5 Questions with John Ashton
by Dwight Easter
DE - What would surprise most folks about the Artist relationships with the highest level of the music industry?
JA - There was certainly a lot of great working relationships between artists, record companies, radio stations, and promoters. There were “pluggers” who worked on breaking acts to radio. College Radio and great music journalism were key to all the acts that emerged in the 80’s. The Furs had a great A&R Dept behind them initially and this helped break the band worldwide. As far as collaborative work at its highest level...I guess the only real collaborative work that I can think of arose when Molly Ringwald played Pretty In Pink (originally from our second album, Talk Talk Talk which came out in 1981) for director, John Hughes. He liked it so much he wrote the movie and named it after the song.
DE - What is your absolute favorite venue and location you’ve performed and why?
JA - Too many to list here but I always loved playing Hammersmith Odeon in London, The Beacon Theatre In NYC, The Rivera in Chicago, The Fillmore in San Francisco & of course The Boathouse in Norfolk.
DE - How did your life’s journey place you in Virginia Beach?
JA - I met my wife Catherine in NYC. She’s from VA Beach.
DE - How much influence and identity did the Furs manage to maintain at the height of your game?
JA - Again, too many to mention but I’d say we influenced a lot of the music that came during & after our initial first 2-3 albums. Reeves Gabrels from Tin Machine with David Bowie. The Cure once told me that they used to watch us and particularly the way I played, that’s an honor. Bauhaus, The Sisters Of Mercy (Although never credited, I produced their huge hit Alice), Talk Talk, Duran Duran, The Smiths. Bono once said “Hey, you guys should do another song like Dumb Waiters... We didn’t but U2 did! Listen to Bullet The Blue Sky off The Joshua Tree...
DE - What projects and musicians are you involved with currently?
JA - I’m currently working on the next Satellite Paradiso album. https://www.satelliteparadiso.com/
About Dwight Easter: Digital folk artist, family man and bread merchant. Some of the best moments in my life are experiencing the power and influence of great art. I came up in the Norfolk era of the M80’s, Buttsteak, and Antic Hay.