"I would like to inform you that I saw in the two biggest cd-shops here in Rome, the tickets for The Cure at the olympic stadium on 23rd july. Tickets costs 23 and 34 euro ."

(Thanks to Mauro of the Italian Cure Club)

"Official notice prints in the important italian newspaper CORRIERE DELLA SERA: The Cure are going to play in Rome on july 23rd 2002. "

(Thanks Sebiano)

"In the UK, a new bootleg CD has appeared featuring the best of the last years 'bootleg' white labels. It's called 'The Best Bootlegs In The World Ever. The CD features 'One Minute Lovecat' by Kurtis Rush featuring Missy Elliot and The Cure. Other bands featured include Depeche Mode, Blur, Nirvana, Strokes, Numan and The Human League. The CD is a bootleg so therefore not available in conventional stores but i found a place in London that stocks it! You can find the CD here: www.sisterray.co.uk "

(Thanks Justin)

"A new french magazine is released called "gothic culture" with the cure on cover. The mag contains 4 pages about the cure."

(Thanks easyfred)

"The last two days I've heard The Cure in the background of two soccer players being portraited on Dutch television. Just Like Heaven was used for Chivu (Ajax), Lullaby for Bosman (AZ), I think (I'm not TOO much of a sports freak)."

(Thanks Menni)

"Today on the Italian edition of TOTP they showed a short tv promo for the CORNETTO ALGIDA FESTIVAL in Rome featuring the promo video for 'Inbetween days'. They also said that THE CURE will play the festival but NO date was officially announced"

(Thanks Marcello)

"A new compilation double CD has just been released called "Alternative 80's". This compilation features Boys Don't Cry as well as tracks by The Associates, The Cult, New Order, Bauhaus and Echo & The Bunnymen. Amazon.co.uk have the CD for sale at £14.99."

(Thanks Ian)

"In The Netherlands you have a ADS ISP which is called Wanadoo. They are currently airplaying a commercial on TV and giving 2 months free internet for a new user. The commercial is pretty quick and the song on the background is No More Heroes from The Stranglers. The commercial features some discjockey's in a studio, and at a certain moment you see a dj put down a cd with the Kiss Me cover, on that cover is written "The greatest hits of Love". You will only see the Kiss Me cover for a few seconds, but i'm pretty sure it is a cover from that Cure cd.

(Thanks Eddie and Geevers)

"The Cure fan who sees unauthorized popup ads when visiting A Chain of Flowers most likely has "spyware" installed on his or her computer.

Some flavours of spyware pop up unauthorized ads based on the web site you are viewing, and many spyware programs send the companies that produce it a list of EVERY web site you view, how often you view it, etc. Also, if you downloaded KaZaA recently, and agreed to the license to install it, you authorized a company to install a program that may use your computer's spare computing cycles and storage space for unspecified purposes! (You can read about that here: http://news.com.com/2100-1023-873181.html)

EVERYONE running a Windows-based PC connected to the net should really consider downloading the highly acclaimed (free) software called “Ad Aware”, which automatically detects the spyware running on your PC and offers to remove it. You might be shocked to find out what is running on your computer! Download Ad Aware here: http://download.com.com/3000-2094-10045910.html?legacy=cnet.

Curious COF readers can learn more about spyware here: http://www.simplythebest.net/info/spyware.html"

(Thanks Andrew, Van, James and Dave)

(Thanks Snoopy)

(Thanks Rodxxx)

Rough Total - 6,340,209

Singles - 937,768

And here are the RIAA certifications for The Cure, which are based on the number shipped, not actual sales:

Disintegration - certified Gold on 06/28/89 / certified Platinum on 10/20/89

Galore - certified Gold on 10/17/01

Head on the Door - certified Gold on 03/18/91

Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me - certified Gold on 08/24/87 / certified Platinum on 08/14/90

Mixed Up - certified Gold on 12/05/90 / certified Platinum on 08/11/92

Picture Show (Video) - certified Gold on 05/11/93

Standing on a Beach - certified Gold on 02/05/87 / certified Platinum on 05/04/89 / certified Double Platinum on 12/12/97

Staring at the Sea (Video) - certified Gold on 09/30/87 / certified Platinum on 09/27/89

The Cure in Orange (Video) - certified Gold on 06/22/88 / certified Platinum on 01/18/90

Wild Mood Swings - certified Gold on 07/01/96

Wish - certified Gold on 06/09/92 / certified Platinum on 06/16/92

Gold = shipment of 500,000 units / Platinum = shipment of 1,000,000 units / Double Platinum = shipment of 2,000,000 units.

Gold (video) = shipment of 50,000 units / Platinum (video) = shipment of 100,000 units.

