Watch The Cure Cover a Classic Beatles Song . . .

Not much to be said about this perfect rendition of "Hello, Goodbye" by Robert Smith and The Cure other than the special guest of the band who happens to be Sir Paul McCartney's son. He bears quite a resemblance to his famous father.

A Night with Morrissey

It may be uncouth to post a lighted Morrissey sign here on a blog about The Cure, but I had to make a quick comment about the guy who called Robert Smith a whinebag and who has garnered many pointed jabs in return over the years. The most recent of which was Robert saying he would never published a book about himself ala Morrissey's recent autobiography.

On May 27, 2014, on a rainy night in Memphis, Tennessee at the historic Orpheum Theatre, I got to see Morrissey perform with an excellent band assembled from across the country. He sang a few of his older tunes ("Every day is like Sunday") and launched into a few new ones before assaulting the senses of everyone in the audience with "Meat is Murder." Many horrible pics of animal torture were flashed on the screen in an attempt to make everyone in the pork barbecue capital of world a raging vegetarian. I guy in my section kept yelling out "I wanna eat some ribs!" during the theatrics.

I admit it was fun to watch Morrissey prance across the stage, angular chin raised, as he sang with his remarkable voice. He is, after all, the new wave crooner of the 80's generation. Most of time he had the annoying habit of snapping the microphone wire off to the side as though a matador in training. But that was only a minor annoyance to a mostly enjoyable concert.

When Morrissey strutted off the stage, he tore off his shirt to many perplexed looks from the crowd at the mid-fifties guy leaving the stage half-clothed.

A List of the Best Gothic Songs by The Cure

What are the top 10 Gothic songs by The Cure? These are the very best Gothic songs. The answer is open to much debate. The Cure have no shortage of darkly atmospheric and brooding songs, just as Edgar Allan Poe had no shortage of Goth poems. The band captures the essence of Gothic like no other and their back catalogue continues to grow with an entirely new album to be launched this year. In no particular order, here are my picks for the band's top Gothic songs and their associated Cure videos.

1. A Forest - Seventeen Seconds - "Running to What's Nothing . . .."

2. The Hanging Garden - Pornography - "Creatures kissing in the rain . . .."

3. The Figurehead - Pornography - "And sleeping less every night . . .."

4. Fear of Ghosts - Disintegration (Deluxe) - "The further I get from the things that I care about, the less I care about how much further away I get . . .."

5. Fascination Street - Disintegration - "To kick the last nail in . . .."

6. Charlotte Sometimes - Faith (Deluxe) - "All the face, all the voices blur . . .."

7. The Wailing Wall - The Top - "And I circle, like a vulture . . .."

8. Prayers for Rain - Disintegration - "I deteriorate, live in dirt . . .."

9. Edge of the Deep Green Sea - Wish - "Watched the sun come up from the edge of the deep green sea . . .."

10. The Same Deep Water as You - Disintegration - "Kiss me goodbye . . .."

The Cure Have Three New Albums in the Works

The Cure have three albums in the works! The first includes the other leftover songs from 4:13 Dream that will be released as Robert Smith intended in a 32 song double album. The second new album will be 4:14 Scream, which will include the left over songs from 4:13 Dream with full vocals. And the third new album by The Cure is one Robert is working on with his new band.

Robert Smith tells it better: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/robert-smith-explains-the-cures-forthcoming-4-14-scream-album-20140401

The Cure Announces Its First New Album in Six Years!!

The Cure announced today a new album in 2014 "tentatively" titled 4:14 Scream, a sister album to 2008's 4:13 Dream. They also announced a new trilogy world tour. The shows will feature The Top, Head on the Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me played from beginning to end. Read all about it:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/03/the-cure-new-album-live-dvd-trilogy-shows-2014

A Great Remake of The Figurehead

Once in a while a band remakes a song by another band that is actually better than the original. The crackling, gritty, shattered Superstar by Sonic Youth comes to mind. Who doesn't like a gunshot at the end of a tune?

