"During March 1-6 2004 some of the biggest artists from the UK and abroad will play small 200-500 capacity shows in Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and York.

Who is playing?

David Gray, Travis, Elbow, Craig David, Damien Rice, Ash, The Coral, Starsailor, Atomic Kitten, Sugababes, So Solid Crew, Polyphonic Spree, Gabrielle, Big Brovaz, Floetry, The Cure, Badly Drawn Boy, Supergrass are confirmed for Passport shows as of today with many other major acts now looking at their schedules for March 1-6 2004.

These shows will generate significant sums of money for the Shelter and War Child charities utilising a remarkable and unique fundraising platform.

Passport: Back To The Bars also aims to demonstrate the ability of the music community to make a genuine difference to the wider world.

Who are we doing this for ?

Shelter estimates that more than 100,000 children in the UK are experiencing homelessness right now, while 800,000 households are officially unfit for human habitation.

The children subjected to these conditions do not know the safety or security that a decent home brings.

War Child estimates that in Iraq more than 6,000 schools now need rebuilding.

Meanwhile in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Africa, a seven-year long war has claimed the lives of up to three million people and has devastated the lives of millions of children.

The education system is non-existent and there is a desperate need to train school teachers.

Education is needed to give the children in these two devastated countries the opportunity to transform their lives and to help to rebuild a sense of normality.

Passport: Back to the Bars aims to help these charities to make a significant difference to their lives.

How can such small shows make big money?

The public will pay £1.50 to send a text or make a call to a premium rate number in order to enter a 'draw' to win a pair of 'tickets' to that artist's show. Virgin Mobile are co-ordinating the mobile / telecoms partners .

With the list of numbers promoted via a national newspaper partner, the participating mobile network and provider, a national newspaper partner, MTV’s 8 channels, the artists' own websites, popex.com, Music Week and The Fly magazine approximately one month before the shows, we are expecting to generate hundreds of thousands of calls.

Txt 2 win

The public can enter the draw for as many shows in the series as they want - and we hope they will be sending multiple texts.

Substantial commercial sponsorship for the events is being garnered and five pairs of the 'tickets' for each show will be retained and auctioned online to the highest bidder over a two-month period.

This auction will also serve as a publicity generator for the project as well as well as raising additional large sums for War Child and Shelter.

How will people get into the shows?

There will be no physical tickets issued in order to prevent touts and scalpers profiteering.

Entry winners will be notified that they will only be able to get in using their passport - hence the name of the project.

For entry winners with no passport, a birth certificate and visual ID will be required for entry.

Privilege

The entry mechanism also serves to remind us how privileged we are to have such a thing as a passport and the ability to travel.

Passport will raise consciousness that the children we aim to serve via this project have no such 'ticket out' of their problems.

Conclusion

Passport: Back To The Bars, an initiative of Channelfly Group, is a project that can affect many children's lives for the better in the places where it's really needed.

It is also an opportunity for the music community in the UK to remind itself that it can make a significant difference both to its own local community and the wider world.

We want you and your artists to get involved. Please contact us now to find out more about what you can do."

(Thanks Lisa)

(Thanks Jo)

(Thanks Dennis)

"Keyboard player with a repetoire of 30 Cure songs seeks other Cure-musicians in the Cork City area to form a cover band of this legendary group. gothic_rock82@hotmail.com"

(Thanks Paul J.)

"the january 2004 issue of guitar world features guitar and bass transcription of fascination street. blink 182 is on the cover so i'm sure there is mention of the cure in the article on blink."

(Thanks Bass Strangler)

"Q Magazine has a special out at the moment entitled 1001 Greatest Songs (I think!). It features three songs by The Cure... Boys Don't Cry has a standard listing, Pictures of You is chosen as a favourite by one of our newsreaders here in the UK(!), and there is an interview with Robert (which I have not read before) about Close To Me in which he says it's a better song than he thinks it is... i.e. until doing the acoustic version for the Greatest Hits bonus disc, he didn't really appreciate what jaunty little pop song it was in it's own right, and that it he'd always thought that it was made what it was by production until a certain point and very nearly didn't feature on the Head on the Door.

Sorry for the patchy information, but I didn't have time to copy it out... Will see if I get a chance in the next few days.

Also, Robert Smith is listed number 27 in NME's Cool List. Apparently credit is due for the fact that Robert "didn't do anything" in 2003 and still managed to be hailed as the best thing since sliced bread by all and sundry.

Again, haven't got time right now to type up, but..."

(Thanks James)

"I haven't heard anyone mention the Cure's presence in the newest Spin Magazine yet. (The one with the individual covers of the Strokes) There's a picture of him with that certain daughter of Ozzy Ozbourne's at the KROQ festival. Anyway, there are also some blurbs from the other bands that played there extolling the virtues of The Cure."

(Thanks Andrew)

"I Just woke , and when I turned on the tv on a program called "Bom Dia , Portugal" (Good Day , Portugal) the background music was "Hot Hot Hot". So nice to hear it in our national tv."

(Thanks Sandro)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2206155317&category=16067&rd=1

(Thanks Candide)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2206145229&category=160

(Thanks Aria)

"Jut thought id let you know the Blank and Jones "A Forest" single is out in Australia. Just a note as well that they are playing at the Melbourne dance festival called Earthcore on this weekend."

(Thanks Richard)

"Meetup.com (a website that coordinates real-life meetings between people interested in the same topics) have The Cure listed as one of the topics.

There are, however, only 35 people listed worldwide, so I doubt that any meeting already took place.

Might be worth mentioning on the site to get more people to list themselves."

(Thanks Uri)

"There was a small article about The Cure in the Friday issue of a Finnish evening paper called Iltalehti. There was nothing new in that. It just told that The Cure is going to studio soon and they will release the new record in spring. But there was a nice picture of Robert sitting beside a speaker in the backstage of Provinssirock Festival in 1996."

(Thanks Eraserhead)

"On Friday I’ve noticed the item in the attached picture on the main page of YNET, the internet version of the popular Yedioth-Aharonot newspaper in Israel.

(The page layout is usually a main title, a navigation bar, and then an assortment of four featured articles). I made a screenshot before it disappeared…

The title next to Robert’s photo says: “Sounds of winter” and the subtitle says: “What do you listen to when it rains? Which CDs warm your hearts? Boaz Cohen picks his top-ten”. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see which album was actually listed since access to the actual articles is blocked to paying members only from outside Israel and I’m in the US at the moment. But I can guess it’s probably Disintegration… Doesn’t get more perfect than Plainsong. :)"

(Thanks Uri)

"yesterday a local radio station here in holland played 4 songs from a faith tour concert !! three imaginary boys, primary, a forest and faith !! "

(Thanks Marco)

"I found a page named "Let them sing it for you" (http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/p1/src/sing/default.asp) with a script that can "sing" songs (or any other text you type in the box) using samples of several songs and artists. Type the days of the week in the box (or "zero one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty thirty fifty sixty seventy ninety hundred Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday" for example), hit play and there's Robert as the "Wednesday" sample (from Friday I'm in love)."

