April 28th

(Thanks to Trevin and Bill for the files)



"I met Rollo Armstrong today at the studio where I work, and at one point he mentioned that Faithless were gearing up for a new album and had many collaborations planned including Robert Smith. Don't know if this is old news or not, but I wanted to let you know to look out for that."





"Here in France, just like heaven is on a new 6 cds compilation (100 songs) produced by Les Inrocuptibles magazine celebrating their 20 years birthday and spanning over all this period up to this day and covering all kind of music (french groups, world, electro, and so on) and sold exclusively at Fnac stores (fnac.com)

Les Inrockuptibles - Coffret Exclusivité Fnac 20 ans - 6 CD - 39,99 euros

disc 1 is for the nostlagic ones...
1. There is a light that never goes out (The Smiths)
2. Some Candy talking (The Jesus and Mary Chain)
3. C'mon every beatbox (Big Audio Dynamite)
4. Pump up the volume (M/A/R/R/S)
5. Birthday (The Sugarcubes)
6. Just like heaven (The Cure)
7. Where is my mind? (Pixies)
8. Everyday is like Sunday (Morrissey)
9. Was there anything i could do? (The Go-Betweens)
10. The mercy seat (Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds)
11. Express yourself (N.W.A.)
12. I wanna be adored (The Stone Roses)
13. Oh! Brother (The Fall)
14. Dirty boots (Sonic Youth)
15. There she goes (The La's)
16. The only I know (The Charlatans)
17. Groove is in the heart (Dee-Lite)"

(Thanks Fabien G)



"http://curehead-il.net is an Israeli petition to bring The Cure to Israel. It is meant only for Israelis, and is in Hebrew, but we thought we'd let The Cure community know. Please notify your Israeli friends!

Sorry to bug you with this yet again, but I just discovered it this morning, in Israel's Time Out wannabe, which is actually quite popular.




If possible, please include: "I (gady b) am happy with this article, but had nothing to do with the article details and definitely didn't mention Morrissey (basic diplomacy ;))."

Here's a translation, the first line is the title, and the paragraph after it is the subheading:

A Cure for the plague
With all due respect to Black Eyed Peas and Fifty Cent, Gady Brinker wants to see The Cure here. So he put up a site and is collecting signatures.

Amongst all the questionnaires, surveys, monthly payments, club membership cards, credit card receipts and all the other things we are asked to sign every single day, one man, named Gady Brinker, comes up and asks you to sign something truly sane - a request to bring The Cure to Israel.
Brinker, a longtime faithful fan, set up a website for this purpose, where he explains that if many signatures will be collected there is a chance that
The Cure (or one of the local booking agents) might get interested enough to put some effort in a live performance to Israeli Cure fans. The plea isn't so baseless. The Cure, during the 25 years of their existence, sold about half a million albums in Israel, and it is quite certain that 10-20 thousand people will come to see their show here. "Even if eventually they won't come, at least we'll express our gratitude and our love", Brinker explains on the site. Btw, Morrissey, who is setting out on a world tour nowadays, expressed in an American music magazine, without any relation to a petition or any other local initiative, an interest to perform live in Israel. If we must, we'll find consolation with him. We wish amen.
Anyway, come give a hand at www.curehead-il.net

(Avi S. Goldberger)

Rating Magazine, 17.4.06"

(Thanks Gady B.)



"We have some news here. Please read and keep on pigging.
 
1. We have unified all deadlines: every Cure cover for The Pink Pig Update must be delivered to our headquarters by May 15th. Please note that if we have not received your version and, besides, we don´t know anything from you (via e-mail) we´ll make your song available for reservation again on May 16th. So please, if you have any inconvenience and need more time or any kind of help, please write.

2. The Pink Pig Update web page has been updated, with news and the state of the nation at this very moment. Check it at    www.pinkpigupdate.com.ar or at www.pinkpig.com.ar

3. The web site of the new born band (a son of Pink Pig, we may say) The Tibetan Book of the Pigs, has been launched. You can hear the very first ´Pink Pig´ songs we have received, and read about the project and its first band members at www.tibetanbookofpigs.com.ar

4. A reminder about The Tibetan Book of the Pigs: the idea is that all of us involved in the recording of Cure covers for Pink Pig write and record at least one song titled ´Pink Pig´ to submit to the project and become a band member. If everyone get involved in this, believe us that is gonna be fun and we´ll give Robert another big surprise and a marvelous gift. Please, come on! Do it!

