ROGER O'DONNELL 

Roger O'Donnell
Born; October 29,

THE CURE
I
  (7/1987 - 1990)
II (1995 - 2005)
III (2011 - Present)


Roger in The Thompson Twins

1984
1986
 

Roger in the
Thompson Twins

The Thompson Twins
Roger & Boris
 
Roger O'Donnell
Psychedelic Furs Profile

Roger O'Donnell
 In the P-Furs

Roger & Leslie

1987

 

First Cure Concert;
July 9th, 1987 Vancouver - Expo Theatre (Canada/BC)
the kiss, torture, all i want, a japanese dream, catch, just like heaven, hot hot hot, if only tonight we could sleep, like cockatoos, the walk, inbetween days, how beautiful you are, the perfect girl, the snakepit, a forest, fight,
E1: close to me, let's go to bed,
E2: one more time, charlotte sometimes, shiver and shake,
E3: three imaginary boys, primary, boys don't cry, why can't i be you?

1987

 


Just Like Heaven


Brazil Promo Photo

Roger Cure
1989


7/89

1989


8/89 QE2


Click here for lots of 89 SD Roger Photos..
.
1990
Brit Awards
 
1991 - Roger's old clothing store
   
1995
Roger's 1995 CD Review
1996
Brazil 96
9-96-Keyboard (USA) ROGER....
1997
1999      
2000

Apple Hot News 2000

Live 00

Live 00

6/2/00
2002  
2003        
2004
2005

Roger O'Donnell.com
2006

Roger O'Donnell.com
2007 - 2010

Roger O'Donnell.com

Roger O'Donnell.com
2011/2012          
Autograph  

 

BIOGRAPHY from - http://www.rogerodonnell.com/info.html
I was born in East London, England the youngest of four children into a musical and artistic family. I was born at home next to the piano so it was kind of like a cab driver being born in a car or a director in a cinema… My big brother George taught me how to play 12 bar blues on the piano and I taught myself the rest. I would listen to records and work out how they did it note by note. I grew up musically with Frank Zappa and
Jimi Hendrix and through them I discovered jazz and funk and Herbie Hancock. I started going to watch bands at local pubs and hanging around with them after. They told me about electric pianos and with the help of my father and a summer job I bought my first electric piano, a Hohner Pianet. Sadly I didn’t have an amp and had to play it through my parents clock radio !
I didn’t really enjoy school very much but the thought of getting a job was even worse so I went to art school and at about the same time started to get serious about being in bands. My first professional performance was with crazy English pop legend Arthur Brown who rose to fame singing a song called ‘Fire’ and setting light to his head on stage, luckily when I played with him he had
sobred up a quite a bit. After this first taste of the stage I decided that this was the life for me. I was also sadly forced to choose between art and music by my tutors; I chose music.
During the early years we would do anything musical that earned us money. It just seemed incredible that anybody would pay us to play, we did quite a bit of cabaret and backing band work in working
mens’ clubs up and down England and a couple of residencies in Europe. We would do the gig at night and spend all day rehearsing our own music for pub gigs when we had nights off but we really weren’t going anywhere. The band gradually fell apart and we went our separate ways until a chance meeting with Boris Williams who’d been the drummer in those early bands. He had made the "big time" and was playing with the Thompson Twins, he told me they were looking for a new keyboard player and a few months later I was on tour with them. I worked with them from 83-85 when both Boris and I left , he went on to The Cure and I joined the Psychedelic Furs. Looking back it was a pretty amazing time the fact that we were both in major bands but sadly not playing together.
In the spring of 87 Boris called me on tour in Denmark with the Furs and asked me if I would be into playing with The Cure for a tour of the states. The chance of playing with Boris again was too good to pass up so I said yes even though I didn’t really know anything about the band. I was a member of The Cure form 1987 until 1990 when things got pretty bad within the group and I left rejoining in 1995 for a further 10 years. I co wrote and performed on 4 albums, Disintegration, Wild Mood Swings,
Bloodflowers and The Cure.
For the last couple of years I was a member I was increasingly unhappy, I felt I’d lost sight of where I started and the reasons why I got into music in the first place. It seems the bigger the band the more removed you are from the actual music. I began to agree less and less with the direction the band was going in and the decisions being made. After our last major tour however I started talking to a few young
indie bands and about making music and goals and expectations and I realised I hadn’t lost my love of music I just needed to start making it for myself. I found out I was no longer in The Cure through the internet but if I hadn’t been pushed I would have jumped….
During the last few months as a member of The Cure I started work on a solo record inspired, composed and recorded entirely on a Moog synthesizer. Definitely not a concept album more of a concept for an album concept, it was a re-visiting of my early days of composing using limited. Consciously un-compromised or commercial, it's a mainly instrumental ( Erin Lang sings 3 songs ) journey through my musical influences and where I am now. Finally, music that I am
satisifed with and that satisfies me. "The Truth In Me" are the 10 songs that say what I have been trying to say for a long time.
During the process of trying to release this album I was lucky enough to find the one person who believed in it and was prepared to take a chance. Luckily that same person, Kevin
Wortis
, had just started a record label, Great Society Records with his partners at Worlds Fair in New York. After so many years of being in this business to be involved at the very beginning with a new company who are as excited about this music as I am is a real pleasure.
It has been a long story and I am not sure what the next chapter of the story will be but I know it will involve music. It’s been a part of my whole life and although I have other interests I’m never as happy as when I’m making music.