Pictures of You
I almost believe that they're real
There are several things that led me to this week’s topic. In order:
I have a strong affection for goth and/or alternative music, particularly from the previous century
I needed something that would serve as a counterpoint to last week’s Katy Perry sugar overload
Despite needing something less saccharine, I still love pop music and a good melody more than anything
This artist is my cousin’s favorite musical group (non-gangsta rap division)
So this leads me to our subject: The Cure.
The Cure began recording and performing under that name in 1978, after several years of abortive attempts with different members and various monikers. The founding members for this incarnation were Robert Smith (guitar, six string bass, keyboards, vocals), Laurence “Lol” Tolhurst (drums), and Michael Dempsey (bass), all schoolmates in Crawley, West Sussex. At first, their music was in line with other British and Irish groups working in the immediate aftermath of the punk movement, such as the Buzzcocks, the Undertones, or even American bands like Wire. The initial single from the group was the standalone “Killing an Arab”, a retelling of Albert Camus’ The Stranger, setting the bar for literary depth and cultural reference from there on. The debut Cure album Three Imaginary Boys, recorded at the same time as their debut single, is essentially power-pop with post-punk leanings.
That album was released in May of 1979, with relatively little input from the band itself as to how it was packaged or marketed. Instead, the creative vision came from Fiction Records personnel. Their second single in June 1979 “Boys Don’t Cry”, showed Smith’s almost immediate maturation as a songwriter from their first album, as evidenced by this BBC interview with Tolhurst.
Fiction Records made a concerted effort to “break” the band in the United States with the half-reissue / half-compilation Boys Don’t Cry in February 1980, on the strength of initial reception of the title song with American listeners. Critics were quite fond of the material, although Smith was unmoved by the quality of the album and its presentation to the public. Although glad to have a somewhat successful record, Robert Smith took the reins on all subsequent releases, guiding the band into new directions.
Smith’s inspiration for the twist in musical direction arose from the Cure’s opening for Siouxsie and the Banshees on tour. Part of the way through the shared tour, their guitarist quit and Smith filled in, playing both sets each night. After that experience, Dempsey still wanted the band to become the next XTC, whereas Smith wanted the band to become the next Banshees. His desire to pivot towards a more esoteric and less accessible sound led directly to the first shakeup in lineup. Michael Dempsey left the Cure to be replaced by both Simon Gallup (bass) and a dedicated keyboardist, Matthieu Hartley, both members of labelmates the Magazine Spies, another post-punk band from Horley in Surrey.
Seventeen Seconds was released in April of 1980, coproduced by Robert Smith and representative of his evolving tastes in music. The album served as the first in a trilogy of masterpieces in the newly codified genre of gothic rock. Inspired by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, and Joy Division as contemporaries and David Bowie, Nick Drake, and Brian Eno as touchstones, the album is a swirling soundscape of minor chords, anguished lyrics, and swelling synths from new keyboardist Hartley. It was a hit with the record buying public too, reaching number twenty on the British charts.
The Cure embarked on a world tour, covering both sides of the Atlantic. The band did not survive the tour intact, though. Hartley was disquieted by the turn towards the macabre and dark content of their lyrics, and left at the end of the string of performances. Undaunted, the band returned to its previous configuration as a trio with all three members pitching in on keyboards as necessary.
Faith came out in April of 1981, and continued the gothic trend. It also continued the trend of increased success with audiences, achieving the fourteenth spot on the British charts. The album marked the debut of what would become the signature instrument for the band, the Fender VI Bass. A typical bass guitar has four strings, tuned E1 A2 D2 G2, whereas the Fender VI is an octave-lowered double of the traditional guitar, tuned E1 A2 D2 G2 B3 E3. It allows for players to use their guitar knowledge to seamlessly transition to a lower register rather than having to learn new fingerings or fretboard positions. Rather than play traditional basslines, the Cure used it to add color or texture to songs in conjunction with an array of synthesizers, keyboards, and organs.