Any question, any suggestion: e-mail us!
 
Thanks again for being there with us. Please take care"
 
(Thanks Germán and Juan José)



"It's david henretta from Sons of Godzilla again, we have a live video of us performing  "a Forest"  live on our site, www.myspace.com/thesonsofgodzilla"

(Thanks David)



"Israel's largest repository of Music Criticism (more than a thousand album reviews in Hebrew!), The Blind Janitor, published a list of '10 albums you need by The Cure' - http://hasharat.co.il/html/10uneed_32.php"

(Thanks Gady B.)

From the Charleston Post and Courier

On using the Internet to connect with fans: "I think it's an important way to stay in touch. We try to find creative ways to do it on our Web site ? journals, Q&As. We knew people were going to freak out that we were playing bigger rooms, we knew there were going to be certain reactions, so we took a poll on our Web site: 'What's most important to you?' People said floor space in general admission sections and ticket prices.

"It was a conversation, which is rare. I'm a big fan of (the Cure's) Robert Smith, there was never a point where I could have had that kind of contact. There was no way to reach him."

(Thanks Tempest)

"Yesterday (saturday), on french tv channel Canal + program '+ clair', they had a small report about tv novelas and as background music they used 'the blood'."

(Thanks Fabien G)

April 19th

World Premiere of The Truth In Me live !

Well 5 songs anyway , hello everyone. Sorry it's been a while since I sent out a letter, lots of things going on , mostly business so not very exciting. I'm in New York City for a week right now doing press and interviews and promo for the release of my record on May 16th . Everything is going really well and the response from everyone thats heard the record has been amazing, I'll attach the first review at the bottom of this from SLUG magazine in Salt Lake City. I got Jimmy Tamborello's remix and it's amazing , totally different from the original song and I will be releasing that with the first single. Big news is tomorrow night I'm doing a live session on the Pat Duncan show on WFMU in New Jersey and it also streams on the internet through www.wfmu.org, its a bit tricky to find the link but its in there somewhere. Also if you miss that it will be a podcast  quite soon . It's the first time I've played these songs live and I am a little nervous haha to say the least , in fact i think I'm beginning to hallucinate but hey it's all part of the fun right ? The show starts at 11pm and I will play from 11.15 to 11.45 , hope you can tune in and let me know what you think and wether I really should consider a career change to mail man or something haha ... love Roger

And here's the review from SLUG magazine:

RogerO’Donnell
TheTruthinMe
99x/10
Street: 05.16
 
Roger O’Donnell = Brian Eno eating at  an airport with Philip Glass, William Orbit a moog and a brown bag stolen from Hunter S. Thompson.
For most, the use of analog keyboards is an afterthought, a underscoring that has more to do with atmosphere than it does to actual musicianship. On The Truth in Me O’Donnell discards this lazy misconception and converts his custom Moog Voyager into a waterlogged symphony. It is a tricky album to review because inevitably there will be listeners who will expect something that sounds like the keyboard lines from The Cure, Thompson Twins or Psychedelic Furs. Others will be put off because it is at the core an experimental album that has more to do with minimalism, repetition and minor distortions in sound than it does with pop charts or anything on the radio. Some might even mistakingly disregard it as some dodgy new-age album. If this is new-age, it’s the avant-garde end of the scale where Yanni and Jim Brickman dare not go. It’s like trying to compare Coltrane to Kenny G, George Bush to George Washington; you’d never mistake one for the other. Nonetheless in all of this experimentation there are more “traditional” songs like “For the Truth in You,” “This Grey Morning” and the nearly-a-pop-song “Treasure,” where guest vocalist Erin Lang is given a chance to show why anticipation for her forthcoming album is building. Others looking for more experimentation than structure should be directed to lengthy tracks “He Sent You Angels” and “…And So I Closed My Eyes.” Those determined to find traces of The Cure can look to “My Days,” which recalls the exotic mood of The Cure’s “Like Cockatoos” mixed with Yaz’s “Tuesday” and impressively pulls it off. Call it psychedelic Moog-rock, the sort of thing Future Sound of London tried to pull off on their last album with limited success. In The Truth in Me, the less adventurous take caution; the rest of you, enjoy.