(Thanks BACO)

(Thanks Ange, Tracy, Sean, Gary and cherry tree girl)

"as expected, broadcasted was the gig of last years paleo festival. songs shows on tv (a bit different to last broadcast):

Out Of This World, Want, Plainsong, Prayers For Rain, Trust, The Kiss (first 60sec only...), 100 Years (missing 1st part), 39, Bloodflowers."

(Thanks Dennis)

"I was just driving home from work listening to Blink 182 in the studio with Halloran at FM94.9. They were talking about the album they recorded, and how they intended it to be influenced by legendary artists, and that's how they got Robert Smith on the album. Apparently, his nieces are huge fans of Blink, and Robert was familiar with their songwriting abilities and their work, and that's why he agreed to collaborate with them. They've hijacked the radio station and are pretty much playing whatever they want, and so they hooked into Inbetween Days as their first track.

It turns out that they almost missed the boat, the record almost had to roll out without the song, as it didn't make it back in time to be produced on the album. They spent a good 5-10 minutes talking about the various eras of The Cure, even talking about how "Plastic Passion" was about sleeping with a vinyl woman, and how that if that wasn't Blink 182, what is?"

(Thanks Jen)

"curespotting on mtv

i ran into a blink 182 "album launch" special on mtv (so it will be repeated a few times) that documented the writing/recording of blink's new album. i stayed tuned just in case there were some cure/robert sightings, but there wasn't much...i'm not even sure they played any clips from "all of this," (i didnt' catch the whole show) but when they were working they often called it "the cure song". "

(Thanks Richard)

(Thanks Eric)

"Week ago I saw this band's gig in Kouvola (Finland) and they played a brilliant version of The Cure's Cold. The name of the band is UltraNoir. They sounded and looked like they'd be quite influenced by the 1980-82 Cure.

http://www.ultranoir.tk"

(Thanks Antti)

"I recently interviewed lol for Ink19:

http://www.ink19.com/issues/november2003/interviews/laurenceTolhurst.html

it was awesome as we spoke for quite some time! please share the link with COF readers."

(Thanks Daniel)

"don't know if you've already run across it, but fark.com had a photoshopping contest featuring homestarrunner.com characters as they might appear in "real life"

check out this pic! http://www.patmedia.net/felixreid/rs3.jpg

the rest of the entries are at: http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=725475"

(Thanks Paul)

"The November 28, 2003 volume #739 issue of Entertainment Weekly mentions the Cure in "The Must List."

Quote:

Number 3 (out of 10) "ALL OF THIS," blink-182 [and Robert Smith] You've Goth to listen to this moody new track in which the punk-popsters are backed by the Cure frontman's noirish vocals.

(Thanks Kate and Rust)

"In the massively popular Something Awful (www.somethingawful.com)'s latest State Og update, it mentions the Cure in the descriptions of the authors of the article:

http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=1812

"Thanks this week go to Dennis "Corin Tucker's Stalker" Farrell (discovered the cure for the common cold) and Jason "Vengeance Otter" Johnson (said he discovered the Cure just to impress a really hot goth chick)."

(Thanks Sean C.)

"My brother Kilian who lives in San Francisco won two tickets to see the excellent irish artist Damien Rice in the Filimore Theatre last night. He entered a phone-in competition on a local station - proabably KROQ - and one of the questions was about The Cure.

OK, so it's only a wee and rather spurious Cure spotting but nonetheless it's nice to see The Cure still in the public eye."

(Thanks Ronan)

326. Disintegration

442. Boys Don’t Cry

(Thanks David)

"according to http://www.tango.lu/TVShow.aspx?show=32115 luxembourg Tango TV will show a The Cure concert on Sunday, 7.45pm - don't know which gig, but as Paleo 2002 has been shown before, I assume it is a repeat of that show... "

(Thanks Dennis)

(Thanks Christopher and John)

"A word to tell you that Trilogy is available at a special price in Fnac Stores (29,50 €), also in Cultura Stores (28,99 €). Here the comment on Cultura's mag : "In 2002, Robert Smith's band had a gig serie a bit special in Berlin. Recorded : a live version of the three impressive albums of the group : Pornography (82), Disintegration (89) and Bloodflowers (00). So it's the dark side of The Cure which is honnored. A wonderfully directed DVD that will "make the date" in rock history"."

(Thanks David)

"A Forest is this weeks #81 in the German Top 100 Singles Charts"

(Thanks Dennis)

"there is a confirmed release date for the Trilogy DVD in Japan for December 10th. It can be preordered from www.amazon.co.jp :

Also, the Greatest Hits Deluxe Sound & Vision is being released in Japan this Friday November 21. It includes The Caterpillar and Pictures of You on the main tracklist (disc 1 and the DVD), but only the acoustic version of The Walk on disc 2: If anyone outside Japan is interested in these versions, the DVDs for both releases are region 2, NTSC. "

(Thanks Aria)

"Here's more from Tom Delonge about the collaboration with Robert -

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2032199

"It was like a dream come true," says Delonge. "We sent the music to him in England of what was on the record. I didn't think he would be [interested in contributing] only because, who knew what his perception was of our band in the past? But what he said was, 'Nobody knows what kind of songs you are going to write in the future and nobody knows the full potential of any band. I really like the music you sent me,' and he wanted to do it. And it was just amazing."

(Thanks Aria and James)

(Thanks DB)

(Thanks Chris)

"Blink 182 was on KROQ in Los Angeles during the morning show. They spoke with the band about Robert’s involvement on the new album. It turns out that the song Robert sings on is an accustic version of the song that comes before it. The two songs played together take on a whole new concept.

I think the Blink album is more of a concept album. They are doing a lot of weird things. One song played this morning (not with Robert) was very trance like. The song that Robert sings on is actually the second half of a two song concept. The song prior to Roberts is actually the exact same music for Roberts's song.....Only the first one is Hard-Rock. As the song is finishing you get some distortion and slowing down of the music and it slowly changes into an acoustic version. You can look at it as two separate songs or as one long song. I heard Robert's song from the link on your site and I really didn't like it. But after hearing it on KROQ this morning as the band intended, it is a really good song. One of the best Blink has ever made in my opinion."

(Thanks Louis)

"I was on my way to Memphis this morning and was listening to "The Jungle" hosted by Jim Rome. Its a daily national sports show he hosts for those not familiar with him. Anyway....his in studio guests today was none other than.......Blink 182! I was curious if they might mention the collaboration so I listened..and Jim Rome brought it up first..turns out he is a fan of the band. The guys talked about how much the Cure was an influence on them...etc. It wasnt the entire band...just the drummer and lead guitarist actually....but the Cure got a lot of mentions. As to why Blink 182 was on a sports show..I have no idea."

