Agreed.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 2 March 2021 16:50 (three years ago) link
No lie.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 2 March 2021 17:00 (three years ago) link
Totally worthy of the band that did TTT, and that’s not nuthin.
― pence's eye juice (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 2 March 2021 23:11 (three years ago) link
"Ash Wednesday"! (and the rest)
― swing out sister: live in new donk city (geoffreyess), Wednesday, 3 March 2021 02:23 (three years ago) link
I didn't realize John Ashton was fighting stage 4 prostate cancer. Apparently the band did a benefit show for him earlier this year in Woodstock, and now they're auctioning off this signed guitar (signed by Richard Butler, Tim Butler, Mars Williams, Amanda Kramer, Rich Good, Zack Alford and John Ashton):
https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/vintage-guitars-and-musical-instruments/the-psychedelic-furs-signed-schecter-electric-guitar/a/7275-85129.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515
Really a tough situation, it's too advanced to operate on so he's been on chemo, hormone therapy and other things for the past year and I guess he'll be continuing treatment for the foreseeable future.
― birdistheword, Sunday, 17 July 2022 19:17 (one year ago) link
As a prostate cancer survivor of uh, 6 mos so far, this has meaning, weight, and such strong sad anger.
― Warning: Choking Hazard (Hunt3r), Sunday, 17 July 2022 22:51 (one year ago) link
I stumbled on to a gofundme campaign from late 2021 that claims original drummer Vince Ely (he was the drummer for the first three albums) has throat cancer, but it has very few donations. Not sure what happened there, but is it true, Ely has throat cancer?
― birdistheword, Monday, 18 July 2022 15:28 (one year ago) link
Not sure. Nothing online but that late 2021 UK Go Fund Me.
Just saw the current touring version of Psychedelic Furs last night with X opening.
the band's current lineup I think is — original members Butler and his bass-playing brother, Tim; saxophonist Mars Williams and drummer Paul Garisto from the mid-'80s lineup; and two relative newcomers, guitarist Rich Good and keyboardist Amanda Kramer
― curmudgeon, Monday, 18 July 2022 16:25 (one year ago) link
As mentioned in the other thread, X was great, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Furs. Mars is a fantastic saxophonist, I'm glad he's still with them and nothing against Kilburn but Mars is even more accomplished and brings more to the band (even though he didn't appear on their first few albums). The Butlers were great and again, they really loved the crowd, they kept coming over to the edge of stage and mouthed the words with us. It was almost too much to have Richard Butler like two feet away from you, crouching down and singing directly at your face, and really not knowing what else to do except bop my head to the beat. (I didn't know the words well enough to sing back.)
― birdistheword, Monday, 18 July 2022 18:16 (one year ago) link
I agree. Was raving to my wife about how great sax player Williams sounded. Richard Butler looked real into it. I hadn't seen them since the early 8os. I did wish they would have done "Sister Europe" & "Into You Like a Train" and sometimes the drums and guitar were too arena rock , but largely a fun show
― curmudgeon, Monday, 18 July 2022 18:26 (one year ago) link
xpost--I messaged the guy doing the go fund me for former P Furs (and Cure for a bit) drummer and he said:
Visitor Message from Simon Porter:
He’s good.. on the road to recovery.. living in Eastbourne with his beloved dogs..
Regards
― curmudgeon, Monday, 18 July 2022 22:25 (one year ago) link
I had a couple songs from the most recent album pop up in shuffles recently, that's really a good record.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 19 July 2022 02:44 (one year ago) link
I need to listen to that latest one again
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 19 July 2022 13:41 (one year ago) link
Marvellous old Furs advert. Mostly just actual songs off the LP, but Butler talks over them occasionally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDyF_OUEl10
― the pinefox, Friday, 17 March 2023 13:58 (one year ago) link
So just a quick reminder that Richard B worked with Martin Gore on four songs on the new Depeche album. All quite good!
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 24 March 2023 18:31 (one year ago) link
any details as to how this team up happened, as its not something i would have expected ?
― mark e, Friday, 24 March 2023 19:20 (one year ago) link
Haven't seen it discussed yet myself.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 24 March 2023 20:04 (one year ago) link
Mars Williams is missing their upcoming tour because he's fighting cancer. (Two other members from the band's history have also been fighting cancer.)
Go Fund Me campaign to help him out:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/marswilliams
― birdistheword, Monday, 1 May 2023 20:09 (one year ago) link
Just caught them tonight. Richard sounded awesome, still the epitome of cool, and Mars was back in action!
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 25 September 2023 02:26 (eight months ago) link
A friend who saw them last week thought they were great and reported approvingly that Richard Butler looked like a kooky grandma.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Monday, 25 September 2023 02:42 (eight months ago) link
^^ Show me some men who look like old lesbians!
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 25 September 2023 03:08 (eight months ago) link
saw this, thought "fuck i wish i could finally see them" and then looked, and i am now gonna see them 9/29. Thanks Josh.
fwiw, shows bigger than a few hundred bring me down, though i finally saw spoon last month and wooooooooooohooo, i enjoyed that.
― blurry picture of mostly amorphous feelings (Hunt3r), Monday, 25 September 2023 03:32 (eight months ago) link
They were great when I saw them with X. I didn't expect Richard to constantly come up to the edge of the stage, especially off to the side where I was - he was literally inches from me, which was cool but after awhile almost felt TOO close. All of a sudden, there was this pressure to facially express my enjoyment over and over again - I didn't want him to think "was this guy just here for X?" (To be fair, I love X to pieces.)
