The Toy Box: The Psychedelic Furs

I'm not going to lie. My run-through of The Psychedelic Furs 80's discography has not been the exciting journey I had hoped it would be. I was expecting, and perhaps shouldn't have been, to come away with a lot of hidden gems, and an appreciation for a "new" band. Needless to say, that has not happened, and with me on their last entry of the decade, I don't suspect it's going to at this point.

As noted yesterday, drummer Vince Ely returning to the band after 1987's Midnight To Midnight. This was followed by the 1988 compilation, All This And More, which featured the new song, All That Money Wants. This was followed by 1989's Book Of Days.

While the album did produce the singles, Should God Forget, and House. However, as a whole, received mixed reviews. It would be followed by a drastic drop in sales, and chart success, with Book only reaching 74 in the UK, and 138 in the USA, making it their least successful album to date.

I'm just going to call it what it is. Boring. As track after track passed by, I found myself less and less interested, frankly just wanting it to end so that I could move on from the Furs. Even the singles were nothing to write home about.

With an average run time of four and a half to five minutes per track, while Book takes advantage of the added length of your average CD, it results in songs which seem to drone on unnecessarily long. In comparison, their songs on previous albums typically hovered around the three and a half minutes to three minutes forty-five-seconds mark.

The album just wasn't for me, and as a whole, I'm pretty disappointed in the overall experience of the Furs. I wanted to like, I really did, but I just couldn't get into the majority of their music.

The Furs would release 1991's World Outside and then take an extended hiatus. Singer Richard Butler would begin collaborating with Richard Fortus of Pale Divine, on what was supposed to be his first solo album. However, this would evolve into the band, Love Spit Love, after recruiting Butler's brother (and fellow Fur), Tim, as well as Frank Ferrer.

Love Spit Love released their self-titled debut in 1994, and followed it up with 1997's, Trysome Eatone. They would spend the remainder of the 90's touring but announced they would be splitting up in 2000. Frank and Richard would later join the Axel rose iteration of Guns N' Roses around 2006. While Fortus remains in the band, Ferrer departed in 2025.

Richard Butler, Tim Butler, and John Ashton would start back up as The Psychedelic Furs in 2000, bringing in Fortus and Ferrer. Together, they released the live album, with new studio track, Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live in 2001. Richard would also release his first, and only solo album to date, in 2006.

The Furs wouldn't return to the studio for a full album until 2020's Made Of Rain. However, by this point the lineup had switched, featuring the Butler Brothers, along with returning prior members Paul Garisto, and Mars Williams, and new members Rich Good, and Amanda Kramer. While sales didn't justify any certifications, the album did see the band return to the top twenty in the UK and USA.

While the band continues to tour these days, it's with a once again revised lineup, which features the Butlers, Good, Kramer, and Zack Alferd. Garisto departed shortly after the aforementioned album in 2020, and sadly, Mars Williams passed away in 2023.

Despite my personal preference of the band's music, I will whole heartedly admit they cemented a solid history in the annals of rock. Heck, it's what brought me to their music to begin with. As noted in a previous post, the band didn't have too many hits, but their influence on other artists during that time, and since, has become their greatest legacy.

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1986 saw a major boost for The Psychedelic Furs with their recorded version of Pretty in Pink for the film of the same name. When released as a single, it became their biggest hit in the USA, and UK at the time, but also garnered pressure for the band to return to the studio before they were ready.

Rolling Stones producer Chris Kimsey guided the boys through what would become 1987's Midnight To Midnight. While it would be their biggest Top 40 success to date, singer Richard Butler would later characterize the album as "hollow, vapid and weak".

As a whole, the final product was more overtly commercial than their prior recordings, possibly not a bad thing, but different for long time fans. The lead single, Heartbreak Beat, would ultimately become the Furs biggest Top 40 hit in the US. Despite this, Midnight To Midnight would see an overall decline in sales when compared to their previous album, Mirror Moves (1984).

If you purchased the original UK and / or European cassettes or CD's you'd be treated to the additional remake of Pretty In Pink. Otherwise, your only other option to obtain the song would be to purchase the actual soundtrack, not a bad idea to do, if you ask me.

I think I've reached the point of acceptance that The Psychedelic Furs are simply not going to be my new next favorite band. I don't know. I guess I was hoping for this eye-opening experience, such as I got when clambering for all of the Split Enz discs.

Midnight To Midnight does offer a fair listening experience. I won't call it bad by any means. I just hoped for more than just the aforementioned hit. I suppose, in hindsight, I can give a subtle nod of appreciation for the final track, No Release. However, this could just be because it was memorable from being the last song I heard.

Regardless of my personal opinions, the Furs did see a bit of a resurgence from their hit, and this resulted in previous drummer Vince Ely returning to the band. This was followed by the 1988 compilation, All This And More, which featured the new song, All That Money Wants. This was followed by their final album of the decade, 1989's Book Of Days.

I'll be leapfrogging over the greatest hits, and diving straight into the latter tomorrow.

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