video release that it didn't happen at all.
Speaker A:Got on the chart show, so it got some traction.
Speaker A:And Simon Bates played it actually on his Morning in the Breakfast show on Radio 1.
Speaker A:So we thought we were away here, you know, but it just didn't connect.
Speaker A:It didn't connect with the audience.
Speaker A:And the subsequent single after that didn't connect.
Speaker A:So, again, we were thinking, we're going to get dropped.
Speaker A:Not happening for us.
Speaker A:So it was a really difficult time.
Speaker D:Well, it was.
Speaker D: almost reunions, but then in: Speaker D:Join.
Speaker D:So how has that whole.
Speaker D:The man I first spoke to you about, it was a very, like, almost happening then.
Speaker D:How is it feeling in the last couple of years since that happened?
Speaker D:Has it been.
Speaker D:Has it been quite a journey for you?
Speaker A:Yeah, it's been the old let loose at times was a lot of pressure.
Speaker A:It's not really what people would imagine it to be, and it certainly wasn't what I imagined it was going to be like when I was a kid.
Speaker A:Claims, you know, get on Top of the Pops and all these television shows and everything else, you know, flagship shows on itv, whatever.
Speaker A:It looks incredibly glamorous and it's kind of not really, you know, I wouldn't want to put anyone off because maybe it was just my reaction to it, you know, didn't really understand the sort of scrutiny that you come under with people.
Speaker A:And it was a bit of a.
Speaker A:Bit of a wild time and quite difficult.
Speaker A:But this time around, I'm much older, you know, I'm in my 50s now, and it's great fun.
Speaker A:We just do a lot of the nostalgia shows, the 90s reload of festivals that you see.
Speaker A:We just treat it for what it is, you Know we see the same crowd coming to see us that used to follow us around in the 90s, but they bring their children now their children are grown up.
Speaker A:Nothing quite makes you feel old.
Speaker A:And when you see these people that you saw when they were about 14 waiting outside studios for you and so on, and then they're, they're, they're coming to gigs with their, with their grown up kids.
Speaker A:But it's great, I love it.
Speaker D:Right, well, it's talking about how, you know, handling fame and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker D:Thinking about Gary then it's even more impressive when you look back and he was only what, like 20, 19, 20 when it, when it first started and obviously he's had so many ups and downs.
Speaker D:So is, is it quite, is it quite amazing for you to look at what he had to have gone through and sort of be quite inspired, I suppose to see how he managed to.
Speaker D:Especially back then when the press were even more.
Speaker D:Yeah, you know, vitriolic and.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah, they were brutal.
Speaker A:I don't know how he managed it.
Speaker A:I really don't.
Speaker A:It's just, it's amazing how he's, he's sort of stuck with it.
Speaker A:I mean we're all glad he has, you know, but it's, I mean the pressure is absolutely enormous.
Speaker A:I mean we didn't get the real brutal stuff from the press, but back in.
Speaker A:So I suppose, you know, early 80s he was, I don't know how he survived it, I really don't.
Speaker A:I mean they were so awful to him and our, and to his fans as well.
Speaker A:I mean it was quite a difficult time being a Newman fan when I was a kid.
Speaker A:You know, you get beaten up for it.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, I, I'm amazed.
Speaker A:The whole kind of trajectory of him being massive at the beginning and dealing with that at such a young age and dealing with all the Chris hits just trying to destroy him and then having those kind of career ups and downs.
Speaker A:He must be, I mean he's made a solid stuff.
Speaker A:It really is.
Speaker A:I, I think I'd have disappeared and you know, shut myself away I think, you know, if I'd have got that kind of criticism.
Speaker A:Awful.
Speaker D:Yeah, well, sometimes what I do on, on the show is like read people's like humanoid stories, I suppose in terms of how they.
Speaker D:And you've done it a little bit already in terms of how you found Gary and his music and, and I suppose you've got a unique one because you mentioned Brematort beforehand that you've obviously met him and good friends with family.
Speaker D:And band members and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker D:So it'd just be great to hear your kind of like Newmanoid story as it.
Speaker D:As it progressed throughout your life, really.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I think going back to the beginning was Cars that really grabbed me.
Speaker A:And it wasn't just Gary and.
Speaker A:And the kind of synth and the sound and the.