Yeah, like I've been saying for the last year or so, it's a brilliant album! : ) Congratulations again to Roger. He has put so much into this album, and it's so nice to see it all coming together for him. 



"Back in February I emailed you that I saw The Dreaming live, new band of ex-Stabbing Westward singer Christopher Hall, and that they played a cover of the Cure's 'Let's Go to Bed.'  Well, now they have a studio recording of that cover and you can download it from their myspace website: www.myspace.com/thedreaming.  On the whole, I think it's a good cover."

(Thanks Carlos)

"We are "thedrowningmen", a dark-pop new-wave band from Rome (Italy) and we have played in a recent concert in Rome a cover-tribute of
Going Nowhere (version semi-acoustic performancefor rtl2 radio) of the CURE.

This is the page containing the file: www.myspace.com/thedrowningmen."

(Thanks d.)

"The Cure vs. Dubstar - vocal Sarah Blackwood : http://www.thanksforthecheese.net/picturesofdubstar.mp3"
 
(Thanks Dark24)

"Just wanted to let you know we're having a Birthday Bash for Robert Smith at FUNERAL this Friday complete with "look alike" on stage joining The Last Dance. Birthday cake, rare CD's and other birthday gifts for everyone..

CURE FANS: DON'T MISS THE FUNERAL PARTY!

http://www.bubastis.com/funeral

FUNERAL IS HELD AT:
"THE TIKI ROOM"
235 W. 2nd ST.
POMONA, CA 91769
(In the Arts Colony across from the Glass House)
EXIT ON GAREY AVE. FROM THE 60 OR 10 freeways

(Thanks Veronika)


"I'm hosting a cure party in LA. I was hoping you could post the event info on you site. Here are the details:

Event: A special benefit show for Amnesty International, in honor of Robert Smith's Birthday.

Talent: The Curse (Cure tribute Band), Dj's Miracle Matt & Ricky Robles (all Cure Set)

Place: Knitting Factory Hollywood, 7021 Hollywood Blvd. CA.

Date & Time: Sunday, April 23rd. Doors open at 7:30pm, Show starts at 8pm.

Tickets: $15 ADV/ $20 DOS

Show Ages: All

Giveaways: Posters, Autographed join the dots boxset, & the remastered cd's three imaginary boys, faith, seventeen seconds, & pornography.

(Thanks Ricky)

"The Cure Portugal, the Portuguese The Cure community, would like to invite any Cure fan around for a The Cure party in Porto, Portugal on
May 6. The city where "The Blood Of Christ" comes from. So you can even try to drink a bottle like Robert did :p
The place is called CAOS and the street is "Rua Ferreira Borges". I'll be one of the djs, so you can expect only the best. hehe If you're interested and if you want to know more about it please feel free to email me."
 
(Thanks Sandro)

April 11th

(Thanks Chrissy)

April 9th

Update: And thanks to Bill, you can now just download the Robert interview bit as an MP3.

(Thanks Rob)



"As you remember The Cure played last summer in Benicassim Festival, in Spain. Well, now its time for Benicassim DVD, and The Cure are include
in with: "Play For Today", "Friday Im In Love" and "Boys Don't Cry". DVD Benicassim Episodio 3, will be available april 20th at www.fiberfib.com/fibshop.

More info in: www.fiberfib.com/dvd/2005."

(Thanks to Manuel of Cure Nius)



"There is currently a photo exhibition going on in at Cafe Junction in Berlin, featuring photos from 15 years of  punk - included are the cure...
http://www.junction-bar.de/junction/ausstellung%20raven.htm (click  on the gallery link + in the left menu you can see the picture amonst other late 70es / early 80es gems.)"

(Thanks Dennis)



From The Independent

"Last time I (or, for that matter, anyone in Britain) saw Brian Molko onstage was at Wembley two years ago, duetting with Robert Smith on "Boys Don't Cry". Smith was a shuffling, mumbling creature, while Molko hogged the vocals. At the time it felt odd, but in retrospect it looks like the symbolic passing of the torch.

