Way back when, before you could look up a song just by holding your phone in front of a speaker, I would pore over the liner notes on my favorite records, on the prowl for new music to listen to.

That week, “Are ‘Friends’ Electric” was just-short of topping the charts. Tubeway Army was the name on the single and of the band seen on Top of the Pops. Yet, for radio listeners, Gary Numan was solo ...