The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex.[1][2][3] Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member, though bassist Simon Gallup has been present for all but about three years of the band's history. Their debut album, Three Imaginary Boys (1979), along with several early singles, placed the band at the forefront of the emerging post-punk and new wave movements that had sprung up in the United Kingdom. Beginning with their second album, Seventeen Seconds (1980), the band adopted a new, increasingly dark and tormented style, which, together with Smith's stage look, had a strong influence on the emerging genre of gothic rock as well as the subculture that eventually formed around the genre.
This article is about the band. For the album, see The Cure (The Cure album). For other uses, see Cure (disambiguation).
The Cure
After the release of the band's fourth album, Pornography (1982), Smith introduced a greater pop sensibility into the band's music, and they subsequently garnered worldwide mainstream success. Their singles compilation Standing on a Beach (1986) sold four million copies worldwide by 1989,[4] and they reached their commercial peak with the albums Disintegration (1989) and Wish (1992). The Cure have released 13 studio albums, two EPs, and over 30 singles, and have sold over 30 million albums worldwide.[5] Their most recent album, 4:13 Dream, was released in 2008. The Cure were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.[6][7]
History[edit]
1973–1979: Formation and early years[edit]
The founding members of the Cure were school friends at Notre Dame Middle School in Crawley, West Sussex.[8] They first performed in public at an end-of-year show in April 1973 as members of a one-off school band, Obelisk.[9] That band consisted of Robert Smith on piano, Michael Dempsey on guitar, Lol Tolhurst on percussion, Marc Ceccagno on lead guitar, and Alan Hill on bass.[9] In January 1976, while at St Wilfrid's Comprehensive School, Ceccagno formed a five-piece rock band with Smith on guitar and Dempsey on bass, along with two other school friends.[10] They called themselves Malice and rehearsed David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix and Alex Harvey songs in a local church hall.[11] By late April 1976, Ceccagno and the other two members had left, and Tolhurst (drums), Martin Creasy (vocals), and Porl Thompson (guitar) had joined the band.[12] This lineup played all three of Malice's only documented live shows during December 1976. In January 1977, following Creasy's departure, and increasingly influenced by the emergence of punk rock, Malice's remaining members became known as Easy Cure – after a song written by Tolhurst.[13]
After winning a talent competition, Easy Cure signed a recording contract with German record label Ariola-Hansa on 18 May 1977.[10] In September 1977, Peter O'Toole (no relation to the actor), who had been the group's vocalist for several months, left the group to live on a kibbutz in Israel. The band auditioned several vocalists that month before Smith assumed the role.[14] The new four-piece of Dempsey, Smith, Thompson, and Tolhurst recorded their first studio demo sessions as Easy Cure for Hansa at SAV Studios in London in October and November 1977.[15] None were ever released.[16]
The band continued to perform regularly around Crawley (including The Rocket, St Edward's, and Queen's Square in particular) throughout 1977 and 1978. On 19 February 1978 they were joined at The Rocket for the first time by a support band from Horley called Lockjaw, featuring bassist Simon Gallup.[17] Hansa, dissatisfied with the group's demos, did not wish to release their original song "Killing an Arab". The label suggested that the band attempt cover versions instead. They refused, and by March 1978 Easy Cure's contract with the label had been dissolved.[18] Smith later recalled, "We were very young. They just thought they could turn us into a teen group. They actually wanted us to do cover versions and we always refused."[16]
On 22 April 1978 Easy Cure played their last gig at the Montefiore Institute Hall (in the Three Bridges neighbourhood of Crawley)[19] before guitarist Porl Thompson was dropped from the lineup because his lead-guitar style was at odds with Smith's growing preference for minimalist songwriting.[20] Smith soon renamed the remaining trio the Cure.[21] Later that month the band recorded their first sessions as a trio at Chestnut Studios in Sussex, producing a demo tape for distribution to a dozen major record labels.[22] The demo found its way to Polydor Records scout Chris Parry, who signed the Cure to his newly formed Fiction label – distributed by Polydor – in September 1978.[23] The Cure released their debut single "Killing an Arab" in December 1978 on the Small Wonder label as a stopgap until Fiction finalised distribution arrangements with Polydor. "Killing an Arab" garnered both acclaim and controversy. While the single's provocative title led to accusations of racism, the song is based on French author Albert Camus's novel The Stranger.[24] The band placed stickers that denied the racist connotations on the single's 1979 reissue on Fiction. An early NME article on the band wrote that the Cure "are like a breath of fresh suburban air on the capital's smog-ridden pub-and-club circuit," and noted: "With a John Peel session and more extensive London gigging on their immediate agenda, it remains to be seen whether the Cure can retain their refreshing joie de vivre."[25]
The Cure released their debut album Three Imaginary Boys in May 1979. Because of the band's inexperience in the studio, Parry and engineer Mike Hedges took control of the recording.[26] The band, particularly Smith, were unhappy with the album; in a 1987 interview, he admitted: "a lot of it was very superficial – I didn't even like it at the time. There were criticisms made that it was very lightweight, and I thought they were justified. Even when we'd made it, I wanted to do something that I thought had more substance to it."[27] The band's second single, "Boys Don't Cry", was released in June.