Update: "If anyone wants to listen, the blink 182 interview is on jim rome's website, but you have to be a streamlink member. http://www.jimrome.com/home.html "

(Thanks Mark and Neil)

26-Jan-04 / The Cure / Join The Dots - The B-Sides & Rarities / UM3 - Polydor / 9814630 / CD Set / £24.99 / 0602498146309

(Thanks Chris)

(Thanks John and Charles)

"I was at the The Twilight Singers (Greg Dulli's band after the Afghan Whigs) show last night here in NYC. During one of his patented diatribes--this one about sex during his college days--he mentioned the kinds of music that would be playing in the background at any particular girls house he was visiting. He mentioned the P. Furs, and a few other bands, but then he said "then there was that little band with that song about killin' an arab or something" and the whole place exploded! Love it that he's giving props the The Cure! And for those who don't know, check this band out, they are amazing!"

(Thanks Shawn)

"There was a Cure mention in an interview with Luke Jenner from The Rapture in the December issue of Suff Magazine:

"The Rapture's latest album, Echoes, offers a diverse platter of computerized dance tunes, jittery rockers and swooning ballads that taste a little like the Cure"

Also in the interview:

Stuff: You're often compared to the Cure's Robert Smith. Does that bother you?

Luke Jenner: No, because it's been said so many times, it's like having a nickname.

Stuff: Maybe they wouldn't say it if you stopped trying to sound like him.

Jenner: He is one of my heroes.

Stuff: Who do you think would win in a fight between you two?

Jenner: I probably would. [But] I've never beaten up anybody in my life. When people wanted to fight me in school, I pretended I was sick and stayed home. Then again, Robert's got big shoes, so he could kick me really hard."

(Thanks John)

And here's a bit more info about the event:

"I met the organiser of the Islington Academy event on Friday. It sounds like it will be quite a dance orientated event apart from The Cure (which, judging from the setlist, is obvious I guess).

She told me that The Cure would be the penultimate act to perform. Basically everyone else performing will do their DJ sets and stuff - and then The Cure will play. After The Cure have played the guy from Depeche Mode will do his DJ set until 2am.

The one thing I should have asked but foolishly didn't was how long The Cure will actually perform for. Sorry.

This is pure speculation on my part and based on no solid facts, but I think the set list will be a greatest hits collection lasting about 60 minutes. But like I say, that is just speculation!"

(Thanks Andy)

(Thanks Fab G)

"I was reading the Philadelphia Weekly for the week of November 12-18 and came across a weekly column called "Top 5 of the Moment" by J. Edward Keyes. In it he highlights the Cure obviously. Here's the text:

The Cure, Seventeen Seconds/Faith/Pornography

"After being written about in September's Spin, drawing droves to KROQ's Inland Invasion and being referenced by everyone from Hot Hot Heat to Fred "Ass Hat" Durst, it's safe to say that The Cure is on the cusp of its 9,000th revival. The trouble is that every time Old Bob's back catalog is reappraised, lay and pro critics alike use the opportunity to go jackrabbit happy over the mega-selling Disintegration. Fact is, the group made its best records abut nine years earlier. Standing as stark, flawless testaments to restraint, Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography remain as shattering, potent and Munchian as they were the first time they warbled through your walkman. They effortlessly summon all that is autumn: leaves going orange, neon pink sunsets and long drives down empty highways at the precise moment that afternoon surrenders to evening. A single listen to "The Drowning Man," and you won't be able to remember how "Just Like Heaven" begins. And neither will you care."

End of article

This was accompanied by a cartoon drawing of Robert standing and resting his head on his right shoulder with his shadow leading away from him."

(Thanks Brian)

"While watching TV with my family tonight, I heard the first few strains of Strange Attraction in a commercial for Helzburg Diamonds. It was just those first few string notes before the song proper begins. It coincided with a very scared-looking man, while he looked at a case of diamonds. Then the music changed to something soothing as somebody came to help the man with the diamonds. Their angle in the commercial is that they take the guess-work out of buying diamonds. I feel very sure it was Strange Attraction, it's one of my favorite songs and I've listened to it thousands of times. I was expecting the song to start, but it didn't. It was bizarre really, to hear it cut off there. I thought it amusing they used those notes of the song to show how scared and stressed-out the man is. You should see his face."

(Thanks Shari)

"From the liner notes Blink 182 All of This

Mark: "We are all huge fans of the Cure. Having Robert Smith collaborate on a track is a total dream come true for us. We recorded this song in a rather unconventional manner. Travis recorded the kick and snare together, then went back and overdubbed the high hat, then overdubbed the ride cymbal, then overdubbed the ribbon crasher. Tom went in and recorded the acoustic guitars and the electrics. I went in and recorded the bass, using a new discovery for this album, which is a 1963 Fender Bass VI. It is exactly like a guitar, in that it has six strings, but is tuned an octave lower. It wasn't amplified. We plugged it directly into the board. Then Roger (Manning) came in and added keyboards. Tom sang the lead first two lines for the chorus, and then we sent the track to Robert over in England. He recorded his vocals there, and sent the track back to us. We added drum fills and harmonies and added mellotron. The song was recorded in 4 different studios on 2 different continents and is one of the best on the record."

Robert Smith appears courtesy of Lost Music"

(Thanks Joey)

(Thanks Pietro)

"A Forest is this weeks #75 in the German Top 100 Singles."

(Thanks Dennis)

"Does anyone know anything about a Cure tribute band that played at The Horn Reborn in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, UK last night (Nov. 13th)? Even though I live in the area, I had other plans which prevented me from going to the gig. None of the tribute bands listed on Chain of Flowers seem to have published Nov 13th as a performance date, so I'm a bit puzzled. Any information would be much appreciated."

(Thanks James)

"Tony Mott, a Sydney based photographer, released his book this week (in Australia) called 'Every Picture Tells a Story'. There's a full page photo of Robert. Each photo in the book comes with an anecdote and he says something along the lines of how when he took that photo, Robert had already been a rock star for 20 years, yet he appeared visibly nervous about having his photo taken."

(Thanks Zanna)

"RE: Cure at the Carling Academy Islington

Attachment is the ticket for the Hair, Stars and Air Guitars concert.

Doors Open - 7.30pm

Dress: We request that all guests dress as ‘rock / pop stars’ (but not as any of the bands appearing)

Doors Close - 2.00am

I’m assuming it’s going to be a long night and I guess The Cure wont come on till late."

(Thanks Benjy, Ange and Sean)

"I think I know why the new Robert Smith/Blink 182 song is so good – It is mainly a Robert Smith song. One of the guys from Blink was on KROQ radio yesterday briefly discussing how the collaboration came about. Apparently they sent a tape to Robert in England, and he wrote the lyrics, recorded the vocals, and did a lot of the guitars. I was hoping that they would post a transcript of it on the website, but it hasn’t shown up…"

(Thanks Alyse)

"This item was in yesterday's (13/11/03) Daily Star, a national daily newspaper:-

Junoir finds a Cure

Massively-haired 80's legend Robert Smith is dipping his painted toenails into dance waters. The Cure frontman has teamed up with Junior Jack on their new single. Robert has recorded the main vocals on Da Hype. The tune was already a hit in its instrumental version - with loads of electronic 80's type sounds. I'm told the video will be a goth epic featuring both Robert and Junior. Junior told me: "I was a big fan of Robert's. Since the age of 16 I've had all the videos and releases, so it was weird to work with him at my recording studio." "A few years ago, he seemed untouchable - but then I worked with him. It's cool." I smell a big crossover coming on.

