Artist

The Psychedelic Furs

London, United Kingdom • Formed 1977

The Psychedelic Furs is a music group from London, United Kingdom, active since 1977. Their discography on Gatefold includes 24 records.

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Albums tracked

208

In collections

1977

Since

Biography

The Psychedelic Furs is an English post punk / new wave band that was founded in London in the late 70s. They came together in England's burgeoning punk scene of 1977 and initially consisted of Richard Butler (vocals), Tim Butler (bass guitar), Duncan Kilburn (saxophone), Paul Wilson (drums), and Roger Morris (guitars). By 1979, this line-up had expanded to a sextet due to the addition of John Ashton on guitar and Vince Ely replacing Wilson on drums.

The Arc of The Psychedelic Furs

The pivots — what forced The Psychedelic Furs to reinvent.

The Lillywhite Density
From '79 to '81, the band functioned as a dense sextet featuring Roger Morris and Duncan Kilburn, creating a chaotic post-punk fog. Steve Lillywhite used his signature gated reverb and layered John Ashton’s guitars until the songs felt claustrophobic. This era is defined by a heavy, monochromatic drive that peaked with Talk Talk Talk before the lineup began to fracture. You hear it in the original cut of Pretty in Pink, which was way more jagged and cynical than the version everyone knows from the movies.
The Rundgren Realignment
When the band shrank to a quartet and decamped to Rundgren’s Utopia Sound Studios in upstate New York, the sound opened up significantly. Rundgren played the unofficial fifth member, adding marimba and lush arrangements that transformed them from art-punks into actual songwriters. Forever Now is the pivot point where the textures became psychedelic in a classic sense rather than just noisy. It moved the needle from the London club scene to something that could fill an American theater.
The Keith Forsey Gloss
In 1984, the label pushed them toward Keith Forsey, the man who helped define the polished 80s pop sound for Billy Idol. This shift resulted in Mirror Moves, an album dominated by drum machines and a sleek, expensive sheen that almost entirely buried the band's original grit. While the hooks were undeniable, the tension that made their early work dangerous was replaced by dance-floor accessibility. It was a commercially successful move that led to a creative identity crisis for the rest of the decade.

Influences

The Velvet Underground — Richard Butler has cited them as the primary reason he started a band, specifically wanting to capture that drone. You hear it in the repetitive, hypnotic bass lines Tim Butler laid down on the debut record. It’s that intersection of street-level noise and art-school detachment.
David Bowie — The vocal delivery on early tracks like 'India' is a direct descendant of the 'Heroes' era bark. Butler wasn't just singing; he was doing that stylized, theatrical rasp that Bowie perfected in Berlin. The band even covered 'Moonage Daydream' during their early live sets.
Roxy Music — The use of Duncan Kilburn’s saxophone wasn't for jazz licks; it was for the textural, dissonant squall Bryan Ferry and Andy Mackay utilized. It provided that high-end art-rock friction against the darker post-punk rhythm section. They took the glamorous decay of Stranded and dragged it through the mud.
Iggy Pop — Butler frequently mentioned The Idiot as a massive touchstone for the band's atmosphere. The cold, mechanical throb of that record informed the darker pacing of tracks like 'Sister Europe.' It’s that specific feeling of isolation in a crowded city.
The Sex Pistols — The Furs formed right in the wake of the 1976 punk explosion in London. While they were more atmospheric, they kept the snotty, confrontational edge of the Pistols in their early live performances. They took the DIY energy but decided to add more layers to the noise.