Forever Now

Certain Songs #1670: The Psychedelic Furs – “Yes I Do”

October 30, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Forever Now (Original U.S. Vinyl)
Year: 1982

. . .

So here’s some more weird record company stuff. Just as it was with The Psychedelic Furs and Talk Talk Talk, the tracklistings on the U.K. and U.S. versions of Forever Now were completely different. The U.K. version started with “President Gas” and ended with “Sleep Comes Down” while the U.S. started with “Forever Now” and closed with “Yes I Do.”

Which is fine, except that “Yes I Do” was called “Merry-Go-Round” in the U.K. and had completely different verses — but the exact same choruses — than its U.S. counterpart. It was probably called “Merry-Go-Round” for the carnivalesque keyboards added by Todd Rundgren, as well as the circular beat that the great Vince Ely provided, but of course, I only knew the U.S. version. That was the one that I fell in love with and to.

Certain Songs #1669: The Psychedelic Furs – “Run and Run”

October 29, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Forever Now
Year: 1982

Sorry kids, no “Love My Way.” While I never hated it, I really didn’t like it, either, and while I was glad that the P-Furs were making some kind of inroads on U.S. radio, remove the vocals and “Love My Way” could have been just about anyone.

Much much better was “Run and Run,” the final single from Forever Now, and the song that sounded most like it sprang from the same well as the first two albums, while also showing a way forward.

Certain Songs #1668: The Psychedelic Furs – “Forever Now”

October 28, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Forever Now
Year: 1982

. . .

In the aftermath of Talk Talk Talk, The Psychedelic Furs nearly imploded.

First off, two founding members left (or were tossed out of) the band: guitarist Roger Morris, whose speaker-to-speaker duels with John Ashton drove the debut and enhanced the follow-up, and — more crucially — saxophonist Duncan Kilburn, who not only anchored songs like “We Love You” and “Dumb Waiters,” but also was a huge reason they were so unique in the first place. Which is why, 30 years later, John Ashton called it a “big mistake.”

Secondly, they were unable to get their regular producer, the awesome Steve Lillywhite — and after flirting with the record company choice David Bowie (!) — they decided to lean in to their changes and go with Todd Rundgren, who was actually surprised that he wasn’t going to be working with a six-piece, but who also had enough multi-instrumental chops and connections to help the Furs make some sense out of the chaos surrounding them.