Read the Daily Record’s feature story on the Psychedelic Furs and their long career, as well as their performance at MPAC Thursday, November 1!
Daily Record: “Psychedelic Furs Perform Songs From Their 40-Year Career”
By Bill Nutt
Many people associate the Psychedelic Furs with mid-tempo numbers like “Love My Way” and “The Ghost in You.” Such casual listeners may be forgiven for assuming the British group’s catalog is laden with such numbers.
Tim Butler – the bassist who co-founded the band with his older brother, vocalist Richard Butler – respectfully but firmly disagrees.
“A lot of our most famous songs are a little ballad-y,” admitted Tim Butler. “But when you see us live, we are a rock band” – emphasizing the word “rock.”
As proof, Butler points to one of its best-known songs, “Pretty in Pink,” which the Psychedelic Furs cut twice: first for its 1981 album “Talk Talk Talk” and then later as the title song for the 1986 John Hughes-Molly Ringwald teen movie.
“We didn’t want to re-record it, but the record company insisted,” Butler said. “If you compare the two, there’s no question that I prefer the rawness of the original.”
The Psychedelic Furs are seeking to capture that rawness on their current U.S. tour, with stops at the Red Bank Theatre on Friday, October 19, BergenPAC on Tuesday, October 30; and MPAC on Thursday, November 1.
The music of the Psychedelic Furs owed a great to deal to avant-garde acts: the Velvet Underground, the Stooges, early Roxy Music and early David Bowie.
“It was the era of prog-rock,” said Butler, referring to the progressive rock exemplified by Yes and Genesis. “There was a feeling you couldn’t be in a without playing all these instruments and have 17 time-signature changes in a measure,” he joked.
That attitude was smashed to bits by the arrival of Sex Pistols. “We saw them in 1976, right after they signed (with the label EMI),” Butler recalled. “We were blown away by their energy. They showed that any kids could pick up guitars and start a band.”
Thus inspired, the Butler brothers joined with three other friends to form the Psychedelic Furs. The group expanded to a sextet for its self-titled debut in 1980.
“That first record was aggressive,” Butler said. “We were just learning to write. For ‘Talk Talk Talk,’ we learned how to put that energy into the songwriting.”
Through the 1980s, the band released albums that achieved commercial success in the U.K. and also found an audience in American college radio.
“In America, you build an audience, and they stay with you,” Butler said. “In England, they’re more fickle. They listen to what’s hot in the music press that year and then move on to the next act. Americans like the idea of something that lasts.”
Over the years, the group’s songs have been covered, often in interesting and unconventional ways. Tim Butler expressed admiration for both Robyn Hitchcock’s subdued version of “The Ghost in You” and Korn’s take on “Love My Way.”
“I thought it was great that Korn would do one of our songs,” Butler said. “Those are two styles that couldn’t be further apart, but it worked.”
In 1990, however, the Psychedelic Furs went on a decade-long hiatus. The Butlers did solo work, in addition to a side project called Love Spit Love. “We needed the break from each other,” Tim Butler said.
The group reformed in 2000, and in the time since, the musicians have released a few individual singles. Butler indicated that the band has been in the studio working a new full-length album, which may be released last year.
In concert, the band feels revitalized, according to Butler. “We’re enjoying ourselves, like we used to do,” he said.
Certain songs from the bands catalog continue to resonate. Butler said his all-time favorite song is “President Gas,” a song that he said could be interpreted on both the local and international level.
Butler said that he and his bandmates appreciate that people still come out to Psychedelic Furs shows. “There’s only a small number of bands that make it past one album, let along 30 or 40 years,” he said. “We get an audience singing along with us when we play. It makes me think, wow, I’m the luckiest musician in the world.
IF YOU GO: THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS
WHAT: The British New Wave band performs songs from its 40-year career, including “Pretty in Pink,” “Love My Way,” “The Ghost in You,” and “Heartbreak Beat.” The group is still led by sibling co-founders Richard Butler on vocals and Tim Butler on bass.
WHERE: Mayo Performing Arts Center, 100 South St., Morristown
TICKETS: $29 to $69
INFORMATION: 973-539-8008 or mayoarts.org
