Behind the Albums: Here Came The Psychedelic Furs: B-Sides & Lost Grooves

A quote from Richard Butler on The Psychedelic Furs' compilation album B-Sides & Lost Grooves, released in 1994.

Richard Butler (on not being happy with Columbia releasing the album): "Those songs weren't lost. They were thrown away. It was like they went through our garbage for it." (Unknown source, 1990s/2000s?)

Boston Rock

Richard Butler appeared on the front cover of a 1982 (or 1983?) issue of the magazine Boston Rock.

Via noeasystreet.blogspot.com.

Aquarian Arts 1984

The Psychedelic Furs appeared on the front cover of the October 1984 issue of Aquarian Arts Weekly.

Via noeasystreet.blogspot.com

Page Updated

I would like to share an update about my blog page The Furs Talk About Their Music. I have now added quotes for Love Spit Love's and Richard Butler's solo albums and songs! Unfortunately the quotes are not a lot but I hope I will find more to add in the future.

Behind the Songs: Broken Aeroplanes

A quote from Richard Butler on his solo song "Broken Aeroplanes".

Richard Butler: "The one song on [Richard Butler] that does sound like something I've done before is 'Broken Aeroplanes,' which sounds like it could've been either the Furs or Love Spit Love. And Koch Records, that was their first choice for the single.

"And I said, 'No, no, it should be something that's more representative of the record.' And that's how we settled on 'Good Days, Bad Days.'" (Bullz-Eye 2006)

Behind the Songs: Breathe

A quote from Richard Butler on his solo song "Breathe".

Richard Butler (on being asked if he had thought of a second single for his solo album or that Koch Records would insist on "Broken Aeroplanes" to be the second single): "No. I haven't even thought about it. But if there is one, I'd like to hope that they'd go with 'Breathe.'" (Bullz-Eye 2006)

Behind the Songs: Good Days, Bad Days

A quote from Richard Butler on his solo song "Good Days, Bad Days".

Richard Butler: "The one song on [Richard Butler] that does sound like something I've done before is 'Broken Aeroplanes,' which sounds like it could've been either the Furs or Love Spit Love. And Koch Records, that was their first choice for the single.

"And I said, 'No, no, it should be something that's more representative of the record.' And that's how we settled on 'Good Days, Bad Days.'" (Bullz-Eye 2006)

Photo: Jimmy Bruch

Behind the Albums: Richard Butler

A selection of quotes from Richard Butler on his eponymous solo debut, released in 2006.

Richard Butler: "I think it was around the time of Forever Now when I first came up with the idea of wanting to do a solo album, and it just never sort of happened. And, this time, it sort of fell together quite…haphazardly, in a strange way. I'd written some songs, I didn't know what they were going to be for – whether they were going to be Psychedelic Furs songs or what they were going to be for – and I wanted to record different versions of them. So I started working with Jon Carin, who'd been a friend for years, and we started recording these songs, and he said, 'This should be a solo record.' And, then, we wrote a couple of songs ourselves, and they took off in a completely different direction, so we just sort of followed that direction and...there you have it." (Bullz-Eye 2006)

Richard Butler: "Basically, all the songs were written…well, pretty much exclusively…on acoustic guitar, believe it or not. And then we'd put an acoustic guitar version down, and then Jon would put a lot of ambient keyboards around it. As often as not, we'd pull out the acoustic guitar, but it's still in a lot of them, and we'd build a musical landscape around it." (Bullz-Eye 2006)

Richard Butler: "It sounds like a grown up record. My own thoughts, my own fears, they all surface." (Campus Circle 2006)

Richard Butler: "It reflects my life and how I feel at this point in it." (Campus Circle 2006)

Richard Butler: "The shock of somebody like a parent dying is not an incredible shock, you know what I mean? People get old and die all the time, you know it's going to happen. But the way it affects you is odd because they're kind of in-between you and your own death. It's like they're standing in the way. Whenever you think about death, you look at them and you think 'Well, they're still there, so I'm going to be around for awhile,' but once they're not there anymore, you think 'It’s my turn next.' I've always felt kind of bulletproof and that kind of put an end to that.

