THE bouncy floor at the Barrowland is part of Glasgow gigging culture – but for the Psychedelic Furs it nearly caused a panic.

A rowdy Barras crowd went so crazy that the band feared their PA was going to come crashing down when they played there in the 1980s.

“I think we were at the Barrowland on the Midnight to Midnight tour in 1987, and because of the sprung floor we were really worried the PA was going to fall over, recalls Tim Butler, the band’s bassist.

“Our crew tied it down, but as the gig was going on everyone was bouncing up and down, and all I could see was the PA rocking back and forth. It’s a great venue, one of the coolest places a band can play.”

This time around the band are playing the O2 ABC tomorrow as part of their Singles tour, running through hits like Love My Way, Heaven and, of course, Pretty In Pink. Those songs, featuring the distinctive vocals of Tim’s brother Richard, helped the Furs flourish in the alternative music scene of the 80s, crossing over into the pop charts.

After breaking up in 1992, the band reformed in 2000 and have toured on and off ever since. Tim reckons a trip through the hits offers a good guide to the group.

“I do think our singles really present where we were at that moment in time,” he argues.

“It’ll be an interesting history, from something like We Love You to Don’t Be A Girl. It’s a bumpy ride. For a while we were loathe to do anything from Midnight to Midnight, like Heartbreak Beat and Angels Don’t Cry, but we listened back to them and they’re really good songs, so now we’ve stripped them down of the studio overproduction and they fit right in.”

Midnight To Midnight came at the height of the band’s commercial popularity, arriving soon after their pop friendly re-recording of Pretty In Pink soundtracked Molly Ringwald’s teenage struggles in the John Hughes film of the same name. It was also a period that led to the band’s decline, as they were accused of selling out.

“The whole thing was self-inflicted, because when the movie was in production and John Hughes asked us to do that, we wanted to use the original version,” says Tim.

“It was superior to the remake, but the movie company thought it was too harsh and we gave in to pressure over that. We were always annoyed at ourselves for allowing that to happen and a lot of our hardcore fans thought ‘they’ve sold out because there’s all these young girls screaming at gigs now.’

“We had no-one to blame but ourselves.”

The band are much more content now, though. For years the group have talked about a new record, with their last release coming way back in 1991, with World Outside. Now it seems they are finally making some progress.

“We have the songs and we’re just waiting on Richard to finish the lyrics, and then we’ll be recording,” he says.

“It will still sound like the Furs because you can’t have Richard’s voice and not be totally recognisable.”

The band’s writing has changed though, as they now e-mail ideas to each other because they all live in different areas. Tim has settled in Kentucky, where country music is king and alternative bands aren’t too common.

“There’s a healthy country scene, but it’s a quiet area for other types of music,” he says.

“I ended up here because it’s where my wife was living when I met her through Myspace years and years ago. It reminds me of England quite a bit. I grew up in Surrey where there were a lot of farms and horses around, and Kentucky is a lot like that. I can appreciate country, but it’s a few years behind with other types of music!”

Psychedelic Furs, O2 ABC, tomorrow, £28, 7pm