Blue Plate Special: The Psychedelic Furs
Expanding on my music posts is what I am calling the “Blue Plate Special” with a regular deep dive into some of my favorite artists. To kick things off, I’m going to one of my favorite bands that I was introduced to back in middle school — The Psychedelic Furs. It was their third album from 1982, Forever Now, that clinched it for me as a fan, with Love My Way, Forever Now, and Danger as personal favorites. Another British band from the post-punk scene of the late 70’s early 80’s, most people are familiar with their single Pretty In Pink from the John Hughes movie of the same name, but I was already familiar with it from their second album, Talk Talk Talk. In fact, for many years I had the album cover on the wall in my room. The band has a distinctive sound with lead singer Richard Butler’s grainy and very-British voice, but they’ve also always been very solid musically.
In the early 90’s, The Furs took a hiatus and Richard, along with brother and bass player Tim Butler, co-founded Love Spit Love which generated two excellent albums. They were joined by Richard Fortus on guitar, and Frank Ferrer on drums, both of whom went on to join Guns N’ Roses. Not a fan of that genre, but Frank was a familiar face to me as the drummer for the short-lived NYC rock band The Beautiful, which I’ve mentioned in a past music post.
The Furs reunited in 2001 and is still touring and producing music, most of which you can find on Spotify and other music services. If you’re interested, I have a public Spotify playlist with some of my faves. Here are 5 selections from their catalog that are some of my favorites, and which will give you a good overview of their sound:
Another Edge – from B-Sides and Lost Grooves
Danger – from Forever Now
Until She Comes – from World Outside
More Than Money – from Trysome Eatone
