Fad Gadget

Frank Tovey
Fad Gadget

On April 3rd 2002 Frank Tovey died unexpectedly (apparently of a stroke) in his house in London.

Daniel Miller:

"Frank was the first artist I ever worked with on Mute, he made some very
special and influential records and was an exceptional live performer. Frank
played a big part in helping to lay the foundations of what the label was to
become in the ensuing years, I will miss him greatly.  My deepest sympathy and of
condolences go out to his family. "

Sentiments shared by myself and many others!

Fad Gadget Guestbook

 Obsessed with electronic sound, Frank Tovey made demo tapes using a drum machine and an electric piano. The newly formed Mute records became interested and he released his first single, the second to be released on the label (of course the first being The Normal with T.V.O.D/Warm Leatherette). His debut gig was at the Moonlight Club in London along with the Monochrome Set and Manicured Noise on 18th July 1979. Live appearances in those days consisted of standing motionless on stage, eyes directed at the floor, operating a keyboard and tape deck. Depeche Mode played support to him for their first gig as an all synth band. Later other musicians were recruited for a tour of the States and to help on the follow up album. Although popular in the independant charts it wasn't until the third album, Under the Flag, and the single For Whom the Bells Toll that he became more commercially successful.

Other live performances saw Tovey fracture both heels in Amsterdam after attemptimg one of his spectacular leaps into the audience and not noticing the moat around the stage. He continued the concert sitting on the edge of the stage but had to cancel the last 5 shows. On the opening of a local civic centre in England Fad Gadget took the stage with Einsturzende Neubarten and proceeded to do exactly that - they collapsed the stage with too much machinery.

From the Documentary Evidence 2 released with Mute singles of the late 80's the description of Fad Gadget "Through a knothole on the world he composes sardonic responses to the media-brutalsed Britain". His single Back to Nature "deadpans naturlaist antics in closeclench with a dense synthetic slug refrain, its dancehall dialectic dissolving in an uneasy laughter". Also in 1980 the singles Ricky's Hand "written as a household hazard warning, is applauded as an electro classic", and Fireside Favourites "jauntily compares living reem glow with nuclear glow, flagging the broadrangeing concerns of his debut LP". For Whom the Bells Toll: "disarming evocation of a malleable Britain intoxicated with the Falklands 'adventure'".

Singles

Back to Nature The Box		October 1979 Mute 2
March 1980 Mute 6	Ricky's Hand Handshake
	September 1980 Mute 9	Fireside Favoutites Insecticide
Make Room Lady Shave		March 1981 Mute 12
January 1982 Mute 17	Saturday Night Special Swallow It (Live)
	April 1982 Mute 21	King of the Flies Plain Clothes
Life on the Line II 4M Unaltered		September 1982 Mute 24
January 1983 Mute 26	For Whom the Bells Toll II Love Parasite
	October 1983 Mute 28	I Discover Love Lemming's on Lovers Rocks
Collapsing New People Spoil the Child		January 1984 Mute 30
May 1984 Mute 33	One Man's Meat Sleep Electro-Induced Original

Albums

	Fireside Favourites	September 1980 Stumm 3
	Incontinent	July 1981 Stumm 6
	Under the Flag	September 1982 Stumm 6
	Gag	February 1984 Stumm 15
	The Fad Gadget Singles	November 1985 Stumm 37

Singles

	Luxury Bed of Nails	August 1985 Mute 38
April 1986 Mute 44		Luddite Joe Clean This Act
Bridge Street Shuffle Brace of Shakes	April 1988 Mute 79
	Sam Hall Ricky's Hand John Henry/Let Your Hammer Ring House of the Rising Sun	August 1989 Mute 100
April 1991 Mute 121		The Liberty Tree Victoria Falls

Albums

Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing	November 1984 Stumm 20
Snakes and Ladders	May 1985 Stumm 23
Civilian	June 1988 Stumm 56
Tyranny and the Hired Hand	August 1989 Stumm 73
Grand Union	May 1991 Stumm 84
Worried Me in Second Hand Suits	October 1992 Stumm 107