Speaker A:And the esthetics and all that.
Speaker A:Obviously, that was a massive, massive part of it because it was just so unique.
Speaker A:It was said as well, and particularly in the.
Speaker A:Carl's video, he had this.
Speaker A:He was quite featured, wasn't he?
Speaker A:Quite in that kind of triangle, wasn't he, in part of the video?
Speaker A:And also I remember a Christmas Top of the Pop, you know, they did.
Speaker A:They got all the big singles from the previous year Time.
Speaker A:So I think gary had the two hits right in 79 and again said, really featured.
Speaker A:And I love that and I love the massive drum kit that he had.
Speaker A:And then I. I tried to convince my parents to buy me one of these enormous drum kits.
Speaker A:I didn't get very far, but I absolutely love that.
Speaker A:And, yeah, that sort of.
Speaker A:I imagine probably, like a lot of Gary's fans just hoovered up absolutely everything that he ever did.
Speaker A:I look like him.
Speaker A:I went to school with the different colors in my hair.
Speaker A:And I think my first experience, I remember reading the newspapers that he'd given up touring.
Speaker A:I would have been about 10, something like that.
Speaker A:And I thought, well, I'm never going to get to see him because he's, you know, he's Scott.
Speaker A:And then further down the line he started up again.
Speaker A:So the warriors tour happened and that was the first opportunity I had to go and see him.
Speaker A:And my mum actually allowed me to go to a gig.
Speaker A:She was very protective.
Speaker A:No, no, they're too dangerous.
Speaker A:But I convinced, you know, to let me go.
Speaker A:So I went to the warriors tour out, and that was in Hemel Pavilion up the road from me in Hartford.
Speaker A:That was my first experience of.
Speaker A:Of seeing him live.
Speaker B:Babe.
Speaker D:And have.
Speaker D:What was that experience like?
Speaker D:Was ever one of my first, because, yeah, for me, Gary had sort of become this, like, mythical figure for a long time.
Speaker D:And it was like in the era before, you know, social media and YouTube and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker D:And so.
Speaker D:And it being, you know, it wasn't like when he was current, if you know what I mean.
Speaker D:So it was kind of like my own little thing.
Speaker D:And then I met my mate Sam at uni and it turned out he liked a bit of Gary.
Speaker D:So we.
Speaker D:I finally had someone to go to Gigs with.
Speaker D:So when I went to that first Newnham gig and saw him in the flesh, it was just this, like, other worldly experience in a weird way.
Speaker D:So was it a bit like that for you when you went to Warriors?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So it was my first live gig and it happened to be Gary.
Speaker A:And so I remember turning up and seeing all these.
Speaker A:I mean, the place was packed, it wasn't a big venue.
Speaker A:I think they kind of bolted it on the end of the tour and I just about managed to get a ticket.
Speaker A:I don't know what happened with that.
Speaker A:You know, I don't know whether he was actually scheduled to play it or whether something happened within the tour and they rescheduled it towards, you know, the end of the tour.
Speaker A:So I was very lucky to get a couple of tickets.
Speaker A:I dragged my mate along.
Speaker A:He was a jam fan and he was, you know, went under great sort of protest, but he loved it.
Speaker A:But no, when he.
Speaker A:When that intro came on and the crowd went absolutely nuts and to see him, I mean, everything worked in sort of tandem.
Speaker A:The set was incredible, the music was.
Speaker A:Was incredible and he looked amazing and he had such a command on stage.
Speaker A:And I remember recent, fairly recently reading something that this lead singer of Manson, I don't know if you remember them, he was there and he said it was like the Messiah had come on stage.
Speaker A:And it was a bit like that.
Speaker A:He was just hero worship.
Speaker A:I couldn't really put into words how it affected me, just sort of looking at him come on the stage, command the audience.
Speaker A:For someone that we knew was a pretty shy bloke, it was just.
Speaker A:It was the most incredible.
Speaker A:And I think even to the.
Speaker A:To this day, people talk about that Warriors Tour as one of the best ones he's done.
Speaker A:It really was.
Speaker A:I mean, the record didn't do very well.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I don't recall it sort of charting very high.
Speaker A:That the tour was incredible, really was.
Speaker D:What is it about Gary, that even in those years, those fallow fellow issues in like the mid-80s till, like the, I guess, the mid-90s, that meant that those fans stuck with him.
