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The Cure

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This article is about the rock band. For other meanings, see The Cure (1995 film) or cure.

The Cure is a British band widely seen as one of the leading pioneers of the British alternative rock and post-punk scenes of the 1980s. A combination of lead singer Robert Smith's iconic wild hair, pale complexion, smudged lipstick, and the frequently gloomy and introspective lyrics have led to the band being considered part of the gothic rock genre. Smith rejects this and other attempts to confine the band to a single genre.

The Cure
File:P17162C4069.jpg
Background information
Years active1976 – present
MembersRobert Smith
Porl Thompson
Simon Gallup
Jason Cooper

History

1970s

In 1976 Robert Smith, a 17-year-old student, formed The Easy Cure with classmates Michael Dempsey (bass), Laurence "Lol" Tolhurst (drums) and Porl Thompson (guitar) from St. Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School in Crawley, Sussex. They began writing their own songs almost immediately, and quickly amassed a repertoire of original material and a growing following.

In 1977, The Easy Cure auditioned for Hansa Records and received a recording contract worth £1000. A year later, following disagreements about the direction the group should take, the band, newly renamed The Cure, were signed as a trio (minus Porl Thompson) on former Polydor records scout Chris Parry's new Fiction label (distributed by Polydor). The B-Side to the single "Boys Don't Cry", "Do the Hansa" has been seen as a humourous slap in the face of Hansa Records by The Cure for not signing them.

The Cure released their first single "Killing an Arab" to both acclaim and controversy: while the single's provocative title led to accusations of racism, the song is actually based on French existentialist Albert Camus' story The Stranger. The single was packaged with a sticker label that denied the racist connotations.

In 1979, The Cure released the album Three Imaginary Boys and embarked on an extensive period of touring, during which they performed with various other iconic bands such as Joy Division and Siouxsie & the Banshees, leading eventually to a side-project collaboration between Smith and Banshees member Steven Severin, released under the name The Glove. One particular tour The Cure and The Banshees embarked upon together saw Smith pulling double duty each night by performing with The Cure and The Banshees (as their guitarist).

The next single "Boys Don't Cry" was a minor hit in the US, and Three Imaginary Boys was repackaged for sale there as Boys Don't Cry. Robert Smith wanted to move in a darker direction, while Michael Dempsey wanted to do more of the same. Dempsey left the band, and Simon Gallup (bass) and Matthieu Hartley (keyboards) joined.

1980s

In 1980 the four member Cure released Seventeen Seconds, produced by Michael Hedges, which reached #20 on the UK charts. A thoroughly unique album that is minimalist and rather acoustic, it was written and recorded with "clarity" by Smith who says it was inspired by romantic difficulty. He said it was also influenced by fatigue from touring and artistically by Bowie's Low. It was a shocking departure from all of the Cure's previous output. One critic dismissed it as a "soundtrack" and critic Adrian Thrills disliked it so much he said he was ashamed that he had been the first critic to write about the band. Other critics were enamored with the Cure and a dashing Smith was featured in very flattering articles, although there was some controversy concerning the Cure's image, or possible "anti-image". As with the early mixed reviews, the record is regarded very highly by some fans and musicians today and overlooked by others. "A Forest" also became the band's first UK hit single. The Cure set out on their first world tour, at the end of which Matthieu Hartley, the synth player, left the band.

In 1981 came the album Faith, which hit #14 on the UK charts, as well as an instrumental soundtrack for the film Carnage Visors (these were packaged together as a long-play cassette called Faith/Carnage Visors). Carnage Visors was used as a "tour support" film for their "Picture Tour". The music from Carnage Visors had a very limited print run and has subsequently become very rare. Faith, unlike Seventeen Seconds, was a very difficult album to produce. Lyrics were written in the studio and his fellow band members became detached from the process, often drinking instead of working. More than one critic said the single "Primary" and the song "Doubt" sounded like the rest of the album, only sped-up. The most commonly cited song from Faith today is the cryptic and lovely "All Cats Are Grey", although the song received little attention when the record was released. The problems in production didn't injure the finished record, and the Cure sounded so good when performing the album at many tour stops that, if not for the difference in sound quality, a listener would have difficulty distinguishing the live performance from the studio record.

