This week's tune is novel for the fact that a remade version of it charted higher here in the States than did the original version--despite the fact that it completely lost the edge that made the original such a visceral experience. The remake was done for a movie of the same name supposedly based on the song...which actually had nothing whatsoever to do with the song (though not a bad movie). Moral of the story: avoid the 1986 version like the plague (probably not a good comparison in a year in which a pandemic played such a central role...).
The Psychedelic Furs--one of rock and roll's better monikers--formed in London in 1977 and had most of their original success in the U.K. and Europe. Their second album broke them in the U.S. and they would go on to have a string of hits here and across the pond through 1992, at which time they took an eight year hiatus. After reforming in 2000 the Furs have toured regularly and just this year released their first album in thirty years. Brothers Richard (vocals) and Tim (bass) Butler are the only two members to have remained in the band throughout their tenure, and the Furs, like many a band before them, has had numerous incarnations. For their career they have released eight studio LPs, two live albums, and eight compilation albums. They've also released 22 singles, with much more success in Great Britain than here. Overall, the Furs have had a solid career over the course of the last forty-three years, and one would imagine it beat the hell out of working in a fish and chips shop.
"Pretty in Pink" was originally released as a single in 1981 from their somewhat repetitively titled second album, Talk Talk Talk. The song did not chart here in America, but would reach #43 on the UK Singles chart (so many cool kids in the U.K.!). The album hit #30 in the British Isles and #89 here in the U.S. Sadly, the remake was their biggest hit single in England and their second biggest single in the States--sometimes there's just no accounting for taste.
Occasionally, if you follow the world of rock and roll, you'll come across a song or a band that's described as garage rock, i.e. it sounds like music an enthusiastic group of young musicians whipped up in their garage. I've often thought "Pretty in Pink" (and to a degree much of the Furs early work) falls into this category. It's a little rough around the edges...but that roughness is what drives the song and takes a not so easy to tell story and makes it into a great song (the song chronicles a young woman who is sexually adventurous and some believe that pretty in pink refers to her nude body). Butler's gravelly vocals (one of the few British singers who keeps a hint of his accent as he sings) toes the line between respect for her sexual choices and scorn for her often callous lovers. The guitars reverberate like oceans waves continuously crashing the shore, and the drums explode from the song's opening moment to its last, smashing and smashing a manic beat. It's one of those songs where a pretty good band turns in a stellar performance--so much so that even thirty-nine years later some doofus like me is still waxing enthusiastic about it.
Lyric Sheet: "She turns herself 'round and she smiles and she says/"This is it, that's the end of the joke"/And loses herself in her dreaming and sleep/And her lovers walk through in their coats..."
Enjoy:
219,000+ Dead Americans
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
No comments:
Post a Comment