"In today's (24.4.) "taz", there is a review of three books by young East German writers (Falko Hennig, Jana Simon and André Kubiczek), and the reviewer says they were showing their own, more alternative views on life in the former DDR, including details like "erste rote T-Shirts und die Sommerferien in Pionierferienlagern namens 'Freundschaft', die Musik von Soft Cell oder The Cure (ja, genau!) und die Putzi-Zahncreme." (orig. quote)"

(Thanks Nika)

(Thanks Francesco)

(Thanks Simon, Christelle, Shelley, Koyldo and Krusty)

"The reissue of "Live In Concert" by the Stranglers (and friends) has been released today, 4/22/02. It features "Get A Grip" with Robert Smith, "Hanging Around" with Robert Smith, "Bear Cage" with Mathieu Hartley and "Down In the Sewer" with both Robert Smith & Mathieu Hartley. The cover art is different than the original release of this recording. Also, inside the booklet are pictures of the various artists that participated on the project. And, yes, you guessed it, there is a picture of a very young Robert Smith included."

(Thanks Rust)

"In this month's issue of Maxim's 'Blender' magazine featuring Shakira she talks about the music she plays in her car. " I have The Clash, and of course The Cure's new best-of c.d"."

(Thanks Vince)

"It was premature birthday celebrations today as Planet Sound (Page 451 of Channel 4 Teletext in the UK) had Robert's birthday listed as today (Saturday 20th April). Do the music press ever get anything right ?"

(Thanks Dave Ace)

"This was a little over a month ago, but I volunteered for the Paralympics here in SLC. One of the nights they had a medals ceremony up at the Village, where I was working, and after the ceremony, they played Galore. It made my whole night! "

(Thanks Treeweel)

(Thanks Koyldo)

"Don't recall seeing this mentioned anyway, but R&B singer Res' song "Let Love" off of her How I Do album samples the bass from Other Voices. The c.d. booklet says it was used by permission."

(Thanks Trina)

"I work at Fox Sports International in Los Angeles. Yesterday we were receiving a feed from Argentina, it was a preview show about the World Cup and they had a report on David Beckham, who recently got injured playing football (soccer), and in the background they used "In Between Days" and "Boys Don't Cry", the acoustic version from their Greatest Hits CD."

(Thanks Carlos)

"Tony Kanal of No Doubt:

"In My Head": We recorded this at Nellie Hooper's London studio. That's my Yamaha 4-string, until the bridge. We wanted to give the end of the song more dynamics, so I came up with that bridge bass line on the Music Man 5-string, and at the end it goes into kind of a Cure-inspired line. From the bridge onward it was a spontaneous, one-take performance. That's rare for me, because I tend to pore over my stuff a little too much. When we did Return of Saturn sometimes I'd spend days in the studio refining just one bass line. This tune especially was a reaction to that."

(Thanks Hernan)

"I recently signed up for the Hollywood Stock Exchange (www.hsx.com)... basically a virtual stock exchange where you buy and sell virtual stocks in actors, musicians and movies... Anyway a couple of nights ago I bought a huge amount of Cure stock... and the next day they were featured on the intro page as "Music Movers" :-) I attach a screencap of the page... and encorage everyone to sign up... it's a lot of fun speculating on the entertainment industry with no real money at stake."

"in the new STUFF magazine if you read the review about the new cd out by MOTH they mention the cure along with the smashing pumpkins."

(Thanks Little Spanish Eddie)

"A Swiss Festival named THE MINISTRY OF ROCK mentioned on their homepage that The CURE will play between July 5th and July 7th 2002 near Frauenfeld in Switzerland."

(Thanks Simon)

(Thanks Ronan and Josse)

"Cure-party dedicated to Robert Smith's birthday party and the 10th anniversary of "Wish" release will take place in Moscow nightlong 20/21 April at "Polnolunie" club (Bol. Karetnyi per., 2) The party will start at 22:00. There will be three live acts: Doppelganger, Children of Underground and Dead Things Collection; music of The Cure and other new-wave/post-punk/gothic rock bands; video show of rare Cure TV appearences and live acts. "

(Thanks Alexey)

Siouxsie & The Banshees Return, Cure's Smith Recalls Time In Band

April 18, 11 a.m. ET, Launch

Siouxsie & the Banshees, forerunners of the goth-punk scene in the late '70s, are on the comeback trail. The band kicked off a brief tour Wednesday night (April 17) in Washington D.C. It runs through April 25 in San Francisco. It's the band's first tour in seven years.

The band has had some notable members over its career, including the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious, who had a brief stint as their drummer, and the Cure's Robert Smith, who played guitar in the band.

Smith told LAUNCH how he hooked up with the Banshees. "The only support slot we ever did was in 1979 was on a Banshees U.K. tour and it was during that tour that the original Banshees line-up split up," he recalled. "And I just guested on guitar kind of, played with the Cure and then came off at 20 minutes and a couple of beers and then went back on and did the main set."

