Collapsing New People

All this talk of sartorial darqueness is making me want to tar and feather myself.

Wait! I mean that in the best possible way…

Footage of beautiful, comedic madman Frank Tovey, aka Fad Gadget, attacking auxiliary bandmates – borrowed from Einsturzende Neubauten – on German television.

The brilliant songwriter was fond of slathering himself in various forms of goop and leaping into his audiences, as well as “playing instruments with his head”, but apparently the world just wasn’t ready for that sort of thing back in 1982. Despite being a huge influence on later luminaries of the gothic/industrial movement, Fad Gadget remains relatively obscure.

Whether you’re already a devoted fan or want to become one, I can’t recommend Mute’s posthumous collection, Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey: A Retrospective in Sound and Vision highly enough.

Posted by Meredith Yayanos on October 18th, 2007
Filed under Fashion, Industrial, Music, Silly-looking types, Stroke Material, Surreal

6 Responses to “Collapsing New People”

  1. nadyalev Says:
    October 18th, 2007 at 12:26 am

    Damn it. Where’s my fucking time machine?

  2. theremina Says:
    October 18th, 2007 at 12:31 am

    I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats.

  3. zoetica Says:
    October 18th, 2007 at 12:49 am

    Is this like when we talk about taking a trip to the time of Edward Scizzorhands? If so, I concur.

  4. Alysa Says:
    October 18th, 2007 at 12:51 am

    OMG thank you SO MUCH for posting this! I am obsessed with Fad Gadget but had never seen this before. Just never thought of checking YouTube. Yay!

  5. nadyalev Says:
    October 18th, 2007 at 12:55 am

    Exactly. I mean, what else is a time machine good for?

  6. Shay Says:
    October 18th, 2007 at 11:57 pm

    I love that clip :)