During a recent performance, the Psychedelic Furs — from left, saxophonist Mars Williams, singer Richard Butler and bassist Tim Butler — prove they have not lost a step since their heyday in the 1980s.
SOUTH ORANGE — If you were young in the 1980s, there is a good chance that The Psychedelic Furs greatly contributed to the soundtrack of your life. Combining catchy rhythms with thought-provoking lyrics, the Furs captured the spirit of the decade in hits such as “Love My Way,” “Heaven” and “Heartbreak Beat.” Their song “Pretty in Pink” even inspired the classic 1986 film of the same name starring Molly Ringwald, a big fan who urged screenwriter John Hughes to listen to the group.
By the early 90s, however, the Furs had grown tired of life as a band and decided to take a hiatus — one which lasted longer than even they had expected. But in 2001, they finally reformed, and according to bassist and founding member Tim Butler, are better than ever.
“I like to think that the band we are touring with is the best incarnation of the Furs I have ever played with, including the original,” Butler told the News-Record in a Dec. 31 phone interview. “We just click every night.”
Butler and his brother, lead singer Richard, may be the only original members in the lineup when the Furs come to the South Orange Performing Arts Center on Friday, Jan. 16, but the group has not lost touch with its roots. In fact, Butler said they plan to perform some tracks off their self-titled debut album that they have not played since the ‘80s.
Of course, longtime fans will also hear the hits they loved three decades ago, during the Furs’ heyday. Though success might have seemed to come easy to the group back then, Butler said it was actually an uphill battle to make the type of music they wanted while working with producers pushing them to be more mainstream. In the end though, the band largely stuck to its guns.
“We always went with our own hearts and our own gut feeling about what we wanted to do,” Butler said. “I think people appreciate that in any art form.”
But even the Furs were not immune to the pull of commercialism. The success of the movie “Pretty in Pink” — whose wholesome, teen-friendly storyline actually has nothing to do with the song’s lyrics about a promiscuous woman — exposed the band to a whole new set of listeners. At the same time, it alienated much of the group’s core fanbase.
“It was very flattering, but it did tend to lose us a lot of our initial fans, who thought we had sold out,” Butler said. “They would come to our shows and they would see girls with pink T-shirts on, a very pop audience. It tended to scare away some of our original fans. It was a curse and a good thing.”
Butler admitted that the Furs’ follow-up album, 1987’s “Midnight to Midnight,” was a “low point for the band,” since it was the result of succumbing to pressure from Columbia Records to take on a more commercial sound. It was while touring for the album that they realized they were unhappy with the direction the band was taking, he said, and even contemplated going their separate ways. Instead, he said they decided to recommit to the band’s original alternative style, leading to their final releases, “Book of Days” in 1989 and “World Outside” in 1991.
Today, Butler said audiences who come to Furs shows generally consist of both the band’s initial supporters and its later pop following — plus their children.
“They want to introduce them to real music,” Butler joked.
Yet the fact that the Furs’ music appeals to multiple generations is undeniably impressive, and Butler said he appreciates that their songs are still meaningful to people after all these years.
They certainly have influenced modern groups as well; The Killers in particular acknowledge the Furs as an inspiration, even performing with them for a number of concerts and on an episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Because of this continued support, Butler said the Furs are currently at work on a new album.
Though he and his brother, Richard, have never stopped songwriting together — the two formed the band Love Spit Love during the Furs’ ‘90s hiatus — Butler said the creative process is much easier, now that they have both calmed down and set aside their sibling rivalry.
Still, he said they are taking their time to make sure the new material is as good, if not better, than their past work.
Even with the new songs, the Furs will undoubtedly always be icons of the ‘80s. And that is just fine with Butler.
“Looking back on it, I think it has some of the best music of the past 30 or more years,” Butler said. “You had bands like The Cure, U2, Depeche Mode, INXS — all memorable bands with memorable vocalists.
“I am proud to be associated with that music and those bands,” Butler said.
To order concert tickets, please visit http://www.sopacnow.org/556/ThePsychedelicFurs or call 973-313-2787.