Two days ago The Psychedelic Furs went back on the road again and I was excited to see what the setlist would be like. Yesterday I saw the setlist for last night's concert in Maryland and it was different. The two songs I got excited seeing were "There's A World" and "Like A Stranger." "There's A World" hadn't been played since 2015, and "Like A Stranger" was last performed back in 2016. I was lucky to hear those songs live when I saw them the first two times. With "There's A World" it's one of my favorite Psychedelic Furs songs of all time and I got excited (also emotional) hearing it. "Like A Stranger" was special and whenever I listen to it it brings back fond memories because during that song Richard Butler shook my hand.
The Furs brought back the new song "The Boy That Invented Rock And Roll" and like I said on my concert post it was so awesome hearing it live. I didn't mention this on my post but after "The Boy That Invented Rock And Roll" ended Richard Butler said how they're coming out with a new album soon and he commented how 30 years is a long time (since The Furs released World Outside in 1991). When they start their European tour next month I hope they will perform another new song. I am truly excited about the new album and I wonder if by the end of this year there will be some updates on it. Earlier this month Green Day announced they're releasing their new album Father Of All... in February 2020 and it's funny because I'm not excited about it. I mean, it's cool how they're coming out with a new album but I'm more excited about The Psychedelic Furs. Mostly because I'm a huge fan of The Furs but also the thought of them releasing a new LP is very, very exciting. I am so ready for this, and I want 2020 to come already. If I hear more updates about the new PFurs album I will definitely let you all know.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Thursday, September 19, 2019
My Psychedelic Furs Tapes #1
Midnight To Midnight (1987) (Columbia FCT 40466) (USA Cassette)
This is the only Furs album that I have on tape and I would love to get more of their albums in this format. Even though the vinyl records are more interesting I still have a soft spot for cassettes, especially since they were a part of my childhood.
Side One:
1. Heartbreak Beat
2. Shock
3. Shadow In My Heart
4. Angels Don't Cry
Side One:
1. Heartbreak Beat
2. Shock
3. Shadow In My Heart
4. Angels Don't Cry
Side Two:
1. Midnight To Midnight
2. One More Word
3. All Of The Law
4. Torture
5. No Release
1. Midnight To Midnight
2. One More Word
3. All Of The Law
4. Torture
5. No Release
Sister Europe Ad
This is sort of cropped but here's an advertisement for The Psychedelic Furs' second single "Sister Europe" from 1980. This ad was most likely featured in one of the British music magazines, and I have a feeling it might be from the NME although I could be wrong on that.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
A Mystery Solved
About four or three years ago I was looking at AllMusic's profile on Richard Butler and I checked out his discography. It showed his solo album of course but there was also an album that I'd never even heard of. I remember clicking on the album to see what it was and that was pretty much it. The album went in the back of my mind and I had forgotten about it, until recently I went to Richard's page on AllMusic and I saw that strange album again. The album was called Burial and it's by this obscure British band named Death In June. They formed in the early eighties and their music is mostly neofolk and experimental. They released some albums and I think they are still around. Burial was Death In June's second album and was released in 1984 on vinyl only. Burial is both a studio and live album, with the first side containing the studio tracks while the second side has live recordings from a concert Death In June did back in 1983. In the 1990s Burial was released on compact disc and in recent years it had gotten vinyl and CD reissues.
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| Front cover of Death In June's Burial, 1984. |
At the end of my Psychedelic Furs biography it listed the discography of The Furs and its band members and on Richard Butler's section Burial wasn't listed. Then on Discog's discography for Richard the album was not on there either. When I went to Burial's page on AllMusic and checked the credits, Richard Butler was only credited as "primary artist." But the weird thing is I checked Wikipedia and on both Death In June's and Burial's articles there was no mention of Richard Butler. My curiosity peaked, and I started to wonder so many things. Did Richard work with Death In June? Was this a collaboration that no one knew about? Did Richard Butler provide vocals on a few of the studio songs? Did Richard really work on the album or not?
So I went to Discogs to see if they have a page for Death In June and there was. I went to the page and on the band's list of members, to my surprise, Richard Butler's name was on there but crossed out, as in he was a former member. But for some reason there was a 6 by his name in parentheses, and I clicked on the name to see why. Well, it turned out it wasn't the Richard Butler after all! It was a different guy that had the same name, and it even showed his middle name which was Mark (the real Richard Butler's middle name is Lofthouse). On the description it said that the other Richard Butler guy was the keyboardist for Death In June from 1983 to 1984.