The gothic trilogy concluded with May 1982’s Pornography, the culmination of three years without a break. It’s a deeply depressive album even by the standards of gothic rock, reflecting the tension and stress of nonstop touring and performance. The band members were consuming far too much alcohol to be healthy, and taking far too many drugs of any and all stripes on top of it. Pornography was a smash hit with audiences (reaching number eight on the British charts), but critics at the time were taken aback. It was deemed too inaccessible, too dark, and too uncommercial. (It is fun to see how the critics changed their tunes in the span of a few years. It’s now seen as a landmark and extremely influential album that impacted popular music in untold ways.)
The stress of the album and its tour led to another lineup change. Simon Gallup left the band, leaving Smith and Tolhurst (now switching to keyboards as his primary instrument) as the last two members. For much of 1982, the Cure were essentially a nonentity. Smith (having essentially experienced a mental breakdown) joined the Banshees full time as a guitarist, and openly questioned in the press whether the Cure were finished or not.
The record label had other thoughts, though. Chris Parry, founder and creative director of Fiction Records and the band’s putative manager, convinced Smith and Tolhurst to pivot away from the danse macabre and instead embrace a poppier, lighter sound. Smith believed that the band in its most recent incarnation was a dead end, so he was convinced that the change was beneficial. Three singles were recorded and released with this motive, “Let’s Go to Bed”, “The Walk”, and “The Lovecats”. Somehow, they were even more successful than previous singles, with “The Lovecats” becoming the first top ten hit for the Cure.
After producing a compilation of these three singles and their b-sides entitled Japanese Whispers in December 1983, the Cure released The Top in May 1984. It’s distinct break from gothic rock, but instead of pure pop it evolved into a psychedelic excursion. It’s probably their worst album, but it was an entirely necessary step to become what they would become. The Top was a top ten album, and the ensuing tour allowed the band to fill out their roster from their previously diminished state. Drummer Andy Anderson, bassist Phil Thornalley (who served as an assistant producer on Pornography), and multi-instrumentalist Pearl Thompson all came aboard full time. Anderson was fired mid-tour after destroying a hotel room, though, to be replaced on a temporary basis by Vince Ely. By the end of the tour, Thornalley quit to return to production work, having tired of the itinerant lifestyle.
Who would they get to replace him? They needed someone who could get along with the rest of the band and knew the songs. One of the roadies reached out to an old friend, and the Cure reunited with Simon Gallup after reconciling on a personal level with Smith. The final piece of the classic quintet lineup came together when Thompson Twins drummer Boris Williams joined.
The Head on the Door was released in August 1985, serving as the first album of the new era of the Cure. Each song was written by Robert Smith, who had previously shared writing duties with the rest of the band. It’s a a turning point towards Parry’s vision of the Cure as a mainstream pop act, with hummable melodies and accessible instrumentation. These are songs you can dance to, especially in the case of the second single “Close to Me”. Smith was honing his craft as both a songwriter and as a producer, inching closer and closer to wider audiences. The album was a hit in Europe as well as in the UK and America, opening a new market for the band.
After two years of touring and promotion, an ambitious release emerged in the double LP Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me in May of 1987. This album saw continued success domestic and abroad, supported by four hit singles over the next year. It was the band’s first platinum album in the US, and marked the Cure as a sustainable franchise both live and recorded. Roger O’Donnell was brought into the group for the tour as a supplementary keyboardist as Pearl Thompson transitioned to guitar full-time instead of the previous role of utility player. The sextet configuration also meant that Lol Tolhurst’s contributions were better able to be covered up, as he began struggling with substance abuse. The entire band was known to use drugs and alcohol, frequently to excess, but Tolhurst’s difficulties directly interfered with performances and recording.
Beginning in November of 1988, the Cure recorded what is widely hailed as their masterpiece. Several different storylines weaved themselves into its production. First, the band was more popular than any of them had ever conceived was possible. Second, Robert Smith’s mental health status altered, and he entered a prolonged depressive episode. He attempted to self-medicate with drugs, particularly hallucinogens, that changed his outlook on composition and songwriting. Finally, Tolhurst’s alcohol use came to a nadir. The rest of the band came to the conclusion that Smith had to remove Tolhurst from the Cure if they were to continue, especially considering he was too intoxicated to record anything of substance. After a drunken episode during the mixing down of the album, Tolhurst was fired by Smith in early 1989, to be replaced full-time by O’Donnell.