"A lot of the record is coming to terms with those kinds of ideas. What is love? Is it just an idea we're sold by somebody? I tend to think it is. But I don't think it's a miserable record. It's quite life affirming, life is a wonderful thing." (Campus Circle 2006)

Richard Butler: "For this one, I didn't know I was going to do a solo album when I started. At one point during the recording of it Jon said we should make this record so that the music (showcases) your voice. It was very personal, a lot of it. It seemed right that it was a solo record.

"It wasn't a conscious thing, really. It just sort of happened because of the way we structured and wrote the songs, so they were automatically more intimate. It gave rise to what I was going through at the time. It became more clear. If I was singing the lyrics against the rock band and singing a lot harder maybe it wouldn't be so intimate." (NewBeats 2006)

Richard Butler: "The way we wrote the songs were mainly with acoustic guitars. They weren't a lot of music to compete against and find a place for your vocals. So I was able to sing very quietly. And I enjoyed it." (NewBeats 2006)

Richard Butler: "A lot of [the songs] refer to loneliness, whether it's somebody mapping the stars up in space, somebody being the last person alive, or somebody sitting in a bar and not being able to sleep. It's just a series of pictures of loneliness asking whether it's all worth it." (NewBeats 2006)

Richard Butler: "There are a lot of acoustic guitars and a lot of electronics. Jon and I have written together over the years and started making a record a year and a half ago. Jon plays everything on it and we're both producing it.... It plays to both our strengths—he's very different as a composer from The Furs. We adjust what we do to accommodate each other's individual strengths." (Unknown source, 2006?)

Richard Butler: "I've experienced quite a bit the last few years, both good and bad. It's changed me tremendously, these songs reflect all of it. And because of that, they're some of the most personal and important songs I've ever done." (Unknown source, 2006?)

Richard Butler: "It was more thinking about what I was going through at the time: a parent dying, divorce, a family breaking up." (Bomb Magazine 2013)

Richard Butler (on the time when The Psychedelic Furs broke up): "It was time to go in and make another record, and I just realized I wasn't excited about it. I felt as if I already knew what it would sound like. We didn't want to do that again. And so, we just… quit. At that point it wasn't meant to be a hiatus, it was simply 'I quit!'

"I went on to make two Love Spit Love albums and a solo one." (Record Collector 2020)

Photo: Jimmy Bruch

Behind the Songs: How Soon Is Now? [Cover]

A quote from Richard Butler on Love Spit Love's cover of The Smiths' song "How Soon Is Now?"

Richard Butler: "It was quite accidental how that came about. A guy – I forget his name – the music supervisor for a movie, and I'm not sure that wasn't called Charmed as well… [Interviewer mentions The Craft] The Craft! Yeah! And he came and said, 'Would you like to do a cover of The Smiths song?' And I said, 'Well, yeah, but…I love the song, but I'm not sure how much I can make it my own.' Because their version is so definitive, and they're so great on it. And without that… [Does an impression on the riff] …that weird sound, it's not much. So you have to do that. And then all you have to do is, basically, hope you can sound different enough from Morrissey while singing one of his melodies! (Laughs) But I loved doing it, and I love the version. And, quite accidentally, I guess they decided…was it Fox? No, Warner Brothers. They decided to do kind of a TV series more or less based around the movie, and they wanted that to be the theme tune. So it was just luck, really." (Bullz-Eye 2006)

Behind the Songs: Sweet Thing

A quote from Richard Butler on the Love Spit Love song "Sweet Thing".

Richard Butler: "The one track [on Trysome Eatone] that made me sit back and think 'This sounds like me around the early Psychedelic Furs' was 'Sweet Thing'. That sounds like me singing on Talk Talk Talk". (Unknown source, 1997?)

Behind the Songs: Little Fist

A couple quotes from Richard Butler on the Love Spit Love song "Little Fist".