In the second decade of their career, it now looks as though Placebo, like The Cure, are shaping up to be evergreen dinosaurs of alternative rock."


From the St. Albans Observer

"The list of the acts in comedy night The Book Club makes unusual reading. Readings from the autobiography of Syd Litte, a man playing covers of Radiohead songs on an accordian, another pretending to be Cure singer Robert Smith riding a skateboard and a third who bangs nails up his nose."

(Thanks Tempest)

April 7th

Bob's still a Cure for all!
06 April 2006

FOR a band who formed nearly 30 years ago, and who have been written off more times than they or we could care to mention, I am delighted to report that everyone's favourite miserable sods The Cure are still with us and laughing as they go.

By way of proof, Robert Smith and his band of groove merchants proved the undoubted stars of this year's series of Terrence Higgins Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall.

Climaxing the event after a week that featured young pretenders like the excellent Bloc Party and the less than excellent Razorlight, Smith revelled in his role of elder statesman, playing a blistering set of Cure classics from 1979 debut album Three Imaginary Boys through to their last offering, 2004's eponymous album that marked a return to form for The Cure and the first signs of this new happier outlook.

As Smith said: "It sounds like I'm talking about some kind of weird group therapy, but making that album really changed my attitude to what we do. I expect so much more of us now.

"The performances on The Cure are so emotionally driven, largely because we recorded the songs live in the studio, which is something we hadn't done since our very first album."

The original line-up, then known as Easy Cure, came together at school in Crawley.

Smith was the much-loved child of a happy family but, even then, his imagination was being fired by deeper, darker things.

And it is those thoughts that set Three Imaginary Boys apart from some of the other more formulaic albums of the time. The power and the energy were certainly punk, but the songs came from the dark nether regions of Smith's mind.

"I had been reading books, books that maybe I shouldn't have been reading - books that hinted at despair and disintegration..."

By the time of their first UK hit single, the haunting lopealong anthem, A Forest, the bassist Michael Dempsey had departed, replaced by Simon Gallup who, with Smith, has remained the band's most constant member.

Second album Seventeen Seconds (1980), confirmed what the discerning had already realised - The Cure were here to stay.

Making albums of such nerve-shredding intensity, however, was taking its toll not just on a chemical-addled Smith but on those around him. Keyboardist Matthieu Hartley, jumped ship in 1981 and even Gallup found it impossible to remain in Smith's orbit.

Bizarrely, and although the band was only really Smith and original drummer-turned-keyboardist, Lol Tolhurst, the next batch of singles were to be some of the most upbeat.

Let's Go To Bed was a deceptively light-hearted pop romp. The Walk effortlessly ripped off New Order all the way to No.12 in the charts, and Lovecats went even higher.

He could see stardom beckoning, and was having no part of it. Instead of capitalising on The Cure's biggest chart successes to date, he offered up the unyieldingly weird album The Top, fuelled, it is said, by massive amounts of mushroom tea.

It wasn't until 1985, with the return of Gallup, Porl Thompson and new drummer Boris Williams that stability returned to the group. And, that July, when In Between Days appeared as the next single, it was evident that much had been learned along the way.

Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me became their most successful album internationally, providing a bumper crop of hit singles including Just Like Heaven, which Smith calls: "The best pop song The Cure has ever done. All the sounds meshed, it was one take, and it was perfect."

But 1989's Disintegration was altogether more uncompromising. An artistic triumph, it was their bleakest album since Pornography.

The 1990s were spent with sporadic hit-and-runs into the charts. And that, many thought, would be it.

Smith admits: "I was really adamant that the next thing I would do would be a solo album, and the others were expecting that too."

That plan was shelved in 2002, when Smith met up with lifelong Cure fan and legendary producer Ross Robinson.

"He re-awakened all the old passion for The Cure that was dormant in me; he reminded why people love what we do so much."

Working in London's Olympic studios through the spring of 2004, Robinson coaxed and cajoled the most intense performances out of the band.

"He made a very firm stipulation that I must sing live as the band played, because the response I get from the band playing live is different from what happens if we record the parts separately.

