Monday, August 1, 2016

Cure Unplugged on MTV Classic today

MTV is launching MTV Classic (replacing VH1 Classic) on Aug. 1st, bringing back a bunch of their old shows and actually playing videos again. Launch day will include a bunch of Unplugged episodes, with The Cure Unplugged airing at 6:30 PM eastern / 5:30 PM central.

"In its first European recording of "MTV Unplugged," the highly-acclaimed acoustic music series presents an acoustic performance of one of Britain's premier alternative rock bands: The Cure. This performance was shot in a small, intimate studio in London, band members Robert Smith (vocals/guitar), Porl Thompson (guitar), Simon Gallup (bass), Boris Williams (drums) and Perry Bamonte (keyboard) perform acoustic renditions of hit songs past and present. Song selections include "Let's Go To Bed," "Just Like Heaven," "Caterpillar," "The Blood," "Boys Don't Cry" and "The Walk." This marks the first episode of the series to be simulcast on the Westwood One Radio Networks. "

45 comments:

  1. Videos? On MTV? That's crazy! :o

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    1. It's actually VH1 Classic, being changed into MTV Classic for one day. The regular MTV will still be hosting garbage for your viewing displeasure.

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    2. Not for one day. Permanently. No more VH1 Classic. MTV Classic starting Aug. 1st.

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    3. VH1 played nothing but videos at one time too. Now it is 98% movies and other non video programming. So MTV Classic will be the old VH1 again it looks.

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    4. Huh, okay, guess I misunderstood someone else's claim on another site that it would be for just one day. Still, regular MTV is not going anywhere unfortunately. And I'm not sure what I think about VH1 Classic going away, I kinda liked it. Let's just hope MTV Classic will live up to its name.

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  2. I wish they would air the whole show one day.

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    1. Me, too. The setlist was amazing and several songs have never been released:

      Lullaby
      Just like heaven
      Lets go to bed
      If only tonight we could sleep
      The caterpillar
      In your house
      The walk
      A letter to elise
      The blood
      Time has told me (nick drake)
      M
      Boys don't cry

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    2. This would make a great DVD release. I would buy it in a heartbeat. (right after I buy Lol's "Cured" of course)

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    3. I can't believe after all these years we have not seen a copy of Time Has Told Me. Of all the people there, of all the people who worked at MTV, even from the band itself- not one has a copy they can get out there? Lullaby leaked. IOTWCS leaked A Letter to Elise leaked. But the one ultra-rare track, one of the top 5 Cure treasures the collectors seek, and nary a note has been heard.

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    4. you realize if the show were filmed in this day and age, 70% of the audience in attendance would have filmed it and posted it on YouTube and we'd have every possible angle and various qualities to choose from. When I see how many people filmed the last NYC shows I really believe I was one of maybe 20 people who did not have a phone in hand at those shows.

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    5. I was also 1 of the 20 without a phone :)

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    6. I was at the recording of Unplugged (I even played the kazoo on The Walk!). Many of the songs that are claimed to have been recorded during Unplugged never were recorded. This is the set list:
      1. Let's Go To Bed
      2. In your house
      3. Lullaby
      4. The Blood
      5. Just Like Heaven
      6. If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
      7. The caterpillar
      8.Boys Don't Cry
      9. Letter to Elise
      10. The Walk

      Not all the songs were included in the televised show, including Letter To Elise. Letter To Elise was later included in the home video Picture Show. You can view the entire show here:

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oTDyun2kVQM

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    7. oh no. my husband & i are big nick drake fans and we'd always hoped it was true indeed. :\

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    8. Wow WISH that's really cool! Nice playing. And they got a couple of really good camera shots of the 3 of you. Which one is you?

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    9. Thank you! I am the girl in the green sweater.....

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    10. Very cool indeed! What a great memory to have:-)

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    11. Sorry, I got another story from someone else who was there and since that person isn't the one who made the initial report, I hear two or more claiming they did. The cure concerts website also has it listed along with how many times each song was done. I mean, for decades it has been said that they played it, but now someone claims it wasn't? Believe me, it would be easier to believe it never was and then it wouldn't be so sorely missed, but seeing as even the revised setlist includes In Your House, which was never aired, along with Elise, Lullaby and IOTWCS? and all of those were reported correctly... Sorry, I don't want to be a jerk and say you are wrong, but maybe you forgot. It was quite a long time ago.

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    12. There are two more people I knew back in the day who told my friend and I all about Unplugged and what was played, including all the songs that were not aired (and Unplugged did not yet air on MTV, so they knew all those songs as well) AND they also were able to identify the 4 songs played at T&C2. And if either of those 2 people are here, please speak up, because I would expect more people to be aware of this since this discussion has been had hundreds of times on other boards (not the discussion that it wasn't played, but why no one could get ahold of a copy of the song).

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    13. I've always thought it was one of those long sought after rarities. Kind of legendary by now.

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    14. I was just trying to be helpful because for so many years I have heard the set-list misrepresented. You're right, it has been a long time. I could have forgotten but I was looking at the cassette of Unplugged Robert gave me with the set list written in his handwriting. I am not wrong but I do not want to fight. I was only trying to help but believe what you want to believe...

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    15. P.S. Part of If Only Tonight We Could Sleep does play during the credits...

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    16. Oh, so Robert gave you a handwritten copy of the show? Really? He did this right after the show or was this a few days later? I'm just curious.