Beginning at twenty-one, Smith "didn't see that there was much point in continuing with life. In the next two years, I genuinely felt that I wasn't going to be alive for much longer, and I tried pretty hard to make this feeling come true" (1). The band members' lives began to be marked by increasing drug use and Smith adopted a theatrical make-up enhanced look, reminiscent of Siouxsie. In 1982 The Cure recorded Pornography, a bleak, nihilistic offering that led to more rumours that Smith was suicidal. In spite, or perhaps because of the rumours, Pornography became the band's first UK Top 10 album, hitting the charts at #8. The release was followed by the "Fourteen Explicit Moments" tour, and by increasing problems among the members. Some members of the music press didn't take Faith and Pornography seriously because of Joy Division's Closer, a record that gained notoriety due to the suicide of the band's singer, Ian Curtis. Pornography received stinging reviews from nearly every critic, a fact that is ironic considering Pornography is, today, possibly the band's most respected record among fans, and has been promoted a great deal by Smith. One contemporary critic, S. Sauer, feels the song "Cold" is the Cure's most brilliant track, lyrically and musically. However, the song that appears to have the most appeal for fans is the aggressive opener, "One Hundred Years". Phil Thornalley was chosen by Smith to produce. After an altercation in a club between Smith and Simon Gallup, Gallup left the group and started another one called Fools Dance. Smith says that he "doesn't even remember making a lot of Pornography" (2).

In late 1982, with the Cure disbanded, Smith sought a totally new musical direction. The Cure, now a "band" that consisted of Smith by himself (Tolhurst would join later after attending art school to play keyboards), released the pop single "Let's Go to Bed". Smith suggests the single was a parody of pop conventions designed to alienate fans, shock critics, and perhaps kill the Cure. It was, perhaps unintentionally, successful. Shortly after, in 1983, two more singles in a similar vein followed, "The Walk" (UK #12), a song critics charged was a New Order plagiarization, and the playful "The Lovecats," which became the band's first UK top 10 single at #7. The Walk has the distinction of being, up to that point, the only Cure song Smith's mother liked. The same year, Smith also recorded and toured with Siouxsie & the Banshees, contributing his writing and playing skills on their Hyaena and Nocturne albums, as well as recording the Blue Sunshine album with Steven Severin as The Glove. The Cure released four studio singles and their B-sides as the album Japanese Whispers, designed by Smith for the Japanese market only. Smith has said MTV refused to air the single for the Lovecats because the network thought the band members were gay because they wore make-up. The singles from this period were uncharacteristically upbeat and accessible, although the B-sides "Lament" and "Just One Kiss", probably written before "Let's Go to Bed", were a diluted echo of Pornography and Faith. Smith would soon return to writing harder-edged material.

In 1984 The Cure released The Top, a tonally diverse yet generally psychedelic album. Unlike most of the band's prior output, the album has, at times, an expansive worldly viewpoint, with the anti-war track "The Empty World" with a female protagonist, and the "Wailing Wall", set in Jerusalem. However, the track "Give Me It" exists in a very small and frenetic space. Others, such as the serene "Dressing Up" and the sardonic "Piggy in the Mirror", are introverted. A large number of tracks involve women, including the single "The Caterpillar", a delicate love poem, and the sharp pop "Birdmad Girl". There is even the suggestion of jazz influence with the abstract "Bananafishbones". On some tracks Smith played all the instruments except the drums (played by Andy Anderson) and the saxophone (played by returnee Porl Thompson). He also asserted in Ten Imaginary Years that he purposely tried to make his singing sound worse. It is definitely unique in the Cure's output, but works well with the material. The Cure then embarked on their "Top Tour" with Thompson, Anderson, and bassist Phil Thornalley on board. The Cure's first live album, Concert consisted of performances from this tour. At the end of the tour, Anderson was fired for destroying a hotel room and replaced by Boris Williams. Thornalley left and was replaced by returnee Simon Gallup. Robert Smith later expressed his satisfaction with the reunited Cure, saying "we're a band again."

