Gary Numan so unreal he's got to be real

Time for a history re-write,

. Boy George is a girl. Of course she is, I mean she wears make-up and dresses and dances like a girl, right? The 'boy' bit is just for a laugh isn't it!

And while we're at it, Freddie Mercury is not gay. He's a rocker and he's got a big manly moustache and lots of naked women stripped off just to ride bikes next to him. So what if his band is called Queen, that doesn't mean anything idiot.

Next you'll be telling me that Gary Numan is not a real android. Now that would be really daft 'cos it's obvious he's a proper robot – all stiff and jerky and serious-looking . . . Ahh the naivety of us kids in the early eighties!

Gary Numan plays the Wulfrun Hall on Sunday some 32 years after his first two hits wiped the seventies slate clean and ushered in a whole new generation of synth-driven pop. His Moog-through-a-distortion-pedal innovation and single-minded hard-faced nerve changed the game.

I believed whole-heartedly in Numan's 'unhuman' image as much because I wanted to believe in a non-human life form and I loved the simplicity of his genius hooks.

Here we go again with one of those "who would've thought that twenty-one year old synth pioneer would still be churning out records all these years later" columns.

Well actually, not this time. I am amazed when I realise that Gary Numan is still touring and releasing records, but my respect for him is more complex than just for his endurance.

Mr Numan point-blank refuses to compromise his musical orientation for anybody; he has followed his techno nose in whatever direction it took him and progressed his sound from synth-pop, through goth-synth-rock, all the way through to contemporary industrial and sustained an enviable audience the whole time.

Sunday's gig will be packed out again and I'm still of a mind to believe in the man, erm, I mean android because I don't always need my stars to be 'real'. Sometimes 'unreal' is just the escape I need.

Escape should not be a word that chimes with relevance when I mention the chap who will (hopefully) take to the very same Wulfrun Hall stage on Tuesday, but unfortunately anyone who reads or hears the news will know that Pete(r) Doherty has seen more than his fair share of Her Majesty's penal institutions in recent years.

I don't wish to judge and I'm not in the habit of participating in the Doherty debate. Flawed genius or drug-addicted nobody? I don't care to venture into that arena. I'm a columnist remember – most certainly not a critic.

What I would say about Mr Doherty is this: I sincerely hope that when I hang up my pen, many years from now, some other hack like me will be pondering three decades of his career.

Doherty has captured the imagination of droves of fans with his equally mysterious and 'unreal' image and I hope that he avoids the fate that so many have prescribed for him to take those faithful along with him on an extended adventure. Notable on all posters, websites and tickets for recent engagements is the addition of an 'r' to usher in a 'reforming' and more 'at peace' Peter Doherty.

It seems this week I've mostly been talking about a Numan and, hopefully a new man.