One of the most enduring, popular and acclaimed rock groups of the past 20 years, the Cure has undergone numerous changes in band membership and musical aesthetic yet has continued to win over an increasing number of fans and critics alike, a feat few bands have managed. Unlike the vast majority of rock acts, the Cure became more and more innovative over time rather than remaining loyal to a particular sound. Throughout the years, the band has remained true to the artistic vision of frontman Robert Smith while exploring a variety of musical styles ranging from post-punk to goth-rock to neo-psychedelia.
The roots of the Cure extend back to Crawley, England in 1976, where schoolmates Robert Smith (vocals/guitar), Paul "Porl" Thompson (guitar), Michael Dempsey (bass) and Lawrence "Lol" Tolhurst (drums) formed a group called the Easy Cure, a post-punk act influenced by artists such as David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix. By 1978 Thompson had left the group, which renamed itself the Cure. That summer a demo tape caught the attention of Polydor A&R rep Chris Perry, who signed the group to his own label, the brand-new Fiction Records. The following year the Cure's debut album, the sparse-sounding Three Imaginary Boys, reached the U.K. Top 50, and was supported by a tour with Siouxsie and the Banshees. During the tour the Banshees' guitarist quit, so Smith joined the band for the remainder of their dates, the beginning of a long relationship between the Banshees and the Cure. Following the Banshees tour Dempsey left and was replaced by bassist Simon Gallup. Meanwhile the Cure's U.K. single, "Boys Don't Cry," became a minor chart hit on both sides of the Atlantic and was re-issued along with most of Three Imaginary Boys on the Cure's first U.S. release, Boys Don't Cry.
In 1980 Smith, Gallup, and Porl Thompson collaborated on a short-lived project called the Cult Heroes, after which the Cure returned to the studio to record their follow-up, Seventeen Seconds, which was supported by the group's first U.S. and Australian tours. The following year's Faith found the group shifting toward a slow, hypnotic, morose sound which was further refined on 1982's Pornography, a goth-rock classic produced by Phil Thornally (Duran Duran, Thompson Twins). The bleak imagery of these albums reflected a growing instability in the personal and professional lives of the band members, who soon drifted apart.
Robert Smith continued on as the Cure with Tolhurst on keyboards and session musicians on bass and drums, recording the upbeat pop singles "Let's Go to Bed," "The Walk" -- which reached No. 12 on the U.K. charts -- and "Lovecats." These songs were later collected along with their b-sides on 1983's Japanese Whispers.
Smith spent much of 1983 and 1984 recording and touring with Siouxsie and the Banshees as well as working with musician Steve Severin on a project called the Glove. Smith reemerged under the Cure name in 1984 with an extremely bizarre album titled The Top, on which he played all of the instruments except for drums.
Now featuring a stable lineup of Robert Smith (vocals/guitar), Porl Thompson (guitar), Lol Tolhurst (keyboards), Simon Gallup (bass) and Boris Williams (drums), the Cure released 1985's Head on the Door, an album of pop songs which received widespread commercial and critical success, spawning the U.K. Top 20 hits "In Between Days" and "Close to Me," which also became U.S. college hits. Tape consolidated their U.S. fan base with the 1986 compilation Standing on a Beach (retitled Staring at the Sea on CD), a singles collection, which soon went gold in the U.S. The eclectic 1987 double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me became the group's first true smash, spawning the international hit singles "Why Can't I Be You?," "Catch" and "Just Like Heaven" (which became an MTV staple).
Now international stars, the Cure surprised and impressed fans and critics by returning with a darker, more mature statement rather than an upbeat collection of pop songs. Nonetheless, 1989's Disintigration -- which marked the appearance of ex-Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell -- who replaced Lol Tolhurst -- became the group's biggest hit yet, reaching the U.S. and U.K. Top 10, going platinum and spawning the Top 10 hits "Lullaby" and "Lovesong." After an epic worldwide stadium tour the group returned to England, where O'Donnell left the band and was replaced by roadie Perry Bamonte. The revised lineup recorded the new single "Never Enough" for the 1990 remix compilation Mixed Up.
Tape returned in 1992 with the new studio album Wish, which debuted at No. 2 in the U.S. The often complex and psychedelic record featured the alternative radio hits "High" and "Friday I'm in Love," went multi-platinum, and was supported by another world tour. Unfortunately for the next few years the band remained largely silent sidelined by lineup changes and legal issues; in the meantime several live albums were released. After settling on a revised lineup of Smith (vocals/guitar), Bamonte (guitar), Gallup (bass), O'Donnell (keyboards), and Jason Cooper (drums), the Cure recorded 1996's Wild Mood Swings, a diverse, upbeat album featuring the singles "The 13th" and "Mint Car."
Following another U.S. tour the Cure issued a second singles retrospective, 1997's Galore, which featured the new single "Wrong Number," recorded by Smith and David Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels. In 2000 the band released their first studio album in four years, Bloodflowers.
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