The Furs Furs Furs release Talk Talk Talk

The Psychedelic Furs : Pretty In Pink

On May 18, 1981 The Psychedelic Furs released Talk Talk Talk, a torrent of sound produced by Steve Lillywhite that peaked at UK#30 and US#89. Richard Butler sounds fed up with socializing, not that you can make out the lyrics without some help from a lyric sheet. In "Pretty In Pink", he aims his poison pen at a series of Caroline's sexist boyfriends

The one who insists he was first in the line 

Is the last to remember her name

He's walking around in this dress that she wore 

She is gone but the joke's the same

Richard Butler explains the song to The Quietus:

The idea of the song was, 'Pretty In Pink' as a metaphor for being naked. The song, to me, was actually about a girl who sleeps around a lot and thinks that she's wanted and in demand and clever and beautiful, but people are talking about her behind her back. That was the idea of the song. And John Hughes, bless his late heart, took it completely literally and completely overrode the metaphor altogether! I still like the song.

Columbia Records made a valiant effort to get FM radio to play the Furs, taking out this full page ad in FM Music Quarterly, a tip sheet for radio programmers. One of the things they should know: The Furs debut was the #4 most played album on college radio in 1980.

One of the Rolling Stone Record Guides gave the album 5 stars, its highest rating and Spin's Alternative Record Guide gave the album a 9/10. The immediate review wasn't also do high in praise. This is a 3 star review from Record World.

Most record reviewers didn't pick up on the Furs own sexism at the time. Songs like " Into You Like A Train" and " I Wanna Sleep With You" are lusty and perhaps lacking in respect. But enough did for Richard Butler to respond:

That was a little surprising. I didn't find there were any attitudes on there written as a male that couldn't also be felt as a female. If I were to posit the idea that I didn't want to have a romance with somebody, I just wanted to sleep with them, I was accused of sexism? I think that's a fairly commonplace way of thinking for males and females. Not every time a girl has sex does she want to get married and have babies with the person – you know? It seemed a curiously old-fashioned way of looking at it all, and in a way, reverse sexism.

 

April 1981: Singles We Missed

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers : The Waiting 

Tom Petty was always at his best when he was updating the Byrds sound. This US#20 hit is a good example. It may have been a former Byrd that gave him the lyric. "That was a song that took a long time to write," Petty said. " Roger McGuinn swears he told me the line - about the waiting being the hardest part - but I think I got the idea from something Janis Joplin said on television. I had the chorus very quickly, but I had a very difficult time piecing together the rest of the song. It's about waiting for your dreams and not knowing if they will come true. I've always felt it was an optimistic song."

The Psychedelic Furs : Dumb Waiters

The new Psychedelic Furs single has the added gimmick that you can play the picture sleeve, which is a flexi-disc with snippets of three songs from the upcoming album Talk Talk Talk. 

Kraftwerk :  Pocket Calculator

Returning from a three year absence, these Teutonic godfathers of every 80's synth act from Gary Numan to Visage show up with a tribute to, of all things, calculators ("By pressing down a special key it plays a little melody"). As if computers are EVER going to play a big role in our lives!! Dated, but still charming.

The Undertones : It's Gonna Happen

Another irresistible hit from The Undertones, their last to go Top 20. It's apparently a veiled attack on Margaret Thatcher's policy regarding the Irish hunger strikers.  

Level 42 : Love Games

Bassist, vocalist and songwriter Mark King had already perfected the thumb-slap bass guitar technique when Level 42 released its first UK Top 40 single "Love Games". The band made their first appearance on Top of the Pops thanks to "Love Games".

 

A new Psychedelic Furs single visits with Mr Jones

The Psychedelic Furs : Mr Jones

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In October of 1980 The Psychedelic Furs released "Mr Jones" b/w "Susan's Strange". It's a muted version compared to the one that would appear on Talk Talk Talk, possibly because it is produced by Ian Taylor instead of the band's usual producer, Steve Lillywhte.  Thanks to Bob Dylan's "Ballad Of a Thin Man", Mr Jones had become a shorthand to the type of self-important movers snd shakers rebellious rockers hate. Richard Butler would later say the song is actually about pop culture's version of romance.

"It's basically saying that advertising and radio and pop songs sell you an idea of what love is and what it should be like, and it's largely idealized and very difficult to realize in the real world. It was a criticism of that really. Movie stars and ads define romance, don't they?"

6 Degrees of Separation: Ry Cooder to Big Country

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On his second album of 1972, the November release Boomer's Story, Ry Cooder performs an instrumental version of "Dark End Of The Street". The song--a 1967 hit for soul singer James Carr--is written by Memphis songwriter and producer Dan Penn who also contributes some vocals on the album.

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Though Dan Penn gave most of his songs to others ( there was also "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and The Box Tops hit "Cry Like a Baby") Penn records his own "Nobody's Fool" for his 1973 debut with his Muscle Shoals AL buddies. Alex Chilton would cover the song nearly 15 years later. Keyboardist Mike Utley is one of the keyboard players.

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Utely is also on board The Train I'm On, Swamp Fox Tony Joe White's 1972 country/soul album that is rapidly gaining a new fan base. The cover photo is taken by one of Rock's great photographers Jim Marshall.

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Blessed with a great eye and great access (as the chief photographer at Woodstock and the only backstage photographer at The Beatles last concert) Jim Marshall has shot a number of iconic photos including the one above of Johnny Cash at San Quentin. The art director for the live album was a man named Howard Fritzson.

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Fritzson has more than a thousand credits as art director including one for Talk Talk Talk, the 1981 album by Psychedelic Furs. Talk Talk Talk was produced by Steve Lilywhite.

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Among Steve Lilywhite's credits are albums by U2, XTC, The Rolling Stones and The Crossing, a 1983 hit album from the Scottish band Big Country.