The London-based Psychedelic Furs rose from tattered art-school ambitions; singer Richard Butler had a life forever altered by the ungodly trio of Andy Warhol, Johnny Rotten, and David Bowie. Coming off the great Steve Lilywhite–helmed Talk Talk Talk, producer Todd Rundgren (whose production history included Badfinger and The New York Dolls) homed in even more on the band’s Velvet Underground–like organized pop noise (consider for a second how unhip the Velvets were in 1982) and Butler’s busted–muffler–meets–Charles Aznavour croon. The result was a set of tight, highly listenable songs. There are sardonic sing-alongs with William Burroughs–style takes on America and fame (“Run and Run,” “No Easy Street”), a cello-stoked, Beatles-ish ditty about drug crashes (“Sleep Comes Down”), and a bite at that year’s Yankee stooge in office (“President Gas”), as well as Flo and Eddie cameos and a literate nod to Ma Barker and “Hamburger Mary.” Butler pokes at his own narcissism on the band’s biggest hit (“Love My Way”), and the title song’s a freight train of flanging guitars, inescapable choruses, and an image-rich narrative that could’ve been a Rotten/Bowie/Dylan cowrite.