From WXRT:
Start working on your Catalan because Knauz BMW in Lake Bluff Wants to Send a Lucky XRT Listener to Espana to See The Cure in Barcelona!
Tune into XRT all this week to find the code word and text number to be entered for your chance to win a 4-night trip to Barcelona, Spain, November 24th – 29th, to see The Cure perform on November 26th at the Palau Sant Jordi Hotel. The prize includes roundtrip airfare from Chicago to Barcelona, a 4 night stay in Barcelona’s Old Quarter, two tickets to the show, plus a $500 gift card to spend during the trip! We will pick 4 winners each day to see a private performance in the XRT Performance Stage and one lucky grand prize winner will win a trip to Barcelona to see The Cure!
The Trip is Brought to You by the Knauz BMW Sales Event. Start your shopping. Route 41, Lake Bluff.
Bona sort!
Listen to XRT in the 6A, 8A, 4P, and 6P hours to get the keyword. Once you hear it, text it to 5-9-3-9-3.
Can’t text? No problem! Simply enter in the contest keyword below and enter in the short code 59393.
Standard text and data rates apply, we’ll send you a text message confirming entry, alternate means of entry found on 93XRT.com.
Click here for official rules
Monday, August 22, 2016
200 Best Songs of the 70s
'Boys Don't Cry' is #47 on Pitchfork's list:
The Cure made countless songs about doomed romance, and “Boys Don’t Cry” is the only one that appears rooted in reality: Boy meets girl, boy treats her like crap, boy loses girl and has no one to blame but himself, boy ends up blaming everyone else, anyway. “Boys Don’t Cry” comes from a time when the Cure were pithy, punchy, and pouty. Its title was also co-opted by pop culture phenomena with far more complex takes on identity and sexuality than its inspiration. These two legacies aren’t in opposition, they’re part of a continuum established on “Boys Don’t Cry” that paralleled the Cure themselves: evolving from angry young men to overseers of an all-inclusive utopia where anyone can cry to their heart’s content. –Ian Cohen
(Thanks @guillaume_g_z)
The Cure made countless songs about doomed romance, and “Boys Don’t Cry” is the only one that appears rooted in reality: Boy meets girl, boy treats her like crap, boy loses girl and has no one to blame but himself, boy ends up blaming everyone else, anyway. “Boys Don’t Cry” comes from a time when the Cure were pithy, punchy, and pouty. Its title was also co-opted by pop culture phenomena with far more complex takes on identity and sexuality than its inspiration. These two legacies aren’t in opposition, they’re part of a continuum established on “Boys Don’t Cry” that paralleled the Cure themselves: evolving from angry young men to overseers of an all-inclusive utopia where anyone can cry to their heart’s content. –Ian Cohen
(Thanks @guillaume_g_z)
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Photo from 'In Between Days' press release
Roger in Ferrari magazine
That time I was interviewed for the Official Ferrari Magazine by Nick Mason of Pink Floyd hahahah https://t.co/FaqDYfY67T— Roger O'Donnell (@RogerODonnell) May 3, 2016
Interview is only available to Ferrari magazine subscribers.
Update (Aug. 20th, 2016): The interview is now available to all. Read it here. (Thanks Roger O'Donnell Discography)
Andy MacFarlane on touring with The Cure
From Tenement TV:
HAVING established themselves as a staple part of Scotland’s thriving music scene with four well-received albums, The Twilight Sad are spending much of 2016 spreading their appeal around the globe. It’s not often you get to go on tour with your heroes after all; the Glasgow band were living the dreams of many when they were asked to join The Cure on the road earlier this year. With Robert Smith known to be a huge fan, even releasing a cover of their track ‘There’s a Girl in the Corner’, the trio have now completed a mammoth tour of the States which saw them play up and down the country, including world-famous venues like Madison Square Gardens and the Hollywood Bowl.
With the European leg set to kick off in October, the band now have some time on their hands and will make their live return on home soil with an appearance at Electric Fields festival next week. We caught up with Andy from the band to hear about his experience with The Cure and the upcoming festival.
“The tour was beyond amazing, very surreal. We’ve played some big gigs but never a full tour on that scale before.’ And with the European leg coming up, there’s still some massive shows ahead, ’We’re looking forward to all of it. Europe’s great to tour anyway, but getting to do it in these venues and see The Cure every night will be pretty amazing.”