In 1985 the new lineup released The Head on the Door which reached #7 in the UK and #59 on the American charts. The record features a pop single, In Between Days, that contrasts a buoyant positive sound with what are, at first, bluntly negative lyrics. The record also features the first Cure song that is predominantly a guitar solo, "Push". That format would be further streamlined two years later with "The Kiss". The songs "A Night Like This" and "Sinking" are fan favorites. Overall, the album is quite a departure from the psychedelia of The Top and is a more straightforward pop record that uses traditional instruments rather than the electronics of the Japanese Whispers era. Following this release and another world tour, the band released Standing on a Beach, a collection featuring all of The Cure's singles and B-sides. The album's title was taken from the first line of the band's first single, "Killing an Arab." This release was accompanied by a video version called Staring at the Sea and by another tour, as well as a live concert film called The Cure in Orange. Standing on a Beach became the record those new to the Cure usually purchased first and contained enough pop to make it accessible for a wide audience. Throughout 1986 Lol Tolhurst's alcohol consumption was interfering with his ability to perform, and Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell was frequently called upon to stand in for him.

In 1987, The Cure released the double album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, along with their most critically-acclaimed single in America up to that point, Just Like Heaven. The song's video was later chosen as the best alternative video of all time by MTV's 120 Minutes. The intoxicating guitar solo from the opening track, "The Kiss", was used in a Miami Vice episode. The band embarked on the "Kissing Tour."

In 1988 the band history Ten Imaginary Years was released, and Lol Tolhurst, though he had not yet officially left the band, was replaced by O'Donnell. In 1989 The Cure released the album Disintegration, which became their highest-charting album to date at #3 and featured four Top 20 singles ("Lullaby", "Fascination Street", "Pictures of You", and "Love Song"). Disintegration remains the most influential Cure record in America, although Pornography has gained considerable attention in recent years. The opening track, "Plainsong" is often cited as being one of the most beautiful tracks in the Cure's output. Shortly before the release, Tolhurst left permanently, leaving Smith as the only remaining founding member of The Cure. The Cure embarked on the "Prayer" tour. This tour featured some of the band's longest ever shows; their final gig at Wembley Arena (announced by Robert as "probably our last show") lasted over three and a half hours. Because Tolhurst was still on the payroll during the recording of Disintegration, he was credited on that album's liner notes as playing "other instruments," even though he didn't contribute at all to its recording or engineering.

1990s

In 1990 The Cure released a collection of remixes called "Mixed Up". It was panned by critics. Smith has said that he expected this, but decided to release the collection anyway. In May of that year, O'Donnell left the band and Thompson suggested long time guitar tech Perry Bamonte as his replacement. "Mixed Up" was followed in 1992 by the album Wish, which went straight to #1 in the UK and to #2 in the US. The Cure also embarked on the "Wish Tour" with Portsmouth's Cranes (one of Smith's favourite bands) and released the live albums Show (September 1993) and Paris (October 1993). As a promotional exercise with the Our Price music chain in the UK, a limited edition EP was released consisting of instrumental outtakes from the Wish sessions. Entitled Lost Wishes, the proceeds from the four track cassette tape went to charity. The EP has since become an extremely sought after item, copies exchanging hands for approaching £100. Porl Thompson (guitar) left the band once more during 1993 to play with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Bamonte took over as lead guitar. The band then contributed a new song, "Burn", to the soundtrack of "The Crow, the only original song with the Smith-Gallup-Williams-Bamonte lineup. The band did however do a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" for a Hendrix tribute album.

During 1994, Lol Tolhurst sued Robert Smith and Fiction Records over royalties payments, also claiming joint ownership of the name "The Cure" with Smith; after a long legal battle Tolhurst eventually lost. Boris Williams (drums) left the band, and was replaced by Jason Cooper (formerly with My Life Story), and Roger O'Donnell rejoined.". The Smith-Gallup-Bamonte-Cooper-O'Donnell lineup was one of the longest for The Cure. The first song they wrote was "Dredd Song" for the Judge Dredd movie soundtrack in 1995. There was also a cover of David Bowie's "Young Americans" for a radio compilation.

In 1996 The Cure released the album Wild Mood Swings, a bright record somewhat closer to conventional rock that received little attention despite, or because of, its diverse melodies and unusually rich orchestrations.

1997 saw the release of "Galore," the follow-up to The Cure's multi-platinum singles collection, "Staring at the Sea/Standing on a Beach." "Galore" contained all of the Cure's singles released between 1987 and 1997, as well as the new single "Wrong Number," which featured longtime David Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels. Gabrels also accompanied the Cure on a brief American radio festival tour as an onstage guest guitarist for "Wrong Number."

