Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Fad Gadget" in English language version.
While Fad Gadget's contemporaries included the likes of Cabaret Voltaire, the Human League, Wire, the Normal, and Soft Cell, Tovey and company's records never quite achieved the underground notoriety or the chart success enjoyed by his peers. Regardless of the level of recognition, Tovey's unique contribution to electronic music is undeniable, and so is his influence upon it. As the years go on, the recognition continues to gather steam.
Paul Robb: "'Orders of Magnitude' grew organically over the year that we worked on it. One thing we wanted to make sure of was that none of the tracks were obvious choices. Even "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League we even thought might be a surprise, because it's the song most associated with that group, so who would dare to cover it? Most of the songs on the album were originally performed by artists that were influences on our own work, sometimes musically, sometimes just with their approach to pop. Snakefinger, for instance, was a weirdo-guitar god, so in that sense, we weren't hugely influenced by him musically, but his style and his association with the Ralph Records empire made him a hero to us. Devo, Fad Gadget, and Heaven 17 were huge heroes of ours. The other songs were mostly spur of the moment decisions, based on hazy and sometimes terrifying memories from our teen years and childhoods."
Dave Gahan: "[Fad Gadget] definitely affected Depeche Mode in a big way and I'm sure you know hundreds of other bands.
Dave Gahan: "[Fad Gadget] definitely affected Depeche Mode in a big way and I'm sure you know hundreds of other bands.
It wasn't enough to be a good musician, you had to have a good look too! It was around that point that I was discovering early Human League, bands like Cabaret Voltaire, I was already a massive fan of Fad Gadget, who, for me, was the king of electro – the unsung hero.
Hemphill: "One thing that inspired us to use more electronic instruments was we played a Mute Records festival. We've always been aware of the history of Mute, but I think we really sort of wanted to be more a part of that. Mute put out a compilation called Mute Audio Documents and it's a collection of all their singles from 1978 to 1984 and that was really inspiring. It has to do with the scope of music produced over that time and how certain people used electronics, be it Robert Rental or Thomas Leer or Fad Gadget, all of whom we're big fans of. There's an excerpt from an album that Boyd Rice did with Frank Tovey, who is Fad Gadget, called Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing, I think it's track 2, but it's really beautiful, and they made it in the studio without any instruments apparently, just made it on the spot."
So where has this style come from? It seems to have been influenced by many things, though two stand out. Firstly, the influence of guitarist and chief songwriter Andy MacFarlane: "He's been going back to listen to old records as he doesn't like a lot of new music. He's always listened to the bands that have influenced his writing on this album but I think these bands have came to the forefront, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Can, PiL, Fad Gadget, Cabaret Voltaire, Wire, Bauhaus, Magazine, D.A.F. etc."
It wasn't enough to be a good musician, you had to have a good look too! It was around that point that I was discovering early Human League, bands like Cabaret Voltaire, I was already a massive fan of Fad Gadget, who, for me, was the king of electro – the unsung hero.
Johan Van Roy: "I actually grew up with the new and cold wave movement in the early 1980s, with bands like The Cure, Joy Division and Sisters of Mercy. Until one day I discovered bands like Depeche Mode, Front 242, Fad Gadget and Klinik. It is obvious that all these bands in some way influenced me and my music; undoubtedly, even the cold atmosphere of new wave bands like The Cure or Joy Division had an impact on me, not only as a human being but also on my music."
So where has this style come from? It seems to have been influenced by many things, though two stand out. Firstly, the influence of guitarist and chief songwriter Andy MacFarlane: "He's been going back to listen to old records as he doesn't like a lot of new music. He's always listened to the bands that have influenced his writing on this album but I think these bands have came to the forefront, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Can, PiL, Fad Gadget, Cabaret Voltaire, Wire, Bauhaus, Magazine, D.A.F. etc."
Dave Gahan: "[Fad Gadget] definitely affected Depeche Mode in a big way and I'm sure you know hundreds of other bands.
