WE PROFILE SUPERFANS EVERY MONTH IN CLASSIC POP. BUT WHAT EXACTLY MAKES
THEM TICK? WE GO BEHIND THE PHENOMENON AND MEET THOSE WHOSE LIVES HAVE
BEEN ALTERED BY THEIR FAVOURITE ARTISTS, PLUS GARY NUMAN TELLS US WHY HE
MARRIED ONE OF HIS BIGGEST ADMIRERS...
M
usic fans. The lifeblood
of the music industry.
If fans didn’t buy records,
gig tickets, T-shirts, pin
badges, all but the
wealthiest musicians wouldn’t have the
means to make and distribute their work.
They come in all shapes and sizes- from the screaming teenage girl to
the meticulous completist collector in
his 60s. Some are quiet, modest fans,
others are vocal ambassadors for their
favourite band. Some fall in and out of
love with their band or musician of choice
depending on their output, others stick with
them through the good, the bad and the
ugly. They have nicknames – Brosettes,
Blockheads, Thatters – uniforms and special
ways of recognising each other.
Where once there was very limited
access to your musical heroes, in the social
media age many are instantly reachable.
And it’s not just the musicians themselves,
where you once had to go to a gig or a
real-life meet-up to connect with fellow
fans, now that, too, is at your fi ngertips
24/7. But what does being a music fan
in the 21st century really mean? Is being
a female music fan a different experience
to their male counterparts? And has social
media been a positive development in
this sphere?
From fans of 80s and 90s boybands
to Britpop obsessives and one fan
who actually married her musical idol
(introducing Gemma Webb, wife of Gary
Numan), there are familiar tales of music
pulling you through the darkest times –
of meeting and even duetting with your
favourite band, of travelling the world
to see your musical heroes and making
lifelong friendships in the process.
Dr Mark Duffett, from the University of
Chester, has been studying musical fandom
for years – exploring relationships between
particular kinds of fandom and gender
and race. It’s a subject close to his heart.
“When I was younger I went through a
few phases of being a fan,” he explains.
“It began with Howard Jones and
progressed onto Heaven 17, then from
pop to rock and post-punk.”
Talking about what he has learnt through
his ongoing study of musical fans, he
says: “We need to conceptually separate
celebrity fandom from genre fandom and
plain old musical appreciation – thoughin reality they can all occur together, at
the same time. Celebrity fandom, the
kind I’m most interested in, occurs when
a person reaches a point where they
realise they have a connection with a
famous performer that they follow; the
connection is signifi cant enough to have
shaped their identity. There is something
highly personal, both overwhelming and
empowering, about that moment. It may
include all sorts of emotions – appreciation,
affection, friendship, lust, grief, anxiety,
and other things.”THE FAN IN BLACK
Gary Numan is the perfect example of
a high-profi le musician with a dedicated
following. His fans matter as much to
him as he does to them – hell, he even
married one of them. The mutual respect
is notable when you speak to the electro-
pop pioneer. “When you hear how you’ve
helped people in diffi cult moments, how the
music has been a comfort, an inspiration,
a treasured memory, a support to lean
on, those things are incredibly special,”
explains Gary.SCRIPTLAURA WILLIAMS
“We need to conceptually separate celebrity fandom
from genre fandom and plain old musical appreciation
- though in reality they can all occur together, at
the same time” DR MARK DUFFETT