Especially when they’ve been such a huge influence on the Sad: “I’ve always listened to some era of The Cure for as long as I can remember, so elements of their music will always overlap with ours in one way or another.”
Of course, with the post-punk legends having such a massive global appeal, the trio have found themselves in front of huge crowds every night, with many people hearing them for the first time. However, this hasn’t fazed them: “I actually look at every gig the same. To me, there’s no difference playing somewhere like King Tut’s, the Barrowlands, or an in-store in Mono to playing somewhere like Madison Square Garden or the Hollywood Bowl.
“It really doesn’t matter what the venue is or who the crowd are, you always need to appreciate that people have spent their money to get there, and if you overthink it, you can very quickly build up apprehensions and start to trip yourself up.”
Read the rest at Tenement TV.
And then go listen to Andy's reworking of 'Man is Not a Bird' by Haze.
HAVING established themselves as a staple part of Scotland’s thriving music scene with four well-received albums, The Twilight Sad are spending much of 2016 spreading their appeal around the globe. It’s not often you get to go on tour with your heroes after all; the Glasgow band were living the dreams of many when they were asked to join The Cure on the road earlier this year. With Robert Smith known to be a huge fan, even releasing a cover of their track ‘There’s a Girl in the Corner’, the trio have now completed a mammoth tour of the States which saw them play up and down the country, including world-famous venues like Madison Square Gardens and the Hollywood Bowl.
With the European leg set to kick off in October, the band now have some time on their hands and will make their live return on home soil with an appearance at Electric Fields festival next week. We caught up with Andy from the band to hear about his experience with The Cure and the upcoming festival.
“The tour was beyond amazing, very surreal. We’ve played some big gigs but never a full tour on that scale before.’ And with the European leg coming up, there’s still some massive shows ahead, ’We’re looking forward to all of it. Europe’s great to tour anyway, but getting to do it in these venues and see The Cure every night will be pretty amazing.”
Especially when they’ve been such a huge influence on the Sad: “I’ve always listened to some era of The Cure for as long as I can remember, so elements of their music will always overlap with ours in one way or another.”
Of course, with the post-punk legends having such a massive global appeal, the trio have found themselves in front of huge crowds every night, with many people hearing them for the first time. However, this hasn’t fazed them: “I actually look at every gig the same. To me, there’s no difference playing somewhere like King Tut’s, the Barrowlands, or an in-store in Mono to playing somewhere like Madison Square Garden or the Hollywood Bowl.
“It really doesn’t matter what the venue is or who the crowd are, you always need to appreciate that people have spent their money to get there, and if you overthink it, you can very quickly build up apprehensions and start to trip yourself up.”
Read the rest at Tenement TV.
And then go listen to Andy's reworking of 'Man is Not a Bird' by Haze.
The Beatles, The Cure, The Who and Bray
From Swench.net:
What do Bray and three of the biggest bands of all time have in common?
.....
Around this time, Robert Smith started spending a lot of time in Ireland, especially on the South Dublin and North Wicklow coasts.“I came over in 1986 for a few weeks’ break and ended up spending a year-and-a-half there,” he told Stuart Clark from Hot Press. “I rented a cottage just outside Dalkey – it’s beautiful down there. I used to walk back along the DART line, that’s the only way I could find my way around. I went to Ireland on holiday a lot when I was very young because of my grandparents’ family connections. I was reconnecting with that.”
Read the rest at Swench.net. (Thanks @alex_meehan)
What do Bray and three of the biggest bands of all time have in common?
.....
Around this time, Robert Smith started spending a lot of time in Ireland, especially on the South Dublin and North Wicklow coasts.“I came over in 1986 for a few weeks’ break and ended up spending a year-and-a-half there,” he told Stuart Clark from Hot Press. “I rented a cottage just outside Dalkey – it’s beautiful down there. I used to walk back along the DART line, that’s the only way I could find my way around. I went to Ireland on holiday a lot when I was very young because of my grandparents’ family connections. I was reconnecting with that.”
Read the rest at Swench.net. (Thanks @alex_meehan)
Congratulations to Eden and Nancy!
— VIOLET VENDETTA (@VIOLET_VENDETTA) August 17, 2016
Wishing you a long life together full of love, laughter and metal!
