1. Francis John Tovey, known by his stage name Fad Gadget, was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist.
23 Facts About Fad Gadget
1. 2.
Fad Gadget was a proponent of both new wave and early industrial music, fusing pop-structured songs with mechanised experimentation.
3.
Fad Gadget realised he did not have the co-ordination to be able to play any of them really well.
4.
Fad Gadget later studied visual arts and mime at Leeds Polytechnic.
5.
Fad Gadget felt the need to give his mime act some sort of musical accompaniment so he went back to the idea of recording music.
6.
Fad Gadget disconnected the erase head from the playback head and installed a simple switch between the two.
7.
Fad Gadget spent a lot of time building up sound collages using this method.
8.
Fad Gadget bought a Korg Minipops drum machine from a home organ shop.
9.
Fad Gadget thought that due to his lack of musical ability he would be able to create some impressive sounds.
10.
Fad Gadget then went on to record an album for Mute Records.
11.
Fad Gadget decided to record the album without Daniel Miller's assistance.
12.
Fad Gadget felt it was important that he made all the decisions about recording the album himself.
13.
Fad Gadget felt the ideas and concepts behind his live performances were just as important.
14.
Fad Gadget recorded two more albums for Mute Records at Blackwing Studios which was using more complex recording equipment.
15.
Fad Gadget had wanted a break from the way he had been recording in London.
16.
Fad Gadget was excited about the recording equipment that was installed at Hansa at that time, including the computer controlled mixing desk.
17.
Fad Gadget found the new recording practices refreshing, having other people collaborating in the writing and recording process.
18.
The percussion tracks proved difficult to mix at the final stage, but Fad Gadget was pleased with the final result.
19.
Fad Gadget carried on moving toward acoustic instruments and in 1984 had decided he might want to record on his own again.
20.
Fad Gadget recorded several LPs of more experimental work under the name Frank Tovey, beginning with Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing, a collaboration with Boyd Rice recorded in 1981.
21.
Fad Gadget then tried his hand at writing similar material, recorded two more albums with a backing band named The Pyros.
22.
Fad Gadget was working on a new album at the time of his death.
23.
Fad Gadget influenced bands and artists such as Depeche Mode, Vince Clarke, Boy George, Information Society, cEvin Key, Liars, The Twilight Sad, and DJ Premier.