Furniture

Established in London during 1981, the British pop band Furniture originated with vocalist Jim Irvin, guitarist/pianist Tim Whelan, and drummer Hamilton Lee. Their independently funded 1983 EP The Boom Was On secured a deal for the initial trio on the Survival label. Expansion to a five-piece lineup followed with the arrival of bassist Sally Still and keyboardist Maya Gilder, after which the group issued multiple singles that were eventually compiled on the LP The Lovemongers. A 1986 move to Stiff Records brought the release of "Brilliant Mind," which climbed to the UK singles chart's Top 25. Momentum faltered almost immediately when Stiff entered liquidation just weeks after the follow-up single "Love Your Shoes" appeared. The 1986 album The Wrong People transferred to ZTT, yet the label pressed only 30,000 copies before deleting it without warning. A three-year legal dispute finally freed the band from ZTT's control, leading to a new Arista contract and the 1989 album Food, Sex and Paranoia. Extended inactivity erased prior chart progress, however, and the release faded rapidly. Furniture disbanded in 1991.