Psychedelic Furs Songs, Albums, Pictures, Photos and Artwork
Who are they?
The Psychedelic Furs were an enigmatic post-punk band who's fresh sound was influenced equally by 60's psychedelia and punk. Early in the band's career many comparison's were drawn between Richard Butler's "I'm on 60 a day" vocal style and Johnny Rotten's manic rasp.
The group's lineup was known to fluctuate throughout the years, with their most consistent roster comprising of Richard Butler on vocals, Roger Morris and John Ashton on guitar, Tim Butler on bass, Vince Ely on drums and Duncan Kilburn on saxophone.
The Fur's self-titled debut LP was released in 1980 and offered a glimpse at what would become the bands signature sound. The album's commercial performance was impressive for a debut release, charting at #18 in the UK Top 40.
Their next release "Talk Talk Talk" in 1981 featured the original version of 'Pretty Pink' along with the downright peculiar 'Dumb Waiters'.
The band survived their first major lineup change in 1982 after Kilburn and Morris left the band. Later that year they released 'Forever Now' which spawned an unlikely U.S. Top 100 hit in 'Love My Way'.
Expectations were building throughout the mid-80's and 1984's 'Mirror Moves' did not disappoint. Whereas the band's previous two long players had provided massive stand out tracks in the way of "Pretty In Pink" and "Love My Way", 'Mirror Moves' instead offered consistency with a multitude of excellent songs.
Midnight to Midnight' followed in 1987 and although it was somewhat weaker in comparison to their previous LP, it was still hugely successful thanks to the featuring of 'Pretty In Pink' in the film of the same name.
The Furs had well and truly reached their peak by this stage, hitting saturation point with the mediocre 'Book Of Days' and eventual decline with 'World Outside'. The group dissolved in the early 90's only to reappear again in 2000.
They are currently in the midst of a US tour and there is talk of a new album arriving within the year.
What are they most famous for?
The title of John Hughes hit college drama 'Pretty In Pink' was directly inspired by the Furs track of the same name. The song featured prominently in the film and the mass nostalgic appeal of the movie has led to the band's profile increasing tremendously throughout the years.
Why aren't they famous?
The band failed to capitalise on their growing popularity in the late 80's. By the turn of the decade - all hopes of the group making a permanent cross into the mainstream were extinguished after the disappointing 'Book Of Days' was released.
The quality of the band's material quickly picked up in the 1990's but by this time the public were generally apathetic, perhaps partly due to the dawning of grunge.
Where to start
'Mirror Moves' saw the Furs at their peak. The band had managed to combine their harder, raspy din with a polished 80's touch. Unlike many records from the same era 'Mirror Moves' has dated very well and still sounds exciting today. The first four tracks ('The Ghost In You", "Here Comes Cowboys", "Heaven" and Heartbeat respectfully) are all classics of their time. (incidentally "Heaven" proved to be the first of only two Top 40 single hits in the UK)
My first introduction to the Furs was through the Greatest Hits package which documents their history chronogically. Its fascinating to compare tracks like "Sister Europe" and "There's A World Outside" which shows how much their sound evolved over the year's.