Fad Gadget: Gag 1984

 

Francis John Tovey (8 September 1956 – 3 April 2002), known also by his stage name Fad Gadget,

was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both new wave and early industrial music, fusing pop-structured songs with mechanised experimentation.
                                 

As Fad Gadget, 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 machinery, industrialisation, consumerism, human sexuality, mass media, religion, domestic violence and dehumanization, often sung in a deadpan voice.
                              

For all intents and purposes, Frank Tovey was best known as the man behind Fad Gadget, one of the

most significant cult acts of the post-punk boom. As Fad Gadget, Tovey and his revolving door of conspirators released several singles and four full-length albums that stretched the boundaries of pop music during the late '70s and early '80s. And after Tovey started making records under his own name in the mid-'80s, he continued to remain as unpredictable as ever, working within the realms of Cajun, blues, and folk, in addition to furthering his journey into experimental electronics.
                        

Humorous, dark, strange, puzzling, wild, honest, confrontational -- these adjectives exemplify Tovey's lengthy body of work and his legacy of daringly physical performances. (Tovey's stage antics included

numerous acrobatic feats and a penchant for shaving his copiously foamed body.) 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.
                           

Tovey made his first public appearance as Fad Gadget in July of 1979. Two months after that, the first

Fad Gadget single, The Box, was issued.  Fireside Favourites, was released by the end of 1980. While Tovey did the lion's share of synth work on the album, percussionist John Fryer, bassist/guitarist Eric Radcliffe, drummer Nick Cash, and synthesist Miller chipped in with contributions. The albums Under the Flag and Gag were released in 1982 and 1984, respectively.
                                    

The move into dance and soul-influenced territories -- along with relatively traditional production values for the time -- resulted in lighter and less urgent music, but Tovey's lyrics steadfastly refused to

approach anything resembling mundane or fantasy-based. Tovey was more likely to be compared to Bob Dylan than Gary Numan, as his lyrics favored the everyman over machines and aliens. Personnel-wise, Under the Flag featured guest vocal turns and saxophone blurts from Alison Moyet (Yaz), and Gag included some guitar work from Rowland S. Howard (the Birthday Party).
                          

In his later years, Gadget began to perform at festivals and also supported his former colleagues and

Mute label-mates, Depeche Mode, on their European tour. He was working on a new album at the time of his death. Fad Gadget suffered from heart problems since childhood, and died of a heart attack on 3 April 2002 at the age of 45. In 2006, with the Pyros and family, he has two movies dedicated to him, Fad Gadget by Frank Tovey and Grand Union: A Documentary.

                             

His album Gag was ranked #76 in Treblezine's list of "The Top 100 Best Post-Punk Albums".

Fad Gadget – Gag
Label: Mute – CDSTUMM15
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue
Country: UK
Released: 1991   
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: New Wave, Electro, Experimental

TRAXS

                        

01. Ideal World  (Guitar – Rowland S. Howard)   5:39
02. Collapsing New People  (Producer – Daniel Miller)   4:22
03. Sleep  (Vocals – Morgan Tovey-Frost)   3:25
04. Stand Up    3:30
05. Speak To Me    3:23
06. One Man's Meat    4:06
07. The Ring    3:53
08. Jump      4:09
09. Ad Nauseam  (Guitar – Rowland S. Howard)   6:32

Double Bass, Guitar, Synthesizer [Bass] – Dave Rogers
Piano, Synthesizer, Organ, Celesta, Marimba, Performer [Tuned Bottles] – David Simmonds
Producer – Frank Tovey, Gareth Jones
Vocals – Barbara Frost, Frank Tovey
Voice, Viola – Joni Sackett

AD NAUSEAM   LYRICS

 
            

Tarred and feathered like a gutted chicken
Stuck in a rut out of luck Ad Nauseam
Sew up my lips and cut my throat
I choke on the gag but I don't get the joke

Spineless and fish-like, I swim in the mire
I swear like a saw-tooth, fin-flap and gill
Scrap this ludicrous chain of events
Tear away from book-form and screen-time

