Endurance and independence are two words that describe the music and career of
England's most legendary alternative band. Going on almost 25 years,
the band has gone from being a well kept secret to popular acceptance
to sold-out stadium tours, with no break in quality.
They routinely redefine themselves, and have influenced many of the current "modern rock"
bands of the 90's. Started in 1976 as the Easy Cure by school mates Robert
Smith (guitar, vocals), Laurence Tolhurst (drums), and Michael Dempsey (bass). The band signed
a record deal in June 1977 with Hansa Records, Germany's largest independent record label, after the band answered an ad in a magazine for new talent.
Unfortunately, this relationship became mutually unsatisfactory and was dissolved in March 1978 before a record could be released.
Around this time they dropped the "Easy" and became just The Cure. Early in 1978,
Chris Parry an A&R representative at Polydor Records, left Polydor to form his own record
label, Fiction, and The Cure were the first band he signed to the label in September 1978. "Killing an
Arab" the band's first single, was released in December 1978, and the Cure set out on their
first tour of England.
The Cure's debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, was released in May 1979 to good reviews in the
British music press. Robert Smith's romanticism with the morose has led the The Cure
to be labeled "godfathers of Goth", "masters of melancholy", and "kings of doom and gloom".
They became identified for their slow gloomy songs and Robert's Goth like make-up and hair style.
None of these labels are quite accurate and no other band has their unique sound.
Their sparse early releases like Pornography and Faith contrasts their later
releases like Disintegration in 1989. A wonderfully dark and beautiful album, marked
by Robert Smith's fluid imagery and the band's relentlessly stunning sound, it proved to be the
band's biggest creative success to date. Through the years The Cure have had seven top 20 hits and five
top 10 Albums
both in England and in the U.S. They have sold more than 27 million albums worldwide. But being popular and recording hits is not what The Cure are all
about. The Cure have never put being a popular band ahead of being independent and making the
kind of music they want (as many Recording Industry executives can attest to).
To really know The Cure one must listen to more than just their
popular hits. Instead, listen to a complete album full of it's imagery and lush moody sound. When Robert Smith was recently asked how his Epitaph should read he said, "That
we truly were an alternative group." The band's present line-up is: |
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