Psychedelic Furs

The Psychedelic Furs, whose name belies their punk-influenced music, were formed in England in 1977 by brothers Richard Butler(vocals) and Tim Butler (bass), along with saxophone player Duncan Kilburn and guitarist Roger Morris. By the time they released their self-titled debut album in 1980, the group had become a sextet, adding guitarist John Ashton and drummer Vince Ely. That album, featuring Butler's hoarse voice (the tone of which suggested John Lydon without the sneer) was a bigger hit in England, where it reached the Top 20, than in the U.S.

Talk Talk Talk (1981) did better, reaching the U.S. Top 100 and producing two British singles chart entries, one of which was "Pretty in Pink," later also a hit in the U.S. when a new version was used as the title song of a film. Forever Now (1982) saw the band reduced to a quartet with the departure of Kilburn and Morris. The rest moved to the U.S., turned to producer Todd Rundgren, and scored a U.S. Top 50 hit with "Love My Way." Ely then left, and the remaining trio of the two Butlers and Ashton made Mirror Moves (1984), the biggest Psychedelic Furs hit yet.

The film Pretty in Pink helped spread their name further before the release of their next album, Midnight to Midnight (1987), which consequently got to number 12 in the U.K. and the Top 30 in the U.S. and included the Top 30 U.S. hit "Heartbreak Beat." Book of Days(1989) marked the return of Vince Ely, but was a considerable commercial disappointment. World Outside (1991) also failed to find an audience. The Psychedelic Furs then folded up shop, and Richard Butler launched a new group, Love Spit Love. The band lasted two albums -- 1994's Love Spit Love and 1997's Trysome Eatone -- and didn't enjoy the monumental success of Butler's original band. Butlerkept on. He began writing songs for a supposed solo effort as the '90s came to a close. Those sessions led to new songs with brother Timand a subsequent Furs reunion in early 2000.

Happy Mondays

Along with the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays were the leaders of the late-'80s/early-'90s dance club-influenced Manchester scene, experiencing a brief moment in the spotlight before collapsing in 1992. While the Stone Roses were based in '60s pop, adding only a slight hint of dance music, Happy Mondays immersed themselves in the club and rave culture, eventually becoming the most recognizable band of that drug-fueled scene. The Mondays' music relied heavily on the sound and rhythm of house music, spiked with '70s soul licks and swirling '60s psychedelia. It was bright, colorful music that had fractured melodies that never quite gelled into cohesive songs.

Unwittingly or not, Happy Mondays personified the ugly side of rave culture. They were thugs, purely and simply — they brought out the latent violence that lay beneath the surface of any drug culture, even one as seemingly beatific as England's late-'80s/early-'90s rave scene. Under the leadership of vocalist Shaun Ryder, the group sounded and acted like thugs, especially in comparison with their peace-loving peers, the Stone Roses. Ryder's lyrics were twisted and surrealistic, loaded with bizarre pop culture references, drug slang, and menacing sexuality. Appropriately, their music was as convoluted. Happy Mondays were one of the first rock bands to integrate hip-hop techniques into their music. They didn't sample, but they borrowed melodies and lyrics and, in the process, committed rock blasphemy. For a band that celebrated their vulgarity and excessiveness, Happy Mondays appropriately were undone by their addictions, but they left behind a surprisingly influential legacy, apparent in everyone from dance bands like the Chemical Brothers to rock & rollers like Oasis.

It This Way," ended and the stage lights fell.