FEX is a German post-punk and new wave band based and formed in Kiel in October 1980, best known for their song "Subways of Your Mind", also known as "The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet", the subject of a 17-year-long internet search to identify the song title and original artist.
Although the band only released a six-track tape during their original tenure, keyboard player Michael Hädrich revealed during a Reddit AMA that FEX "had songs for a full 2 set concert". One of the tape's songs, "Jenny", also appeared on the compilation album Zeus Top Hits in 1985. Fex reformed in the wake of the search for "Subways of Your Mind" and began releasing more songs in late 2024, the first being "Goldrush". In December 2024, Hädrich discovered the NDR version of "Subways of Your Mind" in his storage; it was made available for streaming in January 2025.
Fex was originally known as Modulators, which formed in the fall of 1980 after the disbanding of lead singer Ture Rückwardt's previous band Sunshine Caravan, and initially consisted of Rückwardt on guitar and vocals, Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Eckert on keyboard, Norbert Ziermann on bass, and Ture's cousin Manfred Fox on drums. The band was reconfigured a year later, adding Ture's wife Ilona as a vocalist, adding Michael Hädrich as a second keyboardist, and replacing Manfred on drums with Heino R.
Modulators combined German lyrics with elements of new wave, punk, and electronic music. They released a four-track vinyl titled Hygiene in 1982. Michael, Norbert, and Heino all left the band shortly afterwards. The band did not add a second keyboardist to replace Michael, but Norbert and Heino were replaced with Volker Schenk and Hans-Reimer Sievers, respectively.
In summer 1983, Modulators changed their name to FEX and started rehearsing in a rehearsal room in the Heikendorf industrial area. The band name derives from the Southern German slang word , akin to "zealot" or "nerd", describing someone passionately enthusiastic about something. Eckert left the band in the fall of 1983, and Volker left to join a jazz band shortly afterward. Kalle and Volker's replacements were Michael Hädrich and Jörg Lemcke. Michael also played guitar for the band. By September 1984, Ilona Rückwardt had gone on maternity leave, prompting Ture to become lead vocalist, with Hädrich providing backing vocals and second guitar in addition to keyboards. FEX started to gain more exposure outside Kiel with their participation in the Newcomer Show music competition, which was hosted in 1984 by radio and television personality Manfred Sexauer and organized by Hamburg-based insurance broker Zeus. The competition was held nationwide, FEX performed in September at the Glocke concert hall in Bremen and managed to beat seven other bands. One of the rewards was the contribution of a track to the Top-Hits compilation album released in April 1985. The band decided on "Jenny", which they recorded at Planet Wave Studio.
Not long after the Newcomer Show performance, Lemcke decided to depart, as the band's growing professional commitments clashed with his university studies. He was replaced by Norbert Ziermann, formerly of Modulators. With this lineup, FEX entered the newly built Hawkeye Studios in Ganderkesee to record a six-track tape in November 1984. A newspaper report on this undertaking also mentioned their plans to release a vinyl record sometime in spring and tour Northern and Central Germany in March 1985. While a vinyl release did not materialize, the band toured various venues across Germany from March to May. The tour culminated in an appearance as the opening act of the in Bruchhausen-Vilsen on May 26. Not long after the tour, Hädrich decided to relocate to Munich and left the band. FEX continued with a varying constellation of band members, most notably Dirk Reichardt as Hädrich's replacement and the return of Ilona Rückwardt as vocalist, but eventually disbanded in 1988.
In the 1990s, The Rückwardts formed a new band named Raindogs, which FEX's original bassist Volker Schenk joined as well. While a photo of a CD the band released in 1994 has surfaced, the songs themselves have not.
On November 4, 2024, the song "Subways of Your Mind", also known as "The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet", was identified as being from FEX. On November 7, Rückwardt, Hädrich and Ziermann reunited to perform a live acoustic version of "Subways of Your Mind" on German radio station NDR 1 Welle Nord. This was the band's first performance since dissolving in 1988. On November 8, Sievers contacted NDR 1 for an interview after reading about the band's reunion in a local newspaper, and was subsequently put in contact with the other band members. The four musicians eventually got together recording sessions in a Hamburg studio on December, including a new version of "Subways of Your Mind".
On December 9, Berlin-based label The Outer Edge announced a 7" vinyl release of the original version of "Subways of Your Mind" as a single, with "Heart in Danger" on the B-side, for a January 2025 release. It was put up for pre-order on the label's Bandcamp page on December 12. The digital version of the single was released on the 20th. On Christmas Day 2024, a tape containing the original NDR version of "Subways of Your Mind" was found by the band and made available on streaming platforms in January. Sievers announced shortly after that he would be leaving FEX due to personal and family commitments.
On May 16, 2025, The Outer Edge announced FEX's full-length debut album Skyscraper for release on July 8, containing remastered versions of all six songs from their six-track tape and three new tracks, "Skyscraper", "Strange Feeling" and "Dirty Slapstick", also recovered from original 1980s recordings. The original 1984 recording of "Subways of Your Mind" from the cassette owned by Darius S., whose sister Lydia had initiated the search for the track, was also included as a bonus track. Darius also made the cover art for the album.
On January 23, 2026, a NDR report on television announced that FEX is working on a new album of original songs for the first time since 1988.
Current members
Former members