The band began playing gigs on the punk scene in London and managed to secure a record deal with the independent Beggars Banquet label.

[2] By this time Tubeway Army had decided to abandon live shows – Webb was unhappy with pub-venue gigs on the often violent London punk scene.

Their last gig in July 1978 (sharing the bill with The Skids) was abandoned halfway through the set because of violence and Webb decided that Tubeway Army would become a studio-only band.

At this point Numan was keen to distance his music from punk rock and wanted to drop the Tubeway Army group name and release the album under his own stage name, but Beggars Banquet rejected the idea.

Following swiftly on, Numan took Tubeway Army back into the studio to record their follow-up album, Replicas and also a session for John Peel in early 1979.

The first single from the album, the bleak, slow-paced keyboard-driven song "Down in the Park" failed to chart, although it would prove an enduring cult track in the years to come, and has to date been covered by Marilyn Manson, Foo Fighters, Flight, and nine other bands.

A special picture disc helped boost sales but what particularly grabbed the British public's imagination was Tubeway Army's appearance on the BBC show The Old Grey Whistle Test, followed soon after by a slot on Top of the Pops on 24 May 1979.

The band, now including Ultravox keyboardist Billy Currie, Chris Payne, Paul Gardiner and drummer Cedric Sharpley, appeared all dressed in black and near-motionless, Numan in particular giving a performance often referred to as being "like an android", a style that was later reported to have been a means of covering stage nerves but which then became his trademark.