Smith told LAUNCH about the biggest decision of his career. "John McGeoch, who was the guitarist at the time, kind of left the group and they just came back to me and said, 'Oh do you fancy filling in while we find someone else.' Because they were just about to tour--and then I ended up staying 18 months. And at the end it came down to a straightforward choice, either I stay in the Banshees or dedicate more time, all my time, to the Cure. There was never any contest, but it caused a lot of ill feelings at the time. It still rankles with Sioux particularly that I chose the Cure over the Banshees, she could never understand that, but I think I made the right choice in retrospect."

Siouxsie & the Banshees' first hit was "Hong Kong Garden," and other notables recorded by the band over its career include "Dazzle," "Peekaboo," "Happy House," "Kiss Them For Me," and a cover of the Beatles' "Dear Prudence."

-- Darren Davis, New York"

(Thanks Jennifer)

"WLUW 88.7fm is celebrating Roberts birthday Monday April 22nd from 10pm-12am central time. All Cure for two straight hours. Listen on-line wluw.org or 88.7fm. requests can be taken online at destinationunknown23@hotmail.com or 773 591 8870."

(Thanks Kamar)

"There will be a special CURE night at club Decadence in Athens,Greece,organised by bananafishbones on Sunday 21 April,in order to celebrate Robert's birthday.We hope that all the CURE fans in Greece will be there that day,and wish to see Robert (!) make his appearance in his birthday party in Greece!If only... "

(Thanks Vagelis)

"from Associated Press list of Celebrity birthdays: April 21: Actor Charles Grodin is 67. Singer-musician Iggy Pop is 55. Actress Patti LuPone is 53. Actor Tony Danza is 51. Actress Andie MacDowell is 44. Singer Robert Smith of The Cure is 43. Actor-director John Cameron Mitchell ("Hedwig and the Angry Inch") is 39. "

(Thanks Amy)

(Thanks Robert Rice)

"The Cranes need you to promote their tour in your hometown!

Your mission:

1. Promote a show that's coming to your town or somewhere close by, by plastering the town with promotional materials.

2. Invade chatrooms and message boards.

3. Call & email your local radio stations and request that they play the Cranes.

4. Ask your local record stores to stock Future Songs.

If you live in one of the following cities, we especially need your help:

We can't promise anything in return for your hard work at this time, however we are working on some sort of reward... we just can't gaurantee it.

If you are interested in helping (even if you're not in one of the cities above), please send an email to promo@starblood.org Please include the city and state you want to help with in the subject line. We'll send you details and materials straight away."

(Thanks Christopher)

"Rock Fm announced that The Cure concert in Athens is going to be 3 hours long!!!Robert Smith asked Didi Music to allow the band to perform 3 hours and they did not have any reason to deny.I think Robert wants to thank the Greek fans for their support throughout these years and mainly because The Cure was voted as 'The Group of the Year 2001' in Greece and the Greatest Hits are still doing well in the charts."

(Thanks Costas)

"This may be old news but I was browsing Reeves Gabrels' site (http://www.reevesgabrels.com) and he's offering a remix of "Yesterday's gone" for download.

Here is the excerpt taken from the site:

New! An updated Reeves Media Player is now available FREE. If you have a Windows-based computer, this program lets you play MP3 files and CDs, and was developed under the direction of Reeves Gabrels to have the look and feel of the Ulysses (della notte) album. The updated Reeves Media Player also unlocks a special bonus track, a remix of Yesterday's Gone, Reeves' collaboration with Robert Smith (of The Cure).

To download the bonus track you will need to 1) Download the Reeves Media Player (above) 2) Insert the Reeves Gabrels della notte CD 3) Click on the flashing links button at the top of the player 4) Select Music Content (this will take you to a download page) 5) Click on "Download MP3 file". "

(Thanks Vincent G)

"Thank you to all who emailed me regarding Porl Thompson and his upcoming art exhibit in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Here is the information you asked for:

The show is currently being called 100% SKY.

Porl will be turning this exhibition space, which is the 1835 National Historic Site Homer Watson House & Gallery, into what he calls "a dreamscape", with his art and ambient sounds.

This is Porl's only North American show for 2002 and promises to be quite an amazing exhibit, with plans for a CD and catalogue to accompany the art.

Any of those who have seen his artwork already have an good idea of his range as a comtemporary artist and the amazing style he has developed over the years.

Porl is currently making new creations in his studio right now and is inspired by what he callls "auto night drawings", which are images he creates in the dark, after waking from dreamstate. Those images become huge, colourful pieces of art that are sometimes collage in nature and usually executed on canvas. For those who have not yet seen the work, examples can be viewed at www.porl.co.uk.

The opening for 100% SKY is 1pm - 4pm, September 15th, 02. This is the correct and updated information, so please ignore any errors that may appear elsewhere. Artwork, CD's and catalogues will be for sale, as of Sept.15, 02, in person at the gallery. Porl is expected to attend the opening of 100% SKY.