I'm absolutely relieved to know the real results, and the mystery was solved successfully. I don't get why Allmusic put Burial on their discography for Richard Butler even though the real Richard never worked on the album. Hope Allmusic will know the truth and remove the album so that it won't confuse many people like me, especially if they're Psychedelic Furs fans.
So I went to Discogs to see if they have a page for Death In June and there was. I went to the page and on the band's list of members, to my surprise, Richard Butler's name was on there but crossed out, as in he was a former member. But for some reason there was a 6 by his name in parentheses, and I clicked on the name to see why. Well, it turned out it wasn't the Richard Butler after all! It was a different guy that had the same name, and it even showed his middle name which was Mark (the real Richard Butler's middle name is Lofthouse). On the description it said that the other Richard Butler guy was the keyboardist for Death In June from 1983 to 1984.
I'm absolutely relieved to know the real results, and the mystery was solved successfully. I don't get why Allmusic put Burial on their discography for Richard Butler even though the real Richard never worked on the album. Hope Allmusic will know the truth and remove the album so that it won't confuse many people like me, especially if they're Psychedelic Furs fans.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
Forever Now Bonus Tracks
For some time I had been listening to the bonus tracks on my 2002 remaster of The Psychedelic Furs' brilliant album Forever Now and I decided to share my thoughts about them. There are six songs and they include two b-sides, two live recordings, and two rarities. The rarities are ones that were already released officially but are completely different versions, and they are interesting and unique. The b-sides and live songs are great too, and they really show how awesome and creative The Psychedelic Furs are.
So let's get started, here are my views on Forever Now's bonus songs.
The Live Tracks.
"President Gas" (Live): This live performance of "President Gas" was from a show The Psychedelic Furs did at The Ritz in New York City back in 1982 and was broadcasted (along with four other songs from that concert) on the radio program The King Biscuit Flower Hour. Some time later it was included as a b-side on the US single of "Run And Run." On the original version of "President Gas" there is no saxophone at all, but on live versions of the song the saxophone takes the cello's place. It is a wonderful replacement, and the saxophone manages to capture the cello's magical sound from the studio version. On that 1982 performance I wonder if the saxophonist was Mars Williams?
"No Easy Street" (Live): This was a b-side for the "All That Money Wants" single in 1988 and according to the liner notes on my copy of Forever Now, it was recorded live in '88 and was featured on The King Biscuit Flower Hour. This live version of "No Easy Street" is amazing, and Richard Butler's vocals are absolutely incredible. The music is great as well, it's just so mysterious and breathtaking.
The B-Sides.
"Aeroplane": "Aeroplane" was the b-side to "Love My Way" (UK single) and it is a great song. The music on the verses is fast-paced, with bunches of frenzied saxophone and Richard Butler sings quickly to accompany the music. But on the choruses the music goes sort of slow and so does Richard's vocals. "Aeroplane" was recorded during the making of Forever Now along with another b-side and that is...
"I Don't Want To Be Your Shadow": The b-side to the UK single of "Danger" "I Don't Want To Be Your Shadow" is one of the most perfect b-sides I've ever heard, and the song is just so awesome. In fact, it is one of my absolute favorite Psychedelic Furs songs of all time. The song sucks you right in, it's upbeat and catchy, and puts you in a good mood.
The Rarities.
"Alice's House" (Early Version): "Alice's House" first appeared on 1984's Mirror Moves but an earlier outtake of the song was recorded during the Forever Now sessions in 1982. The music in the outtake is way different than the official version, and there's a minor lyric change as well. Both versions of "Alice's House" are interesting to listen to because the one on Mirror Moves has the keyboards and that 80s sound, but the earlier version doesn't have the keyboards at all and the music, in my opinion, has a darker tone which sort of fits the meaning of the song. The early version is really amazing and if you haven't heard it yet, you definitely gotta check it out.
"Mary Go Round": This is a previously unreleased version of "Yes I Do" with the same music but entirely different lyrics. I love the verses in this version and the merry go round type music matches the lyrics in the choruses. But here's something I heard that was weird. About four years ago I listened to my vinyl copy of Forever Now (the original US version) and when "Yes I Do" came on for some reason it has the verses from "Mary Go Round." But the choruses were the same as the official version. It makes me wonder if it's the other way around in the original British LP. Like where it's the verses from "Yes I Do" but the choruses are from "Mary Go Round's." Over in the UK "Yes I Do" was known as "Merry-Go-Round" so maybe it's true? I could be wrong though.
