Sometime after when
Talk Talk Talk came out The Psychedelic Furs went through an unexpected change. Suddenly tensions were rising and arguments were happening constantly between the original six members. Two of the members from that lineup, Roger Morris (guitar) and Duncan Kilburn (saxophone), left the band, leaving behind Richard Butler (vocals), John Ashton (guitar), Tim Butler (bass), and Vince Ely (drums).
Despite what happened with the band, there was something good that came out of it. With only four members left in The Furs, it gave them the freedom to explore musically further and because of that, they created one of the most greatest and influential albums of all time... the one and only Forever Now.
Before Roger and Duncan left, The Psychedelic Furs had written three songs which made it on Forever Now: The title track, "President Gas", and "Only You And I." The first two songs were performed at one of The Furs' concerts in Germany in late 1981 and Steve Lillywhite, producer of the first two albums, was there. When Steve heard "President Gas" he loved the song so much that he wanted to produce the third album, but The Furs politely declined the offer; mainly because they wanted to try out a different producer. Another person who wanted to produce the upcoming Forever Now was David Bowie, but the band didn't use him because critics at the time were making a lot of comparisons between their music and Bowie's.
Before The Psychedelic Furs went over to New York to record Forever Now they did some demos in London. The songs were more melodic and there were instruments such as the cello and marimba. The Furs wanted a producer who would be good at dealing with that kind of music, and so at last they picked Todd Rundgren. The band liked some of the stuff he had done, and also Tim Butler and Vince Ely were huge fans of Todd's.
I know Todd Rundgren had worked with the New York Dolls and other bands, but when I see his name I always think of his work on Forever Now. Todd did an amazing job producing the album and even brought his own creative ideas, too. He wanted the songs to sound a certain way, gave directions to The Furs on how to play, would sneak into the studio to play guitar parts when the band wasn't there, played instruments like the marimba and saxophone, and brought in Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (Flo and Eddie) to do backing vocals on some of the songs. The Psychedelic Furs opposed the idea of using backing vocalists at first, but when they tried it out they liked it. There were other great musicians who contributed on Forever Now, such as Gary Windo who, along with Todd Rundgren, did the horns on "Goodbye" and "Danger", and Ann Sheldon who played the cello on "Only You And I", "Sleep Comes Down", "President Gas", and "Yes I Do (Merry Go Round)".
Forever Now is famous for having one of the most beloved Psychedelic Furs songs ever, "Love My Way," (Two months ago I had already written about the song for its
40th anniversary) but it has other great tracks too. "Forever Now" which has an incredible guitar outro from John Ashton; the energetic melodies of "Danger" and "Goodbye"; the carnival-esque "Yes I Do (Merry Go Round)"; and the mysterious, brooding sound of "No Easy Street". My favorite version of "No Easy Street" is the live rendition that appeared as a b-side on the "All That Money Wants" single in 1988. It's also featured on the 1994 compilation
B-Sides And Lost Grooves and the 2002 remaster of
Forever Now.
There's a couple songs on Forever Now that are more of the rock and roll type, and they are "Only You And I" (called "You And I" on the UK version) and "President Gas." The working title for "Only You And I" was "Angels" and what's interesting is the song was titled with that name on a four-track 12" promo, and then again on The Furs' televised concert on the Spanish TV program La Edad de Oro in 1984. "President Gas" is a fan favorite and according to Richard Butler, the cello in the song was inspired by Stravinsky's "The Rite Of Spring."
My top three favorite songs on Forever Now are "Run And Run", the already mentioned "Love My Way", and "Sleep Comes Down". "Run And Run" used to be my favorite Psychedelic Furs song but now it's my second favorite. It has a fun, exciting sound and I absolutely love the choruses (mainly due to Flo and Eddie's backing vocals!). "Sleep Comes Down" has a dreamy, psychedelic feel to it and the cello works beautifully on the song. But in my opinion, "Sleep Comes Down" is even more powerful when played live.
I want to give a shout out to the two b-sides that were recorded during the Forever Now sessions and it makes me wish they made it on the album. The first, "Aeroplane", is a light, catchy song but the lyrics are about a dark topic: bombs dropping from the sky. The dance version of "Aeroplane" is really good and I love the sound of Tim Butler's bass on that mix. The second b-side, "I Don't Want To Be Your Shadow", is one of my favorite Psychedelic Furs songs. I love the ending with the la la las and the music is just fantastic.
Richard Butler once described Talk Talk Talk as a goodbye to England and Forever Now a hello to America, and he was definitely right. Over in The Psychedelic Furs' native UK, they didn't really get a lot of success and attention, while over in the United States it gave them the love they deserved. When the band toured for The Psychedelic Furs and Talk Talk Talk they were positively received in the US, but Forever Now was the album that changed everything for The Furs. In America the album was getting a lot of recognition due to the popularity of "Love My Way," and The Psychedelic Furs were amazed by it all. They played to thousands of people all over the country, made appearances at record stores signing autographs, and inspired Richard and Tim Butler to move to New York. In 1991, nine years after Forever Now's release, the album sold over 500,000 copies and was certified Gold by the RIAA.
Throughout the years Tim Butler had said many times in interviews that Forever Now's his favorite Psychedelic Furs album, while Talk Talk Talk is the favorite for the rest of the band. Here's a quote from Tim explaining why Forever Now's his favorite:
"Forever Now is my favorite album out of all of them. I think it was the peak of our psychedelicness. Some of our biggest influences were psychedelic and, finally, on that album we got psychedelic. I just thought the use of the cellos, and the horn section on some parts, was so great. And I enjoyed working with Todd [Rundgren]. I'd been a Todd fan before that, and he's a real character. It's just fun memories, as well as the music. It's just fond memories of that entire time."
On some article that I read one time it talked about Forever Now and the writer of that post said the album was dated. With this I totally disagree. Forever Now is timeless and it sounds like it could be an album from today. The record is a true original, a masterpiece, and there will never be another album like it. Happy 40th anniversary!
"Let it stay forever now..."
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| Photo: Antione Giacomoni |
