My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #17

All Of This And Nothing (1988) (Columbia FC 44377) (Canadian LP)

"'Don't believe in anything'... that's the line of theirs I like best and typically, that song's ["No Tears"] not on the compilation. It's not compiled chronologically either. Maybe that's a return to their early characteristic cutups, I don't know. But they're free now, these songs. They've broken out of their era with all their tender ferocity intact. They're still as alive and alert in '88 as they ever were and, though I greet all but one of them with the blur of hindsight, they still confuse my perspectives.

"Giddy, that's how 'President Gas' gets me. John Ashton's dipsomaniac guitar reels through Todd Rundgren's production... it's like dancing through wet concrete, too awake to the rituals, too broken to resist. [Richard] Butler was fond of referring to the era of the Talk Talk Talk album as a wall of melody as opposed to the first album's wall of sound. I just think of a juggernaut, juiced and out of control, a skid and a bruise and wonder what 'hell without the sin' will be like.

"'All That Money Wants' is the moorings loosed again after the sensible dialogue attempted by the Midnight To Midnight album. Having deliberately shed dimensions to see what it must feel like to be understood, The Furs have returned to abstraction with producer Stephen Street. It's a trim squabble alright, a rediscovery of certainty in doubt. 'I don't believe that I believed in you' indeed. Incensed thunder.

"The unequivocal purity of rage, that's 'Imitation Of Christ', betrayed by the death of the hippie dream, converting all that disappointment into a beautifully bitter piety. Mocking the aims it mourns, it is willfully unfocused, furious, sprawling and scolding with a noble hypocrisy. 'Sister Europe', also from the debut LP, broods, the kinetic calm before the mental storm. Blossoming like deadly nightshade, it slurs its seduction.

"Stifled by the small-mindedness of fashion-fixated Britain, The Furs recorded 'Love My Way' in America with Todd Rundgren – a nicotine crooner steeped in melancholy.

"It was the start of a change of heart, a desire to reach beyond the faithful, and 'Highwire Days,' from the Mirror Moves album, is indicative of that change. The image of a mind on the edge of sanity, balanced precariously, seeing through the fabric of everyday existence, knowing better yet, unbearably, incapable of changing anything, is probably Butler's finest. 'Get smart, get scared...' That way madness lay and The Furs moved on.

"'She has got it in for me/Yeah, I mean it honestly...' 'Dumb Waiters' is barbaric paranoia loosed to roam and groan through the sickliest saxophone imaginable. Butler was reading Martin Amis, obsessed with words not making sense or, rather, to release language from the thrall of common sense was his aim and 'Pretty In Pink', a sister song from the Talk Talk Talk album, was eventually his justification. Utterly misinterpreted by John Hughes it was turned into a pleasing but inappropriate movie and, re-recorded and re-released, gave The Furs their greatest hit.

"'The Ghost In You' and 'Heaven' were the poles reversed, energy piling towards the positive. Accepting that fulfillment means having to trust one's nature against one's better judgement, The Furs embraced romanticism and soared, cool and clear-headed. There's a brightness here, bold and certain. 'Heartbreak Beat', typical of the Midnight To Midnight album, succeeds in retaining personality against all odds.

"'All Of This And Nothing' is my private one, my own sweet problem. I always thought the debris around that room, the stuff scattered about that brought Butler to declare 'You didn't leave me anything that I can understand' was 'A roomful of your crash.' Now it turns out the word is trash, not crash. I adore the disease all the same."

Steve Sutherland, May '88.

Side 1:

1. President Gas

2. All That Money Wants

3. Imitation Of Christ

4. Sister Europe

5. Love My Way

6. Highwire Days

Side 2:

1. Dumb Waiters

2. Pretty In Pink

3. The Ghost In You

4. Heaven

5. Heartbreak Beat

6. All Of This And Nothing

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #16

Forever Now (1982) (CBS 88985459991) (EU 2018 reissue)

I know I already have Forever Now on vinyl (the US LP) but I got this one because it has the original artwork.

Side 1:

1. President Gas

2. Love My Way

3. Run And Run

4. Merry-Go-Round

5. Sleep Comes Down

Side 2:

1. Forever Now

2. Danger

3. You And I

4. Goodbye

5. No Easy Street

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #15

New York East Coast Broadcast 1982 (2023) (Parachute Recording Company PARA614LP) (Unofficial release)

"The Psychedelic Furs were formed in London in 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar. Their music went through several phases, including an initially austere art rock sound to new wave and hard rock. It is clear they were heavily inspired by David Bowie, Roxy Music, and the Sex Pistols. The band had several hits in their early career, and in 1986, filmmaker John Hughes used their song 'Pretty In Pink' for his film of the same name.