More collaborations with the dance fraternity, hmm!"

(Thanks Ed)

From Canoe:

The Cure readies 4-CD box set

By JAM! Music

The Cure are getting ready to release a four-disc rarities box set in January, Rolling Stone reports.

Entitled "Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years)," the collection will feature seventy-one tracks spanning the band's twenty-five-year career. The box set expands on previous collections, and will include all the band's B-sides as well as rare and soundtrack recordings.

Cure frontman Robert Smith searched through more than 4,000 tapes to make the selections, remastered at London's Abbey Road studios.

An eighty-page booklet will accompany the release, featuring track-by-track commentary by Smith as well as previously unpublished photos.

The Cure plan to follow the release of the rarities collection Jan. 27 with a new studio album, expected in stores next summer.

From Dotmusic:

Cure Box Set Due

The Cure are to mark the beginning of 2004 with the release of a new collection of b-sides and rarities.

The four-disc box set - 'Join The Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001(The Fiction Years)' - features 71 tracks spanning the group's acclaimed 25 year career.

"The first thing I ever did when I got a new single was flip it over and play the other side," explains frontman Robert Smith on the band's website.

"I always hoped the B-side would give me another version of the artist, something as good as the A-side but somehow different. I expected great B-sides from the artists I loved."

According to reports, Smith reviewed more than 4,000 tapes to put the collection together and sat in on the remastering of the material at London's Abbey Road studios.

He told Rolling Stone: "With The Cure we always looked for something that was a skewed version of what we did on the album. I'm really proud of our B-sides and I've always paid special attention to them."

Tracks including 'Lament' - written for a 1982 Flexi-pop magazine insert, a live cover of Hendrix's 'Purple Haze' and and acoustic version of 'Just Say Yes' are included on the upcoming collection.

The set comes with a 76-page booklet, which includes a track-by-track commentary from Smith and bassist Simon Gallup, in addition to several previously unpublished photos.

'Join The Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years)' is released in the UK on January 26.

The Cure plan to release a new studio album - the follow up to 2000's 'Bloodflowers' - next summer.

From Showbizz.net:

Édition d'un coffret de quatre disques, un peu après Noël.

Le tant attendu coffret "Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years)", ce morceau d'envergure attendu par les fans de THE CURE, sera finalement édité le 27 janvier prochain. L'ensemble comprendra quatre disques, et inclura un livret de 76 pages, à l'intérieur duquel seront commentés par Robert Smith et Simon Gullup, la totalité des titres retenus.

Smith admet lui-même avoir toujours porté un intérêt particulier envers les pièces plus obscures des singles qu'il achetait. Ainsi, l'artiste s'est également fait plaisir en éditant ce coffret, qui, sur un premier disque regroupera 22 titres issus de la période 1978-1987. Le second disque contiendra notamment des versions inédites de Hello I Love You, ce succès de The Doors. Le troisième disque inclura 15 titres issus de la période 1992-1996.

Le quatrième disque complètera le tableau en proposant 15 extraits tirés des années 1996 à 2001. Sur ce disque, apparaîtront également quelques repri! ses, dont celle de World in Your Eye, un ancien succès de Depeche Mode.

From Terra:

"This one appeared today in the Terra portal in Brazil:

"The Cure releases a quadruple CD of "B-sides" (all quotation marks by them)

The Cure's revival gets a new push with the release of a box of 4 CDs of rarities. Join the dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years) will gater all the "B-sides" of the english band, besides rare material recorded for soundtracks and other projects.

Robert Smith researched more than 4,000 tapes to choose the 71 tracks that made the project. Between the rarities there are 3 versions of "Hello I love you", of The Doors, and covers of David Bowie ("Young Americans"), Depeche Mode ("World in my eyes") and Jimi Hendrix ("Purple Haze").

The Cure will also have all their records re-released in remastered editions, including always a bonus CD with live material and outtakes. The band is also recording a new studio album, the first since Bloodflowers from 2000.

The release is scheduled for the half of 2004 (note: they don't say which half though :P). Their last work was the Trilogy DVD, released in Brazil by ST2 Video, that includes live versions of the albums Pornography, from 1982, Disintegration, from 1989 and Bloodflowers."

Then in a separate news links window (although it was published in October 10th), there's this other headline that says "Robert Smith talks about the heirs of The Cure":

"Robert Smith doesn't care about the avalanche of new bands that "are inspired" (quotation marks again by them) on The Cure's work. The veteran rocker said that he listens to the records of bands like Interpol, The Rapture, AFI and Hot Hot Heat "to try to find where the Cure's influence is".

"This generation has grown listening to Disintegration and began to form bands", said the singer, referring to the well-succeeded album that the band released in 1989.

The Cure, who recently performed in a festival in Los Angeles with the groups of the new generation (like Duran Duran? :P) is working in a new album. According to Smith, it will be a "very heavy work". The release is scheduled for "the second half of the first semester"."

(Thanks Aria, Paul, Steven, Baco and Steve)

"While wandering around the Metropolis music store in Pireas,I stepped upon the box set including both the 2CD and the DVD of the Greatest Hits,at the remarkable price of 37 euros while the CD alone costs about 20 euros and the DVD 30 euros!What a great gift for the people we love!I should also mention that in most of the popular music stores in Athens,the trilogy DVD has run out of stock,so I was wandering whether the production of the DVD has ceased or not.?"

(Thanks Vagelis)

"Here is a short rundown of what they showed tonight on the MuchMoreMusic Marquee program. It was parts of Trilogy, the following songs:

100 Years, Pictures of You, Lovesong, Lullaby, Fascination Street, Maybe Someday, Bloodflowers, The Kiss

running time minus commercial breaks was 47 minutes 25 seconds approx."

(Thanks Robert)

"There is a tiny mention of the Cure in an article currently on CNN about that compilation "No Thanks!" http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/11/13/punk.box/index.html

Here's the quote - "Gradually the tide turned and the public caught on. The song selection on "No Thanks" roughly traces the music chronologically, and while the first disc includes bedrock songs of the era -- the Clash's "White Riot," Richard Hell and the Voidoids' "Blank Generation" -- by discs three and four some minor hits are emerging, such as the Cure's "Boys Don't Cry," Elvis Costello's "Radio Radio," and Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out with Him?" "

(Thanks Heron, Patrick and Jo)

"Thursday 13.11. VH1 programme "flipside" played the Charlotte sometimes video! One of the best Cure songs ever! : ) Brilliant!"

