On 25th January 2023, I posted the video for The Psychedelic Furs' 1991 single Don't Be A Girl, noting that "I
thought I'd posted at least one side of a cassette of The Psychedelic
Furs from the early 1990s but apparently not. It's that or a recreated
set list from one of the three times I've seen them live in concert.
Either way, watch this space, the Furs are coming back (fairly) soon."
Well, nearly 18 months later might be stretching it somewhat, but here at last is the long overdue Dubhed selection...kind of.
As it's Richard's birthday, I've expanded the scope to include Love Spit Love, his collaboration with Richard Fortus in the 1990s, his unexpected self-titled solo album in 2006 and a couple of guest vocals with Ralph Schuckett and BT aka Brian Transeau.
Despite being criminally ignored to date on this blog, I was a huge fan of The Psychedelic Furs during my teens and their return in 2020 with an album of new material (Made Of Rain) was nothing short of a triumph. A couple of months later, Richard married model and actor Erika Anderson following a romance that reads like a movie synopsis.
Oh, and if you've got a few thousand dollars spare, you can buy one of Richard's artworks. If you've have that kind of money, postage and packing from the USA will be a snip.
This 11-song selection includes a couple of cover versions, which may be divisive. Alabama Song, originally written by Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann and first performed by Lotte Lenya in 1927, appeared on The Doors' self-titled debut album and is perhaps the version I'm most familiar with. This is a close second, thanks to it's inclusion on a mid-80s Kurt Weill tribute album that my brother owned. It's very hit-and-miss overall, but I have a lot of love for this version.
The closing song is Love Spit Love's brave take on How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths. It first appeared in the 1996 film The Craft though is perhaps better known for it's use as the theme tune to hugely popular late 90s US TV series Charmed. No version could ever hope to come close to matching the brilliance of the original and I think the two Richards went in, acknowledging that from the start. It's a lot better than I may have expected.
The difficulty for me with The Psychedelic Furs was how to limit to only five selections. Whilst Love My Way is an obvious choice, it was an obvious follow on from the solo Richard Butler song in the selection and besides, Forever Now was the first Furs album I bought (with a WH Smith voucher, natch).
No Release was a B-Side of 1986 single Angels Don't Cry and also popped up as a bonus track on the CD of the Midnight To Midnight album. It was this tour that provided my first opportunity to see The Psychedelic Furs live in concert, and they were great.
All That Money Wants was released as a standalone single in 1988 to promote a compilation album. Produced by Stephen Street and marking the return of original member Vince Ely, it's one of the best things they've ever done.
The final two choices effectively bookend The Psychedelic Furs to date. Sister Europe, their second single from 1980, still sends a shiver down my spine and the anticipation of hearing the first Furs album in decades was more than rewarding with the opening song The Boy Who Invented Rock & Roll.
And of course what ties this all together, and provides a much more cohesive selection that I might first have imagined, is Richard's voice. Decades of (presumably) gargling gravel is definitely not advisable but it furnishes the songs with a quality and resonance that others simply cannot match.
Now, let's hope you don't have to wait another 18 months for another selection...!
Cheers, Richard, hope you're having a good one.
1) Shineaway: BT ft. Richard Butler (1997)
2) No Release: The Psychedelic Furs (1986)
3) Satellites: Richard Butler (2006)
4) Alabama Song (Cover of Lotte Lenya): Ralph Schuckett ft. Richard Butler & Ellen Shipley (1985)
5) Wake Up (Acoustic Version): Love Spit Love (1994)
6) Maybe Someday: Richard Butler (2006)
7) Love My Way (Album Version): The Psychedelic Furs (1982)
8) Breathe: Richard Butler (2006)
9) All That Money Wants (Single Version): The Psychedelic Furs (1988)
10) The Boy Who Invented Rock & Roll: The Psychedelic Furs (2020)
11) Sister Europe (Single Version): The Psychedelic Furs (1980)
12) How Soon Is Now? (Album Version) (Cover of The Smiths): Love Spit Love (1996)
1980: Sister Europe EP: 11
1982: Forever Now: 7
1985: Lost In The Stars: The Music Of Kurt Weill: 4
1986: Angels Don't Cry EP / Midnight To Midnight (CD bonus track): 2
1988: All That Money Wants EP / All Of This & Nothing (compilation): 9
1994: Volume Twelve: 5
1996: The Craft OST: 12
1997: The Jackal: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture: 1
2006: Richard Butler: 3, 6, 8
2020: Made Of Rain: 10
For me you could have just played the whole of their debut album. No disrespect to the rest of their catalogue, much of which is excellent, but in my opinion the first album is one of the best records ever made.
ReplyDeleteNo argument from me, Ernie. Talk Talk Talk is the one that seems to have the retrospective weight of public opinion but the debut's opening two of India & Sister Europe was just incredible. And the rest of the album is just as good. A shame that the US version swapped Blacks/Radio for Susan's Strange and Soap Commercial (and a crappier sleeve), it's the UK all the way for this album as far as I'm concerned.
DeletePerhaps tellingly, although I didn't start buying Furs albums until the mid-late 80s, Mirror Moves and Midnight To Midnight were last on my list, even though I'd seen the concert promoting the latter!
Even now, I probably listen to Book Of Days and World Outside more than the other two.
I've a strange relationship with the Furs. Some of their songs are all-time favourites, and always take me back to happy times and situations. But as I said in a piece over at TVV back in 2014 that where I once thought they were an important part of the alternative music scene in the UK in the early 80s, they were really much more a mainstream act bordering on the different; it's a view I've come to on the basis that a fair number of songs sound a tad dated and 'safe'.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, when I play 'Dumb Waiters', 'Sister Europe' or 'President Gas' I reckon I'd take a bullet for them.
So strange!
I get it, JC. Whilst the Todd Rundgren production on Forever Now was pushing them squarely into the US market, I still have a lot of love for that album. The next two less so, so I was pleased that they sought to return to their earlier sound with later albums. The first two albums are essential, but I would agree with your comment in that I never really considered them pioneers or originators, they just had a great sound and, in Richard Butler, a great voice.
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