I remember at xmas time, when i was a kid, watching old re-runs of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy films (not sure if kids today would bother with them now, as there’s so much choice in media).
But, there was one film by Chaplin called Easy Street which always stuckin my mind. I think I was genuinely scared by the main thug in the film, which is set in the States, depression era. However, our hero Chaplin sorts him out in another David v Goliath scenario.I put some of the footage of this short film to the Psychedelic Furs song, entitled No Easy Street.
The recorded sax is by Todd Rundgren whom also produced the album on which it resides, Forever Now. The Furs occasionally play this live and the sax solo gives current Furs wind man Mars Williams the perfect platform to showcase his talents.
and here is a live audience recording of No Easy Street live during the furs USA tour of 2009. thanks to kryssimc for posting this excellent footage.
With The Furs 2010 spring/summer USA tour now underway the spotlight is on their setlist (well at least my one is!). According to reliable sources they have introduced a track called Broken Areoplanes which is featured on Richard Butler’s debut solo LP, entitled Richard Butler, and was released in Spring 2006 on Koch Records. It was co-written and produced by Jon Carin (most well known for his work with Pink Floyd).
The track Broken Areoplanes gets writing credits for Richard Butler, brother Tim and Jon Carin, but interestingly it was featured in The Psychedelic Furs live set way back during their 2001 USA tour.
josh lopez
Richard toured his Solo LP performing semi-acoustically accompanied by Joshua Lopez and Zak Shaffer on electric and acoustic guitars and keyboards.
zak shaffer
I’ve posted a live recording from Richard’s solo tour from Maxwells in Hoboken, New Jersey (Date March 24th 2006) in the downloads section here.
Richard Butler on Broken Aeroplanes -
“The loneliness that follows the breakup of a relationship is explored intensely in songs like “Satellite” and “Broken Aeroplanes.” Of the latter, Butler says: “That was comparing two people to a pair of broken airplanes on the runway - not going, wanting to go somewhere and not having the impetus to get up and change anything.”
Love My Way (Forever Now ‘82) Believe (Love Spit Love cover from Trysome Eatone ‘97) RB’s old band
Sometimes (World Outside ‘91) Like A Stranger(Mirror Moves ‘84) It Goes On (Talk Talk Talk ‘81) President Gas (Forever Now ‘82) The Ghost In You (Mirror Moves ‘84) In My Head (World Outside ‘91) Sister Europe (Psychedelic Furs (debut) ‘79) I Don’t Want To Be Your Shadow(B-side UK vinyl of “Danger” ‘82) Heaven (Mirror Moves ‘84)
(thanks to mozzfan for the video) All This & Nothing (Talk Talk Talk ‘81) Heartbeat (Mirror Moves‘84) Pretty In Pink(Talk Talk Talk ‘81)
(& later re-recorded on Midnight to Midnight ’87 with Mars on Sax)
Encore
Pyjamarama (Roxy Music Cover) Forever Now(Forever Now ‘82)
Also rumoured to be on the rotating tour setlist are the songs
Broken Areoplanes (Richard Butler solo LP ’06) – FANTASTIC TRACK!
After All (unreleased track featured on the film Gossip ‘2000)
With guitarist John Ashton’s prolonged absence from the Furs live tour line-up, Rich Good is once again going to be filling in on guitar duties during the forthcoming tour (start date : Florida May 27th 2010).
Reading this you may come to the conclusion that Rich is probably the most “psychedelic” of the all the members that can call themself a Psychedelic Fur - which you’ll all agree is good!
Here is a small pre-tour chat - via e-mail - that I had with rich recently.
I’ve also put up a stream of Rich’s Band Kings and Queens rather trippy, hypnotic and excellent track called Examples.
First of all “welcome to the Psychedelic Furs” – how does it feel to be on stage with the Butler brothers and co.? It’s an honour and a pleasure.
First Furs memory? Love My Way video
Favourite Furs track(s). Sister Europe, Soap Commercial, Love My Way, Sleep Comes Down, Highwire Days, So Run Down - let’s face it; there’s too many.
Favourite Furs LP? Not good at playing favourites; is All of this and Nothing cheating? (editor:yes, that was cheating! )
When playing live – which is the track that you really look forward to playing from a guitar perspective?And alternatively – which is the one which makes you think “oh, ok.. let’s hope this one goes ok” i.e. the trickiest. And being the trickiest, why do you find it so? The mood of Sister Europe is pretty irresistible. So Run Down. I loved the noise whiteout Mars and I were getting into on Dumb Waiters… All of this and Nothing, Heartbreak Beat; anything with two or more guitars – that’s always fun to try and pull off.
You toured with The Furs late last year. What was the highlight(s) of your touring debut? Not having to carry my amps around? All of it – getting to know the band better, exploring new cities and playing music every night… Austin, Houston, Benicassim, the Hollywood Bowl… Meeting the people that come to the shows… Knox playing cello in New York. Jet skiing with Mars. The first note every night. And on and on…
Rich Good and Furs lead man Richard Butler on stage during USA Tour2009
You also had the pleasure of MadChester’s Happy Mondays! This struck me as an odd pairing. How did the two bands gel during the tour. I take it they have calmed down somewhat over the years? Any amusing storys/anecdotes? Loved hanging out with the Mondays. They have incredible fashion sense and were always up for a laugh.
