“Boys Don’t Cry” - a career-defining, classic single. Pure pop. A three-minute wonder. Timeless, if you like. So why didn’t it even scrape the lower end of the UK singles chart in its release in the summer of 1979? Released on Friday, 29 June ’79, the single was timed to coincide with The Cure’s headline … Continue reading 29 June 1979: Who killed “Boys Don’t Cry”?
As we saw last week, Paul Morley’s vitriolic review of the Three Imaginary Boys album in the NME so incensed The Cure that Robert Smith immediately exercised his right of reply while recording a BBC session on 9 May, the day that the music press hit the stands. The backing track of “Grinding Halt” was … Continue reading 16 May 1979: The lyrics of “Desperate Journalist”
Pop culture is meant to give us a snapshot of contemporary society - so what does Three Imaginary Boys tell us about May 1979? Paul Morley’s NME review of the album spoke of claims of “social validity”, but are there any such claims on the actual album itself? The album was released one week into … Continue reading 11 May 1979: Three Imaginary Boys at 40
One of the more notable reviews of Three Imaginary Boys was by Paul Morley in the NME of 12 May 1979, a piece that caused The Cure to publicly respond - on the radio, no less. By his own admission, Morley was irritated by the record when called upon to review it - an occasion … Continue reading 9 May 1979: “Desperate Journalist In Ongoing Meaningful Review Situation”
One of the tasks I’ve set myself in digging into The Cure’s history is to finally nail down the confirmed release dates for the band’s singles and albums (in the UK at least). Sounds simple, right? Just jump on to Wikipedia and cut and paste away, yeah? Well… no. Take the 40th anniversary of the … Continue reading 8 May: The Cure release dates OR… On which day shall we celebrate 40 years of Three Imaginary Boys?
On tonight’s show, Peel plays "Subway Song" from a promo copy of the new album. The scream at the end of the Cure track catches Peel unawares and apparently gives him quite a fright. He shudders: ”It could have been the last you heard of me! I don’t think I’ll play that again.” He’s also … Continue reading 1 May 1979: Today In Peel
There’s no doubt that “Grinding Halt” was seen by Chris Parry as one of the key tracks from the Three Imaginary Boys album. A 12” promo single, packaged in plain white sleeve, made its way out to select journalists and jocks in late April. Ian Penman found it in a pile of records up for … Continue reading 19 April 2019: Was “Grinding Halt” going to be The Cure’s second single?
Outside of the various bits and bobs that appeared on compilations like “Curiosity” and the “Three Imaginary Boys” reissue, the earliest example of The Cure recorded live comes from the second Marquee show from 11 March 1979. It’s a fascinating piece of history not least because someone thought The Cure were now worth taping - … Continue reading 11 March: A Dose Of Sundays part 2
Fresh off the back of the release of “Killing An Arab”/"10:15 Saturday Night" on 9 February and the launch of the Fiction label, Chris Parry now wanted to give The Cure a proper London showcase. As Dave McCullough noted in the Sounds feature in January, the Moonlight Club show on 20 December was already full … Continue reading 4 March: A Tale Of Two Cities #3 – A Dose Of Sundays
This day saw the official launch of Fiction Records with the arrival of FICS 001: the reissue of The Cure’s first single, “Killing An Arab”/“10.15 Saturday Night”. The same day, the band performed a show at the Nashville Room in Kensington - Lol Tolhurst recalls a contingent from the National Front turning up, thinking that … Continue reading 9 February 1979: Is “Killing An Arab” racist?
Crying For Yesterday 