In 1998 Smith appeared as himself on the animated TV show South Park (Episode 112, Mecha-Streisand). The Cure also contributed to the soundtrack album for The X-Files: Fight the Future as well as the Depeche Mode tribute album For the Masses, with their cover of "World in My Eyes."

2000s

The Grammy-nominated album Bloodflowers was released in 2000. This album was, according to Smith, the third of a trilogy along with Pornography and Disintegration. The band also embarked on the nine-month Dream Tour, attended by over one million people worldwide. In 2001 The Cure left Fiction and released their Greatest Hits album and DVD, which featured the music videos for a number of classic Cure songs.

By 2001 The Cure had been around for a quarter of a century and had had probably the most pervasive influence of any band in the history of the alt-rock scene. Their dark, layered textures, ad-hoc harmonies, and careful employment of cycles and repetition were picked up by subsequent bands such as Lush, Mogwai, Modest Mouse, and Sigur Ros.

In 2002 they continued recording, and also headlined twelve major music festivals, in addition to playing several three-hour concerts during which they performed the albums Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers in their entireties on back-to-back nights at the Tempodrome in Berlin. These performances were released as the Trilogy DVD in 2003.

In the spring of 2003, The Cure signed to iam Records. In 2004 The Cure released a new four-disc boxed set on Fiction Records titled Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years). The set includes seventy Cure songs, some previously unreleased, and a 76-page full-colour book of photographs, history and quotes, packaged in a hard cover. This album peaked at #106 on the Billboard 200 album charts.

The Cure released their first eponymous album on iam records on June 28, 2004. To promote this album, the band headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on May 2. They also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The album The Cure made a top ten debut on both sides of the Atlantic in July 2004 and debuted in the top 30 in Australia. The album also received a generally positive reaction with some critics rating it as the group's best since Disintegration.

The group were awarded MTV Icon for 2004. The ceremony included performances of Cure songs by the groups AFI (Just Like Heaven), blink-182 (A Letter to Elise), Razorlight (Boys Don't Cry) and the Deftones (If Only Tonight We Could Sleep), and was hosted by Marilyn Manson. Smith subsequently included songs by AFI, Blink 182 and the Deftones in his setlist whilst presenting a special John Peel evening session on BBC Radio 1.

Inspired by Rhino Records' series of Elvis Costello reissues, 2004-2005 has seen the reissue of Three Imaginary Boys (December 2 2004), Faith, Seventeen Seconds and Pornography (April 26 2005). Each comes with a second bonus disc of previously unreleased material, including home and studio demos, live performances and out-takes. All the studio albums up to Bloodflowers were supposed to be re-released in 2004, but the record label did not want to release albums at the same time as The Cure, and the first batch was delayed till late 2004/early 2005. Many have still not been released, but The Top, The Head on the Door, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me and The Glove's Blue Sunshine are meant to be released in Spring 2006.

Together with Join the Dots, the four-disc set of B-sides, the amount of non-album material the band possesses appears to be rather high.

In May 2005, Smith fired O'Donnell and Bamonte, along with Bamonte's brother Daryl, who had been the band's tour manager for many years. They reportedly were informed of such by a Cure fansite. The band made a few festival and television appearances as a three-piece before, in June 2005, it was announced that Porl Thompson would be returning for the band's 2005 summer shows. The quartet played the Live 8 show in Paris on July 2, 2005.

The Cure recorded a cover of John Lennon's "Love" for the charity album "Make Some Noise" in 2005. It is available for download on the Amnesty Website [1], and the CD will be released in 2006.

The Cure is in the studio as of January 2006 and plan to release their thirteenth studio album this summer. Original reports stated that the album would be released on Smith's birthday, April 21st.

