“If I were only a second-rate Bowie, I wouldn’t sell as many records as he does. But he has no reason to be jealous. Bowie has done so much. I’m retiring now anyway, so in six months, I won’t be a threat at all. He’s gonna be there when I’m long finished…Bowie will go on forever. No one can touch him. He’s like the Elvis Presley of my generation. If he died, he would go on. It’s like saying Beethoven and Bach were no different because they were living in the same time doing classical music. Same with me and Bowie.”

Gary Numan, 1981