More Happy News

Today the tickets for The Psychedelic Furs' second North American tour in September to October are on sale and I just want to happily announce that I bought mine for the Portland concert. I am now officially going to see The Psychedelic Furs for the seventh time!!

I want to mention that something incredible happened at the end of my shift at work yesterday morning. The radio in the retail I work at actually played "Pretty In Pink"! And what's cool is that it was the 86 version! The radio at my work never plays The Psychedelic Furs so it was exciting hearing them play a Furs song.

Photo: Henry Diltz

Happy News

Well, it finally happened. Today The Psychedelic Furs announced more North American shows from September to October, and on September 16th they're coming back to the Crystal Ballroom!! This makes it very special for me because I saw The Furs for the first time at that same venue 10 years ago. And now, 10 years later, it will be my seventh time seeing The Furs! Plus another great thing is that the 16th is on my weekend, so I don't have to request to get the day off at work!

At the Crystal Ballroom, 2015. Photo by me.

I can't wait to see what the setlist will be like and I wonder if Richard Fortus will join The Furs again; I hope he does. The support act for this portion of the tour will be Gary Numan.

Via Facebook.

European Tour

Earlier today The Psychedelic Furs announced more shows and they will return to Europe in November. The Furs will perform in France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain. To be honest I was kind of hoping for more North American dates but hopefully they will be added soon. Happy for the European fans who will get to see The Psychedelic Furs.

I want to mention that last Saturday morning when I got off from work, on the way home the radio played "Love My Way"! I was so ecstatic when I heard it because the radio never plays The Psychedelic Furs. Even though I have Spotify, hearing it on the radio is different. The last time I heard a Psychedelic Furs song on the radio was four years ago when one of the stations played "Pretty In Pink".

Via Facebook.

Strawberry Switchblade

Recently I got into Strawberry Switchblade, who were a new wave duo from Scotland in the '80s. I wanted to get their eponymous debut album from 1985 (their only one, actually) and so I looked at their Discogs page. The thing that surprised me was that Strawberry Switchblade NEVER got a CD reissue in the UK and Europe, and didn't get released in the US. However, the album got reissued on CD many times in Japan, where Strawberry Switchblade got more popular there. So on Amazon I bought the CD (used, but in very good condition) and it came all the way from Japan. What's really cool is that in the booklet there's a introduction written in Japanese (probably a biography about Strawberry Switchblade), and has the lyrics in both English and Japanese. I paid $61 for the CD, but it was totally worth it. It's the 1997 reissue with some bonus tracks added.

I know you're probably thinking, "what does this have to do with The Psychedelic Furs?", but the music videos for Strawberry Switchblade's singles "Since Yesterday" (the group's only UK top 5 hit), "Let Her Go", and "Who Knows What Love Is?" were all directed by Tim Pope, who did The Psychedelic Furs' iconic videos for "Love My Way", "Heaven", "The Ghost In You", "Here Come Cowboys", and "Angels Don't Cry". The "Since Yesterday" video kind of reminds me of "The Ghost In You" in a way, and what's interesting is I read that "Since Yesterday" is about nuclear war. That song came out in 1984, the same year as "Heaven", which is also about nuclear war!

It's sad that Strawberry Switchblade never got the recognition they truly deserved and I definitely recommend listening to their self-titled LP. My favorite song on the album is "Deep Water".

The Mars Williams Archive

Photo by me.

On April 22 I received an email from GoFundMe and it was an update from Dave Rempis, who created the GoFundMe for Mars Williams two years ago. Here is what Dave wrote:

"Dear friends, Our beloved friend Mars Williams was a legend of the Chicago music world for decades, a musician and bandleader whose impact stretched across the globe. His passing at the end of 2023 left a hole across many lives and musical scenes. To celebrate what would have been Mars' 70th birthday on May 29th, and to launch the Mars Williams Archive now being hosted at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, we're planning a series of concerts and events on May 24th and 25th at Constellation, The May Chapel, Experimental Sound Studio, and The Hungry Brain. Tickets for all of these events are on sale now at the respective venue websites, and all proceeds from these concerts will go towards supporting the Mars Williams Archive. If you can't make it, but would like to help support the archive, please follow this link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KHAAJ2FNV3KG4 WE HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US FOR THIS CELEBRATION!!"

If you would like to donate to and support the Mars Williams Archive, please go to the link above.

Concert Ads #50

On July 5, 1981 The Psychedelic Furs performed at the Marble Bar in Baltimore, Maryland during the Talk Talk Talk Tour. This advert mentioned that The Furs' upcoming (at the time) show would happen in June but it really took place a month later. Maybe it was supposed to be in June but got rescheduled for July. Tickets were $5.00 in advance, $6.00 at the door.

Songs (via SetlistFM)

1. Into You Like A Train

2. Soap Commercial

3. She Is Mine

4. Mr. Jones

5. So Run Down

6. Dumb Waiters

7. Pretty In Pink

8. It Goes On

9. Sister Europe

10. Imitation Of Christ

11. All Of This And Nothing

12. India

13. Pulse

Via exoticandirrational.blogspot.com

Brand New Rich Good Interview

Photo by me.