Speaker D:It wasn't like they all went, naz, this is not going well, let's leave it.
Speaker D:It's.
Speaker D:It's that.
Speaker D:What is it about him that people just want to follow in and make sure they get everything.
Speaker A:That's a difficult one, isn't it?
Speaker A:I mean, when my career started to take off, I did drift a little bit.
Speaker A:I think the last show I went to was probably one in the.
Speaker A: You know, like: Speaker A:But I think, I mean, I still followed his career and what he was up to, but I think, like some of the fans, you know, he'd always have a massive place in your life, but you.
Speaker A:You sort of drift a little bit.
Speaker A:And there was various things, like on.
Speaker A:I think he was on the Whistle Test and one of the interviews, he wasn't very nice to him, saying things like, you know, why do all your fans for the older stuff?
Speaker A:You know, I think when someone emerges and they have that sort of deep impact on the audience, you're always going to.
Speaker A:I've had it before.
Speaker A:People have always sort of said, you know, when Crazy View came out, you know, everybody wanted another Crazy View, and then another one and then another one.
Speaker A:Know, you can't really be that period when an artist comes out and it's just so exciting.
Speaker A:And I think everybody hankers after those moments.
Speaker A:Probably the same with Duran and a lot of the big bands.
Speaker A:Something really kind of romantic about when they.
Speaker A:When you first get into an artist.
Speaker A:But, yeah, I just think it demonstrates to the uniqueness of Gary, you know, and the fact that, you know, all the fans are just so fond of him as an artist, you know, that have stuck with him through this whole journey.
Speaker A:And, yeah, I mean, I never really left it behind.
Speaker A:I never parked it.
Speaker A:No, I was.
Speaker A:Whenever I went on any television during the little loose days, I would bang on about.
Speaker A:They'd always tell you, what sort of music do you listen to?
Speaker A:And I think they would probably live and kicking one.
Speaker A:And I think they were expecting us to say, we love Motown, or I don't know what boy band would like, you know, the sort of musical Duran.
Speaker A:And I said, oh, well, I really like Harry Newman.
Speaker A:And I'd say wherever I went, whether it was radio, any kind of TV that we did, I would always be banging on about it.
Speaker A:And, yeah, that was.
Speaker A:Even when his career dipped a little bit, I was still kind of, you know, pushing him as much as I could.
Speaker D:I think that's what we all do.
Speaker D:Whenever there's an opportunity to bring him up, we will.
Speaker D:And.
Speaker D:And when was it that you.
Speaker D:Because at some point did you say you met Gemma and.
Speaker D:And.
Speaker D:And band members and what have you?
Speaker A:Well, that was a kind of a strange one.
Speaker A: singer, was in a nightclub in: Speaker A:When was it?
Speaker A:About 90, maybe early 96.
Speaker A:We were just about to go on a really, really long tour.
Speaker A:And it was a very difficult time for me because I'd Fallen out massively with our singer.
Speaker A:We were separate cars, separate hotels.
Speaker A:It was really quite miserable.
Speaker A:But to be fair to him, we went to this nightclub and Gary's bodyguard there.
Speaker A:I can't remember his name.
Speaker A:I think it might have been Gary, actually, or G or I can't remember.
Speaker A:Anyway, he got chatting and I can only assume that Gary's bodyguard knew about us and knew about me, chatting about Gary on various tellies and things like that, saying I was a fan.
Speaker A:So he gave Rick, our singer, Gary's phone number.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker A:He said, give it to Lee and give Gary a ring.
Speaker A:So, went back to my flat that night and I've got Gary's number in my hand.
Speaker A:And I'm immediately thinking back to when I was a kid.
Speaker A:Someone would have told me when I was, you know, 13 or whatever, that you're about to ring Gary.
Speaker A:And I was pretty nervous, actually.
Speaker A:And I'd met so many big stars through my career, you know, doing Top of the Pops, and they're all very normal people.
Speaker A:I mean, you know, we met Tom Jones was there at Top of the Pops on one occasion, and the guys from inxs and he really.
Speaker A:You realize very quickly that they're just normal people, they just have a sort of a weird job.
Speaker A:But nonetheless, I was pretty nervous to speak with him.
