By Michael Hubbard BBC News Online

Lately there has been an unseemly rush by a bewildering assortment of musicians to cover and sample songs by a bloke from west London.

Pop kittens Sugababes reached number one with Freak Like Me earlier this year, a song that essentially added the girls' vocals to Are Friends Electric? by Gary Numan.

And his song M.E. was sampled to form the basis of dance outfit Basement Jaxx's top five hit Where's Your Head At? last year.

Marilyn Manson, Foo Fighters and Armand Van Helden have also adapted Numan's songs, and he has been working with Dutch dance act JXL.

I wore make-up because I had bad skin when I was 21

Gary Numan

He is being labelled influential. It is a far cry from the things said about him when he first emerged on the music scene in the late 1970s.

The compilation album Exposure - The Best of Gary Numan 1977-2002 is being released in celebration of his 25 years in the music business.

And Numan wants it known that being influential is all very well, but he does not appreciate being pigeonholed.

"I'm glad people think I'm influential," he says in a chummy London accent that is quite contrary to his oddball image as the godfather of electropop.

"I'm happy at being talked about as part of the 1980s, but what I object to is being labelled as someone only from the 1980s. I've had singles in the chart in the 1990s and I'm doing pretty well now."

Independence

Exposure has just crashed into the official UK album chart and Numan is busy recording an all-new album for a major label.

He describes the new record as a darker and more industrial affair, in common with his more recent albums, than the synth-based pop he is best known for.

Gary Numan says he is "obsessed" with learning

"I'm with a label called Artful, part of Universal, and I have my own imprint called Jagged Halo, on which this album's been released," he explains.

"I'm surprised more people don't do it this way. You get a small, highly-focused team who let you do what you want without interference whatsoever and who are very sympathetic to you," he enthuses.

"And the distribution system is fantastic. One of the main problems you have on a small label is getting your stuff into the shops," he continues. "With Universal you don't have that problem."

Robot

The cover versions are clearly helping his career along. Of the Sugababes' record he says: "I like it and I think the vocals they added to my music work really well."

But Sugababes fans might not remember when Numan first appeared on the music scene with Cars and Are Friends Electric? in 1979.

Back then, he wore make-up, never smiled and inspired onlookers to suggest that he probably dreamed of computers - and that he was some kind of androgynous robot.

I went to grammar school but got expelled for bad behaviour

Gary Numan

"What robot do you know that has spots?" he asks. "I had spots. That was the only thing about me that was different to anyone else. I wore make-up because I had bad skin when I was 21.

"I didn't smile on stage because I was nervous and I didn't want anyone to see my Bugs Bunny teeth and my floppy lower lip.

"And people would say to me afterwards, 'Oh, this is a really stern, robot-like person who never smiles and is really alienated.'.

"Much more of it was made than ever intended and I played along with it for a bit - maybe too much, for now it comes back to haunt me."

Manuals

He explains away his perceived mechanical side as a penchant for learning.

"I went to grammar school but got expelled for bad behaviour.

"That gave me a chip on my shoulder. I've been obsessed about learning ever since."

His wife Gemma says he has boring bedtime books.

"I have manuals next to the bed! I bought a little boat and the first thing I did was a big course in how to drive boats better!"

With a new generation getting to know his old work through cover versions, and his new work being distributed through satellite TV stations and a major label, Gary Numan's star looks to be in the ascendant once again.

He will just have to learn to live with it.