I wouldn’t say The Cure are one of my favorite bands, but I do like them quite a bit. Alright, so it’s less a band these days in many ways and more of Robert Smith and some (long running) friends, but still, as the primary songwriter for the band’s career one can be forgiven to think the band is solely him with backing musicians. The history of the band’s lineup could be an entire series of blog posts, but that’s not really what I want talk about.
“Let’s Go To Bed”
Like many people I became aware of The Cure during the mid-80s, specifically when Head On The Door was released. While “Just Like Heaven” would be their breakthrough single, it was before then I became a fan. The single “Close To Me” got a fair amount of play on MTV, specifically on the show “120 Minutes” which I watched regularly.
“Inbetween Days”
After that album the band (or the record company) acted on the increased visibility The Head On The Door brought, and we got the compilation Staring At The Sea or Standing On The Beach depending on which format you purchased. The vinyl, cassette and CD versions each had a different track listing. It was… confusing.
“Do The Hansa”
It was The Cure that was one of the driving forces in my obsession with B-sides. The cassette version of Standing On The Beach included b-sides to the singles. Often the B-side was just as good if not better, or at least interesting. While not the only band that got me interested in b-sides the fact that they were one of the first to compile them for easy consumption made me all the more interested – especially when I found out it was an incomplete gathering of such musical offerings.
Then in 1987 the album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me came out and the single “Just Like Heaven” pushed The Cure into the mainstream.
“Mint Car”
I have seen The Cure twice, both of which deserve their own blog post. Suffice to say they are a much better live act than one might expect. Sadly, that seems to be all the band is doing these days. Their last album was released in 2008 though The Cure still continues to tour.
“Freakshow (Wolves At The Gate Remix)”
Today I have been listening to the album Wish, along with the corresponding b-sides. That’s why I decided to bring up The Cure for today’s Music Monday post. I like The Cure and wish they would record another album.