Love In A Fur Lined Tub
Richard Butler doesn’t know what a hot tub is. The subject comes up as I try to explain the phenomenon of Seattle’s two rent-a-tub motels to the lead singer of the Psychedelic Furs. Butler wants to check it out immediately to— at the very least— soak his weary bones after two months touring America.
It’s not surprising that Butler would be interested in hot tubs because I explain to him, the sensual abandon suggested by things like hourly rent-a-tubs is the the subject in most of his songs. Butler and The Furs write songs about explicit sex, wanting desire and how these ideas can motivate old-fashioned love. In songs like “Pretty In Pink”, “Into You Like A Train” and “I Wanna Sleep With You”, The Furs capture the raw sexuality of most of the world yet still have room for emotional desire.
“It’s really quite a dichotomy.” Butler says describing how love and sex relate to his own life. “You do these things. Still you get tired of waking up next to idiots.”
The Furs back up their songs in a modern day wall of sound that would make Phil Spector proud. The sheer overwhelming power of their songs were never clearer than at the Hippodrome show last week where their sound embraced, exploited and then bludgeoned an overflowing crowd. Since their last Seattle performance almost two years ago, the Furs have added a cello, a new guitarist and a whole new group of powerhouse songs in their retentive.
In moments, it was their best known songs that came across well— the aforementioned sex songs and the newer “Love My Way” and “Danger.” “Love My Way” has been the biggest success of their about three year career and has even marked the Furs’ presence in pop station across America.
“Love My Way” is also about sex.” Butler explains before the show. “I wrote it to say that whatever way you love. It’s okay. If you’re gay or anything else, I was saying just go for it. It was written for two girls I knew who were sharing a flat in London.”
There is also a musical dichotomy in “Love My Way” in contrast between the band and the soft in Butler’s voice. He has a gravelly voice that would make Captain Beefheart shiver with fear, yet on “Love My Way” he brings a soft intimacy that is heartfelt.
“I never thought of myself as a singer.” Butler says of his voice. “I mostly never thought I could sing and I don’t think I can now. I don’t think any of us ever considered ourselves as good musicians but I don’t think people necessarily want great musicians. There are a million better musicians than the ones in the band but something happens between us when this band comes together and that’s all that counts.”
What happens is that Butler’s voice meshes with Gary Windo’s mad sax, Tim Butler’s bass and on this tour even cello by Ann Sheldon and the result is music that smacks you awake in the way a quick jump in the hot tub does on a cold winter night. You don’t even have to get wet.