Psychedelic Furs consists of John Ashton (guitarist), Richard Butler (vocals), Tim Butler (bass), Vince Ely. (drummer).
The Psychedelic Furs are an influential British post-punk band founded in the late 1970s.
The Psychedlic Furs came together in England's burgeoning punk scene of 1977, and initially consisted of Richard Butler ( vocals), Tim Butler ( bass guitar), Duncan Kilburn ( saxophone), and Roger Morris (guitars). By 1979, this line up had expanded to a sextet with the additon of Vince Ely on drums and John Ashton on guitar.
Punk had dismissed psychedelic rock and was adamantly opposed to it. The Furs embraced punk's more liberating elements, but discarded such limitations and also embraced psychedelic rock. The outcome was a combination of droning guitars and sax, rhythm section in the deep end of the pool, and raspy biting vocals with a slightly more pop feel than punk, becoming progressively more pop and less punk with successive albums until 1989's Book of Days, which saw a return to the earlier style.
The Furs' initial self-titled album from 1980 featured a fairly heavy David Bowie influence, and was a top 20 hit in the UK. The US version of the album was resequenced, but failed to have a substantial commercial impact.
Behind the production of Steve Lillywhite, famous for its big drum sound, the Furs broke into the U.S. market with the 1981 release Talk Talk Talk, which made the lower rungs of the US album charts. In the UK, the album was a solid hit which spun off two charting singles, "Dumb Waiters" and the original version of "Pretty in Pink". This latter song served as inspiration for the 1986 John Hughes film of the same name, and was re-recorded for the soundtrack.
In 1982, the band (now a four-piece consisting of Ashton, Ely and the Butler brothers) moved permanently to New York state, where they recorded the album Forever Now with producer Todd Rundgren. This album contained "Love My Way", a hit in both the US and the UK. Ely left the band after this release, though he would return for the 1988 single "All That Money Wants" and the 1989 album Book of Days.