Richard Butler (on singing falsetto): "It was just something that happened on [Trysome Eatone]. And it happened quite naturally. It wasn't like I was thinking, 'I should go falsetto on a couple of places.' Most of these songs were written around my apartment with Richard Fortus, and a lot of acoustic guitar. When he played ('Little Fist') it just seemed natural to go into that voice." (Billboard 1997)

Richard Butler: "St. Marks [Place] is almost like a Third World street in some ways. There's this hotel, the St. Marks Hotel, where there's a death every four or five days. 'Little Fist' is about some of the people you see walking in and out of there." (Billboard 1997)

Behind the Albums: Trysome Eatone

A selection of quotes from Love Spit Love on Trysome Eatone, their second album, released in 1997.

Richard Butler (in response to the interviewer saying that the album compares with The Psychedelic Furs' best work): "I'd like to think that. I couldn't be more pleased with the way it turned out." (Billboard 1997)

Richard Butler (on singing falsetto): "It was just something that happened on this record. And it happened quite naturally. It wasn't like I was thinking, 'I should go falsetto on a couple of places.' Most of these songs were written around my apartment with Richard Fortus, and a lot of acoustic guitar. When he played ('Little Fist') it just seemed natural to go into that voice." (Billboard 1997)

Richard Butler: "This is the first record I've really wanted to bother to listen to after getting out of the studio. I haven't really felt that way since Forever Now. I think it's the range of emotions that we touched on that it puts me in a lot of different places when I listen to it. I don't think I've accomplished that in a while." (The San Bernardino County 1997)

Richard Fortus: "I think [Richard Butler] started listening to a lot more Oasis and Blur and that's where his tastes were at the moment. And also, I think he wanted to have a successful record. I think he felt like he couldn't really stretch out because it had been so long between records. But he's very happy with this record. He really likes it." (St. Louis Post Dispatch 1997)

Richard Fortus: "I think I still would have liked to have gone [for] some more unusual things. I mean, I think it's a good pop record, a good, solid pop record. But I don't think it's breaking any new ground." (St. Louis Post Dispatch 1997)

Richard Butler: "I wanted to make a record that had all great songs. Not all singles necessarily, just great songs. I also wanted the record to be varied, with lots of different moods, but make it so it all hung together." (Unknown source, 1997?)

Tim Butler: "There was a time, after the first Love Spit Love album–I didn't do the second one, or tour with them–I actually went to audio engineering school. Then I went and worked as an audio engineer at Electric Lady Studios in New York, at Jimi Hendrix's studio that he built. So, I was in the music business, but I was on the other side of the glass, in the control room. (Creative Pinellas 2016)

Richard Butler (on the time when The Psychedelic Furs broke up): "It was time to go in and make another record, and I just realised I wasn't excited about it. I felt as if I already knew what it would sound like. We didn't want to do that again. And so, we just… quit. At that point it wasn't meant to be a hiatus, it was simply 'I quit!'

"I went on to make two Love Spit Love albums and a solo one." (Record Collector 2020)

Photo: Michael Halsband

Behind the Songs: More

A quote from Richard Butler on the Love Spit Love song "More".

Richard Butler: "There are songs of hope on [Love Spit Love]. I think 'Green' is a hopeful song. 'More' is an optimistic song." (Press Of Atlantic City 1994)

Behind the Songs: St. Mary's Gate

A quote from Richard Fortus on the Love Spit Love song "St. Mary's Gate".

Richard Fortus: "I think people who know my playing realize songs like 'Green' and 'St. Mary's' and 'Jigsaw' and 'Wake Up' are songs that are a big part of my thing." (St. Louis Post Dispatch 1994)

Credits to photographer.

Behind the Songs: Green

A couple quotes from Love Spit Love on their song "Green".

Richard Butler: "There are songs of hope on [Love Spit Love]. I think 'Green' is a hopeful song. 'More' is an optimistic song." (Press Of Atlantic City 1994)

Richard Fortus: "I think people who know my playing realize songs like 'Green' and 'St. Mary's' and 'Jigsaw' and 'Wake Up' are songs that are a big part of my thing." (St. Louis Post Dispatch 1994)

Photo: Michael Halsband

Behind the Songs: Seventeen

A couple quotes from Richard Butler on the Love Spit Love song "Seventeen".