Hope you enjoyed this and to be honest I had trouble doing this one because of the writer's block that I had. But thankfully I managed to pull through and I'm glad it's already finished. I'm actually going to do another new blog and this upcoming post will be interesting, and I can't wait to share it with you all. Until then, see you in the next one.
So let's get started, here are my views on Forever Now's bonus songs.
The Live Tracks.
"President Gas" (Live): This live performance of "President Gas" was from a show The Psychedelic Furs did at The Ritz in New York City back in 1982 and was broadcasted (along with four other songs from that concert) on the radio program The King Biscuit Flower Hour. Some time later it was included as a b-side on the US single of "Run And Run." On the original version of "President Gas" there is no saxophone at all, but on live versions of the song the saxophone takes the cello's place. It is a wonderful replacement, and the saxophone manages to capture the cello's magical sound from the studio version. On that 1982 performance I wonder if the saxophonist was Mars Williams?
"No Easy Street" (Live): This was a b-side for the "All That Money Wants" single in 1988 and according to the liner notes on my copy of Forever Now, it was recorded live in '88 and was featured on The King Biscuit Flower Hour. This live version of "No Easy Street" is amazing, and Richard Butler's vocals are absolutely incredible. The music is great as well, it's just so mysterious and breathtaking.
The B-Sides.
"Aeroplane": "Aeroplane" was the b-side to "Love My Way" (UK single) and it is a great song. The music on the verses is fast-paced, with bunches of frenzied saxophone and Richard Butler sings quickly to accompany the music. But on the choruses the music goes sort of slow and so does Richard's vocals. "Aeroplane" was recorded during the making of Forever Now along with another b-side and that is...
"I Don't Want To Be Your Shadow": The b-side to the UK single of "Danger" "I Don't Want To Be Your Shadow" is one of the most perfect b-sides I've ever heard, and the song is just so awesome. In fact, it is one of my absolute favorite Psychedelic Furs songs of all time. The song sucks you right in, it's upbeat and catchy, and puts you in a good mood.
The Rarities.
"Alice's House" (Early Version): "Alice's House" first appeared on 1984's Mirror Moves but an earlier outtake of the song was recorded during the Forever Now sessions in 1982. The music in the outtake is way different than the official version, and there's a minor lyric change as well. Both versions of "Alice's House" are interesting to listen to because the one on Mirror Moves has the keyboards and that 80s sound, but the earlier version doesn't have the keyboards at all and the music, in my opinion, has a darker tone which sort of fits the meaning of the song. The early version is really amazing and if you haven't heard it yet, you definitely gotta check it out.
"Mary Go Round": This is a previously unreleased version of "Yes I Do" with the same music but entirely different lyrics. I love the verses in this version and the merry go round type music matches the lyrics in the choruses. But here's something I heard that was weird. About four years ago I listened to my vinyl copy of Forever Now (the original US version) and when "Yes I Do" came on for some reason it has the verses from "Mary Go Round." But the choruses were the same as the official version. It makes me wonder if it's the other way around in the original British LP. Like where it's the verses from "Yes I Do" but the choruses are from "Mary Go Round's." Over in the UK "Yes I Do" was known as "Merry-Go-Round" so maybe it's true? I could be wrong though.
Hope you enjoyed this and to be honest I had trouble doing this one because of the writer's block that I had. But thankfully I managed to pull through and I'm glad it's already finished. I'm actually going to do another new blog and this upcoming post will be interesting, and I can't wait to share it with you all. Until then, see you in the next one.
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| Photo: Tom Sheehan |
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Talk Talk Talk Ad
A week after when Talk Talk Talk was released in the UK on May 1981 an ad for the album came out and listed some dates for a national tour. The advertisement called The Psychedelic Furs "unique," and it was definitely correct because they really are. Although sadly Talk Talk Talk wasn't well recieved by the British press at the time, and that's a huge shame.
Sunday, September 8, 2019
Midnight To Midnight Ad
I'm currently working on a new blog post but I sort of have writer's block at the moment, which is hard. For now here is an ad for one of my favorite albums, Midnight To Midnight. The ad mentions the success of the album and its single "Heartbreak Beat" in America and shows a list of the dates for the US Summer tour 1987.
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