Psychic TV (also referred to as PTV, Psychick TV, as well as several other aliases) were an English experimental video art and music group, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson in 1981 after the break-up of Throbbing Gristle.
Contributors to Psychic TV have included artists such as Coil, Current 93, Monte Cazazza, Larry Thrasher, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Soft Cell, Fred Giannelli, Hafler Trio, The Cult, Master Musicians of Jajouka, William Breeze, Derek Jarman, John Gosling, Timothy Leary, Rose McDowall, Andrew Weatherall, and Z'EV. Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (a.k.a. T.O.P.Y.) formed as an organisation at the inception of the band, who conceived it as a magical order and the philosophical wing of Psychic TV. T.O.P.Y. also functions as a cult-like fan-club for the group.
Psychic TV have released over one hundred full-length albums to date, and earned an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for most records released in one year (1986). This occurred after the band attempted to release 23 live albums on the 23rd day of 23 consecutive months.
Psychic TV was influential in pioneering the acid house genre, releasing several fake compilations in an effort to popularize the sound, such as Jack the Tab and Tekno Acid Beat. According to some, acid house was actually given its name by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge.
After breaking up in 1999, they reformed as PTV3 with a completely new line-up in 2003, but disbanded in 2020 when their core member Genesis Breyer P-Orridge died.
History
Since Genesis P-Orridge primarily wrote the lyrics instead of the music for Psychic TV, they would assemble different groups of musicians together to create the music. The history of Psychic TV can be broken up into the periods of the main songwriter that was working with them at the time.
1981–87: Alex Fergusson period
Psychic TV was formed with the core membership of Genesis P-Orridge (ex-Throbbing Gristle) and Alex Fergusson in 1981. Alex Fergusson was a member of the punk/experimental outfit Alternative TV, with whom P-Orridge performed at one point throughout Throbbing Gristle's run. The "TV" of the band's title contributed the latter half of the name Psychic TV. Similarities can be seen in the artwork for Alternative TV and early Psychic TV releases, with a recurring pastiche on the 'as seen on TV' marketing style. Fellow ex-TG member Peter Christopherson got involved in 1982 and claimed that the 'TV' component of the name was intended to focus on the visual elements of the outfit. P-Orridge once claimed that "Psychic TV is a video group who does music unlike a music group which makes music videos".
Psychic TV made their live debut in Autumn 1982 as a part of the "Final Academy", a multi-performance event dedicated to and featuring William S. Burroughs. In November 1982, Psychic TV's debut studio album, Force the Hand of Chance, was released by Some Bizzare Records and distributed by WEA International; its accompanying single, "Just Drifting", came out in the same year's December. Dreams Less Sweet, a follow-up to Force..., was released in 1983. Lyrics were handled by P-Orridge while the music was written by Fergusson and sound experiments primarily created by Christopherson and Geff Rushton, a.k.a. John Balance – foreshadowing the pair's later work as Coil. Marc Almond of Soft Cell also contributed vocals.
The live shows, such as those given at the famous Berlin Atonal festival, continued to bear improvised noise elements until Peter Christopherson left the group and Fergusson implemented new musicians. In 1986, Psychic TV began an intended series of 23 live show performances being recorded and released, each from a different nation, on the 23rd of each month for 23 months; though the series was discontinued after 17 albums, it earned the band an entry in The Guinness Book of World Records. Towards the end of this period Fergusson/P-Orridge completed their third proper studio album, Allegory and Self (1988). It was at this point that P-Orridge became interested in the burgeoning acid house and techno movements. Alex Fergusson left soon after and was replaced by techno artist Fred Giannelli.