Speaker A:And Gemma, Gemma picked up the phone and she was like, nuts.
Speaker A:She was just, you know, just this bundle of liveliness and really sweet, really lovely.
Speaker A:And we had a brief chat and that, talking about, I don't know, let Loose and what I was doing, what the band were about and all that.
Speaker A:And then she passed me over to Gary and, yeah, I just tried to get a few.
Speaker A:Few words out, really.
Speaker A:And, you know, my little.
Speaker A:This little boy inside of me thinking I've, you know, I watched this guy on Top of the Pops and formed my love of music.
Speaker A:And here I am chatting with him all those years later.
Speaker A:But he was lovely.
Speaker A:He was very kind, really, just very warm, very friendly.
Speaker A:And we just discussed how we could sort of work together in.
Speaker A:In some way.
Speaker A:I wanted to write some songs, but I think immediately thought, well, I'm not doing that, because we were like a, you know, cheesy pop band, if you like.
Speaker A:So he said, I'm going on tour and some.
Speaker A:The support band can't do the Manchester show, Manchester Apollo and do you want to do it?
Speaker A:So I said, yes, please.
Speaker A:And we didn't.
Speaker D:What was that like?
Speaker A:Well, I think he probably handed it over to his dad.
Speaker A:So his.
Speaker A:His dad liaised with our Manager and, I mean, we turned up on.
Speaker A:On the night and we sort of go up the side with our little laminates and things like that, you know, went up the side of the stage at Manchester Apollo with all our people and tech and stuff like that, and there he was.
Speaker A:And I had met him before, briefly.
Speaker A:I went to hnb in about 95.
Speaker A:I got his autograph.
Speaker A:So I met him very briefly then.
Speaker A:But not to say anything, you know, there he was, standing in front of me.
Speaker A:He was only a little chat and he was just lovely.
Speaker A:He really was.
Speaker A:He was so generous.
Speaker A:He said, you can use these lights if you want, and anything, anything that you need, please let us know.
Speaker A:Told the fans to be nice to you.
Speaker A:I was like, great.
Speaker A:And then Gemma came running across the theater and he sort of pulled her up onto the stage.
Speaker A:Like, they just had this really kind of beautiful relationship they still have, right.
Speaker A:But you could tell they were sort of just so good for each other.
Speaker A:It was such a lovely rapport between the two.
Speaker A:And my barging memory is just that they were just very, very decent, lovely people and treated us really, really well, welcomed us and so on.
Speaker A:And, yeah, it was.
Speaker A:It was an amazing experience, really was.
Speaker A:Although we did need to get booed off, which was slightly.
Speaker A:Oh, really slightly difficult.
Speaker D:Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, it must be quite an unforgiving atmosphere if it's.
Speaker A:If.
Speaker D:If it's quite slightly different type of music and everything.
Speaker D:But that's an amazing, amazing memory.
Speaker D:Have you stayed in touch over the years since.
Speaker A:So here's the thing.
Speaker A:So I. I regret this.
Speaker A:I really do.
Speaker A:I was just going through a really difficult period, as I alluded to earlier, and I was getting really depressed with it all.
Speaker A:It was really having a sort of profound effect on my health, mental health, to be honest, because I was basically leaving this band that we'd worked so hard to, you know, develop and create some success.
Speaker A:I mean, the relationship between us was just so awful that I thought, I've got.
Speaker A:I'm just making me ill.
Speaker A:So I spoke to Gary a few times and he was really supportive.
Speaker A:I think his career was starting to sort of get some traction again.
Speaker A:I think the premier.
Speaker A:I think that tour was premier hit.
Speaker A:Ours was coming out again and I spoke to him on the phone a few times and he said, you want to come down to Top of the Pops?
Speaker A:I'm going to go on my motorbike.
Speaker A:Did.
Speaker A:You can come down if you like.
Speaker A:And there was another occasion.
Speaker A:He said, you know, we're having a barbecue.
Speaker A:Do you want to Come to the house and, and so on, and I didn't do any of it.
Speaker A:And I really regret that because looking back, it must have actually been quite mean, but it was only because where I was in my sort of headspace.
Speaker A:And so, yeah, I spoke to Jem a couple of times, you know, over that period and as I say, Gary, a few times, and again, they were just lovely, but I just hid myself away and dug myself a hole and lost myself sort of for a few years and lost touch.
