Behind the Songs: Torch

A few quotes from Richard Butler on the song "Torch."

Richard Butler: "Originally ('Torch') was just a regular electric song. We'd put acoustic guitar on a lot of tracks [from Book Of Days] and when it came down to mixing 'Torch' we brought up the acoustics and drums and cello first. We hadn't brought up the electrics yet and I thought, 'Well that sounds pretty good — now let's try it without the drums.' We tried it without the drums and I liked it much better." (Southtown Star 1989)

Richard Butler (on being asked what he would like his epitaph to be): "'All of this and I regret not a day that I was sent.'" (Melody Maker 1990)

Richard Butler: "We've never sung a song that was just a ballad, with acoustic guitars and cello before and I liked... the change, or just the minimalism of the arrangement." (The Tampa Tribune 1990)

Concert Ads #31

During the Book Of Days tour The Psychedelic Furs performed these UK dates from January 30 to February 6, 1990. The support act for those shows was The Fat Lady Sings.

Via @nothingelseon (Twitter)

Concert Ads #30

On April 21, 1983, The Psychedelic Furs performed at the E.M. Loew's Theater in Worcester, Massachusetts during the Forever Now tour. Support act was Divinyls.

Psychedelic Furs July 22, 2017

After feeling the excitement from the second concert in 2016 I hoped The Psychedelic Furs would return to the Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon someday. The venue was awesome and I really wanted to go back there; and luckily it happened. When The Furs came out with the dates for the Summer 2017 tour I discovered the Revolution Hall was added again and I was delighted. But there was something I wanted to do, and that was to give The Psychedelic Furs a letter.

In June (a month before the concert) I bought a notebook to write my letter in, but before I wrote on the notebook I used the Notes app on my mobile device. I didn't want to write on the notebook first because I would probably waste a lot of paper, so using the app was very useful. I can't remember how many weeks it took me to write out my letter, but I finished it on the Notes app. Then in July on the day before the concert I officially wrote it on the notebook and tore the paper out. I was excited.

I took this picture right before I started my letter; July 21, 2017.

The big day finally came, and my original plan was to be in the front row again and try to give my letter to vocalist Richard Butler or throw it on stage during the show. But unfortunately my plan got backfired, because my brother (who went with me again) had a blister under his foot and he said he didn't want to stand for a long time and so wanted to sit in the balcony. I told him that was fine, but deep down I was really disappointed. At first I thought of not bringing my letter, but at the last minute I decided to take it with me, thinking "Well, just in case..." I prayed that there would be a way for me to give The Furs my letter. I wanted it to happen so much.

My brother and I got into the Revolution Hall and we went up to the third floor (where the balcony was) to stand in line. As I mentioned before, the venue used to be a high school many decades ago and seeing the old lockers by me was cool. While in line a middle-aged couple who were standing behind me noticed the 2016 tour t-shirt I was wearing and we started talking about The Furs. I actually enjoyed it, and it was fun talking to them about my favorite band. After that the doors opened and we went inside. The balcony was curved and so my brother and I sat on the left side of it.

There was a backstage door facing my direction which was open, and while opener Robyn Hitchcock was singing a lady appeared in the doorway to watch him and then left. I realized she was the keyboardist Amanda Kramer, and a little after she went away guitarist Rich Good came and watched Robyn, too. I looked at Rich and I thought about the time I met him the year before. Through the doorway I also saw Richard Butler, his brother and bassist Tim, and saxophonist Mars Williams.

Right after Robyn Hitchcock's performance somebody from the bottom floor threw something on stage. Seeing that suddenly gave me a great idea. I took the letter out of my pocket, got up from my seat, and threw it so that it would land on the stage. But as I threw my letter I saw it floating down to the floor below instead of the stage, and I sat back down with my hopes crushed. My brother wondered what I threw and I told him it was a letter for The Psychedelic Furs. I was devastated inside and I felt like I did it all for nothing. I thought of how the audience under me would probably find my letter, pick it up and read it, and I got a sick feeling in my stomach thinking about that. I really didn't want them to, because my letter was supposed to be personal and private.