Following the mandate of Homer Watson House & Gallery as a public art space, this exhibit is free of charge. Donations to the gallery are greatly appreciated, go towards perserving the legacy and house and are suggested at $2/person.

Directions to the gallery are as follows:

Plane: Fly into Lester B. Pierson Airport (YYZ) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From Pierson Airport take Hwy.401 Westbound, 50 minutes to the Homer Watson Blvd. Exit (Kitchener). Turn right at lights to take Homer Watson Blvd. Go to next set of lights which is Conestoga College Blvd. Turn right onto Conestoga College Blvd. Take your first left onto Doon Valley Drive. Follow road to stop sign. Turn right onto Pinnacle Drive. Follow road to stop sign. Turn Left onto Old Mill Road. The gallery is located at 1754 Old Mill Road. Street parking is welcome.

Bus: Go to Bay Street Bus Terminal in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From Bay Street Bus Terminal take Greyhound or Trentway-Wager bus to Kitchener or Cambridge. Please note that there is no Sunday public bus service to this area of Kitchener, so take a taxi to 1754 Old Mill Road (approx. $20) from Kitchener or Cambridge bus terminals.

Train: Go to Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. From Union Station take Via Rail Train to Kichener. Please note that there is no Sunday public bus service to this area of Kitchener, so take a taxi to 1754 Old Mill Road (approx. $20) from Kitchener train station.

Car: From the Toronto, Ontario area take Hwy.401 Westbound, 50 minutes to the Homer Watson Blvd. Exit (Kitchener). Turn right at lights to take Homer Watson Blvd. Go to next set of lights which is Conestoga College Blvd. Turn right onto Conestoga College Blvd. Take first left onto Doon Valley Drive. Follow road to stop sign. Turn right onto Pinnacle Drive. Follow road to stop sign. Turn Left onto Old Mill Road. The gallery is located at 1754 Old Mill Road. Street Parking is welcome.

From London, Ontario area take Hwy.401 Eastbound, 1 hour 30 minutes, to the Homer Watson Blvd. Exit (Kitchener). Turn left at lights to take Homer Watson Blvd. Go over the bridge. Go through first set of lights. Go to next set of lights at Conestoga College Blvd. Turn right onto Conestoga College Blvd. Take first left onto Doon Valley Drive. Follow road to stop sign. Turn right onto Pinnacle Drive. Follow road to stop sign. Turn Left onto Old Mill Road. The gallery is located at 1754 Old Mill Road. Street Parking is welcome.

Accomodations and Area Information: There are a number of great motels/hotels and B&B's in the Cities of Kitchener & Cambridge (15 minutes from the gallery). Please check www.cambridgetourism.com and www.kw-visitor.on.ca for information on where to stay and what else to do while visiting our heritage and environment centered region.

Please direct any further questions to Curator, Ms. Jennifer Wood at eternalart@rogers.com

Thank you so much for your interest!!! "

(Thanks Jennifer)

"I just picked-up the new classical tribute "Whisper." It's pretty cool. The best tracks seem to be "pictures of you," "bloodflowers," and "just like heaven." Also, "Zazen" (the original track inspired by the Cure is quite good - sounds like it could have come right off of "Disintegration." "Hot Hot Hot" may be the best thing on there. I am a big fan of any cover that re-thinks the original, and this fits the bill to a tee!!!!! It is almost a new song onto itself. This gets better with each listen (on number four right now). "

(Thanks Rust)

"A follw up to the post about the Cure being in the top 20 at eil.com. The Cure are in the Top 10 at gemm.com (a great source for rarities) and have been as long as I remember!"

(Thanks Phil)

"His paintings will be exhibited in Kitchener, Ontario (Canada) in September. It will be at the Homer Watson Gallery and Museum. One can contact Jennifer Wood at eternalart@rogers.com for more information."

(Thanks Eric)

"Just thought I'd let you know that it looks like today (4/9/02) is the "official" release for the String Quartet Tribute to The Cure. I picked it up at Media Play here in Salt Lake and it sounds great!!! I especially like Boys Don't Cry and Pictures of You. If you like classical music then you definitely need to pick this up!"

You can listen to audio clips at CDNow, which has it listed for $16.98. Tower Records has it for $14.99, Amazon for $13.99 and CD Universe has the best price at $11.89. If any of you pick up a copy, let me know what you think of it. I should be getting a copy soon, and will pass along my comments as well.

(Thanks Zach C.)

"Here's some info about a tribute to the Cure at Hard Rock in Miami, April 26 if you want to post it. It is hosted by none other than Corey Feldman, yes I'll repeat Corey Feldman. There will be live performances by about 11 bands (I think they are local but since I just moved to miami, I'm not sure). It is 18 & over and $12."

