Galore

Top 200 Albums chart : drops 8 spots to #179 (13th week)

Galore Video Collection

Top Music Videos chart : stays at #35 (11th week)

TV 's Foul-Mouthed Funnies

`South Park' kids say the %*&--est things

Sylvia Rubin, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, January 26, 1998

Last year filmmakers Trey Parker and Matt Stone made the trip from Los Angeles to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah by car.

This year they flew in by private jet. OK, it was a small jet, but what a difference a hit TV show makes.

The two are the creators of ``South Park,'' the crass cartoon about four foul-mouthed 8-year-olds that is pulling in astonishing ratings on Comedy Central.

The boys -- Kyle, Cartman, Stan and Kenny (who is killed in every episode, only to return) -- are third-graders at South Park Elementary, where it always snows, alien abductions abound, the cafeteria chef sings dirty ditties and the teacher is a bigot.

``Why do poor people always smell like sour milk?'' asks Cartman, the fat, dyspeptic one. ``I don't know, they just do,'' replies Mr. Garrison, the mentally disturbed teacher.

``What's a dildo, Kenny?'' asks Kyle, the only Jewish kid in town.

Stan, the nervous one, vomits brown goo every time he tries to speak to Wendy, the girl of his dreams.

Kenny can't speak at all because his parka perpetually covers his mouth: ``Please excuse me being late. I have explosive diarrhea,'' reads one note he brings to class.

In five months time, ``South Park'' has become Comedy Central's biggest success ever, surpassing the ratings of ``Absolutely Fabulous.'' It shouldn't be surprising that the show is rated TV-MA, for mature audiences.

The nine original episodes have been repeating endlessly since the show premiered. Four new episodes will be introduced next month, beginning at 10 p.m. February 3. ``We're writing them as fast as we can,'' said Parker.

All this attention for a half-hour of animation in which flatulence jokes are a staple and the whole thing looks as if it were drawn by a second-grader. The construction-paper cutouts look as crude as they sound, and they sound bizarre, like chipmunks on 28 cups of coffee.

``Some reporters are saying that the show is nothing but f -- jokes and racist slurs,'' said Parker. ``The show is racist in the same way that Archie Bunker was racist. South Park is a town inhabited by stupid people, and stupid people say stupid things.''

It all began in 1995, when Parker, 28, and Stone, 26, college buddies from Boulder, Colo., created a video Christmas card for a Hollywood executive called ``The Spirit of Christmas.'' The highlight of the X-rated short was a fistfight between Santa Claus and Jesus. Dupes circulated around Hollywood, which led to the Comedy Central deal.

Last Wednesday night, the men of Delta Upsilon at the University of California at Berkeley gathered in front of their 72-inch screen. Big beer steins on their laps, they settled in for another rerun.

``The show is so funny because here are these tiny little kids saying these outrageous things,'' said Ali Jabbari, a sophomore. ``It's so anti- PC,'' said Ryan Kirchner, a junior, ``which I love, because we are so bombarded with PC stuff here.''

``South Park'' fans include a nation of fraternity brothers, high schoolers and celebrities such as George Clooney (who supplied the voice of the gay dog, Sparky, in one episode) and soul singer Isaac Hayes, who just signed on for 20 new episodes, continuing his role as the voice of the lascivious Chef.

``You've got to hold your football like you hold your lover,'' he tells the third-graders at practice. ``Firm, yet gentle.''

He sings racy R&B in every episode: ``I'm gonna lay you down by the yule log, I'm gonna love you right,'' he croons at the school Christmas play. ``You can hear the herald angels sing when I'm slipping off your bra.''

While much of the ``South Park'' humor is deep in the toilet, the boys also look at homophobia, euthanasia, starving children, the religious right. And no celebrity is safe.

``Hey, Ike, do your impression of David Caruso's career,'' says Kyle to his little brother, who then nose- dives from a rooftop into a snowdrift and disappears.

Since October, the show has averaged about 2.3 million viewers an episode in a cable universe of about 46 million homes. Current advertisers include Volkswagen, MCI and Snapple. Merchandise tie-ins include millions of T-shirts, bumper stickers, calendars and baseball caps. In the works: a movie based on the show.