This morning on one of Rich Good's Instagram Stories I saw he posted a snippet of an interview that he did on a podcast. The podcast is called The Over/Under Podcast and it's by the Rattlesnake Cable Company, a company that sells cables for guitars. I watched the whole episode on YouTube and here's the link if you would like to watch it. The interview was uploaded yesterday.

https://youtu.be/hswcjfL9a4c?si=Zn2IQxj8dk62z92X

Summer Tour Update

Today on Facebook The Psychedelic Furs posted an announcement about the Summer Tour, and they said that The Mission are unable to go, due to one of the band members having a previously unseen medical condition which would take a length of time to recover. But The Furs said The Chameleons will join them for the tour as the new supporting act.

Behind the Songs: Dash

Interviewer: "Talk Talk Talk has a few noteworthy keyboard parts... 'Dash' on the B-side of 'Dumb Waiters' has a piano melody. Is this a direction for the future keyboards?"

Richard Butler: "We'd like to feature more of a lot of things. I'd like to use cello and twelve string guitar as well, but keyboards will definitely be on the next album, I'd say. We just want to expand the sound. It would be great to have a big band sound on the next one. We'll have to hire session musicians to tour with us next time. Do a Talking Heads!" (Overview 1981)

Behind the Songs: Girl's Song [Unreleased]

Richard Butler: "On the first album all the lyrics were written around the fact that I didn't think that you could be a good writer and sing from a personal point of view. There was a song called 'Girl's Song' that was eventually dropped which was sung from a girl's point of view, there's a song like 'Blacks' which is sung from a middle class prat's point of view, now I want to write from a narrative point of view." (Sounds 1980)

Pretty In Pink: My Favorite Version

A month ago I had been listening to the 1986 version of "Pretty In Pink" a lot and I have to make a confession, which the fans would completely disagree with me.

The 1986 rerecording is my favorite version of the song.

Photo: Henry Diltz

I thought the original 1981 song would be my favorite since it's the first version I heard but after listening to the remake a lot it made me start to like it more. I know The Psychedelic Furs and the fans prefer the original but to me I think the thing that improves the rerecording is the inclusion of the saxophone, because in the original "Pretty In Pink" there was no saxophone.

I feel fortunate to hear the song live and after listening to the live rendition five times when Mars Williams was around, it started becoming my favorite and it's one of the reasons why I like the rerecording more. The saxophone just works. And even though you like the original better, I think you all probably agree that Mars was amazing in the rerecording.

I still love the original "Pretty In Pink" but if I have to choose between the 1981 and 1986 versions I would definitely have to pick '86.

Oh, one more thing I want to add, I absolutely love the ending in the 1986 version.

New Tour Dates

This June on the 22nd The Psychedelic Furs will perform at the Forever Now music festival in England and it will be their first UK show in three years. But recently I heard they announced a North American tour in the Summer. So far I don't know who the support act will be but on the July 20th concert, The Mission and The Church will be at the event. I'm looking forward to see what The Psychedelic Furs will do this year and I'm excited to check out the setlist. I wonder if Richard Fortus will join them again or if they will hire a saxophonist this time.

Unfortunately Portland is not included in the Summer tour but I'm hoping The Furs will return there in the Fall. Fingers crossed!

Via Facebook.

2/7/25 Update: Yesterday The Furs announced two more shows. Belfast, Northern Ireland on June 19, and Dublin, Ireland on June 20. If I'm correct, I think the last time The Psychedelic Furs performed at those locations was back in August of 2017.

2/11/25 Update: From what I've seen so far, it looks like The Mission will be the main supporting act. They had toured with The Psychedelic Furs before, in 1987 during the Midnight To Midnight tour.

Other Desert Cities

I'm happy to say that I finally have my own Other Desert Cities T-shirt, which arrived this week.

Other Desert Cities is a line of clothing that's from Very Very, a small business store in Twentynine Palms, California. The owners of the store are Rich Good himself and his girlfriend Dana.

I actually got two shirts for me: One to wear for work and the other for going out on my days off. I also got a postcard too (free!) which was really nice. I would love to buy more from Very Very again in the future.

If you would like to buy your own Other Desert Cities shirt (and/or other stuff too) here is the link to Very Very's online shop: https://www.thisisveryvery.com/

2/16/25 Update: I ordered from Very Very again and I got myself these cool badges. I really love the cat one.

Behind the Songs: Should God Forget

Interviewer: "Which are the up-sounding songs [on Book Of Days]?"

Richard Butler: "Rather difficult to spot on this record, aren't they? I dunno, I'd say 'Should God Forget' is. And 'Entertain Me'." (Puncture Magazine 1989)

Behind the Songs: Shine

Photo: Gene Shaw

Richard Butler: "I wanted to write something in waltz time. Tim [Butler] and I set up a waltz time on the drum machine and added some random bells and it seemed to have a great kind of feeling. I just started singing."

Interviewer: "You improvised that song?"

Richard Butler: "That's how the best ones happen." (Puncture Magazine 1989)

Interviewer: "You said that there would be no singles on Book Of Days."

Richard Butler: "Well, we made the record and I didn't think that there was anything that I could really hear in the top ten. It's not that I don't think there are great songs on there. What I think are my favorites off this record are 'Shine' or 'Torch' ...but good songs and singles are two entirely different things, I think." (The Bob 1990)