Rarely has a remake of a song by The Cure surpassed the original. I have my suspicions that it is because Robert Smith's melancholy voice is like no other and pairs with his band's melancholy music like a cabernet does a filet. That's why I was shocked to find a stunning rendition of The Figurehead by Astral Grey that is better than the original from the Pornography album. You can buy the song on Amazon here. I was unable to find it on iTunes.

I'm off to lose myself "in Chinese art and American girls . . ." as you take in the video.

Review of "Gormenghast" Book II of the Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake

Mervyn Peake

(1911-1968)

Gormenghast is the second book in the fantastic Gormenghast trilogy. In it, Mervyn Peake has managed to make the sprawling, never ending castle of gray and stone, one of the main characters. Death is everywhere, lurking in dark corners and worn stairs and crumbling archways. Furtive and building horror sans blood and guts. As with the first book in the trilogy, Peake doesn't let up and cements his trilogy as one of the great Gothic texts of the twentieth century.

Robert Smith and his band The Cure were heavily influenced by Gormenghast. "A Forest" and "The Drowning Man" draw on Gormenghast and the ghastly doings that happen within it ever moldering walls. A must listen and a must read!

Best Gothic Songs by The Cure

My vote for the 5 most Gothic Songs by The Cure, in no particular order:

 

• A Forest (Haunting Gothic Chase)
• The Hanging Garden (One of the Most Mysterious Songs by Robert Smith)
• The Wailing Wall (A Classic About Robert's Trip to the Holy Land)
• Fear of Ghosts (A Song that Should Have Made it on Disintegration)
• Prayers for Rain (A Gentle Gothic Sluicing)

The Cure Not at the Olympics?

I found it really odd that The Cure, one of the UK's most popular bands, was not included in the Olympic ceremonies. Okay, so Robert Smith doesn't look the same a he did back in the early eighties, but who among us does?

What I found tragic was that during the Goth part of the ceremonies they trucked out Annie Lennox of all people to be the "figurehead". There were many bizarre happenings at the 2012 Olympics, but this had to be near the front of the list.

Review of Ten Imaginary Years

I am a huge fan of The Cure. So when I learned of Ten Imaginary Years that was published over twenty years ago, I had to read it. Initially this was no easy task because it was difficult to find. A used copy showed up on Amazon and I snatched it.

The book is physically large and filled with great photos of The Cure's early years. Contrary to other reviews I have seen, the book does contain color photos though they are outnumbered by the black-and-whites. For some reason the text is intent on establishing The Cure as a classic heavy drinking/drugging band. I am unsure why because most fans (myself included) love The Cure for their music and phenomenal lyrics. In this regard I would have liked to learn more about the songs, what inspired them and how they were written. Alas, it is not until we get to The Top album that much attention is paid to song meanings.A few snippets address Camus and Killing an Arab, but that is about it. There is nothing about the whole drama that unfolded between The Cure and Penelope Farmer, author of Charlotte Sometimes, when the song of the same name was released. There is not a word about The Gormanghast Trilogy and its impression on Robert Smith and a number of the band's songs. An entire section could have described the video shot in the insane asylum and what Robert found there. Sigh.

Many bad reviews of The Cure are included in the book and a quarter of a century later appear comical given the wild success of the band. A number of these clippings are so small that one needs a magnifying glass to read them. The exclamation point is used like it is going out of style and few year dates are given in the book so it is easy to get lost. But these are small annoyances.
   

"Ten Imaginary Years" is a must for any fan of The Cure. Just the photos alone make it worthwhile, especially those of a beanpole Robert Smith. If you only know Just Like Heaven and Boys Don't Cry, however, you will likely be disappointed by this book. Now, if only The Cure would publish "Twenty Imaginary Years," or better yet "Thirty Imaginary Years!"

#TenImaginaryYearsReview #CureBookReview