Friday, July 11, 2025

Tim Pope talk at Wavelength on Aug. 2nd

From The Times:

Tim Pope: my golden age of music videos from Bowie to the Cure

Tickets: https://www.fringebythesea.com/tim-pope/

At Wavelength, a new music film festival at Fringe by the Sea, the director will talk about his 50 years at the cultural coalface.

One autumn afternoon in 1982, Tim Pope, a budding film director, had a life-changing meeting on the roof of an office block in Soho in London. A young goth by the name of Robert Smith had enjoyed a music video that Pope had made for the synth duo Soft Cell (for their single Bedsitter) and wanted some of that creative magic for his own band, the Cure.

Was there immediate chemistry? Undeniable sympatico? Not quite. “We were what I’d call shy bastards,” Pope recalls. “We rarely met eyes with each other, and he had a very quiet voice, so it was hard to hear him over the noise coming from the fruit market outside. I had no idea it would be the start of an almost 50-year relationship.”

Beginning with a promo for the Cure’s uncharacteristically upbeat single Let’s Go to Bed, that collaboration spawned more than 35 extraordinary videos (and counting) as part of Pope’s extensive career. He’ll be talking about these experiences, and many more, at Fringe by the Sea, in an event that’s a trail for his forthcoming memoir, which has the working title My Wonky Eye: The Tales of a Maverick Music Director, out next year.

“It follows the arc of my relationship with David Bowie via Iggy Pop,” Pope says about a book that’s going to be devoured by music fans. “That’s the main story, but along the way I work with lots of other bands.”

Those others include Neil Young, whose playful side Pope is good at teasing out, Talk Talk, Queen and The The, and what the films have in common is technical ambition (all done before the days of green screen), a sense of humour and a colourful disregard for authority. As he puts it: “I’ve got quite a rebellious streak and I think that’s what connected with the artists who also had one.”

Another common thread is the glee with which Pope playfully tortures his bands — from hanging them upside down and swinging cameras into their faces to trapping them in tight spaces — all for the perfect shot.

A great example is the claustrophobic masterpiece Close to Me, for which he got the Cure (who’d been “partying” for several hours beforehand) squashed up into a wardrobe, which he then flooded with water. For The Lovecats video he had the band dancing about in a woozy world of threadbare feline taxidermy; while for Lullaby Smith was cocooned by spider webs made from glue, had a micro camera in a medical probe inserted into his mouth, and was eventually swallowed up by a giant spider.

When the book comes out it will include some never-before-seen photos from these shoots, including a selfie of Pope and Smith just as they were finishing the Lullaby video — “Just at the end, when he called me a bastard,” the director says with a laugh.

In many ways it was a golden age of music videos, with — in Pope’s experience at least — the artists given artistic carte blanche, free from the constraints of corporate intervention. As a result boundaries weren’t so much pushed as blown up at times, as evidenced in the gory video for Soft Cell’s outrageous Sex Dwarf, which was, unsurprisingly, banned. (Word to the wise: do not watch this video in the workplace.)

Pope recently found the call sheet with a list of props for that shoot, which included a working chainsaw, raw meat and some maggots. “I can still smell that studio,” he recalls.

One of Pope’s early jobs, shortly after leaving television school, was making films to help train politicians, and he was often in Downing Street in the dying days of the 1970s Labour government. He would “borrow” equipment to film gigs in the evenings, and at one performance by the Specials some skinheads invaded the stage, headbutted him and grabbed the expensive camera.

These kinds of scuffles were a world away from his later success. He developed such a strong relationship with Bowie that the singer asked him to direct his 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden, in New York, requesting that he be his “eyes and ears” on the day.

As well as working on the book, Pope is planning to make a feature film called The Beating of a Moth’s Wing, starring Béatrice Dalle, who graced many a student’s bedroom wall in the 1990s.

Also on the horizon is a 50th-anniversary film for the Cure, hopefully due out in 2028. “Robert’s got 50 boxes of film no one’s ever seen,” he says. “It’ll be amazing for fans.”

This Fringe by the Sea session, hosted by Vic Galloway, will also be a treat for music fans, with Pope more than happy to answer questions and share memories. Start revising those videos now to get the best out of it.

Aug 2, 2.45pm, the Dome, £12/6

Monday, July 7, 2025

Monday, June 30, 2025

Olivia thanks Robert

Roger on Lymphoma Voices podcast

"In this podcast Roger O’Donnell, who is the keyboard player of the band The Cure, talks about his diagnosis of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. He explains about the treatment he received and about coming to terms emotionally with his diagnosis."

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Robert joins Olivia Rodrigo at Glastonbury

Robert joined Olivia Rodrigo at Glastonbury tonight to do Friday I'm in Love and Just Like Heaven.


Friday, June 27, 2025

Gracie Abrams covering Just Like Heaven

 Gracie Abrams covering Just Like Heaven at Glastonbury tonight. Video by the BBC, posted by gnationvideo.

Thursday, June 26, 2025

New band name and single for Reeves

BAND NAME CHANGE & RECORDING NEWS

GABRELS, KANE, PARKER WELLS is the NEW BAND NAME for the genre-free improv trio formerly known as "Doom Dogs." We have a single recording (self-titled) upcoming! And we joined the visionary artist platform TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS (TotE). Our single is part of a global relaunch of Tote (via Kickstarter) to include two dozen new experimental-music projects and revival of a fantastic back catalog.

PLEASE SIGN UP NOW for Kickstarter campaign info. You only provide an email at this point, to receive campaign emails including details of all music included. Find the page via the QR code (see image), or by searching Table of the Elements and Kickstarter together.

Deep thanks to all who've come out the past two years to hear us improvise in varied venues in New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. You made our single possible, plus further studio work in progress. Just last week, we played two improvisations for a pro-shot video to come out this fall on the Reverend Guitars channel on YouTube. Going forward, we'll book shows for late summer 2025 thru spring 2026.

First priority, meanwhile, is to share the Kickstarter link for Table of the Elements. Please sign up, and please share with friends!

With appreciation, Reeves, Jonathan and Jair-Rohm

GABRELS, KANE, PARKER WELLS

June 26, 2025


A Fragile Thing (Mark Saunders Forever Heartbroken Remix) video

Monday, June 23, 2025

Win a signed MoaLW artcard

From The Cure:

ROBERT SIGNED A FEW “MIXES OF A LOST WORLD” ARTCARDS, AND WE ARE GIVING A HANDFUL AWAY TO 5 LUCKY FANS; ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ENTER YOUR DETAILS VIA THE FORM BELOW BEFORE 17: 00 ON 27TH JUNE 2025  FOR A CHANCE TO WIN ONE!
https://uk-umg.com/um-forms/48976-1234097.html

Friday, June 20, 2025

How we remixed The Cure

From MusicTech:

How we remixed The Cure: Tips from Orbital, Trentmøller and more

The Cure just released their remix package, ‘Mixes Of A Lost World,’ with over 20 new tracks. Check out how five artists made their versions

Reeves interview on Friday

11am Eastern US time Fri Jun 20th — Reeves Gabrels chats live with Ken Haas, CEO of Reverend Guitars. Tune in at Reverend’s Facebook page, or their YouTube channel.

Monday, June 16, 2025

Hidden signed MoaLW vinyl



Secret 7" reveal

Secret 7" has revealed the identity of all of the artists behind the artwork of this year's auction. View the full gallery here.

Here's Robert Smith's (sold for £3,500) and Andy Vella's (sold for £610).



Lol & Gray Tolhurst in San Francisco last night