Sunday, August 14, 2016
An Evening with Lol in Bath
Monday 26th September
Christ Church, Julian Road, Bath, BA1 2RH
Doors open 7.30pm / Start time 8pm
Tickets: Early bird - £8 / Book with voucher - £20
In his powerful new memoir, CURED, founding member of The Cure Lol Tolhurst reveals the story of a timeless band and a life truly lived. The Cure‘s journey to worldwide success is one of not only of the great highs and lows of the lifelong friendship between Tolhurst and frontman Robert Smith, but also of love, pain, forgiveness and, ultimately, redemption on a beach in Hawaii.
As The Cure’s drummer, Lol toured the globe many times over, supporting the ground-breaking albums Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography. He took on keyboard duties in the mid-eighties until his departure from the band in 1989, at the time of their masterwork Disintegration. More recently, 2011 saw a momentous reunion tour with his former bandmates and Lol performing with The Cure again for the first time in over twenty years.
“This is a record of the things that have kept me awake at 4 a.m., the precious flowers of the past blooming in the dark corners of memory. I have tried my best to capture whatever that light shone on. I hope it illuminates events for you as much as it has for me” Lol Tolhurst.
Christ Church, Julian Road, Bath, BA1 2RH
Doors open 7.30pm / Start time 8pm
Tickets: Early bird - £8 / Book with voucher - £20
In his powerful new memoir, CURED, founding member of The Cure Lol Tolhurst reveals the story of a timeless band and a life truly lived. The Cure‘s journey to worldwide success is one of not only of the great highs and lows of the lifelong friendship between Tolhurst and frontman Robert Smith, but also of love, pain, forgiveness and, ultimately, redemption on a beach in Hawaii.
As The Cure’s drummer, Lol toured the globe many times over, supporting the ground-breaking albums Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography. He took on keyboard duties in the mid-eighties until his departure from the band in 1989, at the time of their masterwork Disintegration. More recently, 2011 saw a momentous reunion tour with his former bandmates and Lol performing with The Cure again for the first time in over twenty years.
“This is a record of the things that have kept me awake at 4 a.m., the precious flowers of the past blooming in the dark corners of memory. I have tried my best to capture whatever that light shone on. I hope it illuminates events for you as much as it has for me” Lol Tolhurst.
An Evening with Lol in Manchester
Thursday 22nd September 18:30 at Manchester - Deansgate
Lol Tolhurst, founding member of legends The Cure joins us in store to celebrate the launch of his memoir, Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys.
Lol will be chatting with us about the book, as well as his time in the music scene, before taking your questions and signing your books.
Further details: 0161 837 3000
Tickets are £6 and can be purchased here.
Lol Tolhurst, founding member of legends The Cure joins us in store to celebrate the launch of his memoir, Cured: The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys.
Lol will be chatting with us about the book, as well as his time in the music scene, before taking your questions and signing your books.
Further details: 0161 837 3000
Tickets are £6 and can be purchased here.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
The Cure in Photographs 1982 - 2005
From The Flood Gallery:
In Between Days. The Cure in photographs 1982 - 2005
by Tom Sheehan.
The Flood Gallery is proud to announce the second book from the archives of celebrated music photographer, Tom Sheehan. Having worked with The Cure for over 20 sessions across 3 decades, the book offers a stunning photographic journey, shown in chronological order, of one of the most important and successful UK bands of the last 40 years.
The book includes many photographs never seen before all carefully scanned and retouched to show Tom’s work at its glorious best.
Featuring many previously unseen images, “In Between Days” is divided into three parts focusing on specific phases of their history. Part 1 (1982-84) traces their early travels at home and abroad, also including portraits of Smith’s parallel career in Siouxsie & The Banshees and the side-project The Glove. Part 2 (1985-89) highlights their imperial period through a trio of classic albums The Head On The Door, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and Disintegration, including rare behind the scenes images from the celebrate The Cure in Orange concert film. Finally, Part 3 (1990-2005) collects Sheehan’s latter portraits of Smith and the group as they cement their status as one of the biggest alternative bands in the world, still touring today.
Each section is accompanied by an essay by acclaimed author and music journalist Simon Goddard (Ziggyology).
“In Between Days. The Cure in photographs 1982 – 2005” is a beautiful, strictly limited, Deluxe and Super Deluxe book with 240 pages charting over 20 years in the career of Robert Smith’s legendary group.
The Super Deluxe will be a limited edition of 700 with pearlescent hard slip-case which includes 3 unique photos from Tom’s archives with a bound-in certificate of authenticity signed and numbered by Tom Sheehan himself.
The Deluxe limited edition of 2500 features the 240 pages hardback book, complete with hardcover slipcase.
