"the announcement I've heard several times this morning goes something like, tonight at 11 live music from stereophonics, the cure, super furry animals, and another band I forget but it made the assortment even odder. they haven't said what it will be, or what sort of format it might take (like say, some tracks from show as opposed to that beer concert in entirety), but if you get xfm it might be worth it to listen. so that's today, wednesday, on london's 104.9 london's xfm."
 
 

"It's been 19 years since the Cure's first release and Robert Smith is still smearing his lipstick and eye shadow, teasing his thinning blackened hair, singing mawkish pop songs ever-so-lovingly, and otherwise wearing his sensitive soul on his black sleeves. SPINonline's Andy Gensler caught up with the man in black following a surprise show with Hole in London on October 11."

ROBERT SMITH: Boys Still Cry

SPINonline: Your show tonight was a far cry from the notoriously cynical, non- reactive London crowds I've been hearing about. The crowd was going nuts throughout the entire set.

Robert Smith: We were really, really nervous in a way that I'm never normally nervous. We didn't know how they were going to react because they didn't know it was us. They had just seen Hole and that was a good show, and they're there waiting and wondering who's the next band? Normally the audience knows it's you, so they're with you from the start. When we walked on and got this incredible reaction, it really shocked me--it was almost like a Cure audience. The first five rows knew all the songs and were singing along.

You kind of forget how much the Cure means to a lot of people. We're not really hip and we haven't been for years but we still have a really strong, hardcore following. There's a lot of kids who hear younger bands name-check us so they come and see what we're about and you have to prove yourselves to them. This is kind of like that but more difficult because you don't know if it's going to be a thousand people in lumberjack shirts going, "Who are these guys?" It kind of helped to listen to Hole. I wasn't allowed to go down and watch, in case someone saw me, but they got a good reaction. I was listening on the stairs. But Hole's thing is kind of aimed at a more alternative American audience.

How did you like being paired with Hole?

I thought it was good actually. Bowie playing with the Chemical Brothers is a really good pairing because it's unexpected--in normal life it wouldn't happen. Garbage playing with the Chili Peppers was good because they wouldn't normally support the Chili Peppers. Hole playing with us--there are similarities, maybe not musical, but certainly I think in our backgrounds and attitudes there's a kind of continuity. There's certain things I like about them; I don't know if they like anything about us. It's better than having two bands who are obviously paired together. The whole point of it being a surprise thing is that some people are gonna go away preferring Hole, some preferring the Cure, and some wishing they'd seen something else entirely. But there's some who would never go to a Cure concert who will go home and think, "I like that band." You could see people in the audience being won over. It takes only one song--"Just like Heaven" is kind of a turning point. You see people think, "I like that song."

Yeah, why does that song make me cry every time I hear it?

It's one of those songs that we're kind of lucky to have. That song of all the songs we do provokes an emotional response from the audience. We always play songs like "Just Like Heaven." It's fu**ed if you play a concert and don't play the songs that people want to hear. But tonight we played a couple of songs that even Cure fans would be stuck to recognize.

How come you stopped playing "Love Cats"?

They [the band] can't play it. Did you ask the band that?

Yeah, they just said they hadn't done it for years.

Yeah we did it and was f***ing awful. They're not a jazz band--there's no rhythm.

Your voice seems to impact people more than most singers. Why do you think that is?

I don't think it's just my voice; it's mixed in with a lot of different things. Not to be big headed, but I think I sing better than I used to I used to sing--with my back to the audience, not through trying to be weird, but I was really embarrassed to be singing to an audience. I honestly used to be so embarrassed about singing that the first five or six years of doing it was painful, really painful. Then I kind of got halfway, then I got full face, and now I've gone through the phase of being a pop star. I felt almost uncomfortable doing the encores, but I was kind of half drunk enough to enjoy it. The new stuff we're doing now is much heavier though.

Was that from the new record you are recording in Bath, England?

We've done the first part of it and now we're going to Ireland to finish it off.