Parker can now create a dream list of celebrities for voice-overs and usually get them. ``Our first choice was Natasha Henstridge from `Species,' '' said Parker. ` `Species' sucked, but she is so hot.'' She will be the voice of a substitute teacher.

Robert Smith of the band the Cure has also signed up. ``We wanted him, and a week later he is in the studio,'' Parker said. ``That is the best part about all of this. I literally had sweaty palms. I made a total a-- out of myself.

``And Sundance this year was pretty cool, too. All we did was party and get drunk.''

Parker and Stone are now starring in their first film, ``BASEketball,'' by ``Airplane'' director David Zucker. ``It's the story of a couple of slackers who invent a stupid game that becomes the biggest thing in the country,'' said Parker. ``Kind of like us.''

SOUTH PARK: The show airs at 10 p.m. Wednesday nights on the Comedy Central cable network.

"Just thought you all might like to know that the cure are on MTV Europe on sat 31st o' january..at 730pm.....it just says 'the cure galore'.maybe its just gonna be vids off 'galore' who knows"

The theme of this month's Q Magazine issue (Feb. 98) was top 100 bands ever and in a small section in the corner of the page was... The Cure didn't chart in this poll but there was a section, "20 Leading Artists You Clearly Forgot To Vote For". Here was a picture of Robert with a little sentence "The Cure's Robert Smith: no longer in your thougts."

Also in this category were Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, Simple Minds, and others that I don't care to mention here.

In addition to this was a review of the Galore video with a couple of video still pics. So here it is:

The Cure: 10 glorious years of dressing like performing monkeys.

Rock videos aren't much fun to make- all that stopping and starting and eating from the outdoor catering van halfway up a Welsh hill. The Cure, to their credit, and contrary to their glummo image, have always managed to enjoy themselves on the promo treadmill. If you have to play the performing monkey in the name of marketing, at least dress up like one.

This 10-year stretch in front of the camera picks up where the video Staring At The Sea left off in 1986, and does a parallel job: visual companion to the greatest hits; commemoration of a decade in The Cure's long life. In chapter one, we saw Robert Smith and co. transformed by fairy godmother and promo whizz Tim Pope from Polytechnic Of Post-Punk pouters into fancy dress party boys. We left them fannying around in a wardrobe for Close To Me. Galore picks up with Why Can't I Be You?- still one of The Cure's finest filmic moments, and a hard act-like-idiots to follow. Here- and you may assume Pope is at the helm unless otherwise stated- Smith is seen dressed in a bear suit and school uniform; the others play, variously, Humpty Dumpty, Dracula, and Al Jolson. The choreographer was not Paula Abdul, and the effect is of grown men at play school. Incorrigible.

Dressing up recurs throughout these 17 videos, notably in Never Enough (a freak show- unsavoury proprietor: Fiction boss Chris Parry), Friday, I'm In Love (an amateur dramatics piss-up, replete with Indian waiter wheeling on a tray of onion bhajis), Lullaby (spidery nightmare) and Mint Car (you name it, they wear it). Mr Benn would be proud of these films, and they rather show up the stopgap, wind-machine concert vids (Gone, Letter To Elise, Fascination Street). The one constant is Robert Smith, repeatedly breaking fashion's suit-and-trainers law, and forever looking to one side. He can't still be embarrassed to be here after 20 years (though with that hair at 38, perhaps he should be), yet the onscreen persona remains one of awkward shuffler.

There is a touch of Madness here, but with its shirt hanging out (and look out for cameos by Sean Hughes and Rob Newman, as if to make the we-like-a-laugh-point). Endearing or infuriating will depend on your feelings towards The Cure. "Is there room in your life for one more trip to the moon?" asks Smith in the finale, Wrong Number (video: worms, voodoo, only one survivor- Simon Gallup- from Why Can't I Be You?), and age seems to be setting in finally. Hooray that they fended it off for this long. Who knows? Maybe the next 10 years' worth will be all supermodels and deserts.

Four Stars (Andrew Collins)

I pulled this from the AP Wires.

February 18 - "Mecha Streisand"

While on a class trip, the boys find a magical amulet that can be used to create ultimate evil. As the gang prepares for battle, Leonard Maltin comes to the rescue and teams with Chef to save the boys, but it is Robert Smith of The Cure (appearing as his animated-self) who comes to battle the threatening force.

