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ARTS

The Michigan Daily

Friday, October 24, 1986

Page 8

Furs return to sounds of yesteryear

By Dana Mendelssohn
You have probably heard of the
Psychedelic Furs. The remixed
version of "Pretty in Pink," a song
9 origionally recorded five years ago,
has earned the Furs sudden pop -
ularity with America's mainstream.
The Psychedelic Furs are currently
comprised of lead singer Richard
Butler, his brother bassist Tim
Butler, and guitarist John Ashton.
Together they produce a sound that

is nothing less than mesmerizing.
Richard Butler's nicotine-stained
voice is backed up by the band's
ethereal wall of sound. The effect
is one of airy chaos that is both
harsh and gentle.
The Furs' new popularity is a
direct result of "Pretty in Pink"
having been used as the title song
for the mega-popular movie of the
same name. The movie starred
Molly Ringwald, America's stan -
dard for teen coolness. How did a


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song originally recorded five years
ago end up as the title track for
director John (The Breakfast
Club) Hughs' latest film? Bassist
Tim Butler explains, "Molly
Ringwald is a fan of that song (the
origional version of "Pretty in
Pink"). So he (Hughs) wrote the
entire movie around the song for
her. The script was like three years
in the writing." The Psychedelic
Furs decided to redo "Pretty in
Pink" using modern digital studio
equipment. They felt the song
needed to be updated so it would
match with the slickness of the
movie production and the other
songs on the soundtrack. "The
origional one is slightly out of
tune," says Tim Butler.
The Psychedelic Furs formed in
1977 in London, England. What
started out as a hobby quickly
turned into careers for the young
musician friends as the band
immediately attracted a large
following. The name Psychedelic
Furs was chosen as a direct
response to the punk rock
movement, which was all the rage
in London at the time. The Furs
wanted to separate themselves from
negative sounding bands like "the

Reform
8:00 p.m.

Friday 10/24
Saturday 10/25

Conservative
6:20 p.m.
9:00 a.m.

Orthodox
6:20 p.m.
9:00 a.m.

Sex Pistols and the Screaming
Farts," yet at the same time
acknowledge their '60s influences.
Unfortunately, the Psychedelic
Furs' decision to challenge punk
conformity had its disadvantages.
"If you can imagine being in 1977
when punk's at its height and
everybody's playing at 90 miles an
hour and singing about a list of
things that they hate, which is what
punk bands were doing, and then a
band like the Psychedelic Furs
going on and playing "We Love
You." "We had some bad reactions
then," Richard Butler said during a
1981 radio interview.
In 1979 the Psychedelic Furs
twice sold out a popular two-
thousand seat club called The Music
Machine. CBS was impressed and
subsequently signed them. Since
then the Furs have released four
albums. Their debut album and
Talk Talk Talk show the Furs at
their darkest and chaotic best.
However, their next two releases,
Forever Now and Mirror
Moves, saw a bid for direct
accessibility. Both albums featured
slicked-up production and songs
concentrated in melody. The Furs
scored two minor hits in America
with "Love My Way" (from
Forever Now) and "The Ghost in
You" (from Mirror Moves).
The Psychedelic Furs feel no
pressure to continue in the direction
of their latest success. In fact their
next album Midnight to
Midnight, due out early next year,
will take the Furs in a direction
other than that of the mainstream

Simhat Torah
Community-wide celebration Saturday 7:30 p.m.

Reform
7:10 p.m.

Conservative
7:10 p.m.

Saturday 10/25
Sunday 10/26

Orthodox
6:10 p.m.
9:00 a.m.

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