Richard Butler (on being asked what the song's about): "I'm not gonna tell you; I don't like talking about songs. That's a good start isn't it? Usually, they're a lot bigger than the title suggests." (Asbury Park Press 1994)

Richard Butler: "'Seventeen' and 'Superman' are both about getting older, not being in your teens anymore, but being in your thirties." (Press Of Atlantic City 1994)

Behind the Songs: Wake Up

A quote from Richard Fortus on the Love Spit Love song "Wake Up".

Richard Fortus: "I think people who know my playing realize songs like 'Green' and 'St. Mary's' and 'Jigsaw' and 'Wake Up' are songs that are a big part of my thing." (St. Louis Post Dispatch 1994)

Credits to photographer.

Behind the Songs: Jigsaw

A few quotes from Love Spit Love on their song "Jigsaw".

Richard Fortus (on being asked his favorite Love Spit Love songs): "'Jigsaw'. Because it is different to anything else out there right now. There is nothing out there that can also relate to it either. It is also like a weird hybrid type of a song. It is like Tom Waits meets a British cabaret." (Highwire Daze 1994)

Richard Fortus: "I think people who know my playing realize songs like 'Green' and 'St. Mary's' and 'Jigsaw' and 'Wake Up' are songs that are a big part of my thing." (St. Louis Post Dispatch 1994)

Richard Butler (on the music): "I keep getting this vision of this German SS soldier staggering down a dark alleyway at 4 in the morning, with lipstick on, and a garter over his uniform leg." (Unknown source, 1994?)

Photo: Michael Halsband

Behind the Songs: Superman

A couple quotes from Richard Butler on the Love Spit Love song "Superman".

Richard Butler: "'Seventeen' and 'Superman' are both about getting older, not being in your teens anymore, but being in your thirties. 'Superman' is about remembering when you're a kid and how you're a Superman when you're 19 or 17 or 18." (Press Of Atlantic City 1994)

Richard Butler: "There's a line 'I don't want your talk talk talk'... I thought about that when I came up with that line. I thought 'that sounds like... yeah, that'll do. I'll leave it in there'." (Unknown source, 1994?)

Photo: Michael Halsband

Behind the Albums: Love Spit Love

A selection of quotes from Love Spit Love on their eponymous debut, released in 1994.

Richard Butler: "The response I've gotten from Furs fans has been great. You know, 'I was (ticked off) when I heard the Furs had broken up, but I really like this record' seems to be the consensus." (Los Angeles Times 1994)

Richard Butler: "The concerns that seem clearest to me on this album are the passage of time, not having a faith to believe in and not believing in the myth of romantic love. I believe in love, I just don't believe it lasts very long." (Press Of Atlantic City 1994)

Richard Butler: "There are songs of hope on this record. I think 'Green' is a hopeful song. 'More' is an optimistic song." (Press Of Atlantic City 1994)

Richard Butler: "I love the way [producer Dave Jerden] made Jane's Addiction sound, and what he did with Alice In Chains. I like the sound of those records. Then when I met him and he was talking about how he'd worked with [Brian] Eno... I really liked his ideas, and it turned out that the way he envisioned [our] record sounding was exactly the same as I'd heard it. Plus, he makes guitars sound great, and that really attracted me as well.

"Recording can get really boring, and the only reason it didn't this time was because of Dave sticking in his two cents' worth, so we were arguing with him all the time." (Unknown source, 1994?)

Richard Butler: "It's very difficult to pin exactly what's different on the album, because I was and still am the same person. I'm kind of a pop writer in some ways, but I'm not going to go out and make a Spice Girls record.

"I'm more pop in terms of the Rolling Stones, bands like them. Richard Fortus can sit down and say, 'Hey, I've got these four ideas, what do you think?' Maybe one of those will immediately suggest a melody, and I'll just start singing along with it, and then start writing words. And that's exactly the way it was with the Psychedelic Furs. I would say the real difference is Richard Fortus, more importantly than anything else." (Unknown source, 1990s?)

