The Psychedelic Furs. Photo from artist’s Facebook page.
As The Psychedlic Furs announce a rare Liverpool gig, here’s Getintothis’ Banjo with the details.
The Psychedelic Furs are one of those bands who are closely associated with the 80s, but whose formative years were the late 70s.
As an example of this, it’s perhaps surprising to learn remember that The Furs played Eric’s. Other bands that provoke similar surprise at this turn of events include Human League, Madness and Simple Minds. Clearly, before the new decade had begun, some bands were taking it upon themselves to take things forwards into the future.
In fact, The Psychedelic Furs have a further role in the history of Eric’s, as they were the last band to play there, on the night the club was raided by police and closed down.
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Setbacks like this aside, The Furs star rose steadily higher. Theirs was a good idea – to take the poise and ideas of punk and to cross pollinate it with a more David Bowie, arty kind of vibe.
It was an idea that was to work well, as the band found fame across the world. The Psychedelic Furs have a loyal and widespread fanbase and are a classic example of a cult band that managed to break through to the mainstream.
Their 1981 single Pretty in Pink was inspiration for the 1986 film of the same name, starring Molly Ringwald and Harry Dean Stanton, which gave the band and the single a massive publicity boost.
The Furs‘ Richard Butler later said that the success of Pretty in Pink resulted in pressure for them to record a new album before they were ready and called the resulting Midnight to Midnight album as ‘Hollow, vapid and weak‘, despite it being their most successful album yet.
Further respectable sales followed, but in 1991, the band split, only to get back together ten years later. Since then, The Furs have toured the world but have not released any new material.
Nevertheless, during the years they were initially together, they built up a canon of well written and well produced albums, along with a few classic singles.
The Psychedelic Furs forward looking vision has meant that their songs have lasted well over the years and the chance to hear Love my Way and Dumb Waiters played live again is a tempting one indeed.
The Psychedelic Furs UK tour dates are:
June 12, Leicester O2 Academy
June 13, Cardiff Tramshed
June 16, Liverpool O2 Academy
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