Customer Reviews

Incontinent

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If you have never heard of Fad Gadget, I feel for you. You are missing out on something very special. I must warn you though
Fad Gadget is not for the musical novice. Although not the initial release, Incontinent still creates an atmosphere unlike any band before or after them. Bands like Sex Gang Children, Sisters of Mercy (who could never pull it off) owe a lot to Mr. Tovey and pre-Depeche Mode Daniel Miller. The haunting piano riff from 'Saturday Night Special' is worth the price of admission alone. I used to listen to this on headphones back in '86 over and over and over and....well you get the idea. I still get the image of a circus carnival whereas H.P. Lovecraft has taken over ringmaster duties from P.T. Barnum. So....buy your ticket....get a good seat and pay homage to the King of the Flies.

R.I.P.

Yes, Fad Gadget aka Frank Tovey, is gone, but we have his music and the legend. He was an unhappy man commenting on a world he saw going to hell, and he was a non-musician musician who made some bizarre music and lots of excellent music.

Of the 4 albums he produced as Fad Gadget, this is probably the one I like least, but that's only because 2 or 3 of the songs don't strike a chord with me. Other songs on this CD are classics that few, especially in the U.S., even heard or still remember. All 4 are, however, classics that deserve a LOT more attention than they received at the time. Eventually, I believe Fad Gadget the musician will receive the accolades he deserves.

I might add that the fold-out liner notes for this CD contain an excellent summation of Fad/Frank's career and the driving force behind his music, putting it into prospective by reminding us that he was a real pioneer who stretched the limits of the synthesizer, which was a new invention at that time. He used it to expand the music and twist it into something fascinatingly different, unlike The Human League, ABC, and others who applied it like a gimmick to make their otherwise boringly typical music at least listenable.

After these 4 initial albums and all the damage he did to himself on stage with his defiantly whacked-out and somewhat incomprehensible antics, Frank went on to produce a body of more traditional-sounding ballad-style albums that were almost folk music in style. Fans of Fad will find the music of the transformed Frank shockingly different to the extent that most don't care at all for the later stuff.