April
1990 -
Cure News #9
curenews 9
april 1990
hello,
thanks for all your letters. i'm sorry it's been so long since the last edition of curenews. to make up for the delay, this edition is double the normal size! i know the "prayer tour" seems like it was a million years ago now, but just to remind you how brilliant it was i've printed a couple of reviews of the tour. special thanks to everyone who wrote to me about the tour.
i'm sure you all wish to join me in congratulating Simon and Carol on the birth of their son, Eden, on sunday 18 March, ahhh...
a lot of you have
asked how many people write to the information service - currently cure news is
sent out to 2,500 people, but this number is growing rapidly. as a consequence
of this, i'm afraid i am unable to handle individual enquiries. if there is
something you desperately need to know, i'll do my best to inform you through
cure news.
have a happy summer
love janie
questions and
answers curenews 9
(all answers by
robert)
before
and during "the prayer tour" in europe you described yourself as "counting the
days until the end". you seemed loath to play in the usa and kept being quoted
as terribly impatient to be finished with the tour. did you really hate it so
much - if so, why? did you feel different about it by the end - if so, why and
how? if not, why?
as i have said on and on through the years (more and more insistently as they go
by) touring, apart from the time on stage (including the time on stage) can be
very fun but (sometimes and at the same time) completely and utterly exhausting.
i enjoyed "the prayer tour" both european and american more than any other tour
i can remember (!), but it still wore me out into a wreck - this was (as usual)
my own fault - ever determined to excess - so things i might say in the slough
of the morning in an on-bout interview are not at their sparkliest. the concerts
were largely brilliant and i can still see...so i would do it all over again!
speaking of
"loath to play the usa" why do you hate america and americans so much? what did
the usa ever do to upset you so much?
i don't really like a lot of america - only due to the people in lifts and
foyers, garages and bars, and driving past sweating in cars, etc, etc, - but i
do like the americans who talk without shouting, smile without saying "have a
nice day", and don't stare like we're men from mars. americans like us? it's
just a question of scale... my dislike of the glossy and brash has been
stretched out of context. i don't hate americans: there!
what have you
been up to sence returning from the usa?
we've made a video in scotland for
"pictures of you"; recorded a cover version of "hello i love you" by the doors
for electra records 40th anniversary album, had a few "cure weekends", and won a
foolish award. and other things like starting thinking about what next...
what was the best and worst moment on the usa stretch of "the prayer tour"? the worst was getting off the boat in new york at 8am to be greeted by the "press" - the best was going to disneyland (again?)
did you enjoy the mtv awards? did you meet the other artists and what were they like? i thought the mtv awards were ok - i sat in the car park with simon drinking beer in the sun. i think we said hello to paula abdul dancers...
is it true that
you collapsed on stage in bordeaux and couldn't continue with the show? what was
wrong with you?
we played a shortened set in reims in france as porl, roger and i were attacked
by sickness in the afternoon and vomited all night.
do you keep in
touch with any bands that have supported you in the past?
i still keep in touch with "and also the trees" and billy mackenzie of "the
associates" - and i got on well this time with the "sugarcubes" and "the
mission"!!!
there are
several rumours that you will be playing one-off benefit gigs soon in london and
paris - are these true?
no. but i think we will play this year somewhere.
did you have
any of "the prayer tour" videoed?
only for home entertainment unfortunately - but we did record quiet a few nights
audially for future use...
what are your
predictions for the future of the band?
i never predict!!!
where and when
were the live versions of "homesick" and "untitled" recorded, that appear on the
b side of the usa single "lullaby"?
wembley arena, july '89
what, in your
opinion, is the best video you've ever made?
"inbetween days" for it's life, "just like heaven" for it's look, "pictures of
you" for it's laughter.
on "staring at
the sea" there's a clip of you whispering something to lol, then covering your
mouth - as if you shouldn't have said it - what did you say?
something i shouldn't have said? i can't imagine!
why didn't
parched art do the artwork for the "love song" single?
because i liked maya's painting and thought it would fit.
would you allow
stock, aitken and waterman to produce one of your singles?
no, because saw production is samey, boring shit!
who is / was "mr.pink
eyes"?
me some mornings.
what is the
worst habits of each member of the band?
boris takes at least 5 hours to get ready in the morning.
roger talks constantly.
porl always plays everything as loud as possible. and
simon never takes off his boots. these are facts.
when will your
solo album be released, and do you still plan to call it "music for dreams"?
i really am not sure about what happens next...but some of the solo stuff may
creep into a cure project: "music for dreams" is one of them...
