Fad Gadget | Artist

Francis Tovey aka Fad Gadget was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist born 1956 in London. He was a proponent of new wave and early industrial music. Although he was commercially unsuccessful, his innovative fusion of pop structured songs mixed with mechanised experimentation influenced other UK synth-pop bands such as Depeche Mode. 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 industrialisation, consumerism, sexuality, mass media, religion, domestic violence and dehumanization, while being sung in a deadpan voice. Tovey was the first artist to be signed to Daniel Miller's Mute Records label. He released four studio albums and several Singles on Mute before changing musical direction and working under his given name in 1984. As Frank Tovey he released a further five albums before he died of a heart attack in 2002, aged 45. Standout releases include the four Fad Gadget albums: Fireside Favourites, Incontinent, Under the Flag and Gag. Also the 1986 compilation Frank Tovey - The Fad Gadget Singles is highly recommended.

Artist Website: fadgadget.co.uk

Featured Albums: Fad Gadget

Related Artists: Frank Tovey