John Ashton | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | John Geza Ashton |
Born | Forest Gate, London, England | 30 November 1957
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument(s) | Guitar |
Years active | 1977–present |
Formerly of | The Psychedelic Furs |
John Geza Ashton (born 30 November 1957) is an English musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer, with a career spanning more than 40 years. He is best known as the guitarist of the Psychedelic Furs.
John Geza Ashton was born on 30 November 1957 in Whipps Cross Hospital, Forest Gate, London, and lived in North Kilworth in south Leicestershire.
Ashton came to prominence in the early 1980s as the guitarist of the Psychedelic Furs. The band is an English post-punk group formed in 1977 by Richard and Tim Butler, Duncan Kilburn and Roger Morris. Their debut studio album was a hit in the UK and Europe, and they had added John Ashton on guitar and Vince Ely on drums. Their second studio album Talk Talk Talk (1981) placed them on the US charts. Before the release of Forever Now in late 1982, Morris and Kilburn left the band, and Ashton and the Butler brothers went on to release Mirror Moves (1984) and other subsequent albums. [1] The Psychedelic Furs went on hiatus after their 1992 tour, but reformed in 2001. Since then, Ashton has joined the band on occasion for tours. [1]
After the Psychedelic Furs went on hiatus, Ashton became a record producer and worked on a number of projects including Marianne Faithfull, the Sisters of Mercy, Red Betty, and Seven Color Sky. [2] Ashton mixed and co-produced the Secret Post's studio album From Train to Station, released in 2015, [3] and oversaw recordings with Los Angeles' Silence.
Ashton has also pursued a solo career and released his debut studio album, Satellite Paradiso, in 2014. [4]
Ashton moved to the United States around 1989 [4] and is married to Catherine Dewson, a Virginia Beach native. [5] The couple have two children, [6] and currently resides in Woodstock, New York. [7] In the summer of 2021, Ashton was diagnosed with prostate cancer; there was a GoFundMe page set up by friend and fellow musician, Gail Ann Dorsey, to help the family with the costs. [8]
The Psychedelic Furs are an English rock band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scene. Their music went through several phases, from an initially austere art rock sound to later touching on new wave and hard rock.
Richard Fortus is an American guitarist. He is a member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has recorded one studio album, since 2002. Fortus has also collaborated extensively with The Psychedelic Furs frontman Richard Butler and fellow Guns N' Roses bandmate Frank Ferrer. Aside from lead singer Axl Rose and keyboardist Dizzy Reed, Fortus is the longest-tenured member of Guns N' Roses, having been with the band continuously since 2002.
Stephen Alan Lillywhite, is a British record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts XTC, Big Country, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Simple Minds, the Psychedelic Furs, Toyah, David Byrne, Talking Heads and Kirsty MacColl, as well as U2, the Rolling Stones, the Pogues, Blue October, Steel Pulse, the La's, Peter Gabriel, Morrissey, the Killers, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Counting Crows and Joan Armatrading. He has won six Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2006. In 2012, he was made a Commander of the Order of The British Empire (CBE) for his contributions to music.
Richard Lofthouse Butler is an English singer and songwriter. Butler came to prominence in the early 1980s as lead vocalist of the rock band the Psychedelic Furs and went on to found the alternative rock band Love Spit Love in the early 1990s, during a hiatus of the Psychedelic Furs. Butler began his solo career in 2006, while still being a member of the Psychedelic Furs, releasing the self-titled studio album Richard Butler.
Forever Now is the third studio album by the English rock band the Psychedelic Furs. The 10-song album, including the hit single "Love My Way", was recorded in the spring of 1982 and released on 24 September of that year by Columbia/CBS. A 20th-anniversary reissue included six related bonus tracks.
Talk Talk Talk is the second studio album by the English rock band the Psychedelic Furs. It was released 15 May 1981 by Columbia Records. It was reissued with bonus tracks in 2002 by Columbia/Legacy and on vinyl in the UK in 2011 without bonus content.