Speaker A:And I do really regret that because they were just, again, they were just, you know, trying to welcome me into the fold a little bit and.
Speaker A:Yeah, and I just sort of disappeared, I'm sure.
Speaker D:More than anyone else, though, he's, he would understand.
Speaker D:He's so open about all the, you know, his mental health struggles over the years.
Speaker D:I'm sure he clearly understand all that.
Speaker A:I should think so.
Speaker D:That's, I think that's one of the reasons he's so, I mean, I, I, I follow his Patreon and he's very open in these updates.
Speaker D:He does every time, even if he's just talking to whoever's on the other end.
Speaker D:It's amazing how open he is and he's so down to earth.
Speaker D:And I think that's one of the reasons we really do like him as fans, because every person has a story of meeting him, like you just had.
Speaker D:He is just how you'd like him to be.
Speaker D:And he's just very down to earth and, and the fact that he was, yeah, he was happy to just.
Speaker D:I'm useless on the phone.
Speaker D:Like, if someone called me, I wouldn't be very good.
Speaker A:I'm not very good either.
Speaker A:No, I'm, I'm not.
Speaker A:But he, you know, he's a very, I think he's quite an intelligent man.
Speaker A:He's quite articulate, you know.
Speaker A:You know, he certainly knew how to say all the right things to me on the phone back then, because I was still a kid.
Speaker A:He'd had all that experience, like you say, of all the ups and downs, he really gave me some, some really good advice.
Speaker A:I don't think I took it, you know, because my, as I say, I, I don't know where I was in my head.
Speaker A:I just wanted out and I wanted to disappear and.
Speaker A:But, yeah, no, I think he's really articulate.
Speaker A:I think he's very clever and he's obviously sort of really driven and it's funny, isn't it, because he is very warm and friendly when he sees you and when he meets you you know, but he doesn't sort of answer anything on social media or anything like that, so he doesn't engage in that way.
Speaker A:So he's sort of in control in terms of how he wants to communicate, so on.
Speaker A:But no, he is.
Speaker A:He's very, very lovely.
Speaker A:When you meet him and chat with him and so on, he's just like a regular guy.
Speaker A:But they all are mostly, you know, that you meet stars when you meet them face to face.
Speaker A:Nine times out of 10, you know, you have a nice experience with him and.
Speaker D:And it's been amazing since that time to, as you say, seen him in his career just develop and, you know, find his music again and work with people at Fenton.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker D:Do you now go to most of his tours, if you can?
Speaker D:Is that a regular thing for you?
Speaker D:I think you said, was it the Ham Smith one year or was that another one?
Speaker A:Yeah, when I went to.
Speaker A:I got in touch with jen again over WhatsApp and a nice.
Speaker A:I. I can't remember.
Speaker A:It was something like, I'd love to come to Wembley.
Speaker A:I'm going to come to Wembley, you know, because it's just amazing that he's.
Speaker A:He's managed to get back there after.
Speaker A:I mean, that's a beautiful story.
Speaker A:Story, isn't it?
Speaker A:That kind of.
Speaker A:Again, you look at the trajectory of being right up there and then being really down and then working your way back is an amazing thing that you see.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And bless her.
Speaker A:Yeah, she got me in with my son.
Speaker A:So we were there, we.
Speaker A:So we watched that, that show, which was amazing.
Speaker A:And then actually David Brooks, I've known him alone, David, for about 30 years.
Speaker A:Last time I saw him was probably in the mid-90s, maybe 90.
Speaker A:Yeah, again, 95 before the Manchester show.
Speaker A:We were in a hotel somewhere having a natter.
Speaker A:And again, I lost touch with him.
Speaker A:He's a lovely, lovely guy and very talented.
Speaker A:So, yeah, with the, with the recent tour, I sent him a note, said be nice just to catch up and have a, have a.
Speaker A:Have a beer, you know, if I'll probably come down to the show.
Speaker A:And he said, yeah, okay.
Speaker A:Well, he got me in, he got me some tickets and it was lovely to see him.
Speaker A:Actually, Simon Peg was there, was the.
Speaker A:Was amazing.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Picking up my tickets and I looked to my side and it was Simon Peg who knew he was a Newman fan, but obviously, for all the reasons that we know, it was incredibly emotional in that.