(Thanks Amy)

"There is a new book out titled "To Be Someone" by Louise Voss. I skimmed through it quickly and noticed that each chapter deals with an important song in the narrator's life. One of those songs is "Lovesong." The chapter that deals with that Cure tune involves a story of how her (fictional) band where on tour with the Cure and how that song reminded the narrator of those times. I'd check out Amazon.com for more info on the book. It looks interesting."

(Thanks Jason)

"This might be old news to you all, but I was just watching the Young Ones episode "Sick". A band played live on each program. Rick says "I think Mike will be back soon with the cure. A confused Vivian replies "No, no, it's Madness this week!"

(Thanks JLS3)

"I have been listening to a few Depeche Mode audio clips on depechemode.com and Dave Gahan is asked to mention a few bands that he liked to listen to in the 80's and The Cure rank right up there as his favourites even now. Here is the link to the MP3 file:

http://www.depechemode.com/news/030603_radio/030602-whfs.mp3"

(Thanks Marcus)

"The Cure are # 18 in this month's top selling collectable artists chart at www.eil.com."

(Thanks Marcello)

"The film was amazing. the soundtrack included 'all cats are grey', 'trust', 'doing the unstuck' and 'just like heaven' there were also lots of cure posters and tshirts lurking in the shots. robert smith was thanked in the credits."

(Thanks Andrew)

"The Cure were mentioned two times in the first episode of the Die 80er show (1980 episode):

several famous germans were asked about their thoughts about the 80's, Jürgen Klinsmann (famous german soccer player) answered The Cure, and after that well known german singer Nena was asked which music she liked in the 80s (and hopefully today also): she answered The Cure. "

(Thanks Stefan)

"The Cure are supposed to play in Vienne this summer. a french band called 'dionysos' who announce in their tour dates that they will play in Vienne (Théatre Antique) the 23th july with The Cure...

from their website (www.dionyweb.com):

20/07 Festival Vieilles Charrues CARHAIX

23/07 Théatre Antique (+The Cure) VIENNE

this band has covered 'a forest' on the recent tribute LP imaginary songs..."

(Thanks nimROD)

"check out the following website...http://www.cornettoalgida.it/...they are talking about it also on tv."

So this seems to say that The Cure will be playing at the Cornetto Free Music Festival in Rome this summer. Looks like the festival site will have more info on April 29th, when the site opens.

(Thanks Koyldo)

You CAN get a one day ticket for Woodstage from Karsten-Jahnke for 40 Euro.

Tickets for Vielles Charrues will be available online starting May 3rd.

(Thanks Jim)

(Thanks Omar)

"there will be a cure party in Paris on April, 17th (at "La Traverse", 62, rue Quincampoix 75004), organized by Le Rat Mort (in association with the fanzine Voodoo Smile : http://www.voodoosmile.fr.st). From 20pm to 2am. Free entrance... Here is the Rat Mort web site... : http://www.6emedimension.net/ratmort/fr/ "

(Thanks Caroline)

"on the south park studios website, there is a link to play some south park themed games. in the game 'mecha-smash' you can select the character you play, and one of them is robert smith as 'smithra.' here's the link: http://www.comedycentral.com/southparkgames/mecha/"

(Thanks Summer)

"I was watching the "Beat The Geeks" game show on Comedy Central yesterday and they showed one of the contestants a picture of Robert and asked, "Who is this lead singer of The Cure?" The contestant answered correctly. They then showed the "Geek" a picture of Siouxsie and asked, "Who is this singer?" The "Geek" said, "the question should be, What is it?" He didn't know the answer."

(Thanks Joe)

"sometimes you can hear at FM4 , austrian radio , an ironic song about sadness and loneliness......FARIN URLAUB (member of "die Ärzte") sings in german language "....and we were listening to the smiths , sometimes also the cure or new order as well...." , maybe there is something visual about the cure in the video clip too. i only know the clip of his first single where you can see a story about nosferatu (in black and white murnau-style!),on the gramophone are standing different recordcovers from the smiths."

Update: "that news I posted to you ages ago last year + you already put it on the website - regarding the video, the person who now mailed it to you mixes it up, as the mentioned video in the news is exactly for this release, namely the single 'SUMISU*' - no cure content in the video!"

(Thanks Hoerlth and Dennis)

"The german tv-channel "RTL" will broadcast a show called "Die 80er Show"(the 80's show) and there will be a part about THE CURE in there too. Well, a friend said that to me so i really can't say if this is correct. The show will be broadcasted on Saturday the 6th of april at 21:15 pm (german time)."

(Thanks Martin)

"It was kind of a Robert Smith groove on Craig Kilborn's show this week. On Wednesday's episode of Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, while showing photos of his guest Mariel Hemingway, Craig described the picture with reference to Robert because her hair was in a somewhat Robert-like sticky-up style. Everyone laughed hysterically.