(1/11/98) - On February 18th, the Cure's Robert Smith will receive the great honor of being the first rock star to appear on Comedy Central's controversial hit cartoon South Park (except, of course, for Isaac Hayes, who provides the voice for the randy ladies' man Chef on the weekly series, and Primus, who perform the show's theme song). South Park's creator's Trey Parker and Matt Stone are apparently huge Cure fans, though you gotta wonder if the real reason they asked Smith to be the show's first musical guest star is because the pointy shape of his hairstyle is the easiest to cut out of construction paper.

Galore

Top 200 Albums chart : drops 15 spots to #171 (12th week)

Galore Video Collection

Top Music Videos chart : drops 9 spots to #35 (10th week)

Wrong Number

Wrong Number has fallen off the Modern Rock Tracks chart after 15 weeks.It peaked at #8.

"in the FEB 98' issue of SPIN there is a small picture of the Cure and a blurb that reads..

Lipstick Traces: If Goth-pop king Robert Smith hates fashion culture so much, why is he still wearing hair spray and lipstick? Find out on Februrary 6, when the Cure frontman fills SPINonline in on his foray into "cross dance" music and why he considers Hanson "far more subversive" than his own band."

"Southpark is on SBS on Saturday nights (don't know what time though, probably about 8pm). "

"If for some reason you don't have access to South Park because of location, no cable, etc, you can download (or stream) the episodes off of the internet, in RealPlayer format. Check out:

http://httpsrv.ocs.drexel.edu/undergrad/st96n6qy/

Also, the guy who maintains this page is apparently a Cure fan (whoohoo!). It says that eps are uploaded a few days after their inital airing."

Galore

Top 200 Albums chart : drops 7 spots to #156 (11th week)

Galore Video Collection

Top Music Videos chart : drops 4 spots to #26 (9th week)

Wrong Number

Modern Rock Tracks chart: drops 2 spots to #30 (15th week)

o.k. - i know youve all been waiting for this - wait no longer! (quite up the back there)......

The sound on this october 31st 1997 boot is very good - id give it 8 to 9 - definitely soundboard (it says this on the cover - but i didnt believe em). Overall this is a pretty good boot - however it is missing any different kind of songs - that is the big problem. Basically i had to buy this as no one else had, to get the track list - its not my turn next time! Most of the songs sound quite fresh - it was obviously a good night. Anyway - buy it if you like the singles - if not - well..maybe trade, or have a big bowl of froot loops.

WARNING!!! the following contains some of roberts "quotes" (which always make a boot interesting in my view) - if you dont want to see these (and spoil it just in case you want to buy this)- LOOK AWAY NOW!!!

Here's my "notes"....

Why cant i be you - bit sick of this - better when drunk

just likeheaven - had a weird flange effect on guitars at start - "you" chorus 1st - "you you you" at end

Fasc street - v. good - great sound good drumming - pretty groovy

lullaby - diff guitar solo - bout time!~!- "dead halloween that one"

High - keyboard doing the higher guitar bit at start - bit cheesy

hot hot hot - robert made a mistake launching into the "feeling!!" bit at end of only the second chorus - oops! - "it my first scary mistake of the evening" (aaagh so *thats* where the bootleggers got the idea - clever arent they?!)

mint car - "this is my worked out bit between songs that noone can understand including me"

never enough - classic start! sounds good - probly jazzy keyboard makes it very diff "the disadvantage of doing 20 interviews in a day is that i cant fucking sing"

a letter - great to hear

the walk - boring (unless drunk - at a stretch)

pictures - seemed *very slow* - still good

close to me - good drum beat - wah wah solo! "crumbs we swing sometimes!"

lets go to bed - quite good (even when sober!)

lovesong - launched straight into it, no announce - pretty good

Jumping - get about 10 seconds!! - bastard bootleggers - why couldnt they scrap the walk or something instead of this "tease" Hmm......"that was better than my jokes"

Wrong number - coool start!! i love that pop will eat itself little drum role

ibd - some bad feedback - they faded it out at end - no "bye" :(

WILL ROBERT SMITH KILL KENNY?