are you still
planning to release a video of the singles since "staring at the sea" and do you
still plan to cal it "when you never come back"?
a video will be compiled by me and tim pap of all the "kiss me" and
"disintegration" clips with other bits of junk thrown in too - but it's title is
not yet decided.
were you
surprised that the cure didn't feature in the bbc's three hour review of the
eighties on new year's eve?
no! it's called prejudice (we have made too many enemies!)
who was you
favorite band of the eighties?
echo and the bunnymen
what did you do
on christmas eve, christmas day and new year's eve?
i spent christmas eve singing and preparing for christmas day, when i cooked
dinner for 13 assorted family... i remember up until about midnight..on new
year's eve i went to a party early on with Mary and my mum and dad, and later
out with simon and carol and a few other people too...i think we went for a very
long walk somewhere...
what did you
get for christmas?
books, drinks, and an alice in wonderland chess set.
did you make
any new year resolutions - what are they and have you kept them so far?
i gave up meat again.
phil thornalley
said he'd rather tour with "Johnny hates jazz" than the cure, do you think he's
gone mad?
no - that was the problem with phil!
did you meet
porl because he was going out with janet, or did janet meet porl because he was
in the band?
i think janet knew porl anyway.
have you seen
steve severin recently, and do you think you'll ever work with him again?
i received some letters recently - and i think we will meet again before
long...but "the glove" hmmmm....
if you were in
another of today's groups, which would it be?
"my bloody valentine"
did you dine at
the captain's table on the qe2?
no!
do you feel
that you are out of touch with reality being in the band?
it has nothing to de with being in a band (if anything i think i am in a group
because i am out of touch with reality...what?...reality?...)
how often do
you see the others when you are not working?
quiet regularly - every couple of weeks or so for a few days usually.
why didn't you
play "love song" on the prayer tour?
we did, lots of times!
why
did you use The Chiffons "sweet talkin' guy" for the playout on "the cure in
orange" video?
i think it was irony.
who
is the strangest cure fan you've ever met, and why?
a) there is no such thing as a strange cure fan (?)
b) they are all strangest.
both these are true (?)
what is the
most outrageous stunt a fan has pulled in an attempt to meet you?
a bunch of people arrived backstage in america in a stretch limo - they had got
through security claiming to be us! but we saw the funny side, etc...etc...
do you feel
that you understand why people are so fascinated by the cure's music? some fans
seem to have difficulty answering this question - have you ever thought about
it?
this is not an answerable question. fascination can rarely be explained in
words.
according to a
group of cure fans, they have discovered that most of them have some strong
similarities - often sharing some unhappy personal experiences - the same
unhappy experiences - and have some similar personality traits - so you feel
that there is a certain type of person - or a person who has been through
certain things - that is particularly drawn to the cure? if so, why?
i think certain themes of despair,
ageing, distrust, disgust, hopelessness, anger etc. resonate more deeply the
more deeply someone has experienced. a lot of what we do is mirroring.
do you miss lol,
do you regret sacking him?
no!
do you know
what lol's been up to?
he's currently recording demos with michael dempsey and an old help of our's,
Gary Biddles, with a view to being a proper group?...or something...
do you write
poetry? if yes, what about?
if i ever write anything poetic i keep it for songs.
has there been
anything said about you in the press that has really hurt you?
no.
were you aware
that morrissey said he'd like to "pop" you, and that "the cure add a new
dimension to the word crap"? - what's your response?
i'd love to see him try! (and at least we've only added a new dimension to crap,
not built a career out of it!)
do you feel
that life's running away from you, while you're living in the future (or past)?
it has always been a struggle not to live in the world of "what's next" - and
unfortunately my life is running away...
what were you
like at school concerning your
a) grades?
b) popularity?
a) i got 10 "o"
levels and 2 "a" levels.
b) i played football, but in strange cloths - my popularity fluctuated...
what has been
the best day of your life, so far?
getting married.
what do you
like most and least about your:
a) personality?
b) physical attractiveness?
a) most - temper,
least - sloth.
b) most - eyes, least - eyes.
assuming they
exist, what would be your vision of:
a) heaven?
b) hell?
a) a feeling of
completeness.
b) a feeling of incompleteness.
what do you
hate most in the world?
bigotry.
if you could
change the world and make it a better place what would you do?
this task dwarfs me. sorry. there are too many horrors.
if you could
run into the future or past, which way would you run., and why?
the future - because it is unknowable.
did Mary buy you the ring you wear?
yes.
where do you
buy your polka dot shirts from?
a girl in london made them for me.
where do you go
when you want to be alone, and what do you do when you're there?
i go to the sea and just stare.
inspirations - Pornography
the songs on "pornography" were written either "stream of consciousness" ("streams of extreme drunkenness"!) style on an old typewriter in my bedroom at home in crawley, or on torn scraps of yellow paper on hallucinating early mornings walking through and around horrible bits of london in cold december 1982. they range from acutely personal observations on my immediate surroundings and friends, to general rants against the futility of everything and everyone, to back to the horrors going on inside... it is very difficult to explain the songs, as even within each verse of any one, there are several layers of (logically) unconnected ideas. but i will colour...
