Nothing did more to further the cause of Alternative Nation-building than 120 Minutes, MTV’s Sunday-night video showcase of non-mainstream acts. For nearly two decades, the program spanned musical eras from ’80s college rock to ’00s indie, with grunge, Britpop, punk, industrial, electronica and more in between. MAGNET raids the vaults to resurrect our 120 favorite and unjustly forgotten videos from the show’s classic era.
#41: The Psychedelic Furs “Heartbreak Beat”
It’s difficult to think of the Psychedelic Furs these days without a certain Earles & Jensen prank phone call creeping to mind: “Tim Butler, An Old Flatmate Of David J.’s.” (Finding this bit as a ringtone has made the toil of 120 posts about old music videos completely worthwhile.) Not that this writer had thoughts about the Furs in their ’80s prime, either; that’s a little before his time. Thanks to John Hughes and Pretty In Pink, however, the Psychedelic Furs came to represent ’80s U.K. rock in a blanket, nondescript way, neither becoming as influential as the Smiths or surviving and reuniting like Echo & The Bunnymen. This is a massively oversimplified and roundabout method of stating that nobody really talks about the Psychedelic Furs anymore. “Heartbreak Beat” (from 1987’s Midnight To Midnight) is good reason to recall the London band led by Richard and Tim Butler, and 1982’s “Love My Way” is close behind.
2 replies on “120 Reasons To Live: The Psychedelic Furs”
There are so many other better Furs songs to listen to than this sour grape. Dig deep into their catalog, newbiesm and be richly rewarded with dark melodic bliss. Most fans of the Furs would consider the song Heartbreak Beat to be the low point of their career. Every other one of their songs is better than this tripe.
C’mon! All that leather and hairspray? How could you not love this. Not to mention the saxophone player reminds me of the Ultimate Warrior.