"The moment I start singing for real, everyone steps up. I'd never really noticed it like that before, but it's the main reason why the performances on this album are different from anything we've recorded in the past."

With a new album hinted at for later this year, and a global three album deal signed with Geffen, one can only hope that Bob and the boys can continue to hit such heights for a long time to come.

Severin also has been shepherding a reissue of 1983's "Blue Sunshine," his lone album with the Cure's Robert Smith as the Glove. The set is tentatively due in July to coincide with a new round of Cure reissues. The album's bonus material will comprise "rough mixes" of songs with Smith singing "all the guide vocals," according to Severin.

"(Fiction label head) Chris Parry strictly forbade Robert from singing on the final album, but we managed to sneak him onto two tracks under the proviso that neither was to be released as singles," Severin said.

Severin also said Smith was quite eager to work on the reissue. "In fact, in many ways he's driven it!" he added. "I think it's been a bit of a mission on his part. He desperately wanted to sing on the album at the time, so getting the chance to release this 'alternative version' has become his personal quest, I think."

And while Severin nixed any thoughts of a one-off concert to celebrate "Blue Sunshine," both he and Smith are in preliminary discussions about recording a new album together. "I'm thinking more prequel than sequel," Severin said. "You know, what led to the Glove being so disturbed."

(Thanks Anah and Jody)



(Thanks Hellboy)



(Thanks Joe)



"I've been going through old tapes of my brother's, and found his original band's live covers of Disintegration and Lullaby. Disintegration is particularly good.

Both can be found in the Music section of http://www.gronk.co.uk under the title of Bekynton Bowl (live)."

(Thanks Chris)



"Saw the poster for this in Ressorrection Records yesterday, a bit thin on the info but here's their web-site / flyer.
http://www.dancefloorpoison.com/news.htm"

(Thanks Dan)



"Martin Gilkes, former drummer of The Wonderstuff tragically dies in an accident - http://www.nme.com/news/wonder-stuff/22694
He played the drums on some WMS Sessions if I remember correctly. The Wonderstuff were a great band, especially their album 'Hup' was one
of my favourites. He will be sadly missed"

(Thanks Steven and Neil)



"This is a little old but you can still hear it archived in:  From WBEZ in Chicago | This American Life <http://www.thislife.org/>
 
Again on NPR and again at 2pm MST (Boise) on Friday, 31 March.  The program was This American Life.  The show was called Mind Games.  In the first segment of the show a girl tells about writing a letter to a writer in a Magazine.  A few notes of Close to Me are played in the background during this segment.  In the next segment a guy is telling about pretending to be a big fan of an unknown band called Ghost of Pasha.  This guy refers to the experience of being at a Cure show and singing along to Just Like Heaven. "

(Thanks CrystalS)

April 3rd

'Epic' Cure show for TCT
Plus they spill beans about new record
02 April 06 - The Cure have given 6 Music an exclusive taster of their forthcoming new album.

It follows their one-off show at London's Royal Albert Hall last night (Sat) which marked the grand finale to the week-long Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) series, also featuring Goldfrapp, Bloc Party and Razorlight.

The veteran goth rockers took a break from working on the new material, to play an epic three-hour set which spanned their 30-year career and featured the return of former guitarist Porl Thompson.

Afterwards, frontman Robert Smith told 6 Music how their stripped back show - minus keyboards - was a trial for the forthcoming album:

"The idea of playing with this four-piece, without introducing other people, and recreating some of the songs with a pared down sound, is what we are all trying to do with the next record.

"We have four bits in the song and they all work so well, that we do not want any other bits. That's the point of doing this."

He revealed that they went into the studio two weeks ago, and consequently it was odd to play such a long concert that revisited all their old material.

The singer added: "But we all thought it would be a nice way to remember why we are in the studio - and I think it worked."

However, when probed about how the song's were shaping up, Robert said he hated bands who bigged up their new records.

But he did tell 6 Music they took the step of going into the studio as the band believed they "did have enough good songs for it to be worthwhile".

He added: "As to what it's like, I actually have no idea at the moment."

