"The Ghost in You" by The Psychedelic Furs

Song#:  1898
Date:  05/12/1984
Debut:  85
Peak:  59
Weeks:  9
Genre:  Alternative Rock, New Wave



Pop Bits:  The Furs were getting more popular with each successive album and they finally landed a single on the Pop chart with "Love My Way" (#44), which was from their third LP Forever Now. For their fourth LP, they hired on producer Keith Forsey, who was having success at the time producing Billy Idol. In addition to production, Forsey stepped in as drummer when the Furs lost theirs prior to recording the album. The studio work resulted in the LP Mirror Moves. This first single got the ball rolling and it did fine at Rock getting to #25 (their highest peaking song there yet). The song stalled before getting into the top half of the pop chart, but the accompanying MTV video became popular enough to help sell some albums. It would be their best charting LP to-date getting to #43. It would eventually become their second gold album.

ReduxReview:  I am certain that I first heard this song on MTV as I doubt our local radio station would have even known it existed. It was love at first hear for me and I made sure to go grab the album. The LP was fine, but this track was a standout. The melancholy feel of the chords combined with a chorus that had an alternate vocal melody in the background really hooked me. I think there are a minor handful of new wave songs that could be called beautiful. This is one of them.

ReduxRating:  9/10

Trivia:  The colorful, geometric cover image for Mirror Moves was done by the design company Da Gama along with the Furs' leader Richard Butler. It was done as a tribute to the artist Barney Bubbles, who had done the cover art for the Furs' previous album Forever Now. Bubbles (real name Colin Fulcher) worked as a graphic designer for several well-known design firms before ending up on his own. He got work doing some album covers, specifically a series for the UK band Hawkwind, and that led to a design/art director job at Stiff Records. While there, he did covers for many artists including The Damned, Ian Drury, Carlene Carter, Nick Lowe, and perhaps most famously Elvis Costello. Beginning with 1977's My Aim Is True, Bubbles did the artwork for all of Costello's output through to 1982's Imperial Bedroom. Bubbles had a lot of personal and financial issues that sadly took their toll on the artist and he committed suicide in 1983.

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