The Psychedelic Furs
For most locals who spent time in our cars listening to the radio in the ’80s, one could almost guarantee that any skip across the dial would find the Psychedelic Furs oozing out the back seat speakers, probably thanks to 91X and its groupie-like devotion to the UK band. Led then and now by singer-songwriter Richard Butler and his bassist brother Tim, the Furs pretty much defined alt-rock before that term was even a thing, with omnipresent radio and MTV hits like the soundtrack slice “Pretty in Pink,” as well as “Heaven,” “Love My Way,” etc. Their videos may look hokey now, with all the primitive wipe effects, shiny outfits, and far too many unnerving, endless closeups of Richard trying to look as much as possible like David Bowie’s coked-out Thin White Duke, but pretty much all the vids from that era look like Bowie’s late-night hallucinations.
The Furs went away for a few years in the ’90s (pity few radio stations favored the spinoff group, Love Spit Love, the way they saturated the airwaves with their predecessors, since two members went on to join Guns N’ Roses), but they’re back on the classic rock circuit, with a date at the Belly Up on March 6. This time around, the Butler brothers will be accompanied by guitarist Rich Good (who co-founded the Pleased with Joanna Newsom), jazz saxophonist Mars Williams (the Waitresses), drummer Paul Garisto (an off-and-on member since 1983), and keyboardist Amanda Kramer, one of around two dozen players who’ve cycled through the fondly remembered ’80s/’90s new-wave band Information Society.