There will be a launch/signing evening at The Flood Gallery, 8 Greenwich Market, London, in late November (TBC), all welcome.
In Between Days. The Cure in photographs 1982 - 2005
by Tom Sheehan.
The Flood Gallery is proud to announce the second book from the archives of celebrated music photographer, Tom Sheehan. Having worked with The Cure for over 20 sessions across 3 decades, the book offers a stunning photographic journey, shown in chronological order, of one of the most important and successful UK bands of the last 40 years.
The book includes many photographs never seen before all carefully scanned and retouched to show Tom’s work at its glorious best.
Featuring many previously unseen images, “In Between Days” is divided into three parts focusing on specific phases of their history. Part 1 (1982-84) traces their early travels at home and abroad, also including portraits of Smith’s parallel career in Siouxsie & The Banshees and the side-project The Glove. Part 2 (1985-89) highlights their imperial period through a trio of classic albums The Head On The Door, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and Disintegration, including rare behind the scenes images from the celebrate The Cure in Orange concert film. Finally, Part 3 (1990-2005) collects Sheehan’s latter portraits of Smith and the group as they cement their status as one of the biggest alternative bands in the world, still touring today.
Each section is accompanied by an essay by acclaimed author and music journalist Simon Goddard (Ziggyology).
“In Between Days. The Cure in photographs 1982 – 2005” is a beautiful, strictly limited, Deluxe and Super Deluxe book with 240 pages charting over 20 years in the career of Robert Smith’s legendary group.
The Super Deluxe will be a limited edition of 700 with pearlescent hard slip-case which includes 3 unique photos from Tom’s archives with a bound-in certificate of authenticity signed and numbered by Tom Sheehan himself.
The Deluxe limited edition of 2500 features the 240 pages hardback book, complete with hardcover slipcase.
There will be a launch/signing evening at The Flood Gallery, 8 Greenwich Market, London, in late November (TBC), all welcome.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
30 years of The Cure in Orange...
...and STILL no official release on DVD or Blu-Ray! That should be a crime, right? :)
From Lol on Facebook: "So my friend Toberr reminded me that tomorrow is thirty (!) years since the Cure played at the Theatre Antique D'Orange in France. We filmed the whole affair with Tim Pope at the helm for our film " The Cure In Orange". In "Cured" you can read about something that happened to me when we filmed it that added to the strange psychedelic madness of that experience !"
Still have my US LaserDisc & VHS, and a VCD from Malaysia.
From Lol on Facebook: "So my friend Toberr reminded me that tomorrow is thirty (!) years since the Cure played at the Theatre Antique D'Orange in France. We filmed the whole affair with Tim Pope at the helm for our film " The Cure In Orange". In "Cured" you can read about something that happened to me when we filmed it that added to the strange psychedelic madness of that experience !"
Win VIP tickets to Bestival
Radio X has got a pair of VIP tickets to this year’s Bestival to give away. The passes include accommodation at the Pitch Village Tent with access to hot showers, private toilets, a freshen up area and even unlimited tea & coffee… Travel with South West Trains from London… plus ferry transfers to the Isle Of Wight!
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning this excellent prize is answer the easy question below.
What is the name of the lead singer of Bestival headliners The Cure?
Robert Smith
Robin Smith
Ross Smith
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Top 10 Goth Icons
Robert is the #1 "Goth Icon" according to this list created by Watch Mojo. (Thanks @anduyuns)
The Guitar Work of Robert Smith
Nice article at Reverb about Robert's under-appreciated guitar skills:
"Robert Smith may be the most underrated rock guitarist of all time. While he was never one to shred with the same flash as some of his '80s contemporaries, his influence over droves of players and sub-genres should earn him a more revered spot in the guitar gods pantheon.
The Cure still fill stadiums with a surprisingly diverse community of adoring fans. Bands like Dinosaur Jr and the Smashing Pumpkins have recorded loving covers of Cure songs. If the recent cavalcade of boutique chorus and modulation pedals is any indication, Smith's influence as a tonal architect is alive and well.
So why is the ink devoted to his guitar craft comparatively limited?"
Read the rest at Reverb. (Thanks Matt)
"Robert Smith may be the most underrated rock guitarist of all time. While he was never one to shred with the same flash as some of his '80s contemporaries, his influence over droves of players and sub-genres should earn him a more revered spot in the guitar gods pantheon.