Scream 'till I hoarse and strapped to my carriage
I bite on the bit of spittle and white bait
Cloven hooved I scratch at my thorax
Yelling I loathe you and smelling a rat
The price that I paid in suicide notes
Sighing and screwing and fucking about
Name a disease that's not out to tease me
Spike through the tongue and eyeballs are razored

Snap your teeth on concrete and order
Don't say what you feel if it stinks of disorder
So tell me that you hate me
And I will feel good
The price that I pay is measured in years
Sucker on the exhaust of crime lights
So sew up my mouth and then slit my throat
I choke on the gag but I don't get the joke

                  

Tarred and feathered like a gutted chicken
Stuck in a rut out of luck Ad Nauseam

 

                  

Sew up my lips and cut my throat
I choke on the gag but I don't get the joke

Spineless and fish like, I swim in the mire
I swear like a saw tooth, fin-flap and gill
Scrap this ludicrous chain of events
Tear away from book-form and screen-time

So tell me that you hate me
And I will feel so good
Sew up my mouth and then slit my throat
I choke on the gag but I don't get the joke

Sucker on the exhaust of crime lights
Sucker on the exhaust of crime lights

Sew up my mouth and then slit my throat
I choke on the gag but I don't get the joke

MP3 @ 320 Size: 92 MB
Flac  Size: 260 MB

Fad Gadget: Incontinent  on Urban Aspirines HERE

Hawklords: We Are One 2012

 

Hawklords were an English music group active between 1978 and 1979. Members were from

Hawkwind, who were inactive during that period, (Robert Calvert – vocals, Dave Brock – guitar and Simon King – drums) and a local Devon group named Ark (Harvey Bainbridge – bass and Martin Griffin – drums) with the addition of former Pilot keyboardist Steve Swindells.
                                       

In 1978, the band released their first full studio album 25 Years On. A tour programme was sold at this

gig detailing the weird science behind the '25 Years' project. After the tour, the band were to tour North America, but Calvert, wishing for the return of King, dismissed Griffin who then concentrated on his studio business and playing for Richard Strange before returning to Hawkwind for the 1981 Sonic Attack album. 

                

Swindells recalls the five members spending time at Rockfield "where we rehearsed and jammed and

wrote... Calvert was suffering definite mental problems when we were there. I think he was going through a divorce from his novelist wife, Pamela, and he was very unstable." Calvert left the band going on to write the novel Hype and recording an accompanying album, and he never appeared on any of the recordings released from these sessions.
                                     

Swindells wrote "Shot Down in the Night" at these sessions, and the band considered it ideal for single release, but with the band having no record contract Swindells departed when offered a solo deal,

resulting in the album Fresh Blood. The remaining three members were joined by Huw Lloyd-Langton (lead guitar) and Tim Blake (synthesizers), choosing to revert to the name of Hawkwind and embarking upon a UK Winter 1979 tour resulting in the album Live Seventy Nine. Swindells' studio version and Hawkwind's live version of "Shot Down in the Night" were released as singles simultaneously in 1980, both featuring Lloyd-Langton and King.
                                

In 2008 a new Hawklords formed around Harvey Bainbridge, with drummer Dave Pearce (ex-Bevis Frond), guitarist and keyboard player Jerry Richards, vocalist Ron Tree (ex-Hawkwind singer) and

bassist Tom Ashurst. The band's critically acclaimed 2015 album release, R:Evolution reached number 15 on the Official UK Top 30 Progressive Rock Chart and was in the top 75 for over two months. A “Full-blown sonic slab of classic British space-rock”, it has been nominated for best rock album of 2015 by One World Music Awards. In 2016, the same line up, augmented by guest vocalist Kim McAuliffe, released the album Fusion (LORDS1016)
                                                       

Hawklords – We Are One
Label: Not On Label (Hawklords Self-released) – HAWKLORDS 0912
Format:    CD, Album
Country: UK
Released: Sep 24, 2012
Genre:Rock
Style: Space Rock, Psychedelic Rock

