4. “In Between Days” – The Cure: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

4. “In Between Days” – The Cure

(From the album The Head On The Door)

1985

The years following the release of Pornography were strange ones for Robert Smith and The Cure. While Robert Smith never officially announced that The Cure was finished, bassist Simon Gallup had quit, drummer Lol Tulhurst was losing his battle with alcoholism, and Smith himself accepted an offer to become the new guitarist for Siouxsie & The Banshees. Indeed, Smith almost immediately went back out on the road touring with Siouxsie & The Banshees and would play on both their 1982 live album Nocturne and their next studio record, 1984’s Hyaena. However, Robert Smith hadn’t quite put The Cure to rest either. Since The Cure didn’t really exist anymore as a functioning band Smith was convinced by his friend and record label boss Chris Parry to reinvent The Cure. Since Smith had a secure and successful gig with The Banshees he decided to try it and see what would happen and the duo of Smith and Tolhurst (who had now moved from drums to keyboards) released the maudlin new wave pop song “Let’s Go To Bed” under the banner of The Cure. “Let’s Go To Bed” was miles away from the nihilistic assault of Pornography and managed to become a minor British hit (it peaked at #42). In his limited spare time away from his work with Siouxsie & The Banshees (who were now his main job) Smith was continuing to write songs and when he could he would get together in the studio with Tolhurst to record them. While at this point Smith definitely saw The Cure as a side project and as an outlet for his weird pop inclinations, two more non-album singles would follow “Let’s Go To Bed”. The first being the darkwave synthpop of “The Walk” which would hit #12 in the UK and become The Cure’s first UK Top 20 hit and the second being the jazzy romp of “The Love Cats” which would become The Cure’s first Top 10 hit when it went to #7. The Cure seemed to be finding success and having hits without even trying and so, shortly after finishing recording the Siouxsie & The Banshees’ album Hyaena and before it was released, Smith left the Banshees so that he could focus on The Cure once again. The Cure’s three recently released non-album new wave/pop singles were then compiled with their B-sides on the compilation album Japanese Whispers and Smith went to work on the next proper Cure album. The Cure’s next album, a strange blend of psychedelia and the fractured new wave pop explored on the Japanese Whispers singles, was largely a solo effort by Robert Smith and other than drums he played the bulk of the instruments on the record himself. Officially though The Cure now had three members again: Smith, Tolhurst on keys, and new drummer Andy Anderson. When The Cure hit the road to tour supporting the album two more members had been added, producer Phil Thornalley who would play bass and saxophonist and occasional guitarist Porl Thompson. Thornalley’s tenure with The Cure would be brief but Thompson would soon become The Cure’s lead guitarist (along with Smith) for many years. Following the end of the tour for The Top Anderson would be let go and Thornalley would move on and the “classic” lineup of The Cure would be put together. This five-piece lineup consisted of Robert Smith on vocals and guitars, Porl Thompson on guitars, Lol Tolhurst on keyboards, new drummer Boris Williams, and the return of bassist Simon Gallup to the fold. This lineup of The Cure would record (with some changes at the keyboard position) the four albums that would move The Cure from successful cult artists to worldwide alternative rock stars. The album that would start this process was 1985’s The Head On The