The story so far, by Maria Lamle, from the Rough Guide to Rock...
The scene: Manchester, 1988. Three young men share a vision. A band - with Justin Crawford on bass, Dolan Hewison on guitar and Perry Saunders on drums - would get exposure on the indie scene, a modicum of recognition in the band. NME, some gigs around Manchester, and true happiness would be theirs. All that was missing was someone to sing and front the band.
Dolan, a particularly visionary type, dreamed one night of meeting a man who not only wore glasses and fell off his bike, but was also able to sing. And so, when Andy Spearpoint turned up to audition having seen an advert in the paper, wearing his specs and apologizing for his inability to stand up properly as he'd just come off his bike, jaws dropped in unison.
Andy more than lived up to expectations - his strong, spoken-word-style vocals squared up well to the others' often fast and furious rhythms, while his talent as a lyricist soon became apparent. His songs, fuelled by his interest in history, aesthetics and philosophy, were intriguing and engaging, though often obscure. The name ..New Fast Automatic Daffodils' was filched from an experiment by Liverpool poet Adrian Henri, who crossed a car maintenance manual with Wordsworth.
After a few local gigs, percussionist Icarus Wilson-Wright joined the band in time to appear on their breakthrough single, "Big" (1990). With its highly infectious bassline, odd lyrics and melodica, "Big" could hardly fail to catch on. The band acquired a collection of glowing reviews and a solid live reputation - they were dubbed ..the fastest men in pop' for the speed at which they'd belt through their sets. This kind of drive set them apart from the ..Madchester' scene of the time; the FADs were too busy to hang out with scenesters.
The end of 1990 saw the release of their well-received debut album, Pigeonhole, but it would be two years of slow writing and heavy touring (during which they were supported by such aspirant stars as Blur and Pulp) before another album was finished. Body Exit Mind (1992) was musically moodier and lyrically more caustic and direct than its predecessor.
Again, it was around two years before any fresh material was unleashed on the public. During this period, the FADs had become more interested in music technology, which previously had been the domain of the various remixers of their singles. Icarus spent a few months programming drum tracks, and producer Jeremy Allom, who worked on Massive Attack's Blue Lines, was brought in to add rhythmic precision on the next LP. Love It All came out in early 1995, attended by general critical approval which failed to have any noticeable impact on the sales figures. As usual, the band were unperturbed by this state of affairs, having developed thick skins through long-time involvement in the music industry.
Their ideas continue to develop in different directions, with Justin working at present on an extracurricular project under the guise of Only Child and The Unabombers. Dolan Hewison is HUB. Icarus was last seen playing with Basement Jaxx. Andy is a freelance music teacher. Perry Saunders- Harvey's Rabbit??? Meanwhile, the next FADs project is to be self-produced and will incorporate elements from their live shows, as well as more unusual recording locations such as viaduct arches on a Sunday morning.
