Psychic TV

Psychic TV
Psychic TV performing in Cologne in 2004. Left to right: Alice Genese (bass), Genesis P-Orridge (vocals), Markus Person (keyboards).
Background information
Also known as
  • PTV
  • PTV3
  • Psychic TV & Genesis P-Orridge
  • Psychic Television
  • Psychic TV
  • Deep Fry
  • ESsence
  • Griselda
  • Homeboy Posse
  • Jack the Tab
  • King Cut Groovers
  • The
  • Love in Life
  • M.E.S.H.
  • Nobody Uninc
  • Over Thee Brink
  • Pearl Necklace
  • Safe
  • Too See Bee
  • White Dove
  • Wolves of the Sun
  • Ecstasy Boys
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Years active
  • 1981–1999
  • 2003–2020
Labels
Past membersMembers and collaborators

Psychic TV (aka PTV or Psychick TV or several other aliases) were an English experimental video art and music collective, formed by performance artist Genesis P-Orridge and Scottish musician Alex Fergusson in 1981 after the break-up of Throbbing Gristle. They have released over one hundred full-length albums to date.

Contributors include 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. functions as a cult-like fan-club for the group.

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 given its name by Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. After breaking up in 1999, they reformed as PTV3 with a new line-up in 2003, but disbanded in 2020 when their core member Genesis Breyer P-Orridge died.