How does the new record compare to Wild Mood Swings?

I think it's totally different and more difficult for the others in the band. Wild Mood Swings was a band thing. This album I've gone back to being kind of the dictator figure because I know exactly how I want it to be. On the last album there was discussion and give and take and now there isn't. I want it to sound a certain way. I want it to be a short album--45 minutes full of heavy stuff.

What on this album are you looking forward to?

A song called "Fall." It's the best thing we've ever done. It's like 11 minutes long and it's immense. It's a huge slab of stuff, it's everything I've worked with. If there was the one song I would have people remember the Cure by, it would be this new song called "Fall." It's everything I feel about what I've done in the group. It's a narrative song of my life in the Cure and it's huge. It starts little but ends up being massive. It's the most satisfying thing I've done in years.

How was it recording in Bath, which is such an amazing place?

It's a fantastic place. There's a lot of people based there. Real World is based there. It's a good area to do things--you can go places and talk to people with a like mind.

I thought the scenery there is amazing too...

The drugs are good as well (laughs). It's one of those places in England... there's places that become--not really fashionable--but just has a lot going on. It's almost too much. If you go there, you become part of the scene. Brighton is a good case--Brighton's a really good town, but one night is kind of enough--it's an intense night out.

Have you been getting into the Skint stuff or the Heavenly Jukebox scene?

No, I stay out of the way. I feel out of place nowadays when I go clubbing because people know who I am and it's just uncomfortable, and I hate going to VIP rooms--it defeats the whole purpose of going to club. So in Bath and places like Bath and Bristol down in the West country you can go out and do things and no one gives a s***--it's a different vibe, really.

When we go out on tour and wherever we go in the world, we can be noticed and go to the VIP room, but it's not that appealing when you're trying to do something creative and you get that, "Oooh look its him." Its much better to walk in and just have a drink. We generally go out to kind of pub clubs when we're recording rather than club clubs. It's the culture that the band has always had of just meeting people who aren't that concerned about who we are because you get much more of a take on, I don't know, the "classic American reality check." If you spend 18 hours in the studio, you don't really need to go to a club--you got a club in the studio.

Well thank you for your time and a really great show tonight.

"A Bold Statement From Bob Smith

When the Cure's as-yet-untitled follow-up to Wild Mood Swings hits in the spring of next year, it may be packing the indelible anthem die-hard fans have been patiently waiting to hear for most of the decade. According to leader Robert Smith, the track "Fall" is just that song. Smith explains: "It's the best thing we've ever done. It's like 11 minutes long and it's immense. It's a huge slab of stuff, it's everything I've worked with. If there was the one song I would have people remember the Cure by, it would be this new song. It's everything I feel about what I've done in the group. It's a narrative song of my life in the Cure and it's huge. It starts little but ends up being massive. It's the most satisfying thing I've done in years." Curious? Excited? A little skeptical? So are we. Log on to SPINonline tomorrow for the full Robert Smith interview. "
 
 

  "Cure cover-band, Three Imaginary Boys, will perform in Houston, Texas on Halloween night at the Oven (403 Westheimer) at around 11:00. GREYTOWN will be opening up for the band between 11:00 and 11:30. There is no cover and interested parties can email me (Kevin Ross) for more information about the show at Kevin.R.Ross@ac.com "
 

THE U.K.'S RADIO AUTHORITY (RA) has fined London alternative rock station Xfm 4,000 pounds ($6,700) for failing to comply with its Promise of Performance to the regulator, the basis on which it won its license. In July, entertainment group Capital Radio bought the station (which had been on the air for less than a year) from Chris Parry, managing director of the Cure's label, Fiction Records, and European media giant CLT-UFA. The RA has since received hundreds of complaints from listeners charging that the station has become too mainstream. Among other violations, Xfm was cited for a failure to broadcast live artists' sessions.
 