The Cure still fill stadiums with a surprisingly diverse community of adoring fans. Bands like Dinosaur Jr and the Smashing Pumpkins have recorded loving covers of Cure songs. If the recent cavalcade of boutique chorus and modulation pedals is any indication, Smith's influence as a tonal architect is alive and well.
So why is the ink devoted to his guitar craft comparatively limited?"
Read the rest at Reverb. (Thanks Matt)
Barney's selling "designer" Cure shirts for $175
From Brooklyn Vegan:
Nothing says punk like two-hundred-plus dollar luxury t-shirts, right? If you answered “yes,” you’ll be happy to learn that Barney’s is selling a Black Flag t-shirt for $265! It looks pretty much like all those other Black Flag shirts you see people wearing all the time, it just costs two hundred forty five more dollars! And that’s not all. You can also get that Joy Division shirt with the Unknown Pleasures artwork that definitely is hard to come by, for $225.
For a mere $175, there’s Black Sabbath, The Cure, Run DMC, Motorhead, The Grateful Dead (twice), The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Guns N’ Roses (twice), Metallica, The Doors, AC/DC, and Pink Floyd. For the rare cheap price of $98, there’s Van Halen.
These of course are all a bargain though compared to the $560 “army-skull” Givenchy t-shirt that reminds us of many a metal band design, most notably S.O.D.
But even that is a bargain when you realize there is a Snoop Dogg t-shirt that will cost you over $900!
This is of course not the first time we’ve seen pricey stores selling pricey designer concert t-shirts, but it never ceases to amaze.
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. "
"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. "
'Plainsong' used in German film 'Toni Erdmann'
"The new German movie "Toni Erdmann" which played at Cannes this year featured "Plainsong" in full during the end credits." (Thanks Martin)
The Cure In Other Voices
From Vanyaland:
In Between Haze: Download a 32-track Cure cover compilation from The Blog That Celebrates Itself
Like many of us, Renato Malizia recalls the first time he heard The Cure.
“Back in 1987, more precisely on 31 March, I had exactly 13 years old, and my father took me to one of the most important experiences of my life, a concert by The Cure,” writes Malizia of Latin shoegaze website The Blog That Celebrates Itself. “Exciting, fascinating and many other adjectives I could use to define what I felt that day, images remains in my memory and will never be erased.”
Nearly 30 years later, The Blog That Celebrates Itself has released a free, downloadable 32-track tribute to Robert Smith and the boys, titled The Cure In Other Voices. Stream it and DL it below via the site’s Bandcamp. The band come from all around the world, Malizia writes, “who, like me, have their personal stories of love with one of the greatest bands of all time.”
This new comp follows a pretty aggressive tribute schedule The Blog That Celebrates Itself, which in recent weeks has released cover albums in the name of Fugazi and Galaxie 500, and over the past several months has unveiled similarly themed compilations honoring New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, and Chapterhouse.
As expected, each band supplies their own sound and vision to a Cure classic. Among out faves are Blankenberge’s shoegazing opener of “Pictures Of You”, Scene Noir’s synthy, minimal “In Between Days”, and Echodrone’s dream-pop rendition of “All Cats Are Grey”.
In Between Haze: Download a 32-track Cure cover compilation from The Blog That Celebrates Itself
Like many of us, Renato Malizia recalls the first time he heard The Cure.
“Back in 1987, more precisely on 31 March, I had exactly 13 years old, and my father took me to one of the most important experiences of my life, a concert by The Cure,” writes Malizia of Latin shoegaze website The Blog That Celebrates Itself. “Exciting, fascinating and many other adjectives I could use to define what I felt that day, images remains in my memory and will never be erased.”
Nearly 30 years later, The Blog That Celebrates Itself has released a free, downloadable 32-track tribute to Robert Smith and the boys, titled The Cure In Other Voices. Stream it and DL it below via the site’s Bandcamp. The band come from all around the world, Malizia writes, “who, like me, have their personal stories of love with one of the greatest bands of all time.”
This new comp follows a pretty aggressive tribute schedule The Blog That Celebrates Itself, which in recent weeks has released cover albums in the name of Fugazi and Galaxie 500, and over the past several months has unveiled similarly themed compilations honoring New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, and Chapterhouse.
As expected, each band supplies their own sound and vision to a Cure classic. Among out faves are Blankenberge’s shoegazing opener of “Pictures Of You”, Scene Noir’s synthy, minimal “In Between Days”, and Echodrone’s dream-pop rendition of “All Cats Are Grey”.
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