The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several
line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member.
The Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with its debut album Three Imaginary Boys.
They were a part of the post-punk and new wave movements that had sprung up in the wake
of the punk rock revolution in the United Kingdom. During the early 1980s, the band's increasingly
dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre.
-Wikipedia
Members:
Robert Smith -
vocals, guitar, six-string bass
(1976-present)
Simon Gallup -
bass 1979-1982, 1985-present)
Roger O'Donnell -
keyboards (1987-1990, 1995-2005, 2011-present)
Jason Cooper -
drums (1995-present)
Reeves Gabrels -
guitars (2012-present)
Name Origin:
They started in 1976 as The Easy Cure. Which was the name of a song written by their originaldrummer Lol Tolhurst. Later Robert Smith felt The Easy Cure was too hippie-like and shortened it to The Cure.
From: Crawley, England
Genre(s):
Gothic rock,
post-punk,
dark wave,
alternative rock,
new wave,
Gothic
Formed: When they were in the St. Wilfrid's Catholic Comprehensive School in Crawley, Sussex
Active From: 1976-present
Associated Acts:
Malice,
Easy Cure,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
The Glove
Quotes:
"What I really had against Lol, is that he had taken away more than a year of my time...our argument puts a shadow over my life."[Speaking about the former band member, Laurence Tolhurst court case against him that Robert eventually won]
Robert Smith De Standaard 11/16/01 (Belgium Newspaper)
[Robert Smith referring to some of his favorite songs]
Faith: "I don't think I'll ever write a song that'll ever move me as much as Faith, that'll change my life as much as that song did, or encapsulates a period of my life as well as that one does."
Just Like Heaven: "The best pop song the Cure has ever done. All the sounds meshed, it was one take, and it was perfect. I love Dinosaur Jr.'s version of the song, and they've influenced how we play it."
A Forest: "The archetypal Cure sound, it was probably the turning point when people started listening to the group and thinking we could achieve something, including me."
Robert Smith Chicago Tribune 7/12/92
"The Cure, is the kind of band that wanders in and out of the mainstream's gaze." Robert Smith The Boston Globe 1997
"...I mean there's a Holy Grail for Cure fans which has always been the Disintegration tour of 1989 and I was quite shocked to find that as we were going along this year the internet reviews were getting more and more glowing. They've reached the giddy heights of 'as-good-as-or-if-not-better-than-the-Disintegration-tour'. There's no higher accolade from Cure fans than that. It's been great." [Referring to the Dream Tour 2000] Robert Smith X-Press Magazine 9/00
"You don't really know a song until you play it live."
"Seeing someone f**k a monkey doesn't particulary shock me. I get much more shocked by someone attacking someone else for doing it." [Referring to his views on pornography]
"It's been the most enjoyable Cure tour I've ever done. I think that's probably because we've been playing songs that I really like, the side of The Cure that I really prefer live, which is the darker side." [Referring to the Dream Tour set lists]
Robert Smith X-Press Magazine 9/00
"There are countries where the organizers don't know what they're doing or what's going on - but I wouldn't name Italy and Spain!"
"We started off the tour [swing tour] in Britain and the difference is quite stunning between the audience there and over here [U.S.]. I mean, they're so loud over here, I've forgotten how...keen everyone is to having a good time in America."
Robert Smith Radio station KROQ 1995
"...soon I started to buy records on my pocket money; the first one was Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. And the first concert I attended was Hendrix on the Isle of Wright; I was 10." Robert Smith Les Inrockuptibles 10/28/97
"Jimi Hendrix changed my life. Each generation influences the following one and as a consequence brings it back to the past..." [Referring to the influence The Cure purportedly has had on young English bands] Robert Smith L'Express 2/00
"Mary has been the great influence in my life, the rock that stays strong when I lose my head. She noticed, for example that I become aggressive and unfriendly when I cut my hair. So I make it long. Mary is very maternal with me. And very, very tolerant. "
"If any of our songs ever did make it on the top ten, I'd disband the group immediately."
"The Press try to categorize me a 'gloom-and-doom' singer. But, take a look at Morrissey! That man's a professional moaner!"
"I've always spent more time with a smile on my face than not, but the thing is, I don't write about it." Robert Smith Rolling Stone 1997
"I don't think of death in a romantic way anymore." Robert Smith L'Express 2/00
"I go off-roading occasionally, drunkenly at night across fields."
"I never wanted to be the personality of the group. When I was with the Banshees, I was only a guitarist, and it's great being just that. What happens with this group is that the others don't talk, only when they're drunk. Well, Roger speaks all the time, but what happens is he just speaks stupidities. I hope nobody translates this interview to English. Roger, I'm sorry, I didn't want to say that." [laughs]
Robert Smith De Standaard 11/16/01 (Belgium Newspaper)
"There is a reason for me always shoe-gazing. I simply can't look into the eyes of several thousand people." Robert Smith Article by Jane Stevenson, Toronto Sun
"If I didn't wear make-up I couldn't get on stage. I'd be much too self conscious. "