 

Bryan Adams Unveils New 'Day'

A&M Album Mixes Pop And AC Fare With Rock Stompers (October 24, 1998)

BY LARRY LeBLANC

TORONTO - Early on, Canadian veteran singer Bryan Adams had a specific idea of how he wanted his new A&M Records album, "On A Day Like Today," to turn out.

"I wanted an album which was full but also very sparse," he says. "I spent a long time arranging the songs so that the instrumentation works around my vocals."

The album, Adams' 10th recording of new material since his 1980 self-titled debut, is being issued worldwide by A&M on Tuesday (20), except in North America, where it will be released Oct. 27.

Three of the new album's tracks, "Getaway," "C'mon C'mon C'mon," and "Lie To Me" (added to the album outside North America), were co-written with Gretchen Peters while Adams was preparing "Unplugged." "With this album we really hit our stride," says Peters, Adams' songwriting partner of the past four years.

While Adams and Peters wrote the bulk of this album, Adams collaborated with Phil Thornalley, former bassist of the Cure; Swedish producer Max Martin; and British songwriter Elliot Kennedy.
 
 

"cleopatra records is releasing a 4 disc set titled "the black bible." 'rare and unreleased gothic, ethereal, industrial and experimental music,' in the linear notes. we got the one disc promo, but the listings for the 4 disc set include an interview with our good friend, mr. robert smith. they don't say when or where the interview is from. (there is also one with siouxsie). the interviews are not on the promo. they are on disc 4 of the set."
 
 

"for anyone in the central texas area who's interested, some of us are meeting at 8:30 this Saturday (10/24) at Waterloo Records (6th and Lamar) and then heading out to a few bars..."
 

COGASM - A Sign From God (3:41)

? = Lines that I need help with
 
 

Website With Hundreds Of Live Cure Songs Busted

Recording industry trade group says label ordered the site closed down.

Much to their dismay, World Wide Web-savvy fans of the Cure found Wednesday (Oct. 14) that the largest online source of free live recordings by the band had dried up overnight.

"The Cure MP3 Audio Archive" -- which hosted 750 live cuts from throughout the modern rock band's 23-year career -- was removed Tuesday after the student hosting it was ordered to do so by his university, which had been getting pressure from the Recording Industry Association of America.

"We brought it to Elektra Records' attention and said, 'Let us know if the Cure is OK with the site or [if] they want us to do something about it," said Frank Creighton, the RIAA's vice president and associate director of anti-piracy. "We got a response from Elektra basically saying that the Cure [were] fine with the RIAA addressing this."

Since MP3s first took the Net by storm last year, the RIAA, which protects copyrights for the industry, has attempted to shut down single-sites hosting MP3s by numerous bands. For the most part, it left alone sites devoted to one artist -- known as "fan sites." If, however, representatives of the Washington, D.C.-based trade group come across fan sites, they will notify a band's record label, which is what the RIAA did when a robot-searcher found the "Cure MP3 Audio Archive" last August.

For two years, the Cure archive operated without any problem, according to Jason Hajdik, the 20-year-old computer-science major who first built and maintained the site from his dorm room at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. When Hajdik moved off-campus last May, student Michael Reed volunteered to house the MP3 files on his computer at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

MP3 files are compressed audio-files that allow music to be transferred in near-CD-quality over the Internet. While advocates praise MP3s as a revolutionary format, critics such as the RIAA contend that MP3s are most often used as a means to obtain copyrighted work without paying for it.

Reed claims that his school never proved to his satisfaction that the site was illegal. "They didn't give me any proof that I was in violation of copyright laws," Reed, 21, said Wednesday.

Reed met with Bryan Mercurio, judicial coordinator for student affairs at Case Western, on several occasions since August to discuss the site. An e-mail Mercurio sent on Tuesday ordered Reed to remove files or be charged with refusing to comply with school officials, according to Reed.

Neither Mercurio nor vice president for student affairs Glenn Nicholls was available for comment Wednesday.