(Thanks Bm)

From Rolling Stong:

The Cure "Join Dots" for Box

Seventy-one track rarities collection due in January

The Cure will release the four-disc rarities box set Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years) on January 27th. With seventy-one tracks spanning the band's twenty-five-year career, the box expands on previous collections such as Standing on the Beach -- The Singles by compiling all of the band's B-sides as well as rare and soundtrack material.

"When I was growing up, there were two types of artists," Cure frontman Robert Smith says. "The ones that cared enough to put something good on the B-side were instantly more respected with me and my friends. Then there were the ones that put a cover on the B-side, or slapped something together that was filler. Even at that young age we saw through that cynicism."

From the very beginning, Smith wanted the Cure's B-sides to be solidly in the former category. "With the Cure," he says, "we always looked for something that was a skewed version of what we did on the album. I'm really proud of our B-sides and I've always paid special attention to them."

Smith pored over more than 4,000 tapes to put the collection together, and he sat in on the remastering of the music at London's Abbey Road studios.

Disc One features mostly B-sides of singles from the band's albums released from 1978 through 1987, while Disc Two mixes covers, B-sides and promo songs from 1987 through 1992. Disc Three compiles B-sides, soundtrack songs and covers from 1992 through 1996, and the final disc gathers songs from 1996 through 2001.

The rarities include everything from "Lament," written for a Flexi-Pop magazine insert in 1982, to three versions of the Doors' "Hello I Love You," a previously unreleased live cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and an acoustic take of "Just Say Yes" that appeared on a limited edition bonus disc from 2001's Greatest Hits. Other covers include Depeche Mode's "World in My Eyes" and David Bowie's "Young Americans." Soundtrack cuts, including songs from The Crow, Judge Dredd and The X-Files, are scattered throughout.

An accompanying eighty-page booklet will feature track-by-track commentary by Smith as well as previously unpublished photos.

The Cure plan to follow up 2000's Bloodflowers with a new studio album next summer, and their entire catalog will be remastered in the next eighteen months, with each album padded out with an additional disc of rare, live and previously unreleased material.

GIL KAUFMAN (November 12, 2003)

From Ananova:

Cure to release huge b-sides and rarities collection

The Cure are to release a huge four-disc box set of rarities and b-sides in the New Year.

Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 features 71 tracks spanning the band's 25 year career, reports Rolling Stone.

Robert Smith says the band had no respect for artists who put out sub-standard b-sides.

"With the Cure we always looked for something that was a skewed version of what we did on the album. I'm really proud of our B-sides and I've always paid special attention to them," he said.

Smith reviewed more than 4,000 tapes to put the collection together, and he sat in on the remastering of the music at London's Abbey Road studios.

The rarities include everything from Lament, written for a Flexi-Pop magazine insert in 1982, to three versions of the Doors' Hello I Love You, a previously unreleased live cover of Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze and an acoustic take of Just Say Yes.

An accompanying eighty-page booklet will feature track-by-track commentary by Smith as well as previously unpublished photos.

The Cure plan to follow up 2000's Bloodflowers with a new studio album next summer, and their entire catalogue will be remastered in the next 18 months, with each album padded out with an additional disc of rare, live and previously unreleased material.

From Billboard (also at Yahoo):

The Cure 'Dots' Four-Disc Boxed Set

Fans of veteran modern rock act the Cure will get a late Christmas present on Jan. 27, when Fiction/Elektra/Rhino releases the four-disc boxed set "Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years)." Frontman Robert Smith personally supervised the project, which will feature a 76-page booklet with track-by-track commentary from Smith and bassist Simon Gallup.

"The first thing I ever did when I got a new single was flip it over and play the other side," Smith says in a statement. "I always hoped the B-side would give me another version of the artist, something as good as the A-side but somehow different. I expected great B-sides from the artists I loved."

The 22-track first disc spans 1978-1987 and includes "Another Journey by Train" (the B-side to "A Forest") as well as a version of "Lament" which was only available in 1982 on a single inserted in copies of the magazine Flexipop. Disc two is highlighted by "Sugar Girl" (the B-side to "Just Like Heaven"), alternate mixes of "Icing Sugar" and "How Beautiful You Are" and three different versions of the Doors' "Hello I Love You."

The third disc, collecting 15 tracks from 1992-1996, sports tunes contributed to soundtracks for "The Crow" ("Burn") and "Judge Dredd" ("Dredd Song"), "Halo" (the B-side to "Friday I'm in Love") and covers of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and David Bowie's "Young Americans."

Disc four rounds up 15 cuts from 1996-2001, such as an acoustic version of "Just Say Yes," the import-only "Coming Up," a cover of Depeche Mode's "World in Your Eyes" and alternate mixes of "Wrong Number," "This Is a Lie" and "Strange Attraction."

Earlier this year, the Cure wrapped up its tenure with Fiction/Elektra and signed with producer Ross Robinson's I Am imprint, although it is unknown what progress has been made on a new studio album.

Smith guests on "Believe," the first single from guitarist Earl Slick's upcoming album "Zig Zag," due Dec. 9 via Sanctuary.

From N.M.E.:

JUST LIKE HEAVEN!

THE CURE have announced they will release a four-disc box set featuring B-sides and rarities early next year.

The box set, entitled ’Join The Dots: B-Sides And Rarities’, covers the bands work from 1978 to 2001, and features 71 tracks, including covers of Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze, and The Doors’ Hello I Love You'.

"The first thing I ever did when I got a new single. was flip it over and play the other side," explains vocalist Robert Smith on the band's website. "I always hoped the B-side would give me another version of the artist, something as good as the A-side but somehow different. I expected great B-sides from the artists I loved."

"With The Cure we always looked for something that was a skewed version of what we did on the album," he explained to Rolling Stone. "I'm really proud of our B-sides and I've always paid special attention to them."

The box set will also feature an 80-page booklet which includes images of the band, and a track-by-track commentary.

The band, who signed to Ross Robinson’s label I Am earlier his year, will also release their 14th album in summer 2004. All of The Cure ’s previous albums will be re-mastered in the next 18 months, and will be re-released with an extra disc of live, rare and previously unreleased material.

The box set will be available from January 25.

There's also a story at Gaffa, with a somewhat odd tracklist:

The Cure samler sjældenheder

Firedobbelt bokssæt ude den 27. januar

Af Lars Löbner Jeppesen

Den 27. januar udsender britiske The Cure det firedobbelte bokssæt "Join The Dots: B-sides And Rarities, 1978-2001 (The Fiction Years)" der, ligesom titlen antyder, samler sjældenheder fra bandets nu 25-årige karriere.

"Da jeg voksede op, var der to slags kunstnere. De, der interesserede sig nok til at bruge en god sang som b-side, var de, der med det samme vandt mig og mine venners respekt. Og så var der dem, der lavede en coverversion af en sang, når de skulle bruge en b-side. Selv som helt unge så vi igennem den kynisme," fortæller sanger Robert Smith.