Speaker A:Watching that show at Hammersmith, I was taken back to when I was a kid.
Speaker A:I was sitting in pretty much the same Seats when I was about 14 on the Berserker tour and I was pretty much in the same place and in Anna Smith Odian.
Speaker A:It was a.
Speaker A:It was an amazing show, just incredibly emotional.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I just don't know how he got through it.
Speaker D:And yeah, I mean, most.
Speaker D:Most of his tours is a show where I go.
Speaker D:That's my favorite one of his now.
Speaker D:But yeah, I think that Ms. Show was, for obvious reasons, very emotional, but just great.
Speaker D:Just really just so on form and.
Speaker A:It'S really quirky and you can always.
Speaker A:You always sort of lament some of the single choices, don't you?
Speaker A:Whether you go back to Gary's career now, I just sort of think of.
Speaker A:Remind Me to Smile is like a pop hit, you know, that easily have been a massive single.
Speaker A:And then obviously you look back to the Pleasure Principle and you think, why didn't he release metal and all that?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:I think if he was on a really big label, it would have been probably slightly different.
Speaker A:But anyway, look where he is now.
Speaker A:He's doing something right.
Speaker D:Exactly.
Speaker D:Well, I'll put you on the spot now for a couple of Quick Fire questions.
Speaker D:So do you have a particularly favorite Newman, like era or album?
Speaker D:Is there one in particular that you always go to?
Speaker D:Like, that is my.
Speaker D:That is my favorite.
Speaker A:That's really, really difficult.
Speaker A:I'm only just starting to dip into some of his more recent stuff and I really like Intruder.
Speaker A:I love the singles released off Intruder.
Speaker A:I thought they were.
Speaker A:He's kind of really crafting his songs now where they're.
Speaker A:They're really.
Speaker A:They've always been sort of catchy.
Speaker A:But quite often he wouldn't.
Speaker A:They'd be weirdly catchy because he doesn't do normal formula sort of singles, so he doesn't go verse, bridge, chorus, verse, bridge.
Speaker A:I mean, Carl's never had a chorus.
Speaker A:It was that synth line, wasn't it?
Speaker A:That was still really catchy.
Speaker A:Same with our friends Electric and a lot of his other songs.
Speaker A:But the latest stuff has got choruses, really big anthemic choruses.
Speaker A:But I think I'd always love the Pleasure Principle.
Speaker A:I think, you know, that was probably the first one I bought and then I went backwards a little bit, got the Tube Way Army One and Replicas and then hoovered up all the other stuff.
Speaker A:But yeah, I think it's got to be the Pleasure Prince.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And it.
Speaker D:Do you have a particular favorite concert?
Speaker D:You might have already mentioned one, but is that one in particular that you go.
Speaker D:That tour, that show was.
Speaker D:That was A little on the memory.
Speaker A:I don't think anything is going to touch that experience.
Speaker A:Just probably because of the age that I was and it was first gig I'd ever been to was that warriors tour.
Speaker A:I mean it was phenomenal.
Speaker A:It really was from an impression.
Speaker A:For an impressionable sort of 13 year old to go and see that was incredible.
Speaker A:You know, I went in full Berserker gear to my God.
Speaker A:I mean my.
Speaker A:You should have seen my dad, he was a rough tough builder, my dad.
Speaker A:And I'm.
Speaker A:I'm standing in the mirror putting blue eyeliner on my hair, you know, he must have thought what's going on?
Speaker A:And yeah, so Berserker was amazing.
Speaker A:I love that tour as well.
Speaker A:But yeah, I think it's warriors really.
Speaker D:Amazing and it's always an impossible task.
Speaker D:But are you able to list your top three Newman songs of all time?
Speaker A:You know, I don't know if I could.
Speaker A:I mean, I don't know.
Speaker A:Okay, so what was I doing yesterday?
Speaker A:I put Spotify on and I was listening to a bit of Gary.
Speaker A:I mean Metals always the go to and actually when I came back from, from Hammersmith, whatever it's called now, the event Apollo, it'll always be Hammersmith.
Speaker A:I revisited Telecom and I remember as a kid, you know, feeling very hard done by at school, trying to get to sleep thinking I don't want to go to school tomorrow and I'd put telecom on.