The Psychedelic Furs is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Psychedelic Furs, released on 7 March 1980 by Columbia Records. It was reissued with bonus tracks in 2002 by Columbia/Legacy. In 2020, Rolling Stone included the band's debut studio album in their "80 Greatest albums of 1980" list, praising the musicians for sounding like "a grand art project".
Love Spit Love was an alternative rock band founded in 1992 by English singer Richard Butler during the 1990s hiatus of the Psychedelic Furs.
Frost* are an English neo-prog supergroup, formed in 2004 by Jem Godfrey and members of Arena, Kino, and IQ. Frost* released their first studio album, Milliontown, in 2006, before splitting up. In 2008, Godfrey reformed Frost*, adding Darwin's Radio vocalist and guitarist, Declan Burke, to the lineup, and released their second album, Experiments in Mass Appeal. The band disbanded again in 2011, to reunite later in September, after a brief hiatus.
Frank Ferrer is an American rock drummer. He is best known as the drummer for hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured, and recorded since 2006. He is the longest tenured drummer in the band's history. Ferrer was also a member of The Psychedelic Furs, Love Spit Love as well as The Beautiful. He has recorded and worked with several high profile musicians including Robi "Draco" Rosa, Tool, Gordon Gano, PJ Harvey, Tommy Stinson, Nena, Frank Black of The Pixies, Neil Young, Perry Farrell and Cheetah Chrome of The Dead Boys.
Mirror Moves is the fourth studio album by English rock band the Psychedelic Furs, released 21 August 1984 by Columbia Records, two years after their previous studio album, Forever Now.
Carl Verheyen is an American musician best known for being the guitarist of Supertramp, the leader of the Carl Verheyen Band, and as a Los Angeles session guitarist. He was ranked One of the World's Top 10 Guitarists by Guitar Magazine and won the LA Music Awards category of Best Guitarist at their 6th annual awards ceremony. He has recorded with such artists as The Bee Gees, Chad Wackerman, Dolly Parton, Victor Feldman, Richard Elliot, and Stanley Clarke and has played guitar on film soundtracks including The Crow, The Usual Suspects, Ratatouille, and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and TV shows Cheers, Seinfeld, and Scrubs.
Midnight to Midnight is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Psychedelic Furs, released on 2 February 1987 by Columbia Records.
All of This and Nothing is the first compilation album by the English rock band the Psychedelic Furs, released in 1988 by Columbia Records. The album has 14 songs, including one — "All That Money Wants" — recorded specifically for the collection.
"Dumb Waiters" is a song by English rock band the Psychedelic Furs, released as a single in April 1981 by Columbia Records. Written by the band and produced by Steve Lillywhite, it was included on the band's second studio album Talk Talk Talk (1981).
Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live is a live album by Psychedelic Furs. The performance was simultaneously released on DVD titled The Psychedelic Furs: Live from the House of Blues.
Lightning Raiders were an English pub rock band, with Johnny Hodge being the most prominent member of the group. During their lifetime, they released two singles, an EP, and recorded an album that was not released until 2013.
"Alice" is a song by the British rock band the Sisters of Mercy, written by vocalist Andrew Eldritch. The song was released as a non-album single by the band's own label by Merciful Release, on 21 November 1982. It was re-released in March 1983 as a 12" EP.
The Color Morale is an American metalcore band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 2007. The band includes vocalist/keyboardist Garret Rapp, guitarists Devin King and Aaron Saunders, bassist Mike Honson, and drummer Steve Carey. Rapp and Carey are the only two members of the original line-up that remain in the band. The group was signed to Fearless Records before they went into a hiatus in 2018. The band officially returned in March 2020. Before the hiatus, the band has released five studio albums: We All Have Demons, My Devil in Your Eyes, Know Hope, Hold On Pain Ends, and Desolate Divine.
Made of Rain is the eighth studio album from English rock band The Psychedelic Furs. Released via Cooking Vinyl on 31 July 2020, it is the first studio album from the band in almost 30 years and has received positive reviews.