TRAXS

                                    

01. We Are One    4:07
02. Mothership    4:47
03. Shut Up    3:20
04. Time Split    3:57
05. The Ancient Ones    5:21
06. Sun Child    6:00
07. Flight    4:44
08. Digital Age    5:44
09. Global Warning    5:17
10. I Am The Wind    5:25
11. Wake Up    4:16
12. Water Drum    4:43
13. Event Horizon    8:00
14. Is It A Dream?    4:07
15. Spark In The Dark    5:19

Bass, Synthesizer, Sound Designer [Audio Sculpture] – Adrian Shaw
Drums – Dave Pearce
Guitar [Guitars], Synth [Synths], Whistle [Penny Whistle] – Jerry Richards
Keyboards, Organ [Farfisa], Synth [Farfisa] – Steve Swindells
Synth [Synhs], Keyboards – Harvey Bainbridge
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Sounds [Oscillators] – Ron Tree
Written-By – Shaw (tracks: 2 to 4, 6, 7, 12), Pearce (tracks: 3), Bainbridge (tracks: 7, 10, 12), Richards (tracks: 1, 2, 5 to 8, 13), Constable (tracks: 10, 15), Tree (tracks: 1 to 6, 9, 11, 14, 15), Swindells (tracks: 7)
Recorded at The Earth Lab, Manor Studios and The Music Complex Studios, London, December 2011 to may 2012.
                                               

MP3 @ 320 Size: 174 MB
Flac  Size: 520 MB

 

John Hammond & The Nighthawks: Hot Tracks 1979

 

Renowned Blues artist and Grammy winner John Hammond was inducted into The Blues Hall Of Fame in 2011. With a career coming up on 60 years, he has played with John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton,

Jimi Hendrix, Tom Waits, Duane Allman, The Band, J.J. Cale, Dr. John, Mike Bloomfield, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Musselwhite. He’s the only person to have Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix in his band at the same time. His 1963 album John Hammond was one of the first Blues albums made by a white artist. He provided the soundtrack to the 1970 movie Little Big Man starring Dustin Hoffman. In 1991 he hosted the documentary The Search For Robert Johnson.
                                         

John Hammond, Jr. is one of a handful of white blues musicians who was on the scene at the beginning

of the first blues renaissance of the mid-'60s. That revival, brought on by renewed interest in folk music around the U.S., brought about career boosts for many of the great classic blues players, including Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, and Skip James. Some critics have described Hammond as a white Robert Johnson, and Hammond does justice to classic blues by combining powerful guitar and harmonica playing with expressive vocals and a dignified stage presence.
                                              

Hammond is a son of record producer and talent scout John H. Hammond and his first wife, Jemison McBride, an actress. He is a descendant of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the patriarch of the prominent

Vanderbilt family, through his paternal grandmother Emily Vanderbilt Sloane Hammond. He has a brother, Jason, and a stepsister, (Esme) Rosita Sarnoff, the daughter of his father's second wife, Esme O'Brien Sarnoff. Hammond's middle name, Paul, is in honor of a friend of his father, the actor Paul Robeson. The younger Hammond was raised by his mother and saw his father only a few times a year while growing up.
                                 

JOHN  HAMMOND  &  DUANE  ALLMAN

Within the first decade of his career as a performer, Hammond began crafting a niche for himself that is

completely his own: the solo guitar man, harmonica slung in a rack around his neck, reinterpreting classic blues songs from the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. Yet, as several of his mid-'90s recordings for the Point Blank label demonstrate, he's also a capable bandleader who plays wonderful electric guitar. This guitar-playing and ensemble work can be heard on Found True Love and Got Love If You Want It, both for the Point Blank/Virgin label.
                                      

