New Fast Automatic Daffodils (later shortened to New FADS) were an

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

group from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, active between 1988 and 1995.

History

The band was formed in 1988 by former members of the punk rock group Pariah.Strong, Martin C.: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, Dolan Hewison, Justin Crawford, Perry Saunders and Icarus Wilson-Wright were former students at

Manchester Polytechnic Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

, while Andy Spearpoint attended drama school.Dawn, Rendee (1991) "Going Down a Storm", ''Lime Lizard'', October 1991, p. 38-40 The name comes from a poem by

Adrian Henri Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...

that mixed an advertisement for a yellow Dutch car with a

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's '' ...

poem. Often associated with the '

Madchester Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie-dance (sometimes referred to as indie-rave) saw artists merging indie musi ...

' scene of the late 1980s, but never really part of that scene,Robb, John (1991) ''Yellow Peril'', SIREN, Issue 5, pp.57-58, Pegasus Publishing Ltd the band's debut single, "Lions" was released in 1989 on Playtime records (then home to

Inspiral Carpets Inspiral Carpets are an English rock band, part of the late-1980s/early-1990s Madchester movement. Formed in Oldham in 1980, the band's most successful lineup featured frontman Tom Hingley, drummer Craig Gill, guitarist Graham Lambert, bassi ...

), followed the same year by the ''Music Is Shit'' EP. In 1990, they signed to Play It Again Sam Records, September of that year seeing the release of "Fishes Eyes", and debut album ''Pigeonhole'' appearing in November, which reached the UK top 50. In March 1991, the British music magazine, '' NME'', reported that the band were appearing at the 'Great Indie Festival - A Midsummer's Day Dream' at

Milton Keynes Bowl The National Bowl (originally the Milton Keynes Bowl) is an entertainment venue located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The site was a former clay pit (for brick-making), filled in and raised to form an amphitheatre using sub-soil e ...

in June that year. Also on the bill were

808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' New ...

Gary Clail Gary Clail (born 1956) is an English singer and record producer, and the founder of the Gary Clail Sound System. He was part of On-U Sound Records (and also the On-U Sound System) and led Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. They had a big hit in ...

, Shades of Rhythm,

The Shamen The Shamen ( ) were a Scottish psychedelic band, formed in 1985 in Aberdeen, who became a chart-topping British electronic dance music act by the early 1990s. The founding members were Colin Angus, Derek McKenzie and Keith McKenzie. Peter St ...

, Paris Angels plus

Flowered Up Flowered Up were an English indie pop-alternative dance band, formed in Camden Town, London in 1989, active during the Baggy movement. Their 13-minute single " Weekender" reached the UK top 20. The band split up in 1994 amid drug problems. Foll ...

. Further singles followed in 1991 and 1992, with second album '' Body Exit Mind'' issued in October 1992 (reaching No. 57 in the UK). 1994 saw the band shorten their name to New FADS, with 2 EPs released that year, before a final album, ''Love It All'' in 1995. The band split up in 1995. The band recorded three sessions for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

's radio show, the first two of which were compiled onto an album, ''The Peel Sessions'' in 1991. Their song "Big" also reached No. 14 in the

Festive Fifty The Festive Fifty was originally an annual list of the year's 50 (though the exact figure varied above and below this number) best songs compiled at the end of the year and voted for by listeners to John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show. It was usually do ...

in 1990 and featured on the influential 1990 compilation album Happy Daze. Their lone charting success in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

was the single "Stockholm", which reached No. 30 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock charts in 1993.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

Singer Andy Spearpoint also flirted with acting, having a small part in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

''.

Post band activities

Andy Spearpoint was reported in 2004 to be working as a freelance music teacher. Dolan Hewison is Director of the Greater Manchester Music Action Zone. Icarus Wilson-Wright worked with

Basement Jaxx Basement Jaxx are an English electronic music duo consisting of Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe. The pair got their name from the regular club night they held in Brixton, London, UK. They first rose to popularity in the underground house scene ...

. Justin Crawford is one part of DJ duo Unabombers and has also recorded solo, under the name Only Child.