― birdistheword, Monday, 25 September 2023 21:09 (eight months ago) link
ha i would likely have the same issue, but still not a bad problem. glad to hear they're sounding good, i hope that it continues.
because i have so much and such long listening history with them, i have a weird sense of them not being actual at all. almost a personal feeling that they are bigger than popular music, just like, this creative/productive "thing" of "that" era.
i listened to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ncz9b2dIHkU 4 times while rollerskiing 6mi up gravel paths to home today. that album surprised me at the time for it's pop catchiness and it's very smooth melding of their history and general styles with those of greater recency. and also the VU/Cale violin, and the clarinet(oboe?) parts on top of that. It's just a good piece to me.
― blurry picture of mostly amorphous feelings (Hunt3r), Tuesday, 26 September 2023 03:05 (eight months ago) link
Mike Mills in a recent interview:
I just saw one of the best shows I’ve seen in years, the Psychedelic Furs opening for Squeeze, and it was awesome in every way. There was no feeling of age up there. They all played and acted like young men and sounded great, and I couldn’t have had a better time.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 2 November 2023 21:30 (six months ago) link
i saw the same pairing in Denver, Squeeze opened for Furs. Good show, they played very well, the sound system was terrible terrible. the vox were almost totally lost to me, row 2. Enjoyed it a great deal, wouldn't say the elder furs seemed like young men, but they were extremely credible, very casually and comfortably active (and interactive) rock adults ha.
― BEWARE! SPOOKY! BOO! (Hunt3r), Thursday, 2 November 2023 22:07 (six months ago) link
Did they play the 2020 songs? They deserve inclusion.
― hat trick of trashiness (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 2 November 2023 22:15 (six months ago) link
they played a few at the show I saw, so I assume so.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 2 November 2023 22:21 (six months ago) link
Yup and agree that album is very solid imo. Effective pop lyricist and songwriter for me.
― BEWARE! SPOOKY! BOO! (Hunt3r), Thursday, 2 November 2023 22:28 (six months ago) link
when I saw them in May 2023 they played The Boy That Invented Rock'n'Roll, Wrong Train, and No-One from the new album, so they're not neglecting it
― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Thursday, 2 November 2023 22:33 (six months ago) link
Wish they'd play something from the Love Spit Love albums. So underrated!
― Hideous Lump, Thursday, 2 November 2023 23:39 (six months ago) link
hugely underrated!!
― J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Thursday, 2 November 2023 23:45 (six months ago) link
Is there any other band of their era that tours as reliably as the Furs? They play several dozen dates across the US annually, and have done so nearly every year since 2000.
― visiting, Friday, 3 November 2023 02:32 (six months ago) link
i kept thinking “kooky, hmmm a little, but not too granny like, rly”?the rows up front dissolved during the show and i got a good handshake from r butler on a walk-by, it was gratifying as hell.
― BEWARE! SPOOKY! BOO! (Hunt3r), Friday, 3 November 2023 05:04 (six months ago) link
Oh no...
Rest in peace, Mars
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 21 November 2023 00:12 (six months ago) link
Shit. There was a benefit scheduled for him in a couple of days. He was a pretty incredible player. Amazing that he could fit in just as well with the Psychedelic Furs and Peter Brotzmann.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 21 November 2023 00:27 (six months ago) link
I think you recommended The Chicago Octet/Tentet which is indeed an amazing album.
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 21 November 2023 00:41 (six months ago) link
(A limited edition physical release but still available on Bandcamp)
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 21 November 2023 00:43 (six months ago) link
Big loss to Chicago area rock/jazz scene. This dude was on so many fun records!
― BlackIronPrison, Tuesday, 21 November 2023 01:01 (six months ago) link
Liquid Soul shows were so dope.
― BlackIronPrison, Tuesday, 21 November 2023 01:02 (six months ago) link
RIP awesome sax guy, you were amazing live
― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Tuesday, 21 November 2023 05:11 (six months ago) link
Awesome, awesome player, for me he will always be a part of Hal Russell's NRG Ensemble, Finnish/Swiss Tour, The Hal Russell Story, their free jazz opera, and Hal on Earth esp
RIP
― chr1sb3singer, Tuesday, 21 November 2023 14:57 (six months ago) link
Fine tribute by Peter Margasak. Mentions the support he gave other musicians with addiction issues: sounds like a good guy and real community player. Love those Christmas Ayler records.
https://petermargasak.substack.com/p/mars-williams-has-left-the-stage?utm_source=substack&publication_id=85512&post_id=139041340&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&utm_campaign=email-share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=true&r=3b6cq
― Composition 40b (Stew), Tuesday, 21 November 2023 15:05 (six months ago) link
Only just noticed this news, terrible
One of my favourite rock sax guys ever, amazing tone, essential to all their best work
― Tyler Perry's Cystitis (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 21 November 2023 15:08 (six months ago) link
Slight rewind but still, fuck mortality
― Tyler Perry's Cystitis (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 21 November 2023 15:17 (six months ago) link
oh man I love those Christmas Ayler records too.
― campreverb, Wednesday, 22 November 2023 18:06 (six months ago) link
He's even adding to the din here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPfGwMdGHfU
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 22 November 2023 19:49 (six months ago) link