"In the US, The Psychedelic Furs were quickly adopted by the new medium of MTV, and they made their way into the American music mainstream with songs like 'Love My Way', 'Sister Europe', and 'Into You Like A Train'. This exposure, and the support of Columbia Records, secured their footing as one of the most popular bands of the era.

"The show featured on this LP was performed on December 2nd at The Ritz in New York, and was recorded for live FM Radio Broadcast on The King Biscuit Flower Hour. Richard Butler guides the remarkable performance with his distinct vocals (combining a Berlin-era Bowie with the cynical breath of John Lydon) while saxophonist Duncan Kilburn often mirrors Roxy Music's Andy MacKay's style. [This part is wrong because it was Mars Williams on saxophone at that show, not Duncan Kilburn who had already left The Furs.]

"By 1986, The Psychedelic Furs had become a quartet and they disbanded in 1991. Richard Butler launched a new band called Love Spit Love, which never took hold despite two critically acclaimed albums. In 2000, The Psychedelic Furs reunited and have remained together ever since."

Side 1:

1. Into You Like A Train

2. President Gas

3. Merry Go Round

Side 2:

1. Angels [This song is actually "Only You And I"]

2. Pretty In Pink

3. Run And Run

4. Love My Way

Side 3:

1. Sister Europe

2. Dumb Waiters

3. Danger

4. No Easy Street

5. Sleep Comes Down

Side 4:

1. Mr. Jones

2. Forever Now

3. Imitation Of Christ

4. India

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #14

All That Money Wants (1988) (Columbia 38 07974) (USA 7" single)

Side A:

All That Money Wants

Side B:

Birdland

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #13

Heaven (1984) (CBS A4300) (Italian 7" single)

Side A:

Heaven

Side B:

Heartbeat (Remix)

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #12

Heartbreak Beat (1987) (Columbia 38 06420) (USA 7" single)

Has the excellent b-side "New Dream". A funny thing to note is on the songwriting credits John Ashton's last name is misspelled as "Aston".

Side A:

Heartbreak Beat

Side B:

New Dream

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #11

Pretty In Pink: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1986) (A&M 602488194891) (2026 reissue)

Side 1:

1. If You Leave - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

2. Left Of Center - Suzanne Vega featuring Joe Jackson on piano

3. Get To Know Ya - Jesse Johnson

4. Do Wot You Do - INXS

5. Pretty In Pink - The Psychedelic Furs

Side 2:

6. Shell-Shock - New Order

7. Round, Round - Belouis Some

8. Wouldn't It Be Good - Danny Hutton Hitters

9. Bring On The Dancing Horses - Echo & The Bunnymen

10. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want - The Smiths

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #10

Shock (1987) (Columbia 38 07224) (USA 7" single)

The b-side of "Shock" is a live version of "President Gas" which was from The Psychedelic Furs' concert at The Ritz in New York City in 1982 and was first broadcasted on the radio program The King Biscuit Flower Hour. It later appeared as a b-side on the "Run And Run" single in 1983.

Side A:

Shock

Side B:

President Gas (Live)

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #9

Dumb Waiters (1981) (CBS A1166) (UK 7" single; playable picture sleeve)

The track on the playable sleeve is basically a sneak peek of the upcoming (at the time) Talk Talk Talk album. It opens up with Richard Butler saying, "This is a Psychedelic Furs commercial. Buy Talk Talk Talk", and plays short samples of three songs, "Into You Like A Train", "I Wanna Sleep With You", and "Pretty In Pink". The "commercial" is a hidden bonus track on the 2002 remaster of Talk Talk Talk.

Side A:

Dumb Waiters

Side B:

Dash

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #8

Made Of Rain (2020) (Cooking Vinyl COOKLP762) (Double LP)

Side One:

1. The Boy That Invented Rock & Roll

2. Don't Believe

3. You'll Be Mine

Side Two:

1. Wrong Train

2. This'll Never Be Like Love

3. Ash Wednesday

Side Three:

1. Come All Ye Faithful

2. No-One

3. Tiny Hands

Side Four:

1. Hide The Medicine

2. Turn Your Back On Me

3. Stars

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #7

The Ghost In You (1984) (Columbia 44 04984) (USA 12" single)

Here are a couple of interesting things about the sleeve for this single. (1) The unique design/photo of The Psychedelic Furs was previously used for the UK single of "Heaven," and (2) the font of the band's name is the same font from The Psychedelic Furs (1980).