Disintegration was released in April of 1989, along with two back-to-back singles in “Lullaby” and “Fascination Street”. The tone of the album was desperately melancholy and gloomy, but with the same quality of melody and harmony present on their previous album. Critics were not overly kind to it at first, believing it to be a step backwards in terms of accessibility and songcraft. Contemporary reviews are middling. Audiences responded to Disintegration with a near-rabid fervor, though, and critical acclaim quickly caught up to their tastes. Now, it is seen as one of the best albums of the Eighties, one of the best alternative albums of all time, and the apex of the Cure’s artistic prowess.
The Prayer Tour was the worldwide whirlwind that followed. The Cure, despite their misgivings about fame and popular appeal, had become the biggest live attraction in music. Across the United States, massive stadiums were sellouts. The largest show in Los Angeles was a $1.5 million gate with 50,000 attendees. Their success was at once staggering and devastating. Infighting and drug use were rampant, and by the end of it Robert Smith claimed they would never tour again. O’Donnell left in May of 1990, replaced by Perry Bamonte (long-time guitar technician for the band) on keyboards and guitars.
A stopgap album of remixes came out in November of 1990, followed quickly by a lawsuit from Tolhurst over allegedly unpaid royalties. Said lawsuit was resolved in Robert Smith’s favor, but not for three more years and at great cost in legal fees and headache. The Cure regrouped in 1991 to record Wish, released in April of 1992. It’s a lighter, gentler album than Disintegration, and audiences and critics were finally in accord. It was a success on the charts, quickly earning another platinum record and ending up as the most lucrative album of their career so far. Artistically it’s a slight step back from the lofty heights of the gloomy masterpiece that is Disintegration, but it is far more accessible and broader in appeal.
Another worldwide tour followed, and once more the lineup shifted. Pearl Thompson left to join another band, allowing Perry Bamonte to take over as principal guitarist. In order to fill the sonic gap, Roger O’Donnell joined once more as keyboardist. Boris Williams left as well, to be replaced by Jason Cooper of My Life Story on drums. Recording sessions commenced for a follow-up in 1994, at first only including Smith and Bamonte. As the other members joined the proceedings, Wild Mood Swings emerged in May 1996.
It’s not great. There are a couple of bright spots (“Mint Car” and “Strange Attraction” among them), but it’s essentially a more digitally produced version of Wish. Critics were not kind, finding it to lack a certain something, and not demonstrating the growth that typified the middle period of the Cure’s career. The record buying public did not respond positively either, and it sold less than any Cure album in over a decade.
The next year saw a compilation of their singles from 1987 to the present, Galore. Many of the songs were remixed or edited, and it wasn’t overly well received or reviewed. This lack of response led to a fallow period for the band, and especially Smith. Although firmly rooted in both pop and electronic sounds (both genres that were having a moment in that timeframe), the Cure didn’t fit well into any pigeonhole. Their record contract had one more album on it, and there was a feeling from within the band and from Fiction Records that this could be their final release.
Bloodflowers came out in February 2000, after prolonged friction with Fiction (wordplay!). The Cure did not officially release any singles, although “Out of This World” and “Maybe Someday” were chosen for radio airplay. The good news is that it was nominated for a Grammy, and Robert Smith says its his favorite Cure album. The bad news is that critics were at best indifferent to it, while most were quite savage. (Not as savage as me going after Drake, but in the same neighborhood.) The subsequent tour was successful, but not earth shatteringly so.
Another greatest hits served as the final Fiction release, under the agreement that Smith had final say on what songs made the cut. As a bonus, the band recorded acoustic versions of many of their hits with special guest Boris Williams rejoining for the session. Once their obligation was complete, the Cure departed for Geffen Records, where they began working on a new album.
