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It's more sad than ironic that the Furs' most profound impact on American culture was probably their own sanitized remake of their early gem, Pretty in Pink  - a mordant tale of a (possibly dead) whore and her heartless, witless clients - for John Hughes' 1986 widescreen teen soap opera of the same name. But true fans of the Furs' beautiful noise know that alongside Butler's edgy, enigmatic poses and often inscrutable lyrics lay some fine pop hooks and a real sense of experimentation. So hurrah!  But, much as I love them - and I¹m not ashamed to admit it - the Furs have way too many greatest hits albums out. For one thing, their hits were (sadly) too few in number to justify the four or five compilations various labels already have released, and - more significantly - their greatest tracks are already readily available on the original albums and Columbia's magnificent All of This and Nothing. Lovers of the more obscure and experimental tracks will need the retrospective delights of a double disc, entitled Should God Forget, which includes the hard to find (for Americans) original version of Merry-Go-Round and some smashing b-sides, live versions and other worthy tracks like Aeroplane and Blacks/Radio. So unless you're the sort who must have every release in every format, skip this pleasant but pretty much redundant package and save your coinage for the new album that the reunited Furs - Richard and Tim Butler, along with long-time guitarist John Ashton - are threatening to record this fall.

LD Beghtol
June-July 2001

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