The VERY NEXT night, on Thursday's Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, while introducing his guests, Craig points out that on the back of the photo of Balthazar Getty, the name actually reads Robert Smith of the Cure. Coming back from the first commercial, he lists his guests and adds that as a special treat, there will be a duet with Robert Smith of the Cure and John Mayer. The audience went wild. While interviewing Getty, Craig pointed out that some people think he resembles Robert Smith of the Cure. Getty giggled and looked freaked out."

(Thanks Peter)

"Yesterday while watching MTV (Europe) they had a program with a girl "becoming" Pink and acting as her in the "Get the Party Started" -video. When it was time to cut her hair we could hear "Cut Here" played in the background."

(Thanks Camilla and Kari)

(Thanks Sascha)

"http://www.didimusic.gr/ has finally announced the rock bands, who will play at rockwave festival 2002, which includes THE CURE:

"We proudly announce the confirmed rock bands in alphabetical order: The Cure, Dandy Warhols, HIM, Mesh, Pulp"

(Thanks Stefan)

Also, all tribute band info has been moved to their own page.

"This film is playing at the Lesbian and Gay London Film Festival on Saturday 6th April, 1830 at the National Film Theatre:

Gypsy 83

Dir. Todd Stephens / With Sara Rue, Kett Turton, Karen Black / USA 2001 / 95 mins

Time to get out that black lipstick and velveteen cloak for a bit of hardcore Goth nostalgia. Dressed to kill (in black), oozing creativity, Gypsy (Rue) and Clive (Turton, seen in 2000's Rollercoaster,) are two Goth misfits, desperate to escape sleepy Sandusky, Ohio. Clive is Robert Smith to Gypsy's Stevie Nicks. Clive adores Gypsy who admits she doesn't give "...a flying fuck or a rolling rim-job, what...anyone thinks." When they discover the 'Night of a 1000 Stevies' talent show in New York City, they know what they must do. With a crimp of the hair and a heavy application of white face powder, they're off. Along the way they meet a number of characters, among them Bambi le Bleau (Black) as a washed-up lounge singer, now top-billing karaoke - how fabulous! A Goth's delight soundtrack, featuring Siouxsie and The Cure, enhances this wonderful feature debut from Todd Stephens (screenwriter of Edge of Seventeen)."

(Thanks Andrew)

"Friday April 5th at 22:45 [and probably also Saturday 23:20] The swedish SVT2 will show a Cure concert from 1984 at The Barrowlands in Glasgow, Scotland. The programme is called "Musikbyrån".

5/4 The Cure/Robert Smith http://www.svt.se/vaxjo/musikbyran/index.html"

(Thanks Jorn and Bjorn)

"Don't know if you have any readers from west virginia, but the 8th annual cure party will be held at Marley's Doghouse Pub on 20th St on Sunday April 21, so if you are nearby, drop in and listen to all sorts of obscure and popular Cure songs all night long. "

(Thanks Avasha)

"I was down in Orlando this past week and while I was at the Disney-MGM Studios I went on the Rockin Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith. If you've ever been there you'd know that when you are waiting in line there are a bunch of old concert posters. Even though all the bands on the posters where 70's rockers I was just hoping to see The Cure. It turned out I didn't, but when I got off the ride 'Why Can't I Be You?' was playing throughout the entire park on the radio or something. It made my day."

(Thanks Nando)

"I recently saw a show on MTV called Sex 2k. The show's topic was Goth Sex and for the first 5 minutes I watched, they played Just Like Heaven and Love Cats in the background. They probably played more but I didn't really care to see how "goths" have sex, so I changed the channel. They also had other groups like Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails."

".i also watched a few minutes of that on mtv... probably the last 5-10 minutes. anyway, they also played "hot hot hot" and "the walk" during the short time i was watching."

(Thanks M and Erik)

"Sunday, 31 March 2002, Australia. A local radio station 92.7 mix fm played “The weekend of 1000 hits.” The Cure “Close to Me” came in at number 362."

(Thanks Krystel)

week 02/24 to 03/02: # 4

week 03/03 to 03/09: out of the top 20

week 03/10 to 03/16: #10

1st fortnight of march: # 8

(Thanks David)

"We (The Spinning Tops) have a Cure cover of Siamese Twins on our website : http://membres.lycos.fr/thespinningtops/Siamese.rm"

(Thanks Fred & Neil)

"the cover of la mosca that's on your site was taken in November 1999 by Trevor Ray Hart at the Petersham Hotel, Richmond, Surrey for Q's Cash For Questions feature (Feb 2000 issue)."

(Thanks Martin)

(Thanks Ronny)

Foreword:

It is the first time i ever buy La Mosca since it's not really my style (i got it just because of the nice cover). I can tell that it has an interesting design and a fine structure, but La Mosca is a rather light magazine written in coloquial language (sometimes ironical, irreverent and even gross). The whole content of it is about music, ranging from classic rock to whatever is labeled as "alternative" (of course not "pop") both in the international scene and in the Mexican and Latin scene.