The Cure was released in June 2004, with an intentionally heavier sound provided by co-producer Ross Robinson, famous for working with Korn and Limp Bizkit among other nu-metal luminaries. (Remind me to do a nu-metal list. That’ll be excruciating fun.) Musically, it’s just sort of there. Meh? It’s not bad, but it’s also not original or interesting. For better or for worse, the creative peak for the Cure had passed.
After the tour (that also served as a victory lap for the godfathers of modern alternative music), Robert Smith reconfigured the band as a trio, dismissing both Bamonte and O’Donnell with little warning or deference. That lineup lasted a little under a year before Pearl Thompson rejoined for the summer festival circuit in 2005. The roster was then Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Pearl Thompson, and Jason Cooper.
This version of the Cure entered the studio in 2007, staying there for the better part of a year with 4:13 Dream as the result. Critics saw it as a worthy release, with neutral or positive reviews. Unfortunately, audiences did not embrace it, and it became the Cure’s worst selling album to date. It’s also their last studio album to date, as the band has transitioned into a nostalgia act (or at least that was the case before COVID-19 interrupted touring). O’Donnell rejoined permanently in 2011, while Lol Tolhurst mended fences for a series of shows where the first three Cure albums were played in their entirety. Thompson departed as well, to be replaced by former David Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels.
A new album has been alternately promised or threatened for years at this point; it was supposed to be released in each year since 2018. Nothing material has been produced thus far, although Perry Bamonte did rejoin in the fall of 2022 to make the Cure a sextet once more. This could be encouraging for fans of new music, but it could also just mean that everyone is playing nicely once more.
This brings us to the present day. The Cure exists in approximately five separate eras:
Bright young things focused on jangle pop and new wave
Depressive goths wallowing in misery
The biggest band in the world
Recovering rock stars
Alternative music’s elder statesmen who come around every summer at the local amphitheater
Not bad work if you can get it.
Now let’s get to what you came for. I couldn’t narrow it down to just ten songs, so I thought it thematically appropriate to settle on a top thirteen. These are my opinions and my opinions only; I take both credit and blame in equal measure. There’s also a list of honorable mentions longer than this; bug me on social media or in the comments if you want me to rank them past the thirteen below. In fact, bug me on social media or bother me in the comments anyway. And away we go…
13. A Letter to Elise
The companion song to “Pictures of You”, “A Letter to Elise” was the third single from 1992’s Wish, and yet another example of a literary reference in a Cure song. Written as a response to Kafka’s “Letters to Felice”, it focuses on the futility and fragility of emotional connections. You know, I’m beginning to think Robert Smith was going through some things when he was writing all these songs.
For a completely off-the-wall take on the song, here’s Blink-182 tackling it for MTV’s Icon concert:
12. High
The lead single from Wish, “High” is a great example of how danceable the Cure could be when so inclined. The drumbeat from Boris Williams intertwines beautifully with the springy triple basslines from Perry Bamonte, Simon Gallup, and Robert Smith. It’s clearly influenced by the same roots as the contemporary Madchester and Ibiza scenes running rampant through British music. The core sadness and melancholy comes through, though.
11. Strange Attraction
The newest song on this list, and the only single the Cure released without an accompanying music video. “Strange Attraction” comes from the Wild Mood Swings album in 1996, an album seen as both a comedown from the heights of Wish and an uninspiring continuation of its artistic direction. It’s both unlike the Cure and too much like them, falling into the uncanny valley. “Strange Attraction” is a bop, thought, and the best of the bunch.
10. Lullaby
One of the darkest yet loveliest Cure songs, “Lullaby” was the first single released from Disintegration in April 1989. It’s claustrophobic, atmospheric, and everything you want in a Cure song. No one can agree exactly on what the song is about; everyone agrees that it’s intentionally dark and creepy. Robert Smith has claimed that it is an homage to the scary stories told to him by an uncle in his youth, while video director Tim Pope says it’s an allegory for Smith’s drug addiction. Either way, it’s disturbing in the best way. The video is just as disturbing as the song, with a special bonus for arachnophobes.