"Whenever I met with Bryan Mercurio, I asked, 'Where's the proof that this is violating somebody's contract?' " Reed said, and added that he was not allowed to copy the letter from the RIAA or obtain contact information from it.

In May, a 900-song site called "The Smashing Pumpkins Audio Archive" was shut down after the Michigan Technological University ordered a student at the Houghton, Mich., school to remove the songs from his university-connected computer.

Reed, a mechanical-engineering student familiar with patent regulations, said he understood that there could be copyright issues involved with the Cure Archive, but said he received assurances from Hajdik that the band indirectly condoned the site.

Representative from Elektra Records and the Cure's Reach publicity firm did not return calls for this story.

In June, Hajdik contacted Ron Roy, webmaster for the official homepage of the Cure, whose most recent release was last year's Galore, featuring the single "Wrong Number" (Real Audio excerpt).

Roy, who was unavailable for comment, asked him to remove rare B-sides and demos from the site, Hajdik said, but he noted that Roy had said the band had no problem with the live songs. "Ron Roy talked to the Cure for me, and that's when I took down the studio stuff," Hajdik said Wednesday.

Creighton suggested that even if approval came from the official webmaster, that person is not the best one to talk to from a legal standpoint. "The Cure could have contracted with somebody outside to host their official website," he said. "If I was looking to get authorization to post live files, I wouldn't go to the webmaster, I'd go to the management or band themselves."

In Hajdik's eyes, however, the site was doing the band a service by offering exposure and undercutting the market for bootleg live recordings.

"I've gotten letters literally from hundreds of people around the world saying they've stopped buying $30 bootleg-CDs because of the site," he said. "I get letters from Indonesia or China, and some of those people can't even find the official releases to buy."

Eli Conner, a 21-year-old MP3 user, agreed with Hajdik that the site may have helped the Cure.

"If they're not planning on releasing [the live songs] themselves, I don't think it hurts them," said the journalism major at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. "It probably helps them, in that the real hardcore fans get to listen to more of the stuff. It make me want to go to concerts more."

Hajdik is now searching for a new home for his massive library of live Cure works. "A few people have expressed interest, but nobody's committed to anything," he said.

-- Chris Nelson:

From Sven:

First a part of Rothenburg Taubertal Festival was broadcasted: Lullaby, Friday I´m in love, 10:15, Just like heaven and 100 years!!...so a bit different from the first transmission!

The cameramen did a very nice job.....great shots from the band, stage and audience...much better than from Cologne.... It´s a pitty that not the complete show was broadcasted!....but this broadcasting brought back all my nice memories to this nice gig......perfect scenery, small stage, beautiful lights! (especially 100 years....complete stage was covered red!)

The evening did not stop!!!!! After this show (30 min later!!) the other TV channel (WDR) broadcasted the complete!! Cologne show! Well, this show was not favourite this year, but it´s cool to see the whole gig again in TV quality! As many wrote in their reports, Robert´s voice was bad!....but there was one song, which nearly made me cry in Cologne.....IF only tonight we could sleep...what a nice performance and clear voice...perfect... and very nice to see it in TV again!

From Maciek:

just want to share some impressions a minute after watching cure 98 gigs on tv:

1. bayern 3 - taubertal fest the broadcast began at around midnight, they showed 5 songs - lullaby, friday, 10.15, just like heaven and 100 years this was really a GREAT intro to the november broadcast of the whole gig (i hope they are not gonna change their mind) - first of all really brilliant montage of a gig - not counting official releases probably the best ive seen - it seemed as the editor was a cure fan - not a single unnecessary spot and above all perfectly shown and zoomed in Rob - especially in a brilliant version of 100 years you could see on tv screen only his face (not the whole head - only the face) during the most touching verses of the song - that really moved me. besides great stereo sound quality