"Vi har altid forsøgt at finde noget, der var lidt anderledes, end hvad man kunne finde på albummene. Jeg er rigtigt stolt af vores b-sider, og jeg har altid lagt ekstra vægt på dem".

Cd 1 indeholder hovedsagligt single-b-sider fra perioden 1978 til 1987. Disc 2 indeholder coverversioner og b-sider fra perioden 1987 op til 1992. Dissc 3 samler b-sider, coverversioner og soundtrack-bidrag i perioden fra 1992 til 1996. Den sidste cd spænder over perioden mellem 1996 og 2002.

Med i udgivelsen er også en 80 siders booklet med Smiths kommentarer til alle sangene samt en lang række ikke tidligere publicerede billeder.

Et helt nyt The Cure-album kan forventes ude i sommeren 2004, og i øvrigt er det planen at remastere hele bagkataloget og udsende albummerne med bonus-cd'er med sjældenheder og liveoptagelser.

Tracklisten til "Join The Dots" ser således ud:

Cd1:

Cd2:

Cd3:

Cd4:

(Thanks Aria, Richard, Autumn, Jeff, Christian, Daynaand MintSauce)

(Thanks Carlos)

(Thanks Sissi)

"Just a word to tell that the Greatest Hits have also been released here in France in its De Luxe version, and not expensive at all. For instance I saw it for about 35 € at Fnac stores and less than 30 € in Cultura stores. Even if you already have those CD/DVD, it's a great gift for Xmas ! I'm still looking for VHS of Trilogy and it's just impossible to find it in France; hate publishers !"

(Thanks David)

"i actually saw an ad for the cure trilogy/live in berlin pay-per-view when passing thru the tv guide channel. nice to see a little promo for the band ;) "

(Thanks Richard)

"MM played pictures of you last night from the Trilogy DVD on MM retro."

(Thanks Shane)

"I was playing a demo DVD I got from Digitech (a company who makes guitar effex pedels, and recorders) And while they were explaining how to mix the songs, I heard "Hot, hot, hot". "

(Thanks Javajudee3)

(Thanks Ange and MintSauce)

THE CURE

JOIN THE DOTS

B-SIDES & RARITIES 1978-2001 - THE FICTION YEARS

· 70 TRACKS DIGITALLY REMASTERED & COMPILED BY ROBERT SMITH

· 25 TRACKS ON CD FOR THE FIRST TIME

· 10 PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED TRACKS

· PLUS A 76-PAGE BOOKLET FEATURING RARE & PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN PHOTOGRAPHS

· INCLUDES A COMPLETE FICTION DISCOGRAPHY

981 463-0

As The Cure nears its third decade at the forefront of pop culture, Universal celebrate the band's remarkable career with THE CURE: JOIN THE DOTS: B-SIDES AND RARITIES, 1978-2001 (THE FICTION YEARS), a spectacular four-disc cornucopia of hard-to-find gems, never-before-seen photos, track by track breakdowns and extensive liner notes.

"The first thing I ever did when I got a new single," remembers Robert Smith, "was flip it over and play the other side. I always hoped the B-side would give me another version of the artist, something as good as the A-side, but somehow different. I expected great B-sides from the artists I loved . . . "

When The Cure released their debut single, 'Killing An Arab', in 1978, Smith expected no less from himself than he had from his heroes. It is evident from the very first cut in this box set, '10:15 Saturday Night', that he intended Cure B-sides to be every bit as captivating as their better-known A-sides.

Among the 70 original - and digitally remastered - recordings included on JOIN THE DOTS are 'Another Journey By Train' (B-side of 'A Forest'), 'Sugar Girl' (B-Side of 'Just Like Heaven'), 'Halo' (B-side of 'Friday I'm In Love'), and a cover of David Bowie's 'Young Americans' as well as many, many more.

THE CURE: JOIN THE DOTS: B-SIDES AND RARITIES, 1978-2001 (THE FICTION YEARS) will be released on 26th January 2004. Robert Smith Produced this first-ever collection of speciality songs, which includes a 72-page book filled with rare photos from Smith's own archives, a track-by-track breakdown from Smith and bassist Simon Gallup, and original commentary written by noted UK music writer Johnny Black.

The Cure were formed in 1976 when Smith, a 17-year-old attending school in Sussex, formed The Easy Cure with schoolmates Michael Dempsey (bass), Lol Tolhurst (drums) and local guitar hero Porl Thompson. The quartet began writing their own songs almost immediately, and quickly compiled an impressive repertoire of original material that included the seminal classics 'Boys Don't Cry' and '10:15 Saturday Night'. 27 years - and several line-up changes - later, they have forged an extraordinary career, highlighted by an astonishing run of artistic and commercial achievement. In this time they have scored 29 UK Top 75 hit singles, gold and platinum records, countless awards - including most recently a Q Inspiration Award - critical acclaim and a devoted international fan base. The Cure have secured their place in popular music history by shaping modern rock as we know it today.

In January of 2003, The Cure signed worldwide to Ross Robinson's iam Records, heralding the start of another chapter in the history of one of the few bands in the world able to continually combine innovation, integrity and intelligence with mass global success.

CD1 (1978 - 1987)

CD2 (1987 - 1992)

CD3 (1992 - 1996)

CD4 (1996 - 2001)

(Thanks Warren)

(Thanks Paulo)

" 'Just like heaven' is now being used in a trailer for the rather sad uk tv prog 'I want that house!'. "

(Thanks Ange)

Update: The official site has now been updated to correct the running time from 500+ to 300+ minutes.

"I got my hits re-release yesterday from MVC, it cost £22 and IS listed as the deluxe sound and vision, The re-release can be found in the "DVD" section of MVC stores."

(Thanks Jeordie)

"Yesterday,8 November 2003, Wayne Hussey from The Mission did an acoustic showcase in Catalunya Radio(You can´t listen to this radio station in the whole Spain) and sung "A night Like This",6 hours later he also sing it in his show in Barcelona."

(Thanks Elena)

"Tonight I attended a great great solo concert performed by J Masics (ex Dinosaur Jr.) at "Interzona" in Verona, Italy. The night reached perfection as he played Just Like Heaven coming back on stage after the break."

(Thanks Pagilio)

THE BOXSET - 500+ MINUTES WORTH - CONTAINS...

THE CURE - JOIN THE DOTS - B-SIDES AND RARITIES 1978-2001 - THE FICTION YEARS

A few other things about "Dots":

Note that the release date has been pushed back to Jan. 26th/27th, 2004.

All of the tracks HAVE been remastered.

No idea why "Spilt Milk" wasn't included. That was the most surprising thing to me, especially since "Coming Up" and "Possession" WERE included. For those who don't know, "Spilt Milk" was only available as a downloadable file. Back in late Feb./early March 2000, CDNow had a special offer, where if you bought a copy of "Bloodflowers" from them, they sent you an e-mail with a link to download "Spilt Milk". Guess we'll just have to wait for the BF bonus disc.

