Pure

Gary Numan

In the U.S., synth-pop pioneer Gary Numan only had one hit, 1979's new wave smash "Cars," but in his homeland of Britain he was a major pop star. As one of the first pop/rock artists to focus on synthesizers rather than guitars, Numan was enormously influential not only to the New Romantic and Electro scenes, but to the electronica that was still a couple of decades off. Though he continued touring and performing into the 21st century, his later work could never match the iconic status of his late-'70s/early '80s records.