'Talk Talk Talk' about the '80s

The Psychedelic Furs (reissue)
The Psychedelic Furs
Columbia/Legacy Talk Talk Talk (reissue)
The Psychedelic Furs
Columbia/Legacy Forever Now (reissue)
The Psychedelic Furs
Columbia/Legacy The Psychedelic Furs were that curious sort of '80s band. They were English, they didn't have fancy toussled hair and they weren't overtly in-your-face from the start. Yet somehow The Psychedelic Furs -- vocalist Richard Butler, guitarists John Ashton and Roger Morris, bassist Tim Butler, drummer Vince Ely and saxophonist Duncan Kilburn -- seem to embody the '80s just as well as any band of their time. Just think of all the images that come back listening to "Pretty In Pink," arguably The Furs' best-known hit. However, for a couple of guys from London, it didn't start out with glitz and glamour, the fame, fortune and popularity. And they probably never expected the success that came with their sophomore debut Talk Talk Talk (see "Pretty In Pink") and the public hysteria that accompanied the subsequent Forever Now. Now here, 20 years after that third record and 25 years since the band's formation, perhaps we can look back and see The Psychedelic Furs for what they really were -- just a bunch of English punks that took a bit of the Sex Pistols, a dash of Dylan, a smidge of Bowie and a handful of laid-back cool and turned it into one of the most alluring musical art forms of the 1980s and beyond. These reissues of the band's first three records (each with bonus demos, B-sides and unreleased material) illuminate their story. Perhaps the only band with a saxophonist as a major player to be influenced by Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten, The Psychedelic Furs burst out of London in 1980 with a self-titled debut, heralding a new sound and a new style. "India" announces the album's beginning with two minutes of quiet ambience before blasting through the speakers with the orchestrated cacophony that would come to define the early Furs-driving drums, winding and repeating guitar line, anchoring bass and augmenting sax. Then comes "Sister Europe," the smooth sax-led, minor-key gothic, Butler's voice slithering along like a snake through the night grass and captivating listeners into almost trance-like daze. And following that is the album's third and more sonically upbeat track, the religious imagery-filled "Imitation of Christ." Throughout The Psychedelic Furs, guitar, bass, drums and saxophone meld perfectly with that dark and magical voice, all combining into one alluring sonic landscape. The following year, after returning from a U.S. tour in support of its debut, Richard Butler and company set down in the U.K. once again to write and record a follow-up. That album, 1981's Talk Talk Talk, would come to be widely regarded as one of The Furs' best and, although it was fairly regarded in England, Talk Talk Talk would be the jumping-off point for the American hysteria to follow. Led by the single "Pretty in Pink," (later used by John Hughes in his movie of the same title), Talk Talk Talk saw the Furs growing more comfortable in their skin. Richard Butler's vocal sound more secure, John Ashton and Roger Morris' guitars sound more crisp and assured, and the songs become more straight ahead rock and roll and less hidden and mysterious. Songs like "I Wanna Sleep With You" and "Into You Like a Train" betray Richard Butler's more and less sexually overt ideas. Tracks like "No Tears" and "Mr. Jones" are as hummable as any in The Psych Furs catalog, and with "All of This and Nothing" and "Dumb Waiters" the band is shown to have not yet completely abandoned its sleazy cinematic soundscapes. But after the growing popularity of Talk Talk Talk and the subsequent heralding of The Psychedelic Furs as the next new wave up-and-comers, things started to change. After some feuding, saxophonist Kilburn and original guitarist Morris left the band and the rest moved to New York to produce the band's third full-length with Todd Rundgren at the helm. Forever Now (1982) would see the band grow to monumental proportions of popularity, but perhaps sacrificing with it some of what made The Furs so special just two years earlier. From the opening electronic notes of the synth-driven "Forever Now," one can tell that this was not The Psychedelic Furs that burst out of the U.K. a few years earlier, ready to take the piss out of the mainstream with David Bowie cool Sex Pistols vigor. The tune practically jumps and jives to a bouncing synthesizer line and Richard Butler's vocals way upfront like the quintessential frontman he became. That said, there are some redeemers here. "Love My Way" still stands as an interesting piece of avant-melodrama, "Only You and I" harks back to the band's quirky roots despite keyboard triffles and cello augment, and "Run and Run" shows The Psychedelic Furs at its most tuneful best. But with Forever Now, The Psychedelic Furs became quintessentially '80s-manufactured and over-the-top. One can't help but wonder whether they'd sold their souls. Perhaps not coincidentally, it was the band's best-selling, best-charting U.S. release. These days Richard Butler is still in the game. You might recognize the voice behind the theme song to the WB television serious "Charmed." But what's here with The Psychedelic Furs, Talk Talk Talk and Forever Now stands as a group rising from the roots of punk to the kings of New Wave. It's a fantastic progression and a terrific story for a band whose originality holds strong, even today. The Psychedelic Furs