Cars by Gary Numan

TITLE:Cars
ARTIST:Gary Numan
DATE IT WAS A HIT: March 1996
CHART POSITION: 17

B-SIDES?: Live version of 'Are Friends Electric?'

CONTEXT IN MY LIFE: It was my GCSE year at school, and at the time I was more into The Beatles and REM. 'Cars' was re-released because it was being used in an ad for Carling Premier, and it was my first real taste of New Wave - even if Numan was selling out something rotten. I later discovered that the original release of 'Cars' was Number 1 the week I was born. Spooky.

DISCERNING OR DISMAL?: I actually still rate this song. It's a bit of a novelty track, but it's got great synth and it will still sound good in another 25 years. In short, I'm not embarrassed to have bought it - and I have a feeling I won't be saying that very often...