tunes you need Tuesday: the Cure for what ails you edition

Some call The Cure goth-rock, but they're far from that.  Sure, there they are pros at the melancholy (of which I am a fan), but they've gone pop several times as well.  I wanted to get that out of the way before diving into why I like them and what makes them a great band for those of you who may have dismissed The Cure as a mopey English band. 

The Cure started out as The Obelisk way back in 1976 and won a recording contract as The Easy Cure in a talent competition in '77 (take that, American Idol).  Their debut single, "Killing an Arab" was met with critical acclaim and controversy, which is always a great way to start out for a post-punk band. The first Cure song I remember hearing was 1979's "Boys Don't Cry" a perfect little song.  I know I didn't hear it until the early 80's, but I knew I liked their sound.   It was 1982 when the jazzy "The Lovecats" became a hit and it was the break The Cure needed.  Three years later the singles "Close to Me" and "In Between Days" made them a European success and the US started taking note of the band.  "Close to Me" is a great little song with horns and a fun sound — not depressing or sad at all like most people think of The Cure. Here's the acoustic version.

See?  Not depressing, just fun.  Love that and Robert Smith's voice is one of the wildest in the biz.  You never know what to expect from him and that's something I love.  The Cure isn't boring.  Smith's lyrics are literary and introspective, passionate and sometimes silly.  I suppose I'll touch on his look, the red lipstick and dark eye makeup, black clothes, and tennis shoes.  I'm a fan of all those myself, save for the tennis shoes, but whatev.  It works for him and he's had the same look for over 20 years.  Maybe he could teach me how to do the smokey eye for an evening out, you never know.

If you listen to a few Cure songs you'll start to notice something that you don't find in many songs of the band's contemporaries — guitars!  Yep, these guys like guitars, which are noticeably absent from their contemporaries music, save the Smiths.  Robert Smith even has his own model, the Ultracure guitar.  Utracure just sounds cool.  The Cure are masters of incorporating lots of sounds from all kinds of instruments.  I love the rich sound of their music, it's well organized, well played and they are great at playing practically every instrument in the music store and making it sound easy.  Just on his own, Smith plays guitar, bass, double bass, violin, flute, trumpet, and keyboard.  Now, I played violin back in the day — it's hard — in the wrong hands the thing sounds like a frozen cat going through a woodchipper.  So, to play that many instruments and play them well is quite something. 

 Back to the music.

1987 was a big year for music and was big for The Cure as well.  They released Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and it was their first platinum album in the US.  You may remember the singles "Just Like Heaven" and "Why Can't I Be You?"  Those are superfantastic songs that are fine examples of how different The Cure's styles are — "Why Can't I Be You" is eclectic and uptempo with horns and a chaotic sound.  Oh, and in the video not only is Smith wearing a bear suit minus the head piece, he also wears a black jumper, white button down, and black tie.  I wore that same outfit in high school, not the bear suit, the jumper, tie, and button down shirt.  Really.  With wood and suede clogs.  I was quite the snazzy dresser.  And I fell down the stairs at Byrd High School many times due to those clogs.  I blame Robert Smith.

The album Disintegration came out (have you noticed that now CDs "drop" — wtf does that mean?) in 1989 and became the band's biggest success so far.  Songs like "Fascination Street," "Lovesong," "Pictures of You," and "Lullabye" all did well on the Modern Rock charts, which among all the titles given to the genre of music The Cure has been called, may fit pretty well.  My favorite song of The Cure's is "Pictures of You" and it's a heartbreaking song.  Here's the opening lyrics and the video follows:
"I've been looking so long at these pictures of you/That I almost believe that they're real/I've been living so long with my pictures of you/That I almost believe that the pictures are all I can feel."

My friend Megan and I have a running joke, mainly when we're scrapbooking and take turns playing our iPods in the speaker-dock-thingie.  It will be my iPod playing, a song will come on and I'll say "I love this song."  Well, of course I do, it's on my iPod.  Megan does the same thing.  We're goofs.  But — I love that song. 

1992 brought The Cure's Wish album, which was their biggest hit.  "Friday I'm in Love" was huge for them and it's a good song.  Not my fave, but good.  The years prior and after Wish brought big personnel changes for the band and now Smith is the only original member, kind of sad.  In the years after Wish, The Cure released a few more CDs and their Greatest Hits in 2001 with the single "Cut Here," which is a favorite of mine.  It's a song of regret and the theme is that "later doesn't always come" — I just love that, as a writer, as a person who loves words and expression.  Here's some lyrics and the video for "Cut Here:"

But how many times can I walk away and wish "If only…"
But how many times can I talk this way and wish "If only…"
Keep on making the same mistake
Keep on aching the same heartbreak
I wish "If only…"

But "If only…."
Is a wish too late…

Ok, so that's a little Cure for your Tuesday.  Hope you enjoyed it, if not maybe I'll hit on something you'll like next week.  That's what's so great about music, there is much to be discovered and we can't all like the same things, but it's fun to listen.  Y'all be good and I'll be back tomorrow.