Musical style[edit]
The Cure are often identified with the gothic rock genre, and are viewed as one of the form's definitive bands.[148][149][150] However, the band has routinely rejected classification, particularly as a gothic rock band. Robert Smith said in 2006, "It's so pitiful when 'goth' is still tagged onto the name The Cure", and added, "We're not categorisable. I suppose we were post-punk when we came out, but in total it's impossible ... I just play Cure music, whatever that is."[151] While typically viewed as producers of dark and gloomy music, the Cure have also yielded a number of upbeat songs and been part of the new wave movement.[152] Spin has said "the Cure have always been an either/or sort of band: either ... Robert Smith is wallowing in gothic sadness or he's licking sticky-sweet cotton-candy pop off his lipstick-stained fingers."[153] In 2004, Smith observed, "It's always been paradoxical that it's pushed down people's throats that we're a goth band. Because, to the general public, we're not. To taxi drivers, I'm the bloke that sings 'Friday I'm in Love'. I'm not the bloke who sings 'Shake Dog Shake' or 'One Hundred Years'."[154]
The Cure's primary musical traits have been listed as "dominant, melodic bass lines; whiny, strangulated vocals; and a lyric obsession with existential, almost literary despair."[155] Most Cure songs start with Smith and Gallup writing the drum patterns and bass lines. Both record demos at home and then bring them into the studio for fine-tuning.[156] Smith said in 1992, "I think when people talk about the 'Cure sound', they mean songs based on six-string bass, acoustic guitar and my voice, plus the string sound from the Solina."[156] On top of this foundation is laid "towering layers of guitars and synthesisers".[157] Keyboards have been a component of the band's sound since Seventeen Seconds, and their importance increased with their extensive use on Disintegration.[158]
Music videos[edit]
The band's early music videos have been described as "dreadful affairs" and have been maligned for their poor quality, particularly by the band itself. Tolhurst said, "Those videos were unmitigated disasters; we weren't actors and our personalities weren't coming across."[159] The video for "Let's Go to Bed" was their first collaboration with Tim Pope. The director added a playful element to the band's videos; the director insisted in a 1987 Spin interview, "I think that side of them was always there, but was never brought out."[27]
Pope would go on to direct the majority of the Cure's videos, which became synonymous with the band, and expanded their audience during the 1980s.[160] Pope explained the appeal of working with the Cure by saying, "the Cure is the ultimate band for a filmmaker to work with because Robert Smith really understands the camera. His songs are so cinematic. I mean on one level there's this stupidity and humour, right, but beneath that there are all [Smith's] psychological obsessions and claustrophobia."[161]
Legacy[edit]
The Cure are often regarded as one of the most significant alternative artists of the 1980s.[162][163] They were one of the first alternative bands to have chart and commercial success in an era before alternative rock had broken into the mainstream; in 1992, NME declared that the Cure had during the 1980s become "a goth hit machine (19 to date), an international phenomenon and, yet, the most successful alternative band that ever shuffled disconsolately about the earth".[70] Pitchfork dubbed the Cure the "unlikeliest alt-rock heroes" of the 1980s.[163]
The Cure have influenced a number of musical artists spanning multiple genres. Artists who have cited their influence by or appreciation for the Cure include Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins,[164] Slowdive,[165] Ride,[166] My Bloody Valentine,[167] Miki Berenyi of Lush,[168] Britt Daniel of Spoon,[169] Beach House,[170] Chvrches,[171] Blink-182,[171] Interpol,[172] Manic Street Preachers,[173] AFI,[174] Deftones,[175] Placebo,[176] Mogwai,[177] Korn,[178] Foals,[179] Drab Majesty,[180] Converge,[181] Tim Kasher of Cursive,[182] Geoff Rickly of Thursday,[183] and Alvvays.[184]
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame chose the Cure for induction in its Class of 2019.[185] Although the Cure had been eligible for the Hall of Fame since 2004, they were only nominated once previously, in 2012.[186] The formal induction ceremony was held 29 March 2019 at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York. The members named by the Rock Hall for induction as part of the band are Perry Bamonte, Jason Cooper, Michael Dempsey, Reeves Gabrels, Simon Gallup, Roger O'Donnell, Robert Smith, Porl Thompson, Lol Tolhurst, and Boris Williams.[186] Gabrels was initially not included in the induction, but was added in February 2019.[187] At the Hall of Fame ceremony, the Cure were inducted by Trent Reznor before performing five songs.[188]