Once again The Psychedelic Furs put out an amazing show and the songs I got excited hearing were "Dumb Waiters," "So Run Down," "No Tears," "Alice’s House," "All That Money Wants," and "House," which I wasn't familiar with when The Furs played it at the 2016 concert because I didn't have Book Of Days at the time. They also performed another song I didn't recognize back then, and it was a cover of "Believe" by Richard Butler's other band Love Spit Love.

When the concert was over my brother bought me a t-shirt and we went out of the building. I had a good time but I was sort of still disappointed with the whole affair of the letter. But when I watched The Furs perform I never knew that something special would happen after the show, and it gave that night a happy ending for me.

My brother and I were about to cross the street but we couldn't because there were too many cars passing through. So we went around the Revolution Hall, and as we were walking my brother looked over his shoulder and suddenly whispered to me, "Sarah, behind you!" I looked back and I saw Rich Good walking out of the door of the venue. He had a drink in his hand and was heading the opposite direction. I yelled out hi to Rich and he turned around, looked at me, and said happily, "Hey, how are you doing Sarah?!" When Rich said my name I got so excited. I was blown away that he remembered me, and even my brother was too! Rich came over and hugged me, then pulled something out of the pocket of his jacket and said, "I got your letter!"

He was holding my letter... My letter... 

I was absolutely stunned. I thought it disappeared. How did Rich find it? I was like, "What?"

Then Rich said, "Yeah, I found it by my key pedals and it was really lovely and it made me tear up."

After Rich said that I was in a shock and tried to process what I heard. Then realizing my letter actually made it to The Furs I broke down crying tears of joy and relief, and as I cried Rich hugged and comforted me. I knew there were people around us who could hear me sobbing my heart out, but I didn't care... I was the happiest girl in the world that night, and I was so thankful my prayers were answered.

Rich talked to my brother and I for a little bit and asked us how our day went and if we enjoyed the concert. Then I got a photo with Rich and he gave me another guitar plectrum! As we were preparing to leave Rich hugged me, said bye, and left to go visit a couple friends of his. Rich Good is one of the most nicest and awesome people I've ever met, and I will always remember his kindness to me. I even got five hugs from him! <3

I was still in shock when we left and before my brother and I went home, we stopped by at an area where there were food trucks and benches and so we got something to eat. I didn't eat that much though because I was too excited about what happened. That night definitely ended on an awesome note, and looking back it gives me a comforting feeling to know that Richard Butler and the others saw my letter, too.

The next day I was looking at the pictures that I took at the concert and on some of the photos there was an amazing discovery. There was something laying by Rich Good's key pedals and after remembering what Rich said to me, I realized that was my letter! It did land on the stage after all and he probably found it when the show ended. My family was very happy for me when I told them about that wonderful moment. It's a beautiful memory that I will cherish forever...

My letter laying near Rich Good's key pedals during the concert!

Setlist:

1. Dumb Waiters
2. Heartbeat
3. The Ghost In You
4. So Run Down
5. Heaven
6. No Tears
7. Believe (Love Spit Love cover)
8. Highwire Days
9. Love My Way
10. Angels Don't Cry
11. Alice's House
12. Mr. Jones
13. All That Money Wants
14. House
15. Pretty In Pink

Encore:

16. President Gas
17. Heartbreak Beat
18. India

The guitar pick given to me by Rich Good.

*All photos by me*

Psychedelic Furs July 26, 2016

The second Psychedelic Furs concert I went to was at the Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon in 2016, and as I said on my previous post, it is my favorite concert of all time because so many awesome moments happened on that day.

My brother went with me again and we left at about noon. After we entered Portland we found where the Revolution Hall was and went to look for a parking spot. We found one close by and walked over to the venue. While we were walking over there, at a distance there were two guys heading toward us. When they came closer I realized one of them was guitarist Rich Good, and as we walked by I said hi to Rich and he said hi back. After we said hi my brother asked me if that was the guitarist and I said yeah. He asked me why I didn't get a photo with him and I told my brother I was nervous. Also I was afraid I would be a bother but I didn't mention that to him.

