Putting the fun back into being pretentious since 2013
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Sunday 4 August 2024

Fad Gadget: Collapsing New People

Track of the Week - 4 August 2024

Last Sunday I was at Edgbaston with some good friends (and a whole bunch of other people I didn't know) for the third day of the third test match between England and the West Indies.

We were expecting to see a conclusion to the game as the West Indies needed 60-odd runs to make England bat again and while they had eight wickets in hand they hadn't reached 150 in their second innings in the previous two tests.

There was a bit of resistance in the morning session as they reached 151/5. Perhaps there was a twist in the tale after all.

Nope. All hell broke loose after lunch. First Mark Wood produced an astonishing spell of reverse swing bowling to take the remaining five wickets as the Windies were bowled out for 175.

With an injury to England opener Zak Crawley, it was skipper Ben Stokes who took his place and set about rattling off the 82 needed to win as quickly as possible. He hit the fastest individual test match half-century by an England batsman which also propelled the team to the joint-fastest opening 50 there has been in this format of the game.

So, various possibilities for a track from this day out. I'm sure I could something out 'reverse', '50' 'swing' and there's always The Duckworth Lewis Method.

But in the end I'm focusing on that Windies batting collapse to settle on a record that I own - Fad Gadget's 1984 single Collapsing New People. The track name is a nod to experimental German group Einstürzende Neubauten (it means Collapsing New Buildings) who are featured on the 12 inch version of the track and inspired the industrial sound of it.

Both the single and the album it came from, Gag, reached number five in their respective independent charts. That was Fad's (no relation to Inspector) last work as he then recorded six albums under his real name, Frank Tovey. Recognised as a pioneer in synth-pop, electro and industrial music, Tovey died in 2002.


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