      OK, so let's say that did happen, so is it the entire show he gave you? Or just the songs that would air? Seems to me you would then have a copy of In Your House unplugged, which is pretty rare, since you say they did play that. Is that on this cassette? Most importantly, this show took place in 1991. It's 2016, this discussion has appeared thousands of times on MFC or the official Cure message board or... a dozen other places. People asking where are these last few songs? Eventually, some of those songs did appear! But still, this one that has become legend has been included in many discussions, why are you only now coming forth with this information?

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    17. Like I said before, I really don't want to fight. I only came on to be helpful. This is why I normally do not participated in Cure forums even though I've seen the setlist for Unplugged represented incorrectly for many years. I regret now that I even mentioned it in this post.

      I am a friend of those in the band. After unplugged we all went to the recording studio for dinner and so Robert could mix the audio of Unplugged. MTV wanted it urgently and Robert did not trust MTV to do it right. I left the studio before Robert was finished. I returned to America the next day. Robert sent me the finished audio of Unplugged on cassette. It included all the songs that they played and not just what aired...including In Your House. If I could post a picture here, I would post one of the cassette.

      Ultimately, believe what you want to believe. I've actually tried to tell people this before and no one ever believes me. There are many rumors about the band that fans believe to be truth. Some of the rumors are true but many of them are false. But trying to convince a fan that they're false is almost impossible so I give up!

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    18. Dear WISH,
      Would you please email me a photo of your tape to tcdb.info@gmail.com? I would greatly appreciate it.
      Thank you!

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    19. Same here, WISH, would love a photo of the cassette. craigatcof (at) gmail (dot) com.

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    20. I will gladly email you both. Unfortunately, I have limited internet access for the next couple days (through the weekend) so I probably won't be able to until at least Monday. I would do it now but I haven't taken a photo of the cassette yet and I am not at home. Soon though....

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    21. P.S. Craig, do you know why so many of my posts post twice?

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    22. P.S. Craig, do you know why so many of my posts post twice?

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    23. I will gladly email you both. Unfortunately, I have limited internet access for the next couple days (through the weekend) so I probably won't be able to until at least Monday. I would do it now but I haven't taken a photo of the cassette yet and I am not at home. Soon though....

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    24. I sent the email today....

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    25. And so the suspense is killing me. Is it legit? Or what?

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  3. I remember a long time ago, Craig used to list Cure sightings extensively on COF. The sightings probably became so frequent over time that this section of the site was eventually phased out. This morning I happened to come across an unexpected (at the time) Cure sighting. Shortly after awaking I noticed I’d left the TV on and was just about to turn it off when I saw a news segment about Gwen Stefani inviting a young boy onto the stage at one of her concerts. Someone in the audience was holding a sign about their son being bullied and how Gwen’s music seemed to be the only thing that brightened his day after school. Gwen apparently read the sign, and she surprised the boy by inviting him on stage and giving him a hug. I am not a fan of Gwen Stefani (though I am aware she is a Cure fan), but was deeply touched by her kindness. This is actually not the Cure sighting...but if it hadn’t been for this story I wouldn’t have paused and viewed the next news segment which immediately followed. The Gwen story quickly dovetailed into a story about the launch of an MTV “classic” version focusing on '90’s and early 2000’s music/programming. A number of bands were mentioned, and all of a sudden I happened to catch Robert Smith’s face flashing across the screen, not just once, but twice (the rest of the band were not shown, unfortunately). Needless to say, this immediately jolted me awake (a great way to start the day!). Especially since this was not only totally unexpected, but the likelihood of seeing RS on the 6 am morning news (twice, no less) is virtually slim to none...This really made my morning! I think I briefly saw MTV’s logo posted on COF’s Twitter feed yesterday but wasn’t really paying attention to it, and was finally able to put two and two together when I realized this was one and the same story. Now I see the story has made its way to COF. Side note: Since when was '90’s music considered “classic”?! I remember VH1 Classic being one of my favorite channels back in the day, and their focus truly was on “classic” songs from multiple eras. It’s a shame it’s now being replaced. Maybe MTV is trying to revive the flagging interest of their millennial/Gen X audience? Another side note: When I saw the mention of Westwood One Radio, I couldn’t help but think of Loveline. Glad “Aceman” Adam Carolla was able to “parlay” his skills from radio/comedy into his own successful podcast.

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    1. Yeah it blows my mind when thinking of 90's music as classic. Ugh! Just to realize that in two years the "coming of agers" will have not even been alive in the 1900s.blah!

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    2. That is indeed a scary thought...nonetheless, some of the youngins do admittedly have good taste in music. I remember being a bit taken aback when I saw a few teenagers/early 20-somethings at the last Cure shows I attended.

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    3. Yeah it's so great to see someone "discovering" The Cure for the first time at the same age I was when I did. It always make me smile :)

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  4. oh,i remember some aweful parts in that songs,sometimes the band smiled over the waving and the songs nearly broke apart...not that often,but it wasn`t Cure`s best performance.....

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    1. But they were enjoying themselves and having fun. Nothing wrong with that.

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  5. yep,defintely they had fun!!! I like it because it was (for me) with an blinking eye to the entire MTV Mainstream business at that time. I never meant that there is something wrong with it...!!!!!

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  6. ...loved The Caterpiller!!!!!!!!

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  7. My favorite version of letter to Elise

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  8. Has anyone recorded it? It would be nice to have this wonderful performance in a decent quality!

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