Psychedelic Furs @ Crescent Ballroom

Certain records seem to appear, somehow, at virtually every yard sale: Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Foreigner 4, Carole King's Tapestry . . . and Psychedelic Furs' Talk Talk Talk. The first three make sense, given how ubiquitous they were, but the latter is harder to explain. Released in 1981, Talk Talk Talk,...

By Glenn BurnSilver

July 11, 2013

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Certain records seem to appear, somehow, at virtually every yard sale: Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Foreigner 4, Carole King's Tapestry . . . and Psychedelic Furs' Talk Talk Talk. The first three make sense, given how ubiquitous they were, but the latter is harder to explain. Released in 1981, Talk Talk Talk, the Psychedelic Furs' second release, generally is considered the British band's best album — so well-regarded that a 2011 tour merited performing the album in its entirety. So why the sales bin? Listeners must have grown tired of the band's post-punk/New Wave sound, which oscillated between poppy and edgy without ever taking hold of either. Later versions of the band dabbled mistakenly in harder rock, as well as overtly commercial forays — including a schmaltzy remake of "Pretty in Pink" for the John Hughes movie of the same name — which could have alienated early fans. The band itself seemed to have had enough by 1991, calling it quits as founding Butler brothers Richard (vocals) and Tim (bass) formed Love Spit Love. But just shy of a decade later, the Furs reformed, recorded a new song, and toured on a nostalgia for the '80s that must not extend to record collections.

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