We got to the Hall and walked around to take a look at the venue. After looking around we saw Rich and the other guy again. My brother asked me if I wanted a picture with Rich and I remember saying, "I'm nervous but it would be so awesome!" We went up to Rich and my brother asked him if he could take a picture of me and Rich together. Rich said yeah and we both introduced ourselves and got the photo taken. I was very shy, but Rich was so kind and after the photo he gave me a guitar plectrum! I hugged Rich and told him thank you, and then we said farewell. I was happy that I got the chance to meet Rich Good and getting the plectrum was exciting. By the way, when my brother and I were checking out the venue we saw saxophonist Mars Williams by the tour bus, but we were far away from him.

My brother and I stayed outside for a little bit, then we went inside the Hall. The Revolution Hall actually used to be an old school called Washington High School and was built in the late 1800s. Right when we went inside we bumped into Rich again! He said to me, "Hi, how's it going?" and I said "Good!" Rich had his guitar with him and he went away to rehearse with the band.

My brother and I went up to the second floor where the auditorium was (where the show will take place), and there was also a third floor which led to the auditorium's balcony. At the second floor there were benches lined up against the outside of the auditorium and so we both sat on the bench. It was very quiet and we were the only ones in there. Suddenly we heard music coming from the auditorium and we realized The Psychedelic Furs were in there soundchecking! They did the songs "The Ghost In You," "Love My Way," "Like A Stranger," "Angels Don’t Cry," and "Mr. Jones." It was amazing hearing that and the vocalist Richard Butler sounded fantastic.

A couple hours later more people showed up in line, and as the doors were opened we went inside and made it right up to the center of the stage. But the awesome thing was there was no barrier at all! The opening band was The Church again, and it was nice they came back to tour with The Psychedelic Furs for the second time. After The Church played we waited for The Furs to come on stage, and at last the walk-on music started. The song was David Bowie's "Warszawa" from the album Low (1977), and when my brother and I realized what that song was we looked at each other and cheered loudly in appreciation. I got emotional because I knew it was a tribute to Bowie, who sadly passed away in the beginning of 2016. Then the band members arrived, and after the intro to the opener "India" Richard Butler came on stage. Rich Good recognized me in the crowd and he smiled at me as I waved at him.

Out of all the PFurs concerts I went to the setlist for this show (and for the 2016 tour) is the best one for me because "All Of The Law" and "Angels Don't Cry" were included, and it was great hearing those songs live. Even bassist Tim Butler said in an interview once that the latter was his favorite song to play during that tour. Speaking of Tim, he sang right back to me many times and at one point as I was taking pictures of him, he noticed and looked at me!

One of the reasons why this concert is my absolute favorite is because of what happened during the show. I had gotten four handshakes from Richard Butler! At the start of the second song "Fall" he went over to where I was to shake some of the people's hands, and when I lifted my arm he shook my hand. I looked at my brother with a huge smile on my face. At the first concert I tried to get a handshake two times but I wasn't able to, so when I finally got one I felt deep satisfaction. Richard shook my hand again I think during "Like A Stranger," and the last two occurred during "The Ghost In You" and "Heartbreak Beat." But the third handshake is the most special one...

Richard Butler was on the right side of the stage during the first chorus of "The Ghost In You," and when the second verse began he headed over to my direction. As Richard started to sing the line "Stars come down in you" he shook my hand and I looked at my brother again excitedly. But when I looked at my brother I realized my arm was still lifted, and as I looked back Richard held my hand and was singing to me, looking at me! I honestly never expected that would happen, and when he was about to go I yelled out hi to him. It was a very special moment and I'll never forget it for the rest of my life.

At the end of the last song "Pretty In Pink" Richard Butler left while the band was finishing the final part, and after when the music ended the band members went also. While they were leaving Rich Good was walking by and stopped to shake some hands. He saw me, shook my hand, and said to me "Hi again!" and I said hi back. The performance of "Pretty In Pink" from that concert is on YouTube, and it showed Rich shaking my hand!

Screenshot of the video by uploader Steve Herzog.

When my brother and I got in the car after the show I was overcome with emotion and cried. I turned my face to the window to hide my tears because I didn't want my brother to see me cry. I was feeling total happiness from the concert but I was also sad that it was over. The whole night was wonderful and I really didn't want it to end.