Discography

Albums

File:TheCureDisintegration.jpg
Cover to The Cure's 1989 album Disintegration
Year Album UK US Additional information
1979 Three Imaginary Boys 44 - debut album
1980 Seventeen Seconds 20 - -
1981 Faith 14 - Cassette copies featured the soundtrack to the film "Carnage Visors", recorded by the band, on the b-side
1982 Pornography 8 - -
1984 The Top 10 180 -
1985 The Head on the Door 7 59 -
1987 Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me 6 35 double album
1989 Disintegration 3 12 -
1992 Wish 1 2 -
1996 Wild Mood Swings 9 12 -
2000 Bloodflowers 14 16 -
2004 The Cure 8 7 First album on Geffen Records

Compilations

Year Album UK US Additional information
1979 Boys Don't Cry - - US-only re-working of Three Imaginary Boys, with different tracks
1981 Happily Ever After - - US only compilation of Seventeen Seconds and Faith on CD,LP and cassette
1983 Japanese Whispers 26 181 singles and b-sides compilation album
1986 Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea - The Singles 4 48 singles and b-sides compilation album, cassette version ("Beach") contained full b-side tracklist, CD version ("Sea") contained four album tracks for which promo videos had been shot
1990 Mixed Up 8 14 remix album
1990 Integration - - US only box set collecting the US maxi-CD single releases of Fascination Street, Love Song, Lullaby and Pictures Of You from the Disintegration album as well as a fold-out color poster of the group-packaged in a 10" x 5" picture box
1997 Galore 37 32 singles compilation album, songs from 1987-1997
2001 Greatest Hits 33 58 compilation of singles 1978-2001 with two new tracks
2001 Greatest Hits - 106 "limited edition" 3CD with acoustic versions of Greatest Hits and DVD with music video versions.
2004 Join the Dots: B-sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 - - 4 CD box set compiling remastered versions of all B-sides and selected rarities

Live albums

Year Album UK US Additional information
1984 Concert 26 - live album
1984 Concert and Curiosity 26 - Concert live album with unreleased tracks on the b-side. Available only on cassette.
1990 Entreat 10 - live album highlighting Disintegration tracks
1993 Show 29 42 live album
1993 Paris - 118 live album

Re-releases

Year Album UK US Additional information
2004 Three Imaginary Boys - - 2CD "deluxe edition"
2005 Seventeen Seconds - - 2CD "deluxe edition"
2005 Faith - - 2CD "deluxe edition" including Carnage Visors, previously available only on the 1981 long-play cassette
2005 Pornography - - 2CD "deluxe edition"

Singles and EPs

 
Original UK 45 RPM cover to The Cure's 1981 single "Primary"
Year Song UK singles US Hot 100 US Modern Rock Single B-side

** denotes 12" or CD maxi-single only

1978 "Killing an Arab" - - - "10:15 Saturday Night"
1979 "Boys Don't Cry" - - - "Plastic Passion"
1979 "Jumping Someone Else's Train" - - - "I'm Cold"
1980 "A Forest" 31 - - "Another Journey by Train"
1981 "Primary" 43 - - "Descent" / "Primary (extended)" **
1981 "Charlotte Sometimes" 44 - - "Splintered in Her Head" / "Faith (live)" **
1982 "A Single" 34 - - "100 Years (live)" / "A Forest (live)" / "Killing an Arab (live)"
1982 "Let's Go to Bed" 44 - - "Just One Kiss"
1983 "The Walk" 12 - - "The Dream"
1983 "The Lovecats" 7 - - "Speak My Language" / "Mr. Pink Eye" **
1984 "The Caterpillar" 14 - - "Happy the Man" / "Throw Your Foot" **
1985 "In Between Days" 15 99 - "The Exploding Boy" / "A Few Hours After This" ** / "Inbetween Days (extended)" **
1985 "Close to Me" 24 - - "Close to Me (extended)" ** / "A Man Inside My Mouth" ** / "Stop Dead" **
1985 "Half an Octopuss" E.P. - - - UK 4-track 10-inch including Close To Me, A Man Inside My Mouth, Stop Dead and New Day.
1986 "Quadpus" E.P. - - - US 4-track 12-inch including A Night Like This, New Day, Close To Me and A Man Inside My Mouth.
1986 "Boys Don't Cry" (New Voice · New Mix) 22 - - "Pillbox Tales" / "Do the Hansa" **
1987 "Why Can't I Be You?" 21 54 - "A Japanese Dream" / "Why Can't I Be You? (extended)" ** / "A Japanese Dream (extended)" **
1987 "Catch" 27 - - "Breathe" / "A Chain of Flowers" **
1987 "Just Like Heaven" 29 40 - "Snow in Summer" / "Sugar Girl" **
1988 "Hot Hot Hot!!!" - 65 - "Hey You!!!" / "Hot Hot Hot!!! (extended)" ** / "Hey You!!! (extended)" **
1989 "Fascination Street" - 46 1 "Babble" / "Out Of Mind" ** / "Fascination Street (extended)" ** US ONLY
1989 "Lullaby" 5 74 23 "Babble" (U.K.) / "Out of Mind" ** (U.K.), "Homesick (live)" (U.S.) / "Untitled (live)" ** (U.S.) / "Lullaby (extended)" ** (U.K. & U.S.)
1989 "Lovesong" 18 2 2 "2Late" / "Fear of Ghosts" ** / "Lovesong (extended)" **
1990 "Pictures of You" 24 71 19 "Last Dance (live)" (U.K.) (U.S.) ** / "Prayers for Rain (live)" (U.S.) / "Fascination Street (live)" (U.S.) ** / "Disintegration (live)" (U.S.) ** / "Pictures of You (extended)" **
1990 "Never Enough" 13 72 1 "Harold and Joe" / "Let's Go to Bed (milk mix)" **
1990 "Close to Me (remix)" 13 97 - "Just Like Heaven (dizzy mix)" / "Primary (red mix)" **
1990 "Hello I Love You" - - - - Promo only release
1992 "High" 8 42 1 "This Twilight Garden" (U.K.) / "Open (fix mix)" (U.S.) / "Play" ** / "High (higher mix)" **
1992 "Friday I'm in Love" 6 18 1 "Halo" / "Scared As You" ** / "Friday I'm in Love (strangelove mix)" **
1992 "A Letter to Elise" 28 - 2 "The Big Hand" / "A Foolish Arrangement" ** / "A Letter to Elise (blue mix)" **
1993 "Lost Wishes" E.P. - - - "Uyea Sound" / "Cloudberry" / "Off to Sleep" / "The Three Sisters"

