How America Fell In Love With The Cure

From Observer:

"By 1987, The Cure had been leading the British post-punk scene for over a decade. But here in America, unless you were a devotee of independent record stores and college radio, the legendary group was still something of a well-kept secret.

That all changed 30 years ago today.

Soon after The Cure released their ambitious double album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me on May 25, 1987, their infectious singles like “Just Like Heaven” were dominating U.S. radio.

“I’m a sucker for short and sweet hit pop songs [like ‘Just Like Heaven’]. And ‘Why Can’t I Be You?’ does the trick for me [too],” says guitarist for Bauhaus Daniel Ash, whose post-Bauhaus band Love & Rockets also enjoyed the after-effects of Kiss Me in 1989 with their smash hit “So Alive.”

Partially recorded at the famed Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me interjected the dark tones of their earlier work with elements of bleeding edge R&B, Prince-esque funk grooves, warm jazz and dreamy psychedelic pop that caught fire on such prominent American radio stations as Los Angeles’s KROQ and New York’s WLIR."

Read the rest at Observer.

Some more articles celebrating the 30th anniversary of 'Kiss Me' at Bible Urbaine and Frankenpost.