Will it be a bludgeoning by guitar? Strangulation in a wedding dress? Molten mascara poured into the eyes? Fans of The Cure and cult cartoon hit South Park will collide Feb. 18 when Robert Smith guest stars on the show. If you're not down with the Park, know that the betting pools on whether Smith kills Kenny (a character who gets wiped out in some disaster each week) are already circulating the Chart office. Other things to look for are whether Smith calls anyone a "bastard" or if character Kyle calls him a "bastard."

Brad Kava in today's (Wednesday, January 7) San Jose Mercury News ranked the top 10 Bay Area concerts of 1997.

His list:

1. Marilyn Manson 2. THE CURE 3. The Artist 4. Banco de Gaia 5. World Party 6. Fleetwood Mac 7. The Bridge School Benefit 8. Los Lobos 9. Dave Mathews 10. David Bowie

He wrote a rather generic explanation next to the Cure:

2. The Cure, San Jose Event Center, December: Taking a strange, fascinating turn, leader Robert Smith has turned these Brit pop pioneers into a jam band, stretching songs, improvising and playing wicked guitar. They were so good at this show, I didn't notice that David Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabriels sneaked on for the last four songs.

The Cure will be featured in the Spin Session show sponsored by Westwood One the week of January 22, 1998. Spin Session is 60 minutes of conversation, candid rare insights, and live in-studio performances.

Stations this can be found on:

Galore

Top 200 Albums chart : up 12 spots to #149 (10th week)

Galore Video Collection

Top Music Videos chart : up 4 spots to #22 (8th week)

Wrong Number

Modern Rock Tracks chart: up 1 spot to #28 with a bullet (14th week)

The Cure's Robert Smith to Make South Park Appearance

If U2, Green Day, Willie Nelson, and Ani DiFranco making appearances on weekly animated series isn't enough for you, now Robert Smith is getting into the act. The Cure frontman is appearing on Comedy Central's South Park, playing himself. The show, which follows the misadventures of four lovably foul-mouthed elementary school students, regularly features the vocal talents of Isaac Hayes, and has had such guest stars as George Clooney and John Ritter. Smith recorded his lines during the Cure's recent West Coast dates, and the episode is slated to air on February 18. This isn't the first musical connection for South Park—after all, Primus recorded the show's theme song.

On Feb. 18, Robert Smith of the Cure "will battle an evil foe of giant proportions" on Comedy Central's "South Park," the show's publicist Sharon Levi told JAMTV.

"'South Park's' co-founder, Trey Parker, is a huge fan of the Cure," Levi said. "He thought of approaching Smith on a whim; he figured it would be a really cool thing to do."

Smith, who will play himself on the show,had never seen "South Park" before Parker sent him a copy of some episodes.Upon watching the animated show, Smith was very entertained and quickly accepted their offer, according to Cure publicist Michael Pagnotta.

"South Park" producers sent Smith the script while he was on tour in support of the Cure's latest compilation, Galore, and he recorded the voice-overs in a San Francisco studio. "He's never done anything like this before," chuckled Pagnotta.

The show's creators have no immediate plans to bring other celebrities into the fold, although several have expressed interest. Still, according to Levi, "anything is possible in the world of 'South Park.'"

The Cure recently finished recording the music to their new studio album and are waiting for Smith to complete the lyrics. Look for a release in late Spring. (Isaac Josephson)

The Cure's Robert Smith Guests On South Park

The Cure's Robert Smith is the latest musician to guest star on the hottest new aminated show around, Comedy Central's South Park. The episode features Smith paying himself (he doesn't sing, though) and will air Feb. 18. The show's creators -- big Cure fans -- contacted Smith at the Cure's appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in October, and Smith taped his voice-over during their recent radio station Christmas shows tour. There's no further news on the next Cure album or B-sides collection that Smith told allstar about in October; the band is still in the studio and shooting for a late spring release for the new material.

CURIOSITY, a very good cover band, plays The Cure the 23rd January in Liège.

Place: Bâton Rouge, rue St Gilles, 28, 4000 Liège/Luttich (Belgium).

Time: gig begins at 10 PM.

Be careful: only around 80 people in this small venue.

Galore

Top 200 Albums chart : drops 6 spots to #161 (9th week)

Galore Video Collection

Top Music Videos chart : holds at #26 (7th week)

Wrong Number

Modern Rock Tracks chart: drops 6 spots to #29 (13th week)