"Pop's Outsider"

For the September 27, 1986 issue of British magazine Record Mirror Richard Butler appeared on the front cover.

East Coast Rocker 1990

This picture is sort of in low quality but Richard Butler appeared on the front cover of the January 17, 1990 issue of East Coast Rocker (now called The Aquarian Weekly).

Green Day Inspired by President Gas?

I had been wanting to talk about this but recently I was listening to Green Day's song "Holiday" from the American Idiot album, and in the lyrics it mentioned a "President Gasman." It totally made me think of The Psychedelic Furs' "President Gas", and I don't know if I'm right or wrong with this, but I wonder if "Holiday" was inspired by The Furs song? I mean, Green Day has got to be influenced by The Psychedelic Furs in some way, especially since they covered "Pretty In Pink" four years ago when they performed as their other band The Coverups.

I wish I can ask Green Day that question on their Twitter or Instagram but unfortunately I have a feeling they wouldn't respond to it. The thought is very interesting to me and if there are any of you who love both The Psychedelic Furs and Green Day, do you think the same thing too?

Edit: A long time ago on YouTube I watched a Psychedelic Furs video (I can't remember if it was a interview or a live performance) and in the comments for that particular video someone said that Green Day and the song "Holiday" were influenced by "President Gas". Maybe it's true?

Happy Birthday Rich Good

Photo: Reed Davis

Today I would like to wish a happy birthday to Rich Good, guitarist of The Psychedelic Furs. In the early 2000s Rich used to be in a band called The Pleased and in 2004 they opened for The Psychedelic Furs. Years later after when John Ashton left The Furs, Rich officially joined the band and has been their guitarist for 13 years.

In 2020 The Psychedelic Furs released their eighth album Made Of Rain and Rich wrote the music for the songs "The Boy That Invented Rock & Roll", "This'll Never Be Like Love", "Come All Ye Faithful", "No-One", and co-wrote "Don't Believe" along with Tim Butler and Paul Garisto. His guitar work on the album is absolutely amazing, especially on the songs "Ash Wednesday" and "No-One". "No-One" is my favorite Psychedelic Furs song of all time and Rich Good definitely deserves all the praise for writing the music on the song. The music is incredibly beautiful and fills you with emotion. And his work on the song "Evergreen" is fantastic too, creating an atmospheric beauty and nature that perfectly captures the lyrics of the song.

Rich Good is awesome as a guitarist and also as a human being. He has a heart of gold and is always kind to the fans whenever they meet him. Luckily I was one of them and I had the pleasure of meeting Rich twice in 2016 and 2017. I really wish I had the chance to meet Rich again when I last saw The Psychedelic Furs in 2019 but during the concert he actually recognized me, and I was so excited. He's one of the most nicest people I've ever met and I'll never forget his kindness to me.

Happy birthday Rich and hope you have a wonderful day!

Photo: Pam Baisi