100 years - is pure self loathing and worthlessness, and contains probably the key line - the line that underpinned this period of writing: "it doesn't matter if we all die"...everything is empty. this song is despair
a short team effect - is about a drug and it's effect. short-term i thought.
the hanging garden - is something like about the purity and hate of animals fucking, and i think
siamese twins is about the hate and purity of people fucking too...
the figurehead - was a grotesque skull sculpture i discovered in the disused asylum we used in the "charlotte sometimes" video. i took it home to talk to - to confess to? and this song is about guilt.
a strange day
- was how i would feel if it would only be the end of the world - and...
cold - is another song about
another drug and it's grip...
pornography, the last song, and in fact the last song i wrote for a while, is fueled by the same self-mockery, self-hate, that burned in 100 years, but it is, if only very slightly, a little more hopeful than the others... i am escaping (i escaped) by blaming someone else. a murder or suicide? "i must fight this sickness..."
"pornography", an album that almost chokes on itself, remains a dairy of one of my blackest times. but it's one of my favourites!!!!
robert
reviews of "the prayer tour"
stockholm
isstadion - 2 may 1989
the 2nd of may last year, thousands of swedish cure fans gather at the "isstadion"
to see and hear the greatest band ever. after having queued for 2 1/2 hours we
could finally run in and take our place's about five feet from the stage. we
noticed a boy carrying a teddy bear. the special guests, shelleyan orphan had a
bit of trouble with the sound, so we couldn't tell weather they were good or
not. their performance lasted for 45 minutes - 1 hour, and at last; there were
the cure! since the album had been released only four days earlier everybody had
slight problems with following the songs (especially the words), but no one
could be mistaken by the introduction of "plainsong". the claustrophobic
cure-universe filled the entire hall. it was brilliant! they played almost all
the songs from "disintegration", except for "lovesong". kyoto song, a forest,
charlotte sometimes, cold, the walk... all of it was fabulous! in the middle of
the concert all of us began to sing "happy birthday" and the boy with theteddy
bear threw his gift at robert. the birthday child (well, nearly) himself seemed
to be a bit touched and quiet confused and murmured "thank you". the rest of the
concert passed without any other interruptions. we all had a wonderful time.
after having played "disintegration" they left. however, they were soon back and
gave us a handful of bittersweet classics, such as "three imaginary boys" and
"boys don't cry". they went out again, only to come back in, with the words "we
forgot something - lullaby!" and they played loads of the old, well known songs
and we wished it would never end. but it did. they returned for a third time and
finished this great show with "untitled". it was the most perfect night of my
life.
glasgow sec 18
july 1989
from the first sound of stark guitar i felt my childish heart begin to grow;
almost to bursting point. i seemed to be alone in a huge bubble of unbelievably
intense emotion that floated high above the crowd. "plainsong" swelled around
me, magical and almost perfect in the hot sticky darkness. the music swelled,
numbing, scratching the walls of humanity, until the walls were bleeding. i
taste it like a child tastes honey, with a sickly, strange delight. my face
bathed in a cold clean light that reflected on the tears now rolling from my
eyes. tears of joy at the uncluttered rendition of "inbetween days", that
suffocated me, detailing my every breath then dropping me into a guilt ridden
pit of selfishness that wea to become "charlotte sometimes" - making me fall,
over and over and over again. the highly unexpected "love cats", the sheer
lunacy and glorious charm of "everybody wants to be a cat" that then plunged me
into the majestic darkness of "a forest", the strains of robert's shuffle in
luminous light that played just around his mouth, smearing the red from
yesterday's game. the jokes between songs, communication with the audience made
it all so perfectly human. and, of course, the haunting notes of a long since
past "homesick" and the slowly but painless until i caught a last glimpse of
robert's face as he bid us all goodnight. and for a moment it fired a spark of
that lost naivety and i began to wonder, just who are these blokes anyway? then
i remembered..just "the cure".
ann wilson