Another bonus: when Pearl Thompson left the Cure in 1992, his next band covered “Lullaby” in concert. That band? Page and Plant. Don’t believe me? Just watch:
9. Fascination Street
The second single from Disintegration, “Fascination Street” was inspired by a particularly memorable trip by the band to New Orleans while on tour. The video was originally going to be Doctor Who themed, but as it was only going to be released in the US as a single, Polydor (their distributor in the UK) declined to contribute any funds toward the filming. The original idea was scuttled and the lowered budget (courtesy of US distributor Elektra) resulted in this video. It also means that my theory that Robert Smith is a time lord remains in play.
8. The Lovecats
One of Robert Smith’s least favorite Cure songs, as he said it was “composed drunk, video filmed drunk, promotion made drunk”. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the poppiest, jazziest songs in their entire catalogue. Released as a standalone single, it hit number seven on the British charts in 1983.
7. Boys Don’t Cry
A nervous, jittery, jangling homage to showing your emotions, “Boys Don’t Cry” was the second domestic single released by the Cure in 1979, and the first released on Fiction Records. It positively sputters with energy like early REM or the dBs. The video comes from the song’s remix and re-release in 1986, and marks the first time Michael Dempsey appeared with the band since his departure.
6. Why Can’t I Be You?
Pure pop bliss in the vein of Wham or Duran Duran, although Smith in particular would be loathe to make that comparison. The lead single from Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me reached number 21 on the charts, spurred by a delightfully frenzied video that has been scrubbed from official Cure channels due to Lol Tolhurst’s distinctly uninspired choice to portray himself in blackface during it. The director has said he deeply regrets it. Fun fact: moral crusaders in the United States at the time insisted that the song was Satanic, in conjunction with “The Blood” from the same album.
5. Lovesong
The most uplifting song on Disintegration is also the most straightforward love song (ha ha ha) the Cure ever produced. In fact, it was written by Robert as a wedding present for his new bride Mary, as seen below on their wedding day:
This was and remains their biggest hit in the US, reaching number two on the Billboard singles chart. Smith was nonplussed, believing to be the weakest song on the album. The band fought against Chris Parry, who knew it would be a hit if it was released as a single. Parry (being the owner of the label) won, and it became a massive success. Its enduring popularity resulted in a cover by Adele of all people, as heard below:
4. Pictures of You
“Pictures of You”, though, takes the edge from “Lovesong” for me. Inspired by a fire at Robert Smith’s house that destroyed some of his photos of his wife Mary, it celebrates the idea that your perception of a person is never their reality. Of course, since Smith frequently amuses himself by lying in interviews, there have been multiple stories of how this song came to be and what it’s about. This is just the most common story. The video features the last appearance of Roger O’Donnell for a while, as he hated the infighting and backbiting that came to a head while filming.
3. Close To Me
The second single from The Head on the Door is a delicate, fragile thing of a pop song. It’s almost twee in its lighthearted composition. That is, until you listen to the lyrics. This may be the most depressive, downcast, downtrodden lyric in the entire history of the band. It’s a diary of anxiety and nervousness, told from the point of view of a stressed out insomniac. It’ll be stuck in your head for days if not weeks.
2. Just Like Heaven
When you ask the proverbial man on the street about the Cure, there’s a better than average chance they’re thinking of this song. Robert Smith thinks it’s the best pop song he’s ever written, and who am I to tell him he’s wrong? (He’s wrong. There’s one better.) “Just Like Heaven” was the band’s first US top 40 song, and set the band up for success in the wake of Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Smith, by the way, thinks the Cure’s version is inferior to one particular cover of the song, and has changed the way they play it live to reflect this interpretation. Decide for yourself if Dinosaur Jr. is better:
1. Friday I’m In Love
This is the one. It’s one of the best songs ever written, and I’m not just talking about the Cure. It’s up there with “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, “I’m a Believer”, or “Call Me Maybe” in terms of pop perfection. When Robert Smith wrote it, he couldn’t believe that it was original; granted, by his own admission he was doing quite a lot of cocaine at the time and was frequently paranoid. I’ll put it up against anything. It’s the last US Top 40 song the Cure has produced, but what a way to go.