Fad Gadget are one of the Bureau's foundational Tier-I entries in this archive's pre-1985 British electronic-industrial cluster. The stage name of Francis John Tovey (8 September 1956 - 3 April 2002), Fad Gadget was the first artist signed to Daniel Miller's Mute Records after Miller's own The Normal release of Warm Leatherette / TVOD; the September 1979 début single Back to Nature / The Box (Mute 002) was the second release on Mute Records and the founding-artist position of the entire Mute Records catalogue. Per the period reception text: "If The Normal's punk-inspired DIY single launched Mute Records then Fad Gadget truly made Mute a label, rather than a clever moniker attached to a one-off cult indie single." Across the four Fad Gadget LPs (1980–1984) and the later post-1984 Frank Tovey solo catalogue, Tovey documented the synthesis of avant-garde electronic method with confrontational performance-art live presence; the catalogue anticipated the post-1985 darkwave and synth-pop release while remaining anchored in the harder-edge electronic-industrial cluster.
The pre-Fad-Gadget formation period was built on performance-art training at Leeds Polytechnic, where Tovey studied alongside Marc Almond (later of Soft Cell). The performance-art education shaped Tovey's later stage position involving theatrical destruction, self-mutilation, and the confrontational use of gadgetry. After full-time education Tovey set up a home-studio infrastructure in a small London house, with the only available space being a cupboard. The initial gear was a Grundig tape recorder; later a Crumar Compac electric piano, a Korg Minipops drum machine, and a Korg synthesizer purchased from a home-organ shop. Tovey sent a demo tape of Back to Nature to Daniel Miller, who had just released his first single as The Normal; the later Mute Records signing was the founding-artist position of the label.
The September 1979 début single Back to Nature / The Box (Mute 002) was recorded at RMS Studios London as an 8-track recording with Daniel Miller production contribution (uncredited per the original release; later confirmed in the Best Of Fad Gadget liner notes that Miller produced both songs and played synth on the A-side using his own ARP 2600). The single's sleeve was designed by Miller associate Simone Grant depicting Tovey as a limbless figure (photographs by B.J. Frost - Tovey's wife Barbara, later the photographer on multiple Fad Gadget sleeves). The single received its first BBC airing on John Peel's radio programme on 11 September 1979 amid cuts by Captain Beefheart, Cravats, Rory Gallagher, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Skids, The Slits, and UK Subs; Peel later aired the song four times (and its b-side twice) through November 1979. The follow-up single Mute 006 Ricky's Hand (14 March 1980) was recorded at Blackwing Studios London on 19 January 1980, opening the Blackwing position that later characterised the catalogue's 1980–1984 release programme; Tovey's wife Barbara sang the vocal part near the end of the recording, mixed with a synthesizer part into the outro.
The début LP Fireside Favourites (Mute STUMM 3, 7 November 1980) opened the foundational catalogue of Fad Gadget. The album was recorded at Blackwing Studios in June 1980 with co-engineers Eric Radcliffe and John Fryer; nine originals with Tovey on synthesizer, tapes, drum machine and backing musicians Nick Cash (pragVEC / Lines drummer), Radcliffe (guitar, bass, banjo), and Belgian bassist Phil Wauquaire (on Pedestrian and Newsreel). Daniel Miller contributed synthesizer and electronic percussion on Coitus Interruptus, The Box, and Pedestrian. Tovey and Fryer enhanced the recorded sound with objects (ashtray), furnishings (metal chair), and household appliances (electric shaver); the early-period method of incorporating everyday objects into the electronic-music recording vein. The album's track Arch of the Aorta was an early reference to Tovey's heart condition, diagnosed in childhood, that would later kill him at 45.
The second LP Incontinent (Mute STUMM 6, 1981) the darker / less-electronic mid-period position. Recorded at Blackwing June-August 1981; co-produced by Tovey + Fryer + Radcliffe; Daniel Miller programmed the sequencer on the title track; Robert Gotobed of Wire on drums; Eric Radcliffe on guitar on Innocent Bystander and Plain Clothes. The cover photography by Dutch photojournalist Anton Corbijn depicted Tovey as Mr. Punch (the traveling Punch-and-Judy puppet); the back cover's cursive credits framed in the style of a carnival poster were designed by Jill "The Princess" Tipping. The third LP Under the Flag (Mute STUMM 8, 1982) incorporated dance and soul elements; guest vocals from Alison Moyet on the single For Whom the Bells Toll; the introduction of the Roland MC-4 Microcomposer across the catalogue's method.
The final Fad Gadget LP Gag (Mute STUMM 15, 1984) the change-of-direction record. Recorded at Hansa Tonstudio Berlin; the first Tovey record using a band of musicians (David Rodgers on guitar / double bass / bass synthesizer; David Simmonds on piano / synthesizer / organ / celesta / bottles / marimba; Joni Sackett on vocals and viola). The Berlin-relocation position; the album shifted toward more acoustic instrumentation and band-driven arrangements before the eventual 1984 working-name shift from Fad Gadget to Frank Tovey. During the Gag sessions Tovey heard a large printing press near the Berlin studio; engineer Gareth Jones recorded the press, which was looped to become the basis for Collapsing New People with rhythmic contributions from Einstürzende Neubauten. In January 1984 at London's ICA, Fad Gadget joined Einstürzende Neubauten for the Concerto for Voice and Machinery performance: drills, jackhammers, smashed pianos, om-like mantras from Tovey, plus chainsaw use and ensuing riots that produced a haze of smoke and debris that overwhelmed spectators for 21 minutes until the power was severed.
The 1984 Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing (recorded 1981; released 1984) came before the post-1984 Frank Tovey solo working-name shift. The later Frank Tovey catalogue across the post-1984 period shifted toward acoustic instrumentation and folk / protest songwriting: Snakes and Ladders (1986, Mute STUMM 23; first North-American release of Tovey material; included the dance-floor-successful Fad Gadget single Collapsing New People); Civilian (1988); the mostly-acoustic Tyranny & the Hired Hand (1989, including the standard Sixteen Tons); Grand Union (1991); Worried Men in Second Hand Suits (1992 with backing band The Pyros). After the 1993 tour Tovey substantively withdrew from the music business across the post-1993 catalogue.
The 2001 Fad Gadget revival opened the catalogue's closing position. The first comeback show on 15 April 2001 at the Mean Fiddler London as part of Elektrofest 2001; backed by Austrian band Temple X. The performance included the theatrical Tovey methods: drilling his gloved hand with a cordless drill to spill fake blood; emptying fake blood over the front rows; covering himself in shaving foam during Lady Shave; climbing the PA speakers. Daniel Miller and Depeche Mode's Andy Fletcher were in attendance. Tovey later supported Depeche Mode on the Exciter tour through 2001–2002; the tour invitation reciprocated the 1980 position when Depeche Mode had supported Fad Gadget on tour. The catalogue's final position closed with Tovey's death on 3 April 2002 - only a few days after returning home from the European comeback tour. Tovey had been aware of the heart-failure risks since childhood (already diagnosed when he was a child).