Speaker A:And there was something about the way that that album sort of just washes over you.
Speaker A:So I think probably I Dream of Wires as me in there.
Speaker A:Absolutely love that.
Speaker A:So let's say metal's in there, let's say I Dream of Wires.
Speaker A:Let's pick another one that I really like.
Speaker A:Let's go to.
Speaker A:Let's go to.
Speaker A:My name is Ruin.
Speaker A:Really cool song but it'll change tomorrow.
Speaker A:You know, it's very difficult.
Speaker D:I was thinking just as you were saying that as a drummer was.
Speaker D:Was films quite influential for you because that's one of the best like drum beats really and definitely in that era.
Speaker A:And massively sampled for loads of hip hop records in America and so on.
Speaker A:Well, thing is, so going back to that gig that we did at with Gary, it was reminiscent of when I saw when we went to the Berserker tour.
Speaker A:I remember Larry Loeba was his guy.
Speaker A:He was ruined by Gary's crowd, he really was and I felt sorry for him.
Speaker A:So it was in the back of my mind when we were played with Gary, I just thought what are the audience going to think?
Speaker A:Of let loose coming on and supporting him.
Speaker A:They're just going to.
Speaker A:They're going to ruin us.
Speaker A:And they really did.
Speaker A:At one point we got the whole new charm right middle of it all and I thought, what am I going to do?
Speaker A:So I played Films.
Speaker A:I played the drum break from Films.
Speaker A:I don't know why.
Speaker A:It was either that or do you need the service?
Speaker A:I thought, I'll do films and it worked.
Speaker A:It kind of got onside a little bit.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I love it.
Speaker A:Films is absolutely brilliant.
Speaker A:And said such an underrated drummer, you know, I mean people.
Speaker A:People say he, you know, he wasn't very technical and they, you know, they criticize him but he was absolutely perfect for Gary's sound and a really solid drummer and I mean, I owe him my drumming career.
Speaker A:It was Gary and it was Ced that got me into really sort of pursuing music and being a drummer.
Speaker A:So I won't have a bad word about Said he amaz.
Speaker D:It's such a shame because it's.
Speaker D:Dramatists were so close to back together and sadly we lost him.
Speaker D:But yeah, well, I could.
Speaker D:I could to work meming all day and do a lot of time.
Speaker D:But finally, just what are your.
Speaker D:Yeah, what are your next plans?
Speaker D:Is there more plans for more music Let loose?
Speaker D:I know you released that single not too long ago.
Speaker D:Is there more plans for that?
Speaker A:I don't really.
Speaker A:We've got a really big gig next year with the Brit Fest and there's some great artists on that.
Speaker A:I'm really looking forward to playing that in the middle of the year.
Speaker A:Manchester, Holly Johnson's headlining it and Happy Mondays are on it.
Speaker A:And Quite a lot of 80s bands actually that, you know, we all sort of grew up with Thompson Twins and various others.
Speaker A:I'm really looking forward to that one, I think.
Speaker A:I think then we'll just kind of bimble along.
Speaker A:You know, people come and see us and people still seem to want to book us for shows and so on and they're good fun and so I imagine we'll kind of continue bingbling along doing the business.
Speaker A:I don't think we've released any more music.
Speaker A:People just want to sort of drown in the whole nostalgia tonight, really.
Speaker A:I don't think they're sort of champion at the bit for any more new music, but that's fine.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker D:Well, thanks so much for that, Lee.
Speaker D:It's great talking to you today and appreciated.
Speaker C:Fascinating chat.
Speaker C:Thanks so much to Lee for appearing on Electric Friends.
Speaker C:More famous fans coming in the future.
Speaker C:So thanks for listening.
Speaker C:If you'd like to get in touch either to tell me your numinoid story or to suggest future episodes, please do.
Speaker C:Email me newmanpodcastmail.com or find me at Newman Podcast on socials or head to newmanpodcast.com for more.
Speaker C:And remember, if you'd like to support me and the show and get your hands on some Electric Friends merch T shirts, hoodies, stickers, and more, head to the show notes of this episode or where to get them.
Speaker C:Or head to electric hyphen friends.printify.me.
Speaker C:for now, though, have a great one and I'll see you soon.
Speaker A:Electric Friends A Gary Newman Podcast the songs and stories of a music icon.