Limited edition Cassette EP only available via mail order from Fiction Records. Consisted of four instrumental tracks taken from the Wish sessions. All profits were donated to the Portsmouth Down's Syndrome Trust.

1994 "Purple Haze" - - - -Promo only release
1996 "The 13th" 15 44 15 "Ocean" / "Adonais" ** / "It Used to Be Me" **
1996 "Mint Car" 31 58 14 "Home" / "Waiting" ** / "A Pink Dream" **
1996 "Gone!" 60 - - "The 13th (feels good mix) / "This Is a Lie (ambient mix)" ** / "Strange Attraction (strange mix)" ** / "Gone! (critter mix)" ** / "Gone! (ultra living mix)" ** / "Gone! (spacer mix)" **
1997 "Strange Attraction" - - - "Strange Attraction"** / "A Pink Dream" **/ "This Is a Lie (Palmer Remix)"**

USA only release

1997 "Five Swing Live" E.P. - - - "Want" / "Club America" / "Mint Car" / "Trap" / "Treasure"

Limited edition CD of 5000 only available through The Cure website. Recorded live on the UK leg of the 1996 Wild Mood Swings tour

1997 "Wrong Number" - - 8 "Wrong Number (digital exchange mix)" / "(analogue exchange mix)" / "(dub analogue exchange mix)" / "(p2p mix)" / "(crossed line mix)" / "(isdn mix)" / "(engaged mix)"
2000 "Out of This World" - - - -Promo only release
2000 "Maybe Someday" - - 10 -"Maybe Someday (hybrid mix radio edit)" / "(dance mix)" / "(acoustic mix)" -Promo only release
2001 "Cut Here" - - - "Signal to Noise" / "Cut Here (missing remix)"
2001 "Just Say Yes" - - - "Just Say Yes (acoustic)" -Promo only release
2004 "End of the World" 25 - 19 "This Morning" / "Fake"
2004 "Alt.End" - - - "Why Can't I Be Me?" / "Your God Is Fear" -U.S. only release
2004 "Taking Off" 39 - - "Why Can't I Be Me?" / "Your God Is Fear" -U.K. only release

Early Cure song list

  • "See the Children" - demo from '77/'78
  • "Meathook" - demo from '77/'78
  • "Pillbox Tales" - demo from '77/'78
  • "I Just Need Myself" - demo from '77/'78
  • "I Want to Be Old" - demo from '77/'78
  • "Heroin Face" (live)
  • "I'm Cold" (demo)
  • "Foxy Lady" (Jimi Hendrix cover)
  • "Rebel Rebel" (David Bowie cover)
  • "Plastic Passion" (demo)