What are "Coming Up" and "Possession"? Both tracks are from the "Bloodflowers" sessions. "Coming Up" was released as a bonus track on the vinyl versions of BF and on the Japanese & Australian cds of BF. "Possession" is one of the never released, legendary "missing songs" from the BF sessions. There are still 3 other "missing songs" that haven't turned up yet - "Heavy World", "Everything Forever" and "You're So Happy!".

Any other questions? Let me know and I'll try to answer them for you.

(File removed)

And in case you missed the lyrics last week, here they are again:

All Of This

(Thanks Haz)

"A few UK retailers have started listing the 3 disc Greatest Hits package although only EIL call it the 'Deluxe Sound & Vision' set. I'm assuming that there is only one reissue? Anyone know any different? Links and prices below.

Play.com - £14.99

Amazon.co.uk - £23.99

EIL - £29.99 (Listed as Deluxe Sound & Vision set in 6" x 8" picture box)

(Thanks Ian)

"A Forest is #65 in this weeks German Top 100 Singles Charts."

(Thanks Dennis and Simon)

"Musicians needed in the Cork City area to form a cover band of THE CURE. I am a keyboard player with a repertoire of over 25 Cure songs.

For more information email: gothic_rock82@hotmail.com"

(Thanks Paul)

(Thanks KGR)

"11/21 ( Friday ) PopLife & Spy-Fi Records present ‘ Friday I’m In Love ‘ A Cure Tribute Show being held @ I/o ( 30 NE 14 St. ) in Downtown Miami. Over 16 Bands covering songs by one of our generations most influential groups! Bands scheduled to perform include: Shuttle Lounge, Lexus of Pembroke Pines, Sparkle Motion, The Estate, Waxburn, The Brand, Summer Blanket, The Easies, Bodega, Zira, Glossy, Poulain, Bling Bling, McFodden, Secret Service, Fashionista and Whirlaway! Show starts at 9 PM (18+ Welcome) $5 Cover. See you there! "

(Thanks Shannon)

"There will be a The Cure/Depeche Mode party at 'Heaven' Club in Madrid, Spain, on Saturday November 8th. Is located at C/ Veneras 2 (near Callao & Santo Domingo subway stations)."

(Thanks Get Smart 86)

"yesterday a assist to a concert in Buenos Aires of an argentinian singer called Marisa Mere and the last song of the gig was In between days. Marisa Mere´s web site is www.marisamere.com "

(Thanks Nicolas)

"Who has taken over the editorial board at NME? On this week's issue (Kilye Minogue on the cover) there are small posters of 1980s icons as a gift to the readers. Among others (Morrissey, Adam Ant and I cannot remember whoever else) also a picture (1987 era) of Robert. There was also a small comment made by the singer of some bands saying that a Cure concert was the ultimate experience. Sorry I cannot remember who he was 'cause I was just flicking through the pages whilst shopping in a supermarket ... and NME does not certainly deserve to be bought!"

(Thanks Davide, Ian and Jason)

"www.virginmegamagazine.com

the review of the bunnymen/the stills house of blues show in los angeles."

(Thanks Richard)

"It seems like every time I open a magazine these days, I find the Cure! OK this one is in the November 2003 issue of Jane Magazine, the one with Cate Blanchett on the cover. On page 84 they have a regular feature called "It Happened to Me", in which readers tell of bizarre things that really happened to them. Well, this girl named Kim got completely freaked out on drugs, hallucinating and stuff, so her friend tries to clam her down by playing Disintegration. An exerpt...

"Kim, calm down," she said gently. "You love the Cure." By that point I was having a hard time breathing, and my hands and feet were tingling....Then Lullaby came on. "It's much too late to get away or turn on the light, the spiderman is having you for dinner tonight." All I could think was, Robert Smith is right, the spiderman is really going to eat me. In an urgent attempt to escape the web crawler, I - in my own drug cliche - made a dash for the window. I'd decided the only way to escape a bloody, torturous death was to create a faster one. I tried to jump, but Cara held me back... "

I highly recommend Jane Magazine, and this issue is as good as any. Pick one up and read it cover to cover, you won't be disappointed!"

(Thanks Shari)

"I've done a quick search on blink's official and fan sites, and there i found: the album will probably be called "blink-182", the "Use your erection I & II" was a joke. they SAY they've grown up, and that this won't be a silly album (more conceptual, experimental). The CD will include 14 tracks and a enhanced cd with 6 new videos (I don't know how much this will interest cure fans, though).

The lyrics to All of This are, according to a german fan site:

All Of This

strangely enough i haven't found any mention of robert, anywhere. who knows, maybe this is all a big joke in great, old blink style??? ;-D

this, moreover, should be the album cover (pretty nice, indeed):

"I brought a copy of the GYPSY 83 soundtrack a couple of weeks ago and in the sleeve notes writer/director Todd Stephens had some good words to say about our favourite band:

Songs give me ideas. Music makes me feel. In the case of GYPSY 83, those inspirations turned into an entire film. I remember pulling out my Cure records and having a revelation when I heard the song "Doing the Unstuck". At the time, I was struggling with many of the same issues my lead character Gypsy faces in the film - not letting my fears strangle my dreams. "Unstuck" reminded me that despite all my insecurities, the past and the pain - I could do it. For me, this is what GYPSY 83 is all about.

The soundtrack has some great stuff on it and is well worth picking up."

(Thanks SKAMROK)

"In today's Metrolife section, in the Glasgow edition of The Metro, there was a preview article on Hot Hot Heat who are playing tonight.

It started: With a sound akin to a speeded up Robert 'The Cure' Smith squealing over hyperactive punk rock, Hot Hot Heat have secured a place in many a record collection with ridiculously catchy debut album, Make Up the Breakdown.

They go onto interview bassist Dustin Hawthorne and the final paragraph reads:

One thing we have to ask: how much do you actually like The Cure? "I find the constant comparisons a little bizarre because none of us like the band or own any of their records"."

(Thanks Jane)

"I was going to pick up the November issue of Q magazine with the Cure in it and I decided to browse some other magazines and I was pleasantly surprised that there were 2 more magazines with Cure mentions in them.

The first was Spin magazine (Dec. issue I think) with the Strokes on the cover. It had a picture of Robert with Kelly Osbourne and a little write up about the Inland Invasion show.

The second magazine was Alternative Press (3 guys on the cover... I don't recall who). They had a little picture of the Cure cover of Alternative Press #5 (released in '85). I guess the write up was about 18 years of Alternative Press... or something of that nature. There was no other Cure mention except for the small picture of the cover (but still cool none-the-less...). "

(Thanks to Dayna at A Foolish Arrangement)

"We are showing the film at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Houston, TX, 1000 West Oaks Mall #429 on December the 15th after Monday night football. We are showing the DVD and selling it there. We will also have a drawing for a lucky fan to win the DVD. And we might give away other stuff, just not sure yet, what Eagle Vision will send me. Our website is www.drafthouse.com/westoaks"

(Thanks Andy)

"I went to my local MVC and Virgin today to get the greatest hits re-release, i was told that theres been some sort of a delay and it might not be out until next week, neither shop had received a delivery, this is in the west midlands area of the UK."

