2019-07-01_Uncut_UK

“Sucha great

amountof

sound”:Smith

onthefateful

Pornography

tour,Brighton,

April 21, 1982

we’dmade.Whenyoufirsthearit,it soundslikethiswallofsound
withthesegreatthunderingdrums.Butlistenclosely,there’s
musicalitytoit.Wetooktheacousticbafflingoutofthishugeroomin
RAK,soit madeit allhardandbrittleandover-compressed.Then
thosesheetsofguitar...thesoundwasalmostunbearable.Weall
wantedit thatway.Simonwasalwaysa littlepunkierthan the rest of
us,soheprovideda certainrawenergyfortherecord.
Duringtherecordingwe’ddecidedweweregoingtocallthealbum
Pornography. Therewasthislittleloungewitha TVinRAKandwe
werewatchinga BBCprogrammetalkingaboutsexonenightbefore
wewentintothestudio.Sowerecordeda bitofthat,ranit backwards
andthatbecamethebackingtrack,thestimulusforthetitletrack.
Pornographywasthepinnacleofthethree-pieceversionofThe
Cure,butthetouringofthealbumdestroyedtheband.That’sa
patternthatrecursseveraltimesinTheCure’shistory– notleast
Disintegration.Weputourheartandsoulonthelinewith
Pornography– butwereleasedthealbumjustasweweregoingon
tour,sonotmanypeoplehadheardit.We’dbeenbooked into the
enormodomesinGermany,sowewereplayingto
a fewhundredpeopleinspacesthatheldseveral
thousand.That’skindofdepressing!It wassucha
greatamountofsoundforthreepeopletomakelive,
too.Simonwasdancingaroundplayingpedalsand
bassatthesametime,therewerealltheseelectronic
drums...If youhavea five-piece,everyoneelsecan
coverforanyone’smistakes, but in a three-piece
there’snowheretohide.
Addingtothatpressure,theconsumptionof
alcoholanddrugswasgettingoutofhand.It came
toa headinStrasbourg,whenSimonandRoberthad
anargumentatthisclub.I wokeupnextmorning
andtherewasnobodyelsetherefromtheband.
I wasreadingDMThomas’TheWhiteHotelatthe
time,soI feltlikeI waspartofthispsychiatric
experiment.“AmI readingit,oramI livingit?
What’sgoingonhere?”Lifeimitating art? Life
imitatingacidis morelikeit!
RobertandSimonreturnedtofinishthetour;
butthere’sa photoofmeinthedressingroomat
ourfinalshowasa three-pieceattheAncienne
Belgique,Brussels,andI looksickandrundown,
andthedressingroomlooksdarkanddismal.It
wastaken 20 minutesbeforewewentonstage,so
it’snosurprisetomethatthetourendedlikeit
did.It becamethisverysadwhimper,dyingaway.
Idon’tthinkwecouldhavegoneanyfurther
withthatgroup,althoughPornographyis my
favouriterecordofthethree-piecelineup.Therestill
isn’tanythinglikeit today.Butwereacheda pointof
noreturn.That’sRobert’sworkingmethod,really.
WithmostofTheCure’smusic,everyonepushesthings
asfarastheycan,it’snota by-the-numbersapproach.
Robertwantstomakeit uncomfortableforhimself,but
alsoforeverybodyelseaswell.It canwork,butit can
alsodestroyeverything.Forus,afterthePornography
tour, there was nowhere to go.

Youknow,Robertis quitea family-orientedperson.

They’rea clan-ishbunchofpeople,theSmiths;he’s

alwaysdonethingswithhisfamily.Eventothisday,he

doesn’tlivethatfarfromwherehegrewup.I’veknown

Mary[Poole,Smith’swife] sincewewere 13 or14,she’sbeen

thesameallthewaythrough.She’sa constantthatRobert

cananchorhimselfaroundwhileeverythingelseis spinning

outwildly.I thinkthathashelpedhimhandlea lotofthings.

ThosefirstthreerecordsarethetemplateforTheCure.The

five-piecelineupafterthatwasmoremelodicbecausewe

brought[Pearl] Thompsonbackin– he’sthemostmusical

personthateverplayedinTheCure,he’sa geniusinthat

respect.Butthatghostly,skeletalmusicsetthe benchmark

for everythingthatfollowed.It definedus.

I don’tthinkI’llbegiventhekeystoCrawleyany

timesoon.I knowlatelyI’vebeenfeaturedinthelocal

paper,theCrawleyObserver, becauseI didn’thave

verymanynicethingstosayaboutthetown.Butnow

IknowthatthesuburbsofOrangeCountyarethe

sameasthesuburbsofsouthLondon.Peoplehavethe

sameexperiences.Wejustfounda waytotalkabout

thoseexperiences.That’s why The Cure are still

relevant 40 years on.

Cured:TheTaleOfTwoImaginaryBoys by

Lol Tolhurst is published by Quercus

HOWTOBUYTHEEARLY CURE

THREE

IMAGINARYBOYS

FI CTI O N , 1979

Thepost-punkdebut.It hasits
moments,suchasthetitletrack
and“10.15SaturdayNight”– but
theband’struenaturehasyetto
emerge.TheUSversion,BoysDon’t
Cry, addedtheband’sdebutsingle,
theCamus-channelling“KillingAn
Arab”,and “Boys Don’t Cry” itself.
7/10

SEVENTEENSECONDS

FICTION, 1980

Thegloomdescendsonthegroup’s

secondalbum,a tautmasterpiece

thatfoundthemexperimenting

withelectronics,drumtreatments

andmore.Thereareeventwo

keyboard-ledinstrumentals–

butthealbumhighlightsarethe

propulsive“AForest” and “Play

ForToday”.

8/10

FAITH

FI CTI O N , 1981

Evenmoregothicthanits

predecessor,thefunerealFaith

expandedtheband’shorizons,

fromtheduellingbassesof

“Primary”tothegorgeousdespair

of“AllCatsAreGrey”.Alsoavailable

atthetimeoncassettepaired

withtheirsoundtracktoshort

filmCarnage Visors.

9/10

PORNOGRAPHY

FI CTI O N , 1982

Darkpsychedeliaanda

magnificentconclusiontothe

band’searlythree-piecelineup:

fromtheviolenceof“AHundred

Years”andtheneondreadof

“TheFigurehead”tothesonic

assaultoftheclosingtitletrack,

it remainsoneofThe Cure’s

finestalbums.

9/10

“ifeltlike

i waspart

ofthis

p s yc h i at r i c

experiment”

DAVID CoRIo/REDFERNS

JULY 2019 • UNCUT• 81

THE CURE