An Englishman in New York:
An interview with expatriate frontman Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs

September 18, 2003

Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury
By Newt Briggs

Dropping names like David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed and David Byrne, Psychedelic Furs guitarist John Ashton sounds as if he hobnobbed with every pop celebrity of the '70s and early '80s. And it's no wonder; The Furs straddled punk and new wave like a spiky-haired colossus, blending the swaggering oomph of the Clash with the moody atmospherics of the Cure and the Smiths. In fact, the band was so popular with its contemporaries that Paul Weller of the Jam once mused aloud, "I never understood why the Psychedelic Furs didn't sell more records."

Curiously, the Furs did struggle to reach a mainstream audience&mdasd;that is, until John Hughes snatched up the band's 1981 single "Pretty in Pink" for his 1986 Brat Pack blockbuster of the same name. After that, the transplanted Brits were swamped in laurels, and they promptly responded with what even Ashton admits was "a disaster of a record," the ultra-poppy Midnight to Midnight. Although they survived long enough to record two more studio albums, the Furs failed to reclaim their lost renown and split in 1991. In recent years, however, they've been revisiting their early work and playing sporadic shows around the country. Gearing up for a two-week mini-tour that will take the reconstituted Furs from New York to L.A., Ashton found a moment to chat about old times with the Mercury.

Mercury: When you guys first made it over to America, who were you touring with?

Ashton: Our first proper tour of the States was with the Talking Heads. Actually, we were only booked to play a single show at the Mudd Club in New York, but Lux Interior and Poison Ivy from the Cramps were at the show and we somehow caught on to play a few more gigs.

M: Was it around that time that you started hanging out with Andy Warhol?

A: No, that was a little later, after we released our second album. That was really cool. We went to visit The Factory and hung out with Andy for a bit. Then he came to our show, and we talked on the bus and went clubbing afterwards.

M: Was clubbing with Warhol a bizarre experience?

A: A little bit. He was very shy and quiet, but really quite a lot of fun. In some ways, he was a lot like [Psychedelic Furs lead singer] Richard Butler. He's outgoing when he's on stage, but after a show he pretty much keeps to himself. You know, there were times where we were all a little more flashy. And there were probably times when Andy Warhol was more flashy, but it certainly wasn't when we were hanging out with him.

M: So after that you bailed out of England?

A: You could say that we aligned ourselves with New York and that whole underground contingency pretty early on. I don't think we outgrew England by any means, but it does tend to be a little more trend-conscious than other places. Basically, you get your year or 18 months, and then something else comes up and you get pushed aside. I think we found a more consistent audience in the States.

M: What else drew you to New York?

A: Everything was new and vibrant and maybe a little more edgy than it was anywhere else. I mean, it was still dangerous to walk down some streets in Manhattan. You could get mugged. Plus, New York had this wonderfully avant-garde art and music scene. It was wild. There was a sense that you were going out and playing to crowds that were really, really into what you were doing--almost to the point of fanaticism.

M: As the '80s went on, though, you started developing a much more polished, radio-friendly sound.

A: Well, that was sort of the flavor of the day. Bands were either going funky like the Talking Heads or doing the pretty-boy pop thing like Duran Duran. We were trying to strike a balance between the two, but all around us, the hair dryers were becoming as loud as the guitars. I don't think we were ever worried that we'd gone too far until we released Midnight to Midnight. Then we realized what a horrible mistake we'd made. We were all like, "Oh, my God. Look at us. What have we done?"

M: So you sort of sowed the seeds of your own demise?

A: In a sense, yes.

M: I also heard that you got tired of playing "Pretty in Pink" night in and night out.

A: I guess every artist gets a little tired of playing the same songs night after night, but to be perfectly honest there's nothing like seeing the faces of an entire audience light up when you play something they know. Right now, it's really a lot of fun.

By the Numbers:

Number of song titles stolen from the Psychedelic Furs by Japanese noise-rock band Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her: 1 ("Pretty in Pink")

Number of songs written by Bob Dylan for the Psychedelic Furs: 1

Number of Bob Dylan-written songs rejected by the Psychedelic Furs: 1