Born November 13, 1942, in New York City, the son of the famous Columbia Records talent scout John Hammond, Sr., what most people don't know is that Hammond didn't grow up with his father. His

parents split when he was young, and he would see his father several times a year. He first began playing guitar while attending a private high school, and he was particularly fascinated with slide guitar technique. He saw his idol, Jimmy Reed, perform at New York's Apollo Theater, and he's never been the same since. Hammond usually plays acoustically, choosing National Reso-Phonic Guitars, and sings in a barrelhouse style. Since 1962, when he made his debut on Vanguard Records, he has made thirty-four albums. In the 1990s he began recording on the Point Blank Records label.
                                      

In September of 1979, John Hammond went into Vanguard Records' 23rd Street Studio in New York with the Nighthawks -- Jimmy Thackeray, guitar; Mark Wenner, harmonica; Jan Zukowski, bass; Pete

Ragusa, drums -- and cut this record, one of his best (and which might've sold better with maybe some better cover art). The sounds are alternately hot and soulful on the ten-song collection, featuring covers of songs by Little Walter ("You Better Watch Yourself," "Last Night"), Chuck Berry ("Nadine"), Jimmy Reed ("Caress Me Baby," one of Hammond's slowest, most seductive numbers), and Robert Johnson ("Sweet Home Chicago").
                                  

Highlights include a stunningly beautiful rendition of Howlin' Wolf's "Who's Been Talkin'," a wailing reconsideration of John Lee Hooker's "Sugar Mama" with a really searing guitar break, a very powerful

version of "Howlin' for My Darling," and even the best cover of Dixon's "Pretty Thing" this side of Bo Diddley himself, where Hammond and company manage to be raunchy and smooth at the same time. Nothing's going to make anyone forget Walter, Wolf, or Willie, but this isn't a bad way to spend 40 minutes, especially given the really crunchy guitar sound achieved by Jeff Zaraya and the uncredited producer. A real diamond in the rough, and one of Hammond's best albums.

John Hammond And The Nighthawks – Hot Tracks
Label: Vanguard – VCD 79424-2
Format:    CD, Album, Reissue
Country: Germany
Released: 1979   
Genre: Blues
Style: Modern Electric Blues

TRACKS

                            

01. Mama Keep Your Big Mouth Shut   3:17
(Written-By – Ellas McDaniel)
02. Who's Been Talkin'   2:46
(Written-By – Chester Burnett)
03. Sugar Mama   3:23
(Written-By – John Lee Hooker)
04. Howling For My Darling   3:27
(Written-By – Chester Burnett, Willie Dixon)
05. You Better Watch Yourself   2:19
(Written-By – Walter Jacobs)
06. Pretty Thing   3:01
(Written-By – Willie Dixon)
07. Caress Me Baby   3:04
(Written-By – Jimmy Reed)
08. Nadine   3:44
(Written-By – Chuck Berry)
09. Last Night   3:07
(Written-By – Walter Jacobs)
10. Sweet Home Chicago   4:26
(Written-By – Robert Johnson)

Bass – Jan Zukowski
Drums – Pete Ragusa
Engineer – Jeff Zaraya
Guitar – Jimmy Thackeray
Harmonica [Mouth Harp] – Mark Wenner
Vocals, Guitar – John Hammond

MP3 @ 320 Size: 78 MB
Flac  Size: 191 MB

Villagers Of Ioannina City: Riza 2014

 

The region of Epirus is famous for it's landscape of mammoth mountains and holy rivers - and now

experimental heavy rock. Villagers Of Ioannina City are deeply influenced by Greek nature and cosmic phenomena and infuse their unique brand of heavy psychedelic rock with folk instruments such as bagpipes, flutes and didgeridoos.
                                           

"Villagers of Ioannina City" (or -V.I.C-) it's a folk/psychedelic/rock band from Ioannina City (Greece), is one of the best bands in Greece and they play a unique kind of heavy / psychedelic rock with a

70's attitude by combining it with a healthy dose of Greek folk traditional music from the region of Epirus. The region's musical tradition is characterized by polyphony and the use of clarinet and pentatonic musical scales. They play a kind of post rock with a big dose of Greek folk traditional music from Epirus. The band’s sound fuses traditional music into modern psychedelic forms, creating a unique sound. They have played in a numerous of shows all over Greece in many different venues and festivals.
                                   