Side A:

The Ghost In You (Full Length Version)

Side B:

Heartbeat (New York Remix)

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #6

Mirror Moves (1984) (Vinyl 180 VIN180LP079) (2015 Record Store Day reissue) (Purple vinyl) (*Signed by The Furs*)

This reissue of Mirror Moves was released exclusively for Record Store Day 2015 and the color of the record is a lovely purple. When I saw The Psychedelic Furs live for the first time that year, I got this at the merchandise area. The cool thing is that this was autographed by the band members! Signed by Richard and Tim Butler, Rich Good, Paul Garisto, and Amanda Kramer.

Purple vinyl.

Side One:

1. The Ghost In You
2. Here Come Cowboys
3. Heaven
4. Heartbeat

Side Two:

1. My Time
2. Like A Stranger
3. Alice's House
4. Only A Game
5. Highwire Days

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #5

Midnight To Midnight (1987) (Columbia FC 40466) (USA LP)


Side One:

1. Heartbreak Beat
2. Shock
3. Shadow In My Heart
4. Angels Don't Cry

Side Two:

1. Midnight To Midnight
2. One More Word
3. All Of The Law
4. Torture
5. No Release

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #4

Mirror Moves (1984) (Columbia BFC 39278) (USA LP)


Side One:

1. The Ghost In You
2. Here Come Cowboys
3. Heaven
4. Heartbeat

Side Two:

1. My Time
2. Like A Stranger
3. Alice's House
4. Only A Game
5. Highwire Days

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #3

Forever Now (1982) (Columbia PC 38261) (USA LP)

Ah yes, that infamous cover art. As we all know, the original album cover of Forever Now (in England and other countries) had a photo of The Psychedelic Furs that was shot during the filming of the video for "Love My Way" (taken by Graeme Attwood) and was designed by Colin Fulcher (aka Barney Bubbles). However, when Forever Now was going to be released in the US The Furs' American label, Columbia, rejected the original cover art and designed the one pictured above, but without the band's permission. Plus they rearranged the songs in a different order.

Original artwork.

The Psychedelic Furs hated the new cover art. John Ashton thought it was horrible, and when Richard Butler first saw it he actually burst into tears. I bet he hated having to sign his name on that album cover while doing autographs.

The UK cover art is better, but I definitely prefer the US track listing. In my opinion the songs on the American version flow so nicely in that order more than the UK version. On my 2002 remaster of Forever Now, it has the original artwork but the track listing is the one from the US version. They both fit perfectly.


Side One:

1. Forever Now
2. Love My Way
3. Goodbye
4. Only You And I
5. Sleep Comes Down

Side Two:

1. President Gas
2. Run And Run
3. Danger
4. No Easy Street
5. Yes I Do

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #2

Talk Talk Talk (1981) (Columbia PC 37339) (USA LP)


Side One:

1. Pretty In Pink
2. Mr. Jones
3. No Tears
4. Dumb Waiters
5. She Is Mine

Side Two:

1. Into You Like A Train
2. It Goes On
3. So Run Down
4. I Wanna Sleep With You
5. All Of This And Nothing

My Psychedelic Furs Vinyl #1

The Psychedelic Furs (1980) (CBS 88985459951) (2018 reissue)

This is the 2018 reissue of The Psychedelic Furs' debut album on vinyl. What I like about the reissue is that it's based on the original UK LP and the labels on the record are the old CBS ones. It even has an inner sleeve with the lyrics and I think it's based on the inner sleeve that was only on US versions of the album (I'm pretty sure the British LPs didn't have the inner sleeves). Someday I would love to get the original UK and US editions of The Psychedelic Furs.

What I find odd about the lyric sheet is that for some reason it doesn't have the lyrics to "Imitation Of Christ" but has the lyrics to "Susan's Strange" instead, even though the latter song's not on the original UK release.


Side One:

1. India
2. Sister Europe
3. Imitation Of Christ
4. Fall
5. Pulse

Side Two:

1. We Love You
2. Wedding Song
3. Blacks/Radio
4. Flowers