Bombers (Tubeway Army song)

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1978 single by Tubeway Army

"Bombers"

Single by Tubeway Army
B-side|

* "Blue Eyes"
* "O.D. Receiver"

Released| 21 July 1978
Recorded| The Music Centre, Wembley, 15 April 1978
Genre| Punk rock[1]
Length| 3:52
Label| Beggars Banquet
BEG 8
Songwriter(s)| Gary Numan
Producer(s)| Kenny Denton
Tubeway Army singles chronology
| "That's Too Bad"
(1978)  | "Bombers"
(1978)  | "Down in the Park"
(1979)

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"Bombers" is the second single by the English new wave band Tubeway Army, released on 21 July 1978, on Beggars Banquet.

"Bombers" is considered by some to be one of the most popular songs by Tubeway Army. The song enjoyed brief popularity in the '80s and is featured in several books cataloguing iconic songs of the period.[2]

## Versions and releases

[edit]

The original demo version, recorded 7–9 March 1978 at Spaceward Studios, near Cambridge. This recording was not released to the public until October 1984, on an album of previously unissued tracks from the same sessions called The Plan. These sessions featured Gary Numan, Paul Gardiner, and Numan's uncle Jess Lidyard on drums.[3]

The single version recorded on 15 April 1978 and released in July the same year. This session was produced by Kenny Denton, and featured a short-lived band line-up of Numan, Gardiner, Barry Benn, and Sean Burke. It has since appeared on CD reissues of The Plan. The single features a slightly revised lyric: on the demo, the third verse starts with "All the junkies pulling needles from their arms." Beggars Banquet feared that the word "junkies" would prevent the song receiving airplay and so, for the single, Numan changed the line to "All the nurses pulling needles from their arms."[4]

It was later re-released as a gatefold with the first Tubeway Army single "That's Too Bad".[5]

## Track listing

[edit]

1. "Bombers" (Valerian) – 3:52
2. "Blue Eyes" (Valerian) – 1:43
3. "O.D. Receiver" (Valerian) – 2:37

## Personnel

[edit]

* Producers:
* Kenny Denton
* Musicians:
* Gary Numan: Vocals, Guitar
* Paul Gardiner: Bass guitar
* Barry Benn: Drums
* Sean Burke: Guitar

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Evans, Richard (6 August 2024). "1978". Listening to the Music the Machines Make: Inventing Electronic Pop 1978-1983. Omnibus Press. pp. 81–82\. ISBN 978-1-915841-45-2.
2. ^ Jancik, Wayne (2010). The Billboard Book of One-hit Wonders. Billboard Books. ISBN 9780823076222.
3. ^ Tubeway Army The Plan, Beggars Banquet 1984
4. ^ Steve Malins (1998). The Plan: CD liner notes Archived 15 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
5. ^ Tubeway Army That's Too Bad/Bombers, Beggars Banquet 1979

* v
* t
* e

Gary Numan

Albums with Tubeway Army|

* Tubeway Army
* Replicas
* The Plan

Studio albums|

* The Pleasure Principle
* Telekon
* Dance
* I, Assassin
* Warriors
* Berserker
* The Fury
* Strange Charm
* Metal Rhythm
* Outland
* Machine + Soul
* Sacrifice
* Exile
* Pure
* Jagged
* Dead Son Rising
* Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind)
* Savage (Songs from a Broken World)
* Intruder

Collaborations|

* Automatic (with Bill Sharpe)
* Human (with Michael R. Smith)
* Nicholson / Numan 1987–1994 (with Hugh Nicholson)

Live albums|

* Living Ornaments '79
* Living Ornaments '80
* Living Ornaments '79 and '80
* White Noise
* Ghost
* The Skin Mechanic
* Dream Corrosion
* Dark Light
* Living Ornaments '81
* The Radio One Recordings
* Scarred
* Hope Bleeds
* Fragment 1/04
* Fragment 2/04
* The Complete John Peel Sessions
* Engineers
* Big Noise Transmission

Singles|

* "That's Too Bad"
* "Bombers"
* "Down in the Park"
* "Are "Friends" Electric?"
* "Cars"
* "Complex"
* "We Are Glass"
* "I Die: You Die"
* "This Wreckage"
* "Stormtrooper in Drag"
* "She's Got Claws"
* "Love Needs No Disguise"
* "Music for Chameleons"
* "We Take Mystery (To Bed)"
* "Warriors"
* "Change Your Mind"
* "New Thing from London Town"
* "This Is Love"
* "I Can't Stop"
* "Like a Refugee (I Won't Cry)"
* "Crazier"

Compilations|

* New Man Numan
* Exhibition
* The Best of Gary Numan 1978–1983
* The Premier Hits
* Techno Army Featuring Gary Numan
* Random
* Exposure
* Hybrid
* Resonator (Pioneer of Sound)

Related articles|

* Discography
* Sharpe & Numan
* Paul Gardiner
* Cedric Sharpley
* Dramatis
* Tubeway
* Radio Heart
* "Freak Like Me"
* "Where's Your Head At"

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