Tim Butler (on the reason why The Psychedelic Furs took a hiatus): "We had grown tired of the record/rehearse/tour/write/rehearse/record/rehearse/ tour treadmill. And we felt we needed a break from it and from one another, although I did continue writing with Richard [Butler] for, and played on, the first Love Spit Love album." (Ear Candy 2004)

Tim Butler: "There was a time, after the first Love Spit Love album–I didn't do the second one, or tour with them–I actually went to audio engineering school. Then I went and worked as an audio engineer at Electric Lady Studios in New York, at Jimi Hendrix's studio that he built. So, I was in the music business, but I was on the other side of the glass, in the control room. (Creative Pinellas 2016)

Tim Butler (on working with Love Spit Love): "That was a nice break. I did the first Love Spit Love album, then I left the band and had my own band in New York for a few years, which didn't go anywhere. The whole Love Spit Love thing was a nice experience. I never toured with them because I had my own band. Writing with Richard Fortus and Frank Ferrer was great." (Cryptic Rock 2020)

Richard Butler (on the time when The Psychedelic Furs broke up): "It was time to go in and make another record, and I just realised I wasn't excited about it. I felt as if I already knew what it would sound like. We didn't want to do that again. And so, we just… quit. At that point it wasn't meant to be a hiatus, it was simply 'I quit!'

"I went on to make two Love Spit Love albums and a solo one." (Record Collector 2020)

Photo: Michael Halsband

One Two Testing Cover 1986

Richard Butler appeared on the front cover of the July–August 1986 issue of the magazine One Two Testing.

Via noeasystreet.blogspot.com.

Blog Of Days: Fifth Anniversary Special [Part 1]

This year is the fifth anniversary of Blog of Days and I want to talk about a couple things to celebrate it. The blog will be in two parts and the first topic I want to write about is how I started getting into blogging.

It happened around the mid to late 2010's and one day I encountered some blog that was about Morrissey. After checking it out it made me want to write about the stuff that I liked (mainly music). In 2017 I started a blog on WordPress and mostly talked about The Psychedelic Furs but I would occasionally talk about the other music I liked, too.

Then in February 2019 I made a Gmail account and I decided to move to Blogger. I deleted my WordPress account and created this blog, but I made it only to be about The Psychedelic Furs. I still talk about other music I liked but the posts have to still be PFurs related. The name Blog of Days is a reference to The Furs' sixth album Book Of Days, and the blog address is "On Tomorrow's Pages", a line taken from the song "Highwire Days".

Ever since starting Blog of Days there are a couple accomplishments that happened which I'm proud of. The first one is in February 2020 I was working on my blog post The Psychedelic Furs: 40 Years of Beautiful Chaos and after writing out everything I accidentally deleted the whole thing. I couldn't undo what I did because whenever you're working on a new post it saves automatically and there wasn't a way I could bring my words back. I didn't know what to do at first and I felt that if I wrote it all over again it wouldn't be as good as when I started out. So I decided to write it out again, and the amazing thing is that I actually remembered 98% of what I wrote because I have a really good memory. The second time turned out to be better than the first after all, and I finally published it. This is one of my favorite blog posts I have ever worked on and I am proud of it.

The second accomplishment is in April 2021 I published a ranking of my top 10 favorite Psychedelic Furs songs and I shared the link on my old Twitter account. A day later when I got on Twitter I noticed I got a lot of notifications and to my excitement I discovered The Psychedelic Furs' official account retweeted my tweet. I remember feeling over the moon and even cried tears of joy. Even though I don't have Twitter anymore (I deleted it after its name changed to X and I felt it wasn't the same after that) I will always never forget that moment. I'm also really fond of my concert posts and my blog page that's filled with tons of quotes from The Furs about their albums and songs. I'm kind of thinking of adding Love Spit Love and Richard Butler's solo album too but I'm not 100% sure. But I'll think about it sometime.

The hardest part about blogging is getting the writers block and being tired mentally and not having the motivation to write, especially since I'm working overnights. But once that inspiration comes (or spark as I like to call it) it is glorious, and whenever I would finish a long post I would feel total satisfaction.

I guess that pretty much covers it for part 1 and I hope you all enjoyed reading. Stay tuned for part 2!