Videos

  • Staring at the Sea - The Images (VHS)(Japanese LD)
  • The Cure in Orange (VHS) (LD) (VCD)
  • Picture Show (VHS)(LD) (DVD) DVD only available as a Brazilian only Region 0 import-reissue
  • The Cure Play Out (VHS)(LD)
  • Show (VHS)(LD)
  • Galore (VHS)(VCD)
  • Greatest Hits (DVD) (To see the three secret videos ("The Caterpillar"; "Close To Me (Closer Mix)" and "Pictures of You"): In the song selection highlight "The Walk" and press down, right, right. Highlight "Close to me" and press up, up, up. Highlight "Friday I am in love" and press down, down, down)
  • Greatest Hits: Deluxe edition (CD 1 of "Greatest hits"; CD2 of "Acoustic hits" and DVD)
  • Trilogy (DVD)

Band members

Current members

Past members

Lineups

The Cure is known for having constant member changes. The most recent being in 2005, although it was the first change in 10 years, a Cure record. The following is a list of the lineups in the Cure's history, not including guest singers, producers/assistants, Cure side projects, and session musicians.

  • Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey, Porl Thompson, Lol Tolhurst (1976-1978)
    • At the time the band was known as "Easy Cure"
  • Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey, Lol Tolhurt (1978-1979)
  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Lol Tolhurst, Matthieu Hartley (1979-1980)
  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Lol Tolhurst (1980-1982)
  • Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst (1982-1983)
    • Beginning of Simon Gallup's 18-month absence. Gallup left the band during the disastrous "Fourteen Explicit Moments" tour which supported the Pornography album.
  • Robert Smith, Phil Thornalley, Andy Anderson, Lol Tolhurst (1983)
    • The lineup for "The Lovecats" and it's B-Sides.
  • Robert Smith, Phil Thornalley, Porl Thompson, Andy Anderson, Lol Tolhurst (1984)
    • The "Top Tour" lineup, although this was not the lineup for The Top album itself.
  • Robert Smith, Phil Thornalley, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Lol Tolhurst (1984)
    • Short period during "The Top" tour when Andy was fired and was replaced by Boris.

Note that 1984-1993 is often considered the "Smith-Gallup-Thompson-Williams" era, not including Tolhurst, O'Donnell, and Bamonte.

  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Lol Tolhurst (1984-1987)
  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Lol Tolhurst, Roger O' Donnell (1987-1988)
    • During the "Kissing" Tour when O'Donnell joined Tolhurst at keyboards at the shows, all six appeared in promo pictures. This is also the songwriting credits for the songs during the "Disintegration" era, despite that the lineup was the following...
  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Roger O' Donnell (1989)
  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams (1990)
    • The songwriting credits for "Never Enough" and "Harold and Joe", although Perry may have been a member at the time.
  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams, Perry Bamonte (1990-1993)
  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Boris Williams, Perry Bamonte (1994)
    • Short period of time in 1994 when Porl left. The Cure did a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and an original song, "Burn", for The Crow.
  • Robert Smith, Perry Bamonte (1994)
    • According to interviews, this was the lineup when Boris left and Gallup went on a temporary vacation. "This is a Lie" may have been written at this time.
  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Perry Bamonte, Jason Cooper, Roger O' Donnell (1995-2005)
    • There were several drummers that auditioned for the job as drummer for the Wild Mood Swings album, and thus Cooper does not play drums on all the songs. He is credited as songwriter on every song and b-side in 1996 anyway.
  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Jason Cooper (2005)
    • Short period of time in mid-2005 following the firing of Perry and Roger. The band did several studio performances for Yahoo!'s Launch website, and a cover of John Lennon's "Love", which was not released till the end of 2005.
  • Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Jason Cooper (2005-present)
    • The confirmed lineup for the 2006-2007 Cure album. The quartet performed a five-song set at the Paris Live 8 show in July 2005.

References

  • 1. The Cure, Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities 1978-2001 (13).
  • 2. The Cure, Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities 1978-2001 (15).

See also
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