(Thanks Jeordie)

"This is too funny, another Homestarrunner referance to The Cure, in the form of Halloween '03 costume commentary by Strong Bad. (click on Costume Commentary)

(Thanks Erich w/ an h, Rob and Alex)

"Just bought the latest Q today (December 2003) and it has a section on the Q awards. So there is a couple of Robert Smith mentions. One is on Pg. 60 where it says "Robert Smith had a quiet night. After the ceremony, the Cure singer wandered into the piano bar and treated hotel guests to a mini recital. After knocking back the red wine and yammering on about Prince, Smith was spotted in the early hours alone on the stairs having a quiet cry"

Then on Pg. 65 there is a short interview with him, and a couple of pictures of him with Tricky. I can't be bothered to type out the interview. But the general jist of it is that Tricky thinks that the Cure should have won best band, because all the acts that won sound like the Cure; Robert was supprised at the great reaction that he got when he accepted the award; the Cure are not goths and he hates people citing them as goths; and he is going to carry on getting hammered with Tricky and that the two are going to be doing something with each other before Christmas, and then the band are going to finish off some demos and are then going to start recording the new album."

(Thanks Paul)

"Today was released the special issue on the Cure scheduled for the 20th of La Mosca magazine, in conmemoration of 25 years of the release of The Cure's first single. All mexican magazines have a problem: they never include new pictures, writers always express their opinion, they don't offer a fan view (fans are some sort of misfits) and they always mention wrong facts and dates. This magazine includes a long section on "History" filled with inaccuracies: Working title of Kiss Me "One Million Virgins", a 2002 "Trilogy Tour", A Letter To Elise a shameless clone of Pictures of You and based on Joyce's Ulysses, Cure In Orange filmed on the last date of The Head Tour, Robert slagging off Depeche Mode, etc.

Then, a selective Discography with reviews of 8 albums (Robert crediting to himself authorship of the whole Bloodflowers album), well, it includes a shot of the cover of the Disintegration Polygram CD, A Discography listing, (well trying is enough in this case), and a section called "Love according to Robert Smith", which offers a sadomasochistic interpretation on Lullaby! (I've never been as deranged to think that!). I think it should have included collaborations (the people who wrote the reviews are not known) and it should have also a review withn pictures of thne only concert The Cure have offered in mexican soil (a much treasured memory for many people). It is 32 pages, color on nice paper A4 size, it costs $3 USD, but most of the photos come from Ten Imaginary Years, The Visual Documentary or calendars. Well, there are very few countries in which a special issue on The Cure would be release, that's probably good enough."

(Thanks Leo)

"Just wanted to let you know that Seattle's Death Cab for Cutie has been doing a decent version of Love Song during their current tour. "

(Thanks Scott)

"seems like UK TV people have gone cure mad! this is now the 3rd curespotting on tv in a week! first there was lovecats in teachers, than lulaby and close to me in the programe on magic, and now they played a jazz version of friday i'm in love (played by an actual jazz band) to advertise a jazz programe! i'm lost for words."

(Thanks Vicky)

"Cure reference on UK TV - Singles ITV

As well as using Friday I'm in Love as the introduction music there was also a reference where the main character who has just split from her partner tells a friend that "she found herself crying to Lovecats by The Cure". The friend replies "The Cure ...I didn't know you were taking it that bad". Also played The Smiths along with more mundane stuff."

(Thanks Ali)

"This is to report a project done by design students at Southwest Missouri State University visualizing tracks from "The Greatest Hits". To view the work, go to http://art-design.smsu.edu/qian/210/index.html , look for "student gallery", and then click "The Cure". The instructor is Qian Qian. His personal design site is at http://www.q2design.com . Enjoy!"

(Thanks Yuzhong)

"Today I was in Bagel Bin and they played "Lovesong" over the speakers. I also forgot this one from last month but i was shopping in American Eagel and they played "Lets Go to Bed." I got so excited that I made all of my friends stop and listen to the song. Right after that song was over they played a cover version of "Let's go to Bed" with a womans voice singing but i don't know who it was by."

(Thanks Marissa)

"Polydor/Universal confirms the release date January 12th for “Join the Dots” 4CD long box. Robert Smith will announce the B-sides & rarities track list on the official Cure website.

The Cure albums will ALL be remastered with 1CD bonus tracks for each album.The first four chronologically Cure albums will be sold in February/march 2004 and every 3 months, 3 new remastered albums will be sold and so on until the last remastered album.

A new Cure DVD will be released in February/march 2004 called “Complete Cure” with some live materials, maybe TV live sessions but not sure about the provenance."

Add in a new album and a possible tour, and it should be a very exciting (not to mention expensive) year for Cure fans.

(Thanks to Salvatore at ww.lavoixdusilence.com)

"The MuchMoreMusic station in Canada will be air The Cure Trilogy show on Friday Nov 13 and Saturday Nov 14..MMM has a fairly wide reach in Canada but doesn't promote as much as its parent MuchMusic station..also, its likely to be an 60 min edited edited version..here are the details

Thursday, November 13, 10pm & 1am ET, 7pm & 10pm PT Friday, November 14, 3pm PT, 12pm PT MMMMarquee NEW The Cure - Trilogy Performed in Berlin's Tempodrom, November 2002 over 2 nights and to sell out crowds, this special features The Cure performing songs from three of their albums: Pornography, Disintegration and Bloodflowers. Songs include Pictures of You, Love Song, Bloodflowers and many more.

http://www.muchmoremusic.com/concertsandspecials/ "

(Thanks Midnight Blue)

"A forest is this weeks #54 in the German Top 100"

(Thanks Dennis)

"At the whitby goth festival last night wayne hussey was playing and during the set he said i'm now going to play a song by a modern day elvis and played 'a night like this'. "

(Thanks Ange)

"Lullaby is now one of the tracks available for selection during the "Old's Cool" show on The Amp (UK music channel)."

(Thanks Dave Ace)

"on ITV1 there is a rograme about magic tricks they are currently discussing thommy cooper and they played just like heaven and close to me during the piece! ok.. now they are playing the remixed version of lullaby during another trick. if this goes on we'll have the whole back catalogue by the end of the show!"

"The Cure had their weekly 30 minutes glory on BBC2 tonight ... Just like heaven and Close to me (remix) were used throughout a programme on magicians and illusionists as the leading background music ... somebody must be literally mad for it lately! oh i forgot to mention that Lullaby (remix) was used as well in the BBC programme ... it looks like they had made a selection of Cure songs for that programme."

(Thanks Vicky and Davide)

"Yesterday i was watching "peter r. de vries" a dutch crime solver, on sbs6, suddenly they played THE KISS !!! very strange to hear that song during a tv program. They played it when the police arrested a person. But it is cool to hear them on TV !!!"

(Thanks Marco)