A year later The Psychedelic Furs came back to the Revolution Hall and I was happy about that because The Hall quickly became my favorite venue after that night. I went there for my third PFurs concert, and once again the Revolution Hall gave me another special moment to remember.

Setlist:

1. India
2. Fall
3. President Gas
4. Love My Way
5. Like A Stranger
6. Mr. Jones
7. The Ghost In You
8. Little Miss World
9. All Of The Law
10. Angels Don't Cry
11. House
12. Heaven
13. Danger
14. Heartbreak Beat

Encore:

15. Into You Like A Train
16. Until She Comes
17. Pretty In Pink

Tickets and Rich Good's guitar pick.

*Note: All photos are by me, except the screenshot from the video*

Psychedelic Furs September 2, 2015

Over on my Green Day blog I wrote about the moment I saw the band live in 2017 and after writing that post, I thought of redoing the ones for the first three Psychedelic Furs concerts I went to. When I used to be on WordPress I had written about those PFurs concerts and I even saved them when I moved here to Blogger. But while looking at the posts I felt like I should write about them again because my writing has improved over the years, and I wanted to give those stories their own new posts (the old ones are now deleted). Today I am going to start with the time I first saw The Psychedelic Furs when they performed at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, Oregon almost seven years ago.

Before I talk about the concert I want to give you all a little backstory of how I got into The Furs. I heard a few of their songs growing up (thanks to my parents) and even liked them, but in November 2014 they somehow came into my thoughts and I decided to try out their other songs. So on Amazon I bought one of their greatest hits albums and after listening, I loved the music and I became a fan right away. That Christmas I got Forever Now and Mirror Moves which made me love them even more, and then later I got the other albums.

A while after becoming a fan the thought of wanting to see The Psychedelic Furs live never really entered my mind, but in late July of 2015 I was looking through my Twitter and there was a tweet that said: "CONCERT ALERT: The Psychedelic Furs at the Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR September 2, 2015." The moment I saw that I was ecstatic, and I told my mom about it and she got the tickets for me as part of a birthday present. The fact I was going to see The Furs made me so emotional I started crying.

When the day came my brother went with me since he liked some of The Psychedelic Furs' songs and while driving to Portland we listened to Midnight To Midnight. As we got to downtown Portland I got excited and had butterflies in my stomach because we were getting close to our destination. We found a parking spot and walked over to the Crystal Ballroom, then stood in line outside of the venue. We were by the tour bus, and while we were standing there was someone who went inside the tour bus. Later he came out and headed to the Ballroom, and that person was saxophonist Mars Williams. It was cool to think that he walked nearby where my brother and I were standing. I might have seen keyboardist Amanda Kramer too, but I can't remember.

After waiting we finally got in and went over to the right side of the stage, and we were up to the barrier! I was happy we made it to the front, because since I'm a short person I would never want to be in the back where I probably couldn't see anything.

The opening band was The Church, and what's interesting was I heard somewhere that in 1988 The Psychedelic Furs and The Church wanted to tour together but it never happened. 27 years later the two bands finally did and in 2016 they toured with each other again. After that it was time for The Psychedelic Furs to appear, and I'll never forget the moment I saw them with my own eyes in person. The band members were the first to arrive, and after Mars Williams played the saxophone intro to the first song "Heartbeat," the music kicked in and vocalist Richard Butler came up on stage. It was so awesome seeing Richard in person and as I was watching him, I thought to myself, "That's him! That's the Richard Butler!" The whole concert was filled with magic and The Furs were just magnificent.

Bassist Tim Butler sang right back at me during "Heartbreak Beat" and there was one special moment that occurred, and that was my first encounter with guitarist Rich Good. And remember, this happened a year before I actually got to meet him! At one point during the show Rich was standing in front of me and suddenly he looked at me and smiled. I smiled back at him, and when the show was over the band members were leaving and as Rich walked by, he waved at me and I waved back at him. Back then I never knew a year later I would eventually meet Rich and it's amazing to think about that.