Simply put, the band fuses traditional music with modern psychedelic forms, creating a unique sound.

In 2010 they released a 6 track promo. After 4 years, in April 2014 they released their debut full length, titled "riza" (meaning root in Greek), available as a no-minimum download on their bandcamp and in physical formats. Most of their tracks are covers of traditional folk songs but they also have some compositions of their own.
                                

Their second album, Age of Aquarius - originally released in September 2019 - will now be reissued by

Napalm Records. Epirus may become the unlikely epicentre of the heavy rock universe: A mantra for the new Age!
                                        

Οι "-V.I.C-" (Villagers of Ioannina City) είναι ένα συγκρότημα από τα Ιωάννινα με ελληνόφωνο και αγγλόφωνο στίχο. Παίζουν ένα κράμα ψυχεδελικού rock, stoner και παραδοσιακού ηπειρώτικου. Αυτό

το καταφέρνουν ενσωματώνοντας στην κλασσική ροκ ενορχήστρωση το κλαρίνο καθώς και χρησιμοποιώντας παραδοσιακές πολυφωνίες βγάζοντας σαν αποτέλεσμα έναν πρωτότυπο και ταυτόχρονα σύγχρονο ήχο. Το 2010 κυκλοφόρησαν 6 promo κομμάτια προπομπό της κυκλοφορίας του ολοκληρωμένου τους album.
                                   

O πρώτος δίσκος έμελλε να βγει 4 χρόνια αργότερα, Απρίλιο 2014, με τίτλο "riza" .O ήχος τους

αποτελεί συνδυασμό του stoner και ψυχεδελικού rock με την ηπειρώτικη παραδοσιακή μουσική. Οι Villagers of Ioannina City αποτελούνται από τον κιθαρίστα και τραγουδιστή Αλέξη Καραμέτη, τον μπασίστα Άκη Ζώη, τον κιμπορντίστα Αχιλλέα Ράδη, το ντράμερ Άρη Γιαννόπουλο και τον Κωνσταντίνο Πιστιόλη στα πνευστά και τα δεύτερα φωνητικά.
                                      

Από το 2009 και έπειτα, συμπεριλήφθηκε στον ήχο τους το κλαρίνο, το οποίο αποτελεί βασικό κομμάτι

και σόλο όργανο του συγκροτήματος. Το 2010 ξεκίνησαν τις ηχογραφήσεις του πρώτου τους άλμπουμ, παράλληλα με τις συνεχείς περιοδείες τους στην Ελλάδα. Τον Μάιο του 2013 έπαιξαν ζωντανά στα Τρίκαλα, στην Λάρισα, στα Ιωάννινα, στην Καβάλα, στο Αγρίνιο και στην Αθήνα, ενώ τον Σεπτέμβριο της ίδιας χρονιάς πραγματοποίησαν τρεις εμφανίσεις στην Αλβανία.

Μέλη

Alex - κιθάρα, φωνητικά
Άκης - μπάσο
Άρης - τύμπανα
Κωνσταντίς - κλαρινέτο, καβάλ, φωνητικά
Κώστας - γκάιντα, άνεμοι

Προηγούμενα μέλη: Γιάννης Χαλδούπης, Αχιλλέας Ράνδης
                                   

Villagers Of Ioannina City – Riza
Label: Mantra Records – MAN 001
Format: CD, Album, Limited Edition, Numbered
Country: Greece
Released: Apr 1, 2014
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Rock

TRAXS

              

01. Kalesma
02. Echoes
03. Nova
04. Jiannim
05. Tabourla
06. Krasi
07. Ti Kako
08. Perdikomata
09. Chalasia
10. Skaros
11. St. Triad
12. Riza

Edition of 500 hand-numbered copies.

Villagers Of Ioannina City On Urban Aspirines HERE

MP3 @ 320 Size: 169 MB
Flac  Size: 487 MB