The Psychedelic Furs

Playing Seattle's Showbox at the Market on Saturday, Sep 13 at 7:00! This song features marimba, played by Todd Rundgren, who also produced the album. It features backing vocals from Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the Turtles). According to oral history, the story of the marimba began a long, long time ago in Africa, where holes were dug in the ground, wooden bars were made to cross over this hole, and the bars were struck to produce sound. That is, a sort of xylophone arose that worked by having the sound produced by wooden bars resonate within holes. Subsequently, gourds were attached to the undersides of the wooden bars. Now it was the gourds that served as resonating chambers for the sound. Instruments like this are still familiar as traditional folk instruments. Interestingly, the Zulu tribe of South Africa is said to have legends of a goddess named Marimba who created a xylophone with gourds attached: tinyurl.com

Another 1981 album birthday! "Talk Talk Talk," The Psychedelic Furs' second studio album, came out on this date in 1981. -- Watch them perform it live on German TV in that year. (It's the full original line-up of Richard Butler, Duncan Kilburn , John Ashton, Roger Morris, Tim Butler, and Vince Ely.)

Happy birthday to singer Richard Butler (b. 1956)! -- Watch the official video for this first single from The Psychedelic Furs' "Midnight to Midnight': www.youtube.com --- thepsychedelicfurs.com

Playing Seattle's Showbox at the Market on Saturday, Sep 13 at 7:00! This song features marimba, played by Todd Rundgren, who also produced the album. It features backing vocals from Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the Turtles). According to oral history, the story of the marimba began a long, long time ago in Africa, where holes were dug in the ground, wooden bars were made to cross over this hole, and the bars were struck to produce sound. That is, a sort of xylophone arose that worked by having the sound produced by wooden bars resonate within holes. Subsequently, gourds were attached to the undersides of the wooden bars. Now it was the gourds that served as resonating chambers for the sound. Instruments like this are still familiar as traditional folk instruments. Interestingly, the Zulu tribe of South Africa is said to have legends of a goddess named Marimba who created a xylophone with gourds attached: tinyurl.com

A heartbreak beat is an emotional condition, not a medical one, but Richard Butler suffered from something similar after the band set out on tour to promote the "Midnight to Midnight" album. Butler wasn't pleased with the album ("there's nothing lyrically I'm proud of on it at all," he declared), and hated performing songs from it. As the tour progressed, the band found themselves dropping new material and inserting older songs in their place. It all was very stressful for Butler, who at one point had an EKG heart scan to find out if there was something wrong. He underwent a program to manage his stress, but had to be talked into staying with the band, since he was so disillusioned. www.songfacts.com

Playing Seattle's Showbox at the Market on Saturday, Sep 13 at 7:00! This song features marimba, played by Todd Rundgren, who also produced the album. It features backing vocals from Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the Turtles). According to oral history, the story of the marimba began a long, long time ago in Africa, where holes were dug in the ground, wooden bars were made to cross over this hole, and the bars were struck to produce sound. That is, a sort of xylophone arose that worked by having the sound produced by wooden bars resonate within holes. Subsequently, gourds were attached to the undersides of the wooden bars. Now it was the gourds that served as resonating chambers for the sound. Instruments like this are still familiar as traditional folk instruments. Interestingly, the Zulu tribe of South Africa is said to have legends of a goddess named Marimba who created a xylophone with gourds attached: tinyurl.com

Hi John, my wife and I are going to Milwaukee's Summerfest on June 26. DEVO and The Psychedelic Furs are playing at the same time. Can you and/or your listeners decide who to see? John (Illinois) -- Richard Butler's co-writers on the song were the group's guitarist John Ashton and bass player Tim Butler (Richard's brother). -- A heartbreak beat is an emotional condition, not a medical one, but Richard Butler suffered from something similar after the band set out on tour to promote the Midnight to Midnight album. Butler wasn't pleased with the album ("there's nothing lyrically I'm proud of on it at all," he declared), and hated performing songs from it. As the tour progressed, the band found themselves dropping new material and inserting older songs in their place. It all was very stressful for Butler, who at one point had an EKG heart scan to find out if there was something wrong. He underwent a program to manage his stress, but had to be talked into staying with the band, since he was so disillusioned.

On this day in 1983, the movie Valley Girl was released in the United States on April 29, 1983. The soundtrack includes this classic: "Love My Way" by The Psychedelic Furs

The first Psychedelic Furs song that charted in the US - with production and marimba from Todd Rundgren, also featured on the Call Me By Your Name soundtrack in 2017 - www.thepsychedelicfurs.com

For Chef Steve in Kansas City! The Psychedelic Furs will be on tour! Check out the dates and locales here: thepsychedelicfurs.com