2. wdr - bizarre fest just 45 minutes after taubertal (what a night on german tv!), the biggest and great quality was of course that it was the complete show (BRAVO to WDR !) along with the breaks between the basic part and the encores ! that gave the broadcast additional real atmosphere - for me perfect montage - well, just a decent one, sometimes i wanted to see another view but well - this editor wasnt definitely a cure fan - (sorry, maybe im complaining a bit because of this taubertal broadcast 1 hour earlier) - anyway my friend phoned me after the gig and told me: maciek! this is the best cure gig we got on video! so, you know... he may be right to be honest if i find anywhere an email address to WDR ill send them my congartulations - whole gig, no ad breaks in between, no stupid comments, just a pure gig one more thing - wrong number was f++++g awesome, the brightest piece of this gig for me plus disintegration which amazed me on every gig i saw this summer.

"Y107 in Southern California just broadcast the new COGASM song as part of a new music vote thing they do at 9pm. The radio broadcasts on the net at www.y107radio.com, so you could listen to it with Windows media player. I found out just minutes before it happened (thanks Autumn!), so I couldn't post a warning about it.

The listeners in the studio had reactions like "it sucked", "it blew", "psuedo NIN, hated it", and "Robert should have stayed with The Cure".

I agree its kinda weak, but Robert has always gone for the aloof on movie soundtracks. Let him have some fun. You could take Wrong Number on vinyl and put your hand on the record to stop the music every 1/2 second and get this song. It's basically a kick drum and guitar strum on every beat with distorted vocals. I guess I could imagine it working in the movie it's intended for though. Some people might like it, but liking Club America and Wrong Number would probably be a prerequisite. This isn't going to win anyone over who doesn't like 96-98 stuff.

Here's the first couple verses:

 "Yes, it seems as if the plan, which has been worked out by our "old" Cure fan Dennis, succeeded: Bayern 3 will broadcast the WHOLE show from the Taubertal Festival on November, 17th !!! Today, I have phoned up Bayern 3 to get confirmation. And for all of you, who cannot wait until November: on the 10th of October The Cure WILL be included in a special about this years summer festival highlights ! They are up for about 10-15 min. and will be broadcast in the first hour of that special, which will start at 11.50 p.m. . Maybe Bayern 3 will air other songs than shown recently... Bayern 3 is starting to confuse me, so, who knows...??"
 
 

"Well i was just listening to 102.1 the edge in toronto and this weekend they are having a "rare air thanksgiving weekend" and they specifically mention the cure in their radio ad for it and one of the dj's said that the five bands mentioned in the radio ad are the main ones..everyone listen up! plus you can goto www.edge.passport.ca and listen to it through real audio...

"Here is the piece of the WDR (german tv) programme for 8 october:

the programme ends at 1 am

and this one is 2 days later (night 10/11 oct):

01:15 Rockpalast

The Cure, Guano Apes, The Afghan Whigs, Thumb, The Notwist, Soul Coughing "

"Fat Bob & The Cureheads, The Cure covers band are playing at The Venue, New Cross, London, England on Friday 9th October. On stage at 10:15pm. £3.00 admission before 9.00pm or £5.00 after.

Further information available from The Venue - Tel: - 0181-692-4077. I have been told by the promoter that this will be the bands final show in the UK!"
 
 

"According to San Diego's 91X's X-file today (9/30/98), the studio that The Cure are recording in in Bath is haunted. All throughout the recording, they have been plagued with bats, though the bats are rumoured to have disappeared upon Robert Smith's entry into the room!"
 
 

"The comic book fan magazine WIZARD's latest issue has an interview with KISS's Gene Simmons where he confesses to being a huge fan of the Cure. He also claims that the Cure would not make a good comic book."
 
 

"The CD will be released on "Diabolik Records", and will be distributed in France ONLY by "Tripsichord". I am maybe planing to distribute this CD to non-french fans, with my fanzine and my web site "Never Enough", but there is a problem : the release is cancelled for the moment, due to copyright reasons. Diabolik records and Fiction Records are now on the way to be OK, but we have to wait !

This is the track-listing of the CD :

These bands are all from France (indus, punk, pop and noisy…). Some are well-known, some not !"