Shaun was a perfect gent to me; we talked about Orson Welles and, well, he did pinch my drink!
When I was a young lad, I loved the debut Furs LP and also the classic follow-up LP “Talk Talk Talk”. I did notice that in the last US tour (Fall 2009) The Furs introduced a fair amount of songs from “Talk Talk Talk”. This must have been quite tricky to play with there just being yourself on guitar ( the LP had both John Ashton [lead] and Roger Dog Morris [rhythm]). I was particularly pleased with the track It Goes On and applaud your efforts here. Thanks! I’m doing my best to do those guys justice… A great thing about the Furs is that they never played anything the same live – I like that. I try to stay as faithful to the recordings as possible but it’s has to breath too.
Wasn’t it Bob Dylan that said “you can please some of the people some of the time, but can’t please all the people all of the time”.
Midnight to Midnight was The Furs most successful album in commercial terms, with Heartbreak Beat being a huge hit at the time. This song was omitted from the setlist for the first Furs tour in many a year. I thought this was a healthy move to freshen up the setlist, but the “occasional” fan must surely have different expectations – i.e. “Play us the hits”: Pretty in Pink, Love My Way, Heartbreak Beat. It must be a hard task to juggle the live setlist and please everyone? I just hope the fans remember that the Furs have a lot of great songs – you can’t play them all every night… We’re not just here to play hits – there’s always some great album tracks to get in to – we were doing ‘I don’t want to be your Shadow’ last year (obscure 7″ vinyl b-side from 1982)– who knows what the future brings… We got some rather heated responses when we didn’t do LMW for the first dates of 2009. I believe violence was threatened… You can’t please all the people all the time…
During Rehearsals how much of an input are you getting when it comes to re-working the guitar parts. Is there much room to deviate or “tinker” and try out little riffs or new intro’s (e.g. Into You Like a Train intro changes from tour to tour)? I really want to give the fans a close feeling of the records – that’s what we all love. That being said, I can’t play exactly like John (Ashton) just as I can’t play exactly like Richard (Fortus)… there’s always going to be nuances…
It’s often said by musicians that touring can be a bit of a drag, with the gig, dress down, coach, sleep, get up, soundcheck etc rotation… How do you find touring? E.g. Do you manage to sample some of the sites of the cities and towns that you visit, or does it all merge into one mass experience. Did you manage to build up any kind of a kindridship with anyone while touring? I don’t find it a drag but I do like to wander the cities to break up the bus-life a bit. I must’ve walked a thousand miles exploring and searching out coffee with Mars last year. They are all good people and easy to get along with; Tim’s laughs at my shoes, Paul makes the best coffee, Amanda’s just lovely and Richard’s a fast walker I paticularly enjoyed sitting up-front with ur driver Darren, for the post-show drive in the middle of the night, watching the miles flash by…a good decompression chamber.
Being an Englishman (Which town/city?), you must be hoping – like the many UK fans – that The Furs do take the gig over the pond and play dear old Blighty once more. I think I might know the answer to this question but I’ve got to ask: is there a real possibility of it happening in 2010? All I can say is that I’d love to play the homeland with the Furs. Sooner the better – its on the cards… (I’m from Horley, Surrey – a metropolis if there ever was one)
Apart from the excellent solo LP entitled Richard Butler, we Furs fans have been somewhat starved of new material since The Furs regrouped in 2001 (bar the brilliant tracks [Alive/Wrong Train/Cigarette/Anodyne] from the Beautiful Chaos live DVD). Any insider news of possible new material [again a question I’d be expected to ask. J] I feel it’s inevitable. ( ed: what? was the question inevitable or the new album inevitable? )
Although based in California, you are indeed very much the Englishman abroad. How do you find the culture change going from the UK to USA? I’ve been here about ten years – I moved to the equivalent of an English village in the Sierra Nevada mountains… its sort of like Northern Exposure and Twin Peaks with a great little music scene.
Lets’ maybe rewind a bit and go back to when you first met The Furs and Richard Butler. I know from fairly recent history that you’re previous band The Pleased supported The Furs a few years back. How did this come about and was this your first introduction to The Furs? That was my first introduction to them as people yes… we had the same booking agent. It was a nice fit too. We talked Roxy (Music) and I ended up playing Virginia Plain with them in Houston on the last night of the tour. That was a high moment.