And since i know that anything Cure related is certainly interesting to any fan around the world (and since i am having a short vacation) i decided to put up some highlights about the articles in this issue in order to let you know what is said about The Cure in Mexico (just highlights because of the difficult on translating Mexican slang to English, ok?)

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First of all: In case you are wondering (just like me) why the cover has the subtitle "Robert Smith's worst nightmare" let me tell you i don't have the faintest idea since the articles inside are not related in any way to this sentence.

Now, about the articles:

1. The leading article "The Cure. Ni Apocalípticos Ni Desintegrados" (The Cure. Neither Apocalyptic Nor Disintegrated) by Alejandro Castro, reads: "No way, didn't you remember when "Three Imaginary Boys Came Out"? Me neither, because i was like three years old, but i guess it took a while before it arrived here. Obviously i didn't witnessed the first glories of the band. Those that remember say that before The Cure, Robert Smith had a band called Malice, and played in a church. History books say that it was back in the '76 when Smith, Laurence Tolhurst and Michel Dempsey (influenced by Joy Division, David Bowie and others of the kind) got together to play in a band baptized as The Easy Cure. But let's be honest: at this stage of the game, who cares if they didn't signed with Ariola because it wanted to change their image? or that when Chris Parry listened to them he was fascinated and because of that he took them on a recording deal for the Small Wonder label? In the end, every rock band has a history such romantic and emotional, or don't they?"

After this opening, there is a full page telling about some key moments of the band, which i am trying to sum up to you:

El Morbo (The Morbid Feeling) About the 'Killing An Arab' scandal, the 'Three Imaginay Boys' album, the Siouxie era, the 'Blue Sunshine' album, and about the The Cult Heroes recording.

Encuentros Cercanos de Cualquier Tipo (Closer Encounters Of Any Kind) Paraphrasing the title of the famous movie, the author tells about his "first encounter in real time with The Cure", and he says "i made my debut -on having his first Cure experience- , with the best line-up The Cure had in their whole history: the one in their sixth album, 'THOTD'" and then mentions The Cure early albums in retrospective.

Bésame, Bésame Mucho (Kiss me, kiss me much...) -NT: This subtitle is the main verse of a popular 'bolero' which goes like this: 'Kiss me, kiss me much, like if this night is the very last time'- Here the author tells about the 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me' album (what a surprise!) and the 'Disintegration' album. Then adds: "Do you remember when in the 90's they released a remix album ('Mixed Up') which caused the hooting of many? Me too. You cannot tell they were ahead of their time, but indeed they were well informed about what was about to come. Not in vain there appeared mixing up there Francois Kevorkian, Paul Oakenfold and William Orbit."

Idolos de las Multitudes (Crowd Idols) "But disappointments didn't stop there... It's just that the 'darkies' -NT: in English in the original- can't bear anything, really!" He continues, speaking of the 'Wish' album: "'High' wasn't so blatant, but 'Friday I'm In Love' sounded really playful and even fun, and that's a kind of luxury that the idols of the gothic crowds ('whatever it means' -NT: in English in the original-) cannot have themselves." "Sincerly it is always a pleasure to see how the most recalcitrant fans apostatize their favorite bands whenever they dare to change the move. Personally i laughed out as a madman when i read a critic in the magazine 'Musician' referring to this album as 'Michael Bolton for existentialists'. Cool, isn't it?" He talks some more about the show The Cure gave in Monterrey (the only time they've ever played in my country) and finish by mentioning the 'Paris' and 'Show' albums.

Bruscos Cambios de Animo (Wild Mood Swings) Here there is a very nice review on 'WMS' focused mainly on the sound of the album and the arrangements: "...setting up in the very same album, pop and rock against tropical rythms, jazz glimpses and even a mariachi. The frontman of 'La Cura' -NT: in Spanish in the original, meaning 'The Cure' and pronouncing Lah-Coo-rah, it is the way The Cure are referred to in Mexico by their fans- wanted to confound everybody... and he succeded. The orthodox fans teared up their clothes because of such boldness..." And then Robet is quoted, so the author didn't commit himself at all... clever boy. Then he mentions Galore too.

Las Flores del Mal (The Flowers Of Evil) The author talks briefly about the 'BF' album: "...sound slowly, covered with guitars and pretty moderated distorters. Reaffirmation imposed on experimentation. The best part of the album are the lyrics..." About their last compilation he make just one comment: "Well, your sister told me they just released a double 'Greatest Hits' (...) Let me see if she wants to lend it to me". And then he closes as follows: "I don't know what was the main contribution of The Cure, that is the critics' job. I like enough their songs, i think that most of the time they have been an intense and congruent band. With that is enough, isn't it?"

