Cars didn't ruin his career in America. One thing about Numan is that he was just too strange for most Americans, even though Cars was a hit. It's kind of like DEVO's Whip-It. It was a hit but from what I remember most people thought they were too odd and goofy. The album Telekon itself was even darker and weirder than TPP and there was no catchy single to top the charts (in the US). According to Numan's autobiography, the record company wanted Numan to hold back the new release 'Telekon' because they felt that The Pleasure Principle still had a lot of market value in it. I distinctly remember buying Telekon from Sears in October of 1980. I also remember Cars was still getting a lot of airplay in the fall of 1980. That's also radio's fault. Most stations would only play one hit song off of the album.
Cars didn't ruin his career in America. One thing about Numan is that he was just too strange for most Americans, even though Cars was a hit. It's kind of like DEVO's Whip-It. It was a hit but from what I remember most people thought they were too odd and goofy. The album Telekon itself was even darker and weirder than TPP and there was no catchy single to top the charts (in the US). According to Numan's autobiography, the record company wanted Numan to hold back the new release 'Telekon' because they felt that The Pleasure Principle still had a lot of market value in it. I distinctly remember buying Telekon from Sears in October of 1980. I also remember Cars was still getting a lot of airplay in the fall of 1980. That's also radio's fault. Most stations would only play one hit song off of the album.