Was Joanna Newsom involved in this tour line-up? (I love her LP Ys). I think Jo was with us for the first dates we did with them – but the full US tour was with our other keyboard player Jay Clark. Doesn’t Ys have great cover art? (ed :Rich designed her album cover)
California appears to have been a rich vein of indie/folk musicians at that time. I saw an artist called Alela Diane gigging over here in the UK and almost picked up a copy of Grass Roots (it was in my paws post-gig but I opted to purchase her own LP Pirate Gospel instead – which is great incidentally). Had I bought this compilation I’d have had an early introduction to Kings and Queens (you’re current ongoing project). How are things with Kings and Queens? Will you be getting the odd live date later this year? Just finished a new Kings & Queens record (Jet in Carina) - its already on iTunes, Amazon etc.. and manufacturing is happening right now. It’d be nice to get out and tour that a little - dependent on the Furs schedule and who’s around to make up the band.
( Kings and Queen’s new album Jet in Carina can be streamed here)
Ok, I do like favourite questions , so here’s some more rapid fire favourites!
Favourite LP(s) currently on your ipod/mp3 player? Before & After Science (eno), Laser Guided Melodies (spiritualized), Have One on Me (joanna newsom), Sister Lovers (big star), The Perfect Prescription (spacemen3), Process (them hills), Bryter Layter (nick drake), There’s a Riot Going On (sly & the family stone), Then Play On (fleetwood mac), Loveless (my bloody valentine), Equinox (jean michelle jarre), Mars Audiac Quintet (stereolab), Gagagaga (spoon), Clouds Taste Metallic (flaming lips), Nice & Easy(frank sinatra)The Thrill of it All (casual fog)
Favourite Book(s)? Peanuts. Right now I’m reading this Neil Gaiman book called Anansi Boys; its brilliant.
Favourite Film(s)
Don’t get me started; Blow Up… and of course Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Italian Job. Fantastic Planet?!! I just did the TarkovskySolaris and its pretty mind-blowing. I like a lot of slow burning movies…
Favourite producer (music)? That’s tough – I think Nick Drake’s records sound beautiful so, Joe Boyd. Eno. Stereo Lab’s early stuff.
Washed adrift on a deserted island – which 3 tracks would you save from your collection of music? 200 Bars (Spiritualized), One of these things first (nick drake), Ace of Spades (motorhead)
Favourite Furs Album sleeve(s) Design? Forever Now UK (Designed by Barney Bubbles)
Favourite Movie Director? Kubrick, Coens, Spielberg(!) and Jarmusch.
If you make it to the UK, I’d like to buy you a pint, what would your shout be? I really love that St Peters Organic stuff.
What do you miss most about the UK? Everything – particularly summer afternoons when the sun actually comes out. I’d live there too if I could. Pub culture doesn’t exist in the same way in the US.
Given the choice of weapons – would you prefer a PC/Mac (with Adobe suite) or a Canvas/Paper (with Acrylic/Oil/watercolours)? I’m good with the Mac but I’d prefer pen and paper.
Rich Good, thank you very much for your time. Shall hope to see you on tour. It was a pleasure!
Since this interview The Furs have announced UK dates for Autumn 2010 and you can find them here
Rich also has an ongoing tour blog which can be viewed here
Gordon Gano (Violette Femmes) has team up with Brothers Ryan (of ’90s indie rock outfit the Bogmen) and former members of Psychedelic Furs (Love Spit Love) and New Pornographers.
Listen to tracks on Gordon Gano and The Ryan Brother’s Myspace page here
Frank Ferrer (Guns N’ Roses/Love Spit Love/Psychedelic Furs) and Lonnie Hillyer feature on this LP. The two last teamed up playing live on Love Spit Love’s 1994 tour. Watch them perform Green live on MTV below:
The Psychedelic Furs Sinner’s Day Festival date (Belguim Hessalt)- which was cancelled late last year, has now been provisionally re-scheduled.
Amongst the artists featured in this new 2010 line-up are:
HEAVEN 17 I THE PSYCHEDELIC FURS I YELLO I THE DAMNED I THE FALL I THE YOUNG GODS I RED LORRY YELLOW LORRY
Check the offical Sinners website for details here
Psychedelic Furs - Sunday November 1st
Ethias Arena, Hassalt
Studio Brussel reunites the Kings of New Wave and Punk on the brand new Sinner’s Day Festival.
On All Saints’ Day we should revive the memories of our beloved, passed-away relatives… But this year, Sunday 1 November 2009, a bunch of alive and kicking myths and legends from the 80’s will be reunited in the Hasselt Ethias Arena.
A real mix mainly culled from the LP’s Talk Talk Talk, Mirror Moves and Forever Now, with a couple of nuggets from Richard Butlers “other” band “Love Spit Love“. The very underated LP World Outside’s In My Head gets a very welcome airing. All in all a superb mix.
Love My Way
Heartbeat
Like A Stranger
President Gas
Ghost in you
In My Head
All of This and Nothing
Believe (Love Spit Love cover)
Pretty in Pink
No Easy Street
Friends (Love Spit Love cover)
Sister Europe
It Goes On
I Don’t Want to Be Your Shadow
Heaven
This site is an unofficial source of information on the Psychedelic Furs. It will be updated regularly and so if you hear of any Furs gigs or new material being released - in fact, any news relating to the band then feel free to
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