Fad Gadget: Gag 1984

 

Francis John Tovey (8 September 1956 – 3 April 2002), known also by his stage name Fad Gadget,

was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both new wave and early industrial music, fusing pop-structured songs with mechanised experimentation.
                                 
As Fad Gadget, his music was characterised by the use of synthesizers in conjunction with sounds of
found objects, including drills and electric razors. His bleak, sarcastic and darkly humorous lyrics were filled with biting social commentary toward subjects such as machinery, industrialisation, consumerism, human sexuality, mass media, religion, domestic violence and dehumanization, often sung in a deadpan voice.
                              
For all intents and purposes, Frank Tovey was best known as the man behind Fad Gadget, one of the
most significant cult acts of the post-punk boom. As Fad Gadget, Tovey and his revolving door of conspirators released several singles and four full-length albums that stretched the boundaries of pop music during the late '70s and early '80s. And after Tovey started making records under his own name in the mid-'80s, he continued to remain as unpredictable as ever, working within the realms of Cajun, blues, and folk, in addition to furthering his journey into experimental electronics.
                        
Humorous, dark, strange, puzzling, wild, honest, confrontational -- these adjectives exemplify Tovey's lengthy body of work and his legacy of daringly physical performances. (Tovey's stage antics included
numerous acrobatic feats and a penchant for shaving his copiously foamed body.) While Fad Gadget's contemporaries included the likes of Cabaret Voltaire, the Human League, Wire, the Normal, and Soft Cell, Tovey and company's records never quite achieved the underground notoriety or the chart success enjoyed by his peers. Regardless of the level of recognition, Tovey's unique contribution to electronic music is undeniable, and so is his influence upon it. As the years go on, the recognition continues to gather steam.
                           
Tovey made his first public appearance as Fad Gadget in July of 1979. Two months after that, the first
Fad Gadget single, The Box, was issued.  Fireside Favourites, was released by the end of 1980. While Tovey did the lion's share of synth work on the album, percussionist John Fryer, bassist/guitarist Eric Radcliffe, drummer Nick Cash, and synthesist Miller chipped in with contributions. The albums Under the Flag and Gag were released in 1982 and 1984, respectively.
                                    
The move into dance and soul-influenced territories -- along with relatively traditional production values for the time -- resulted in lighter and less urgent music, but Tovey's lyrics steadfastly refused to
approach anything resembling mundane or fantasy-based. Tovey was more likely to be compared to Bob Dylan than Gary Numan, as his lyrics favored the everyman over machines and aliens. Personnel-wise, Under the Flag featured guest vocal turns and saxophone blurts from Alison Moyet (Yaz), and Gag included some guitar work from Rowland S. Howard (the Birthday Party).
                          
In his later years, Gadget began to perform at festivals and also supported his former colleagues and
Mute label-mates, Depeche Mode, on their European tour. He was working on a new album at the time of his death. Fad Gadget suffered from heart problems since childhood, and died of a heart attack on 3 April 2002 at the age of 45. In 2006, with the Pyros and family, he has two movies dedicated to him, Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey and Grand Union: A Documentary.

                             

His album Gag was ranked #76 in Treblezine's list of "The Top 100 Best Post-Punk Albums".

Fad Gadget – Gag
Label: Mute – CDSTUMM15
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: 1991   
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: New Wave, Electro, Experimental

TRAXS

                        

01. Ideal World  (Guitar – Rowland S. Howard)   5:39
02. Collapsing New People  (Producer – Daniel Miller)   4:22
03. Sleep  (Vocals – Morgan Tovey-Frost)   3:25
04. Stand Up    3:30
05. Speak To Me    3:23
06. One Man's Meat    4:06
07. The Ring    3:53
08. Jump      4:09
09. Ad Nauseam  (Guitar – Rowland S. Howard)   6:32

Double Bass, Guitar, Synthesizer [Bass] – Dave Rogers
Piano, Synthesizer, Organ, Celesta, Marimba, Performer [Tuned Bottles] – David Simmonds
Producer – Frank Tovey, Gareth Jones
Vocals – Barbara Frost, Frank Tovey
Voice, Viola – Joni Sackett

AD NAUSEAM   LYRICS

 
            

                  

Tarred and feathered like a gutted chicken
Stuck in a rut out of luck Ad Nauseam