After the concert my brother and I went to the merchandise area and I got a t-shirt that has the Mirror Moves album cover and a 2015 vinyl remaster of that album, which was autographed by The Furs! When we got home I went to my room and I cried tears of joy. I couldn't believe I saw them and it was one of the most awesome nights of my life. I told myself that if The Psychedelic Furs came back to Portland I would definitely want to see them again. My wish came true because in April 2016 The Furs announced the Summer Tour for that year and Portland was included, but at a different venue called the Revolution Hall. What happened at that show quickly became my favorite concert ever, and I will write about it very soon.

Setlist:

1. Heartbeat
2. Mr. Jones
3. Heaven
4. There's A World
5. Love My Way
6. Little Miss World
7. Until She Comes
8. Susan's Strange
9. The Ghost In You
10. Only You And I
11. Wrong Train
12. Heartbreak Beat
13. Highwire Days
14. Danger
15. Pretty In Pink 

Encore: 

16. Sister Europe
17. Sleep Comes Down

My autographed copy of Mirror Moves.

*All photos by me*

New Blog

I created a second new blog today called Heart Grenade, and it's mainly about my second favorite band Green Day and their album American Idiot. On the blog I talk about things that are related to the album and the memories I have during that era. I wrote my first post on there so feel free to have a look! Here's the link: https://americanidiotworld.blogspot.com

Behind the Albums: Should God Forget: A Retrospective

A quote from John Ashton on The Psychedelic Furs' two-disc compilation album Should God Forget: A Retrospective, released in 1997.

John Ashton: "The last tour [for World Outside] was a realization that we had all come a long way, but at the same time had not reached our final destination. Perhaps this collection will help fan the flames." (Should God Forget liner notes, 1997)

Behind the Songs: Fall

A few quotes from The Psychedelic Furs on the song "Fall."

Richard Butler: "As for pressures, [CBS] signed us for the material we're doing. The first single will either be 'We Love You' or 'Fall' and the first album is going to be the material we're doing now. So there's no pressure on us, we do it our way." (New Musical Express 1979)

Richard Butler: "You know the line from 'Fall': 'Needles on the beach at Goa, you will have another flower'? I heard all these people went out as hippies and became junkies when they got to Goa; somebody told me the beach actually crunched under your feet with hypodermic syringes. I thought that was great.... I had to use it." (Musician 1983)

John Ashton: "A lot of [The Psychedelic Furs] was pre-written by virtue of the fact that the band had been around a couple of years. So there were songs there. I joined the band in '78, and 'Sister Europe' was already a song, a version of 'Imitation Of Christ' was there, 'We Love You' was already there. And there were other songs that were coming along, like 'India,' that I brought to the band. 'Fall' was another, and 'Blacks/Radio,' which was just kind of a jam." (Popdose 2012)

Behind the Songs: Like A Stranger

A quote from Richard Butler on the song "Like A Stranger."

Richard Butler (on being asked which was his favorite song to perform live): "Oh goodness, that would be tough. We started playing a couple that we haven't done for a long, long time. We were just playing 'Like A Stranger' from Mirror Moves [for the 2009 tour] and that sounded really good, and I was very pleased to be doing that. And you know, we haven't played that song in... Gosh, since it came out." (That Modern Rock Show (89.1 WFDU) 2009)

Photo: Brian Griffin

Behind the Songs: Susan's Strange

A quote from John Ashton on the song "Susan's Strange."

John Ashton: "We got to work with Martin Hannett right around the Talk Talk Talk period when Steve [Lillywhite] wasn't around. We got to cut some tracks with Martin Hannett which ended up being on the domestic issue of the first album. I think it was 'Susan's Strange' and 'Soap Commercial.' These songs replaced 'Blacks/Chaos/Radio' and they were produced by Martin Hannett." (Everyone Loves Guitar podcast 2021)

Photo: Allan Tannenbaum

Behind the Songs: Flowers

A few quotes from The Psychedelic Furs on the song "Flowers."

