Concert Ads #29

An ad which featured dates for The Psychedelic Furs' UK tour promoting Midnight To Midnight appeared in the January 24, 1987 issue of New Musical Express.

Via @nothingelseon (Twitter)

Concert Ads #28

On the December 23, 1989 issue of the NME it showed a list of concerts in the UK for The Psychedelic Furs' Book Of Days tour which happened from January 28th to February 6th, 1990.

Via @nothingelseon (Twitter)

Behind the Songs: She Is Mine

A selection of quotes from Richard Butler on the song "She Is Mine."

Interviewer: "[Talk Talk Talk] seems to have a more romantic tone about it than [the debut]. Is romance a topic you would like to explore more in upcoming releases?"

Richard Butler: "No, just this one. I think it was looking at it objectively. It's not romantic. I mean it's got songs like 'I Wanna Sleep With You' which is talking about sex and not wanting any type of relationship, but just wanting sex. On the other hand, it's got a song like 'She Is Mine' which is very romantic, if you like, and it's objective." (Overview 1981)

Interviewer: "Your vocal chords seem to be so relaxed on ["Sister Europe"]. That's how you get that captivating atmosphere."

Richard Butler: "'She Is Mine' is similar to that on [Talk Talk Talk]. That same sort of feeling." (Overview 1981)

Richard Butler: "'She Is Mine' is about love in general. The feeling itself is great, but what else happens is not: falling in love, falling in love with the person in question, falling in love with his life pattern, the love fading away, separation, etc." (Sounds 1981 [German magazine])

Richard Butler (in response to the interviewer saying that the situations described in the song sound very specific): "That’s true. You have to imagine a party where everyone is somehow dealing with love, is affected by it, i.e. falling in love or arguing or breaking up. At one point I was very drunk and they actually had to pick me up from the floor. At that time I suddenly saw very clearly this pattern in which love relationships always work. All you can do is stay away from it, you have to laugh about it." (Sounds 1981 [German magazine]).

Richard Butler (on Talk Talk Talk's songs): "They're not love songs, they're songs about love and different points of view. For example, 'She Is Mine' has a sad point of view; if you're having an affair you realize people have said and done the same things before." (Trouser Press 1981)

Richard Butler: "There's a song with a lot of tenderness and regret – 'She Is Mine' is saying that, like, when you have a lover and you realize that everything you're doing with them has been done before by so many people, there's a lot of sadness in there." (Unknown source, 1981)

Richard Butler: "We recently put 'She Is Mine' in the set again [for the 2018 Tour]. That's a very jaded view of love and romance, but put in a very sweet-sounding way." (Uncut 2018)

Richard Butler: "I think 'The Ghost In You' still sounds pretty good, but it's not as timeless as, say, 'Pretty In Pink' or 'Dumb Waiters' or even slower songs like 'She Is Mine'." (Rock Cellar Magazine 2020)

Photo: Andrew Douglas

Behind the Songs: My Time

A couple quotes from Richard Butler on the song "My Time."

Richard Butler: "Some songs are written specifically for women, like 'My Time' was written from trying to see things from a feminist point of view." (La Edad de Oro (Spanish TV) 1984)

Richard Butler: "My father had [Charles Aznavour's] records, and he's somebody I did quite like. He wrote some fantastic songs. Some for Edith Piaf, another of dad's favorites. There's a melancholy to that whole French thing, and we've had a couple of songs that dabbled in that feel. I think 'My Time' from Mirror Moves has an element of that." (Record Collector 2020)

Behind the Albums: Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live

A couple quotes from The Psychedelic Furs on their live album Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live, released in 2001.

Interviewer: "What was the biggest challenge in preparing Beautiful Chaos, or the live DVD? Was it selecting the songs?"

Richard Butler: "Not really. The live disc was in a way a by-product of the last tour; there wasn't a challenge in selecting songs for the tour, because we had been away for so long... coming back to the 'arena,' if you like, of music as The Furs, people were going to come out to hear the songs The Furs are well-known for – or we needed to remind them of those songs. We played what the audience wanted to hear – and the live record came out of that." (Ink 19 2002)

Interviewer: "Let's talk about The Psychedelic Furs' live album Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live. From a creative standpoint, how would you describe it?"

Tim Butler: "'Beautiful chaos' was coined when we started up as five musicians not really knowing how to play or how to write a song you know. It went way back, with that stuff. We all wanted to be heard, and make an impression. It was like five people 'soloing' or something, which was chaos. And we imported 'beautiful chaos.'" (Murfreesboro Pulse 2013)