Discography

Singles

*"Lions" (1989, Playtime) 12" tracks: # Lions # Fate Don't Fail Me Now # Your Dreams My Nightmares *"Music Is Shit" EP (1989, Playtime) 12" tracks: # Beam Me Up # A Man Without Qualities # Music Is Shit parts 1-3 CD version (AMUSE 6CD) contained an extra track Lions, taken from the first 12” *"Big" (1990 Amuse 7CD, Playtime) cd tracks: # Big 6:13 # Big (Baka) 6:30 # Big (Instrumental) 6:32 *"Fishes Eyes" (1990 BIAS162 CD, Play It Again Sam) cd tracks: # Fishes Eyes 6:46 # Fishes Eyes (Underwater) 5:19 # White 3:51 *"Get Better" (1991 BIAS193 CD, Play It Again Sam) cd tracks: # Get Better 4:30 # Pigeonhole (Edit) 4:52 # I Found Myself in Another Room 3:52 # Get Better (Version 1) 4:29 *"All Over My Face" (1991 BIAS199 CD, Play It Again Sam) cd tracks: # All Over My Face 3:53 # All Over My Face (Split Decision) 5:20 # All Over My Face (Off the Road) 4:56 # Why The Hard Man Fail 4:42 *"Big" (1991, Playtime, Play It Again Sam & Mute) cd tracks: # Big (Edit) 4:12 # Big (Baka) 6:30 # Get Better 4:30 # Get Better (Extended) 6:30 # White 3:50 *"It's Not What You Know" (1992, Play It Again Sam) cd tracks: # It's Not What You Know 4:07 # Head On 3:28 # Beatlemania 4:50 # Beautiful 4:40 *"Stockholm" (1992, Play It Again Sam) cd tracks: # Stockholm 5:10 # Stockholm (Edit) 4:12 # Cannes 4:25 10" tracks: # Stockholm (Demo Version) # It's Not What You Know (Demo Version) # Hexagon Spring *"Bong" (1993, Play It Again Sam) cd tracks: # Bong 4:06 # It's Not What You Know 4:08 # Head On 3:28 # Beautiful 4:40 # Cannes 4:25 *"Life Is An Accident 1" (1994 BIAS249 CD1, Play It Again Sam) (as New FADS) cd tracks: # Life Is An Accident 3:02 # Every Once In A While (Fuzzy Logic) 6:04 # Aches And Pains 3:50 *"Life Is An Accident 2" (1994 BIAS249 CD2, Play It Again Sam) (as New FADS) cd tracks: # Life Is An Accident 3:02 # PSV (VPL) 7:55 # Mad Pop 3:03 *"These Foolish Things" (1994, Play It Again Sam) (as New FADS) 10" tracks: # These Foolish Things 4:31 # Every Once In A While 4:15

Albums

*'' Pigeonhole'' (1990, Play It Again Sam) UK No. 49 cd tracks: # Get Better 3:52 # Fishes Eyes 7:04 # Working for Him 4:17 # Part 4 4:13 # Big 6:08 # You Were Lying When You Said You Loved Me 4:17 # Amplifier 3:57 # Reprise 3:47 # Partial 6:26 # Penguins 3:51 # I Found Myself In Another Room 3:51 # Pigeonhole 6:06 Some vinyl copies of Pigeonhole had a free 7" with a cover of the Velvet Underground's 'I'm Set Free' *''The Peel Sessions'' (1991,

Strange Fruit Records Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom. The label, established by Clive Selwood and John Peel in 1986, was the primary distributor of BBC recordings, including Peel Sessions.Larkin, Colin (ed.) (1998) '' ...

) cd tracks: # Purple Haze 1:46 # Man Without Qualities II 3:19 # Jaggerbog 3:42 # Big 5:32 # Get Better 3:25 # Part 4 4:29 # Man Without Qualities One 4:44 *'' Body Exit Mind'' (1992, Play It Again Sam) UK No. 57 cd tracks: # Bong 4:05 # It's Not What You Know 4:07 # Stockholm 5:12 # I Take You To Sleep 3:52 # Bruises 6:58 # How Much Longer Must We Tolerate Mass Culture? 1:19 # Kyphos 4:44 # Teenage Combo 0:25 # Beatlemania 4:50 # What Kind Of Hell Is This? 0:39 # American Money 4:28 # Missing Parts Of Famous People 1:05 # Patchwork Lives 5:08 # Music 8:08 # Exit Body, Exit Mind 1:02 *''Love It All'' (1995, Play It Again Sam) (as New FADS) cd tracks: # These Foolish Things 4:31 # Life Is An Accident 3:02 # Left Right 3:59 # Every Once In a While 4:15 # Why Waste Your Love 3:35 # Monday It Is 4:15 # Saxophone 3:35 # What I Feel 3:52 # PSV 4:15 # Kill My Instincts 3:34 # Souvenir 1:54

Other appearances

* ''Volume Two'' - Various Artists (Contains unique mix of "All Over My Face" (Scam Mix)) * “home” - various artists (Contains Jaggerbog) sheer joy records 1990 * '' Fifteen Minutes: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground'' (1994,

Imaginary Records Imaginary Records was an independent record label based in Heywood, Greater Manchester, England, which specialised mainly in indie rock and post-punk. It was started in 1985 by Alan Duffy, known for his lyrical contributions to Porcupine Tree's ...

– ILLCD 047P, includes "I'm Set Free" by New F.A.D.S. * ''This Is Fascism'' (1996, M.C. Projects – PROCD 14. A 2CD collection of remixes of the New Fast Automatic Daffodils cover of the song "This Is Fascism" by Consolidated)

References

External links

discogs.com discography
*

AllMusic Guide profile AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...

br>Myspace.com site
{{Authority control Madchester groups English alternative rock groups Mute Records artists Musical groups from Manchester Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 1995