Richard Butler (on being asked if "India" was about what the Guru government had done in India for years): "That's more the theme of 'Flowers.'" (Sounds 1981 [German magazine])

Tim Butler: "I think we had a couple of songs that came out of jamming around one song onstage, and something would develop. 'India' came out of that, from the intro to 'Flowers' off the first album. That's a bit psychedelicky. Though there were no psychedelic drugs involved. Maybe a few pints of lager! Maybe more than that." (Tower Records 2020)

John Ashton (on hearing a demo tape of The Furs given to him right before he joined the band): "I put the tape on and I really liked it. There were early versions of 'We Love You,' 'Blacks/Chaos/Radio,' which didn't make it on the US domestic release but was on the original United Kingdom release; maybe 'Flowers,' another one. They were very much of the punk edgy sort of harder songs. Maybe 'Pulse' as well, I'm not sure." (Everyone Loves Guitar podcast, 2021)

Photo: Tom Sheehan

Behind the Songs: Pulse

A selection of quotes from The Psychedelic Furs on the song "Pulse."

Tim Butler: "There was this thing in this magazine recently, that said that 'Pulse' was like a truncated 'Peter Gunn' theme. And we'd never heard of it." (Sounds 1979)

John Ashton: "'Pulse' started as an A... Someone said 'Dog [Roger Morris], play on A' and it just sort of went from there." (ZigZag 1979)

Richard Butler: "The first verse is about styles, everybody dyeing their hair, all about fashion. The second verse is about religion. The third verse is saying people like you do that. This is the pulse...everybody, when they're young, is a Commie." (ZigZag 1979)

Tim Butler: "One chord can make a great song!" (Should God Forget liner notes, 1997)

John Ashton (on hearing a demo tape of The Furs given to him right before he joined the band): "I put the tape on and I really liked it. There were early versions of 'We Love You,' 'Blacks/Chaos/Radio,' which didn't make it on the US domestic release but was on the original United Kingdom release; maybe 'Flowers,' another one. They were very much of the punk edgy sort of harder songs. Maybe 'Pulse' as well, I'm not sure." (Everyone Loves Guitar podcast, 2021)

Behind the Songs: This'll Never Be Like Love

A quote from Rich Good on the song "This'll Never Be Like Love."

Rich Good (on being asked what were his favorite songs from Made Of Rain to play live): "'Don't Believe', 'No-One', 'Ash Wednesday'… 'This'll Never Be Like Love'. Again, 'all of them' would be an accurate answer." (Post-Punk.com 2022)

Photo: Reed Davis

Behind the Songs: Soap Commercial

A selection of quotes from The Psychedelic Furs on the song "Soap Commercial."

Richard Butler (on producer Martin Hannett): "His forte is getting really weird sounds. He made a tape loop for us when we were doing 'Soap Commercial.' It was about 14 feet long. It went around a stand that the speaker was on and right into the tape room which was right over the desk. No, it might not have been 'Soap Commercial'... (WCUT-FM Radio 1981)

John Ashton: "When I first got to America I realized there really was a Channel 9." (Should God Forget liner notes, 1997)

John Ashton: "We got to work with Martin Hannett right around the Talk Talk Talk period when Steve [Lillywhite] wasn't around. We got to cut some tracks with Martin Hannett which ended up being on the domestic issue of the first album. I think it was 'Susan's Strange' and 'Soap Commercial.' These songs replaced 'Blacks/Chaos/Radio' and they were produced by Martin Hannett." (Everyone Loves Guitar podcast 2021)

Rich Good (on being asked what were his favorite classic PFurs songs to play live): "'Soap Commercial', 'Sister Europe', 'Dumb Waiters', 'Only You And I', 'Alice's House'… Honestly, there's not really any I don't like playing." (Post-Punk.com 2022)

Photo: Andrew Douglas

Another Rich Good Interview

Photo by me.

Yesterday I looked to see if there were any new Psychedelic Furs interviews on the internet and I had found one that Rich Good did recently for the website Post-Punk.com. In the interview Rich talked about his former band The Pleased, how he joined The Furs, Made Of Rain, his favorite songs to play live, and a couple other topics. It's a really good interview and I hope there will be more interviews since the band are over in England touring. Here is the link to the Rich Good interview. https://post-punk.com/furs-face-an-interview-with-rich-good-of-the-psychedelic-furs/amp/