The Psychedelic Furs
The Psychedelic Furs are a British band with strong relation to punk rock, which was founded in the late 1970s. The singer is Richard Butler.
Biography
The Psychedelic Furs were established in 1977 under the name RKO. They changed their name first in radio, then they played several concerts under the name The Europeans, but called themselves at the same time even The Psychedelic Furs. The band consisted at that time of Richard Butler ( vocals), his brother Tim Butler ( bass), Duncan Kilburn (saxophone ), Paul Wilson ( drums) and Roger Morris (guitars). 1979 Wilson left the group and was replaced by Vince Ely. With John Ashton, a second guitarist joined the band.
The Psychedelic Furs mixed punk and psychedelic rock, which was unusual for this time. The mix sounded more pop than most punk bands at that time. On their self-titled debut album (1980 ) David Bowie strong influences can be seen. In the UK they landed with the debut in the top 20 of the charts. A U.S. pressure was released at the same time, but not attained the desired commercial success.
1981, they released their second album Talk Talk Talk. In America, not very successful, even two singles were released in the United Kingdom: " Dumb Waiters " and " Pretty In Pink". The latter song served as inspiration for the eponymous film by director John Hughes.
1982 rose Morris and Kilburn from. The remaining members moved to the state of New York, where they recorded with producer Todd Rundgren album Forever Now. Vince Ely different now from even from the cast. With Keith Forsey (drums), a new member were found.
In 1984, the Furs album Mirror Moves. With the single "Heaven" they even came into the British Top 40 in 1986 took them to a newly revised version of her song " Pretty In Pink" for the soundtrack of the film of the same name. It was their first hit in both England ( 18th place) and in America ( number 41 ).
With Midnight to Midnight she quickly pushed after an album to capitalize on the success. With "Heartbreak Beat" they could see the top 40 singles charts in America crack for the first time. In 1989 she released the album Book Of Days, which went into the harder direction back for more. For this album, Vince Ely returned to the band. In 1991, the album World Outside was published.
In the 1990s, the band broke up, the Butler brothers formed Love Spit Love.
Reunion
2000 there was a reunion of the band in the cast Richard Butler ( vocals), Tim Butler (bass ), John Ashton (guitar ) and the Love Spit Love drummer Frank Ferrer. The Furs toured several times, but so far published no new album.
Discography
- Talk Talk Talk ( 1981)
- Forever Now (1982 )
- Mirror Moves ( 1984)
- Midnight to Midnight (1987 )
- Book of Days (1989 )
- World Outside (1991 )
- Should God Forget: A Retrospective (1997)