2. The second article "The Cure. La Nueva Música Clásica. Disintegration" (The Cure. The New Classical Music. Disintegration", by Alejandra Tovar, is a centerfold (very nice indeed) featuring the Disintegration cover with the title arranged with some cool fonts. The article opens with "Opinions are divided among Cure fans: which is their masterpiece? 'KM,KM,KM' or 'Disintegration'? Tough to decide (...) so, since i had to make up my mind for one of these two, i chose the second, maybe because of personal taste reasons (...)" The content is a short review on Disintegration, the tracklist, some technical data and another list of ten albums related to Disintegration (Midnight to midnight, Substance, Peep show, Starfish, Technique, The sky's gone out, Boomerang, Bloodletting, Heaven or Las Vegas, and Deep) And for the rest of the article, i think its title says it all.

3. Finally, when i was looking for the credits for the photography of the cover (which i didn't find by the way) i discovered that people in the magazine's board has a peculiar sense of humor since they shared a private joke with us Mexican Cure Fans by listing the board like this: EDITOR CURADO (CURED EDITOR) Jaime Flores / DIRECTOR INCURABLE (INCURABLE DIRECTOR) Hugo García / REDACCIÓN SMITH (SMITH REDACTION) María Cortés / ARTE, DISEÑO Y MUCHACHOS QUE NO LLORAN (ART, DESIGN AND BOYS THAT DON'T CRY) Estudio La Fé Ciega / COORDINACIÓN 'GALORE' (GALORE COORDINATION) Diana Barreto / PUBLICIDAD DESINTEGRADA (DISINTEGRATED ADVERTISING) Lucía Ayuardo, Rocío Navarro...

(Thanks A. Gabriela)

(Thanks Kostas)

"I received a news letter from Modified Music (a small independent CD store), in which they list some upcoming concerts and events in Utah. This event particularly caught my eye:

"Hersey @ Club Manhattan Sunday April 14, 9:00 p.m. "Biggest Hair Contest", rat like Robert Smith to win a prize from us "Modified Music". Cover charge $6.00."

(Thanks R. Blake)

"Friday April 5th at 22:45 [and probably also Saturday 23:20] The swedish SVT2 will show a Cure concert from 1984 at The Barrowlands in Glasgow, Scotland. The programme is called "Musikbyrån".

5/4 The Cure/Robert Smith http://www.svt.se/vaxjo/musikbyran/index.html"

(Thanks Jorn and Bjorn)

(Thanks Simon)

"In response to the bootie with outkast (mrs. jackson) vocal on top of lullaby (extended mix) entitled i'm sorry mr. smith. i bought the 12" and there isn't much details (obviously as a bootleg record is quite illegal). it is a four track 12" (other tracks include a dr. dre bootie and a destiny's child bootie (i think)). the artist is aldo vanucci (i think) and there is a link on the record sleeve: www.aldovanucci.co.uk "

(Thanks WC)

"The Scottish punk/rock band Idlewild (reasonably well known here in the UK), have got a live cover of 'Boys Don't Cry' avaliable on MP3 (on Audiogalaxy at least!). Roddy Woomble (the lead singer) is a big fan (even if he does forget the lyrics half way through the cover), and has often talked of his love for the albums '3 Imaginary Boys' and '17 Seconds'."

(Thanks Guv'nor Humbles)

"30/03/2002 The Essence (http://www.theessence.myweb.nl/) performed in Rockz (http://www.rockz.nl) in Leidschendam, The Netherlands. Their setlist: the one, the cat, tears, out of grace, taking on the world, mary my prayer, radiosong, only for you, kashmirsong, a mirage, u2 II, so, do re mi, oasis, the deathcell, endless lakes. After playing these songs they did 2 Cure songs: Lovesong and A Night Like This. They said they never done cure songs live before, but it sounded really great and cure-like!"

(Thanks Edwin)

"TOTP: You mention in your biography that you noticed a lot of English bands when you were growing up. If you could pick anything from the TOTP archives, who would you choose?

Shakira: Almost all my favourite bands are British for some reason. The Cure. I love the Cure. So, I’ll go for ‘Love Cats’. "

(Thanks Pablo)

"I was flicking through the channels of normal Tv here in England and a programme on Itv called The All Star Animal Awards was on.Mel B(of the spice girls) introduced Shauna Lowry(off a programme called Animal Hospital) and some guy off coronation street(popular soap).To get to the point they came on to "Lovecats" by The Cure (obviously). They then presented this years cutest animal or something of that dirge, but it got interuppted by a news bulletin about the Queen Mum (she has died) so they could have gone off to it I don't know."

(Thanks Hannah)

"Kind of a Cure tie in....After A Few Good Men ended the other night on TBS, I was in the other room and heard a familiar piece. It was Adagio for Strings, by Barber, the same piece The Cure used as the opener for the Dream Tour. It is the opening music for the movie, Platoon, as well. Kinda took me back a little...."

(Thanks Jewelsrock)