The Psychedelic Furs and Living Colour

During the emerging punk scene in England in 1977, The Psychedelic Furs auditioned for Essex Kennedy’s record label, Manfactory Wave Punk, Essex Kennedy’s record label, who signed the band hoping to cash in on the punk music movement. The band, originally consisting of vocalist Richard Butler, bassist Tim Butler, saxophonist Duncan Kilburn, drummer Paul Wilson and guitarist Roger Morris, and in 1979 they gained guitarist John Ashton and had Vince Ely replace Wilson. Then in 1980 they released their first album, and the eponymous album reached radio popularity in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Australia.

They reached success in the United States with their sophomore album, “Talk Talk Talk” in 1981; in fact, the single “Pretty In Pink” served as the inspiration for John Hughes’ film with the same name. In 1982 both Morris and Kilburn left the band, and after the band released “Forever Now,” Ely left the band as well; however Phil Calvert stepped in for touring duties.

By the mid 80s, the band had become widely popular around the world, and in 1986 they re-recorded “Pretty In Pink” for the soundtrack of the movie. This led to the band returning to the studio for “Midnight To Midnight,” an album Butler claimed was forced out of the band, however despite the claims, the album became their most successful album. After the release of “Book Of Days,” and “World Outside” the band went on hiatus.

During the hiatus, the Butler brothers found a new band together called Love Split Love, but after a decade apart the band came back together in 2000. Since then, they have released a live album, as well as participated in a world tour in 2011.

Formed by English-born guitarist Vernon Reid, Living Colour grew out of the Black Rock Coalition, a non-profit co-founded by Reid, for black musicians wanting to play rock and roll. Living Colour’s early musical excursions were an experimental mix of instrumental tangents, jazz jams, funk fusions and punk rock attacks, in contrast to their later major label releases.

Living Colour’s line-up became a fixture in 1986 consisting of Vernon Reid, vocalist Corey Glover, Muzz Skillings on bass, and Berklee College of Music graduate Will Calhoun on drums. Performing regularly and honing their skills the band released their debut album “Vivid” on May 3, 1988, which became popular after MTV began playing the video for the song “Cult of Personality. The album charted well at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and led to performances on Saturday Night Live, a Grammy Award and a support slot on The Rolling Stones’ Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour.

With their second album “Time’s Up” failing to live up to the first the band played a show at Lollapalooza in 1991 and released an EP of outtake entitled “Biscuits” to raise their profile. After which Skillings left the group to be replaced by Doug Wimbish, whom with the help of released the ambitious “Stain”, which reached No. 26 in the U.S. charts.

With such a plethora of musical influences the band couldn’t agree on a single musical direction and disbanded in 1995. They returned five year later in 2000 and played a live show using Calhoun’s and Wimbish’s drum and bass project Head>>Fake in which Reid and Glover made appearances. Despite critical acclaim their Living Colour’s fourth studio album failed to chart, and Sony released a extensive career spanning best-of compilation titled “Everything Is Possible: The Very Best of Living Colour”.

In 2006 Living Colour including Skillings for the first time in 14 years played a party Jack DeJohnette threw for his wife, and followed the show with a week-long European tour. The band’s fifth full-length album “The Chair in the Doorway” was released in 2009 landing an No. 159 on the Billboard 200 and was followed by a worldwide tour.