Modern Rock Tracks No. 1s - The Psychedelic Furs and "House"
The Furs return to the top spot on the MRT chart with a more direct observational piece, this time of life inside a home where all the people in it aren't on the same page
The Psychedelic Furs - “House”
Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: 3 (Jan. 20, 1990 to Feb. 3, 1990)
Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time:
Michael Bolton - “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” (1/20/89 - 2/3/90)
Or, if you prefer… Slater and Jessie - “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You”
It’s interesting to see these two songs topping the flagship alternative and pop charts during this early stretch of the 1990s. Michael Bolton’s over-the-top sappiness fest, “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You,” is built from the idea that the narrator loved someone from afar, only to find excruciating sadness when that loved person falls for someone else and decides to move away. More than anything, it’s a song about regret (and maybe a song about living in the moment instead of hoping your dreams become a reality), about a life the narrator hoped to live with that cherished other, only to have it dashed.
In a lot of ways, “House” by The Psychedelic Furs seems to be the perfect antidote for that idealistic dream of love, and perhaps that’s why the song struck a chord with those seeking an alternative to the mainstream pop of the time. The Furs, who joined R.E.M. and The B-52’s as the only bands with multiple chart-topping hits on the MRT chart with this single, managed to continue to hone their sound while also exploring the darker side of a happily ever after, the kind that Michael Bolton would never have dreamed about.
It’s possible I’m missing the message in this song. I’ve been known to do that. Even with an English degree, understanding the depth of poetic or lyrical meaning has never been my strongest suit. But if I’m reading into the lyrics correctly, the narrator in “House” is expressing regret over the moments of his life that have passed by and haven’t met the expectations he’d envisioned:
This day is not my life
The passing time is not my life
The thorn that's in my side
Is all these scenes that we regret
OR
Your dreams are not my life
These broken words are not my life
Your lies are none of my invention
The narrator speaks in terms of lies and passing days where he’s essentially living another life, in a house where one person’s wishes and wants do not necessarily reflect those of the other person. Richard Butler has a voice that doesn’t extend far beyond a specific range, but he does manage to sing with a bit more intensity with lines like: “Headlines and frontpages sell weddings and divorces. Make promises pay.” The song feels like a rebuke of the institution itself, a call for individuality and avoiding the pitfalls of putting too much faith in another person.
Perhaps the Furs, inadvertently, were offering an answer to Bolton’s titular question: How is that person supposed to live without the unrequited love of his life? By not living with them at all and following one’s own dreams, because others’ dreams are rubbish and will eventually make you hate everything.
(I’m sure that’s not what was intended, but it does provide a fun back-and-forth between the two songs.)
What continues to strike me about songs on the MRT chart entering the 1990s is how they are all starting to evolve out of the shell of the 1980s and sound a lot more like “‘90s music.” As I mentioned in the “Blues from a Gun” review last time, alternative music is starting to evolve away from the post-new-wave gloss of the ‘80s into a harder-edged sheen in the new decade, and the Furs seemed ready for that transition, even if their musical peak had passed them by at this point. But the strobe-effect music video layered with a dour musical beat and less-than-enthusiastic lyrics seem like a better fit in the ‘90s than anywhere else, and may have influenced the bands who followed after them.
“House” is a fine song , I guess. It managed to ride the top of the MRT chart for three weeks. It was the second single off of their 1989 album “Book of Days,” which would be one of the last albums the band released before going on hiatus in 1992. The first single, “Should God Forget,” peaked at #8 on the MRT chart in 1989 and, quite frankly, was not nearly as solid an effort as “All That Money Wants” or even “House.” And yet, despite the low-key success of these late-career albums by the Furs, they still had enough in the tank to pull off one last MRT chart topper. We’ll talk more about that one when we get there.
Rating: 5/10
Chart Check: A look at other notable MRT chart songs from this time period
We have Morrissey and the B-52’s back again, as well as our first taste of Siouxsie Sioux’s side project and a performer whose debut would ultimately become their most commercially popular song.
“Ouija Board, Ouija Board” by Morrissey: Morrissey is one of the most popular figures in 1980s and 1990s alternative music circles both in the U.S. and especially in his native U.K., so it would be somewhat irresponsible of me to neglect this particular track from my review of the MRT charts. This song inexplicably peaked at #2 on the MRT chart behind “House,” and it’s definitely a song that probably got played on the radio. It’s not my cup of tea, but I did find it amusing that this was used by the press at the time as an example of Morrissey channeling the occult or satanism, when the song itself couldn’t sound less satanic. If he’s channeling cheesy alt-rock, however, he succeeds.
“Roam” by The B-52’s: This might be my all-time favorite B-52’s offering, so it’s going to get some space in this Substack. Though it peaked at #6 on the MRT chart behind the Furs, “Roam” managed to match “Love Shack” with a #3 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson just play off each other so well in this song, with a solid arrangement behind them. The absence of Fred Schneider is noticeable and, while his unique vocal stylings are missed, it gives the ladies a chance to take the spotlight, and they knock it out of the park.
“Standing There” by The Creatures: Siouxsie Sioux, she of the Banshees that were the first chart toppers in the Modern Rock Tracks chart era, had a side project with Banshees drummer Budgie. This side project took alternative sound to a completely different plane of existence, and even if this isn’t your cup of tea musically, it definitely makes an impression. Siouxsie’s voice coupled with a literal banger performance by Budgie helped elevate this side project’s single to #4 on the MRT chart, the song’s ultimate peak behind “House.” It’s a toe-tapper, even if it exists on the fringes of what constitutes alternative rock.
“No Myth” by Michael Penn: This one rings very vague bells for me, but probably moreso because it was a reasonably successful pop crossover, peaking at #13 on the flagship Hot 100. As an alternative song, this debut from Michael Penn managed a respectable #4 peak behind the Psychedelic Furs in early 1990. The song feels right for the 1990s, and easily finds itself fitting a niche of softer alternative rock that would become popular post-grunge from bands like Del Amitri, Duncan Sheik, Matchbox 20 and others of that ilk. It’s a refreshing tune and definitely the most middle-of-the-road of the alternative offerings on the charts at this time.