The following text was also in the article this morning, and has since been removed:

"6 Music can also reveal that fans who missed yesterday's sold out show will be able to catch The Cure live again before the year's out, as the
band's planning a European tour in October and November which will take in the UK.

Robert also blamed the fact they hadn't played too many shows over here in recent years - instead concentrating on the international market -
down to them not getting "a fair press" in their home country.

"There were one of two voices saying 'The Cure aren't that good, don't bother going to see them'.

"So we kind of thought playing to a half full hall somewhere in the north of England wasn't that entertaining, when we knew we could could play six nights in France in the same size venue to a full house."

He said things had changed in the last couple of years though, thanks to a raft of new bands citing The Cure as one of their influences.

(Thanks Olivier)

"The first in a series on a new Glastonbury label ("It will be like the Peel Sessions," says Henderson) will showcase Pulp and their appearances at the 1994, 1995 and 1998 festivals. More CD/DVDs are planned with Orbital, Stereophonics and Paul Weller. A 30-minute EP of the The Cure is also lined up, in spite of singer Robert Smith having been previously convinced that the 1986 performance was "never filmed", until it was discovered in a BBC archive."

(Thanks Tempest)



"VH2 (at least in the UK) are showing some Cure Videos on Friday morning. No idea which ones though."

Time: 10:00 to 11:00 (1 hour long).
When: Friday 7th April on VH2
Top 10.
Ten videos from the legendary Cure.

(Thanks Warren)



"Friday, 21.4.2006

Happy Birthday Robert!
A strange night III - The Cure Fan Party
Robert Smith, singer in the excentric British band The Cure, will the 21.4.2006 turn 47 years of age. This is a reason for us to celebrate as we´ve done in the past years! The place of the party is this time the Cassiopeia Cube, a wicked location in Berlin Friedrichshain very close to the S- and U-bahn 
station Warschauer Strasse.
Wilco & DJ Örlög  are once more responsible for the music, and apart from the unavoidable hits they will also reach deep into their music box and play B-sides, rarities, remixes, coverversions and songs of  the side projects.
Furthermore, the first 150 birthday-guests will as a small gift receive the fabulous button made specially for this party. Follow the link below and you can receive more detailed information about the party, make your music wishes online, take part in the draw.

Party infos on: http://www.goth-city-radio.com/the_cure_party"

(Thanks Wilco)



"I am in a band called Of Crime and Passion and we recently went into the studio and recorded a cover of like cockatoos as well as a number of our compositions. The url is: www.myspace.com/ofcrimeandpassion"

(Thanks Dan)


From The USA Vanguard

The song "takes its lyrical inspiration from the French history novel Les Miserables, as well as '80s icon Robert Smith," says Winder. Speaking of The Cure, one of the most potent memories I have is from the Love is Blonde's last show, in which they performed The Cure's "Lullaby."
It was done with such pensive magnetism that it melted my soul into a puddle.
You know you have seen something special when you catch yourself thinking about the experience even hours afterward.

(Thanks Tempest)



From MTV

KT Tunstall Outdoes The Cure, But Label Still Won't Trust Her

"The song wasn't originally on the album, but I got a spot on [British TV show 'Later With Jools Holland']. Nas was supposed to be on it, and his father — who was playing trumpet on the song — was ill, so Nas dropped out and gave 24 hours' notice," she said. "So I got a phone call asking if I wanted to come fill the spot. I was on tour playing distorted clarinet and tin box in my friend's punk-folk band, so I had to fly back to London. And my label asked me what I wanted to play, and I thought, 'Well, your newest song is always your best song,' and I had just written 'Black Horse,' so I just decided to play that.

"I had been playing it to audiences in coffee shops for about three months, and people had liked it, but I never got any standing ovations from the latte drinkers. But I went on the show, and I totally nailed it," she said. "And I was on the show with the Cure, Jackson Browne, Anita Baker, the Futureheads and Embrace, and the next day I win, like, 50 percent of the Internet viewers' poll, and I was like, 'Was the Cure button broken?' "

(Thanks Cure1989)


"One of the "Sisters" likes the Cure - http://www.the-sisters-of-mercy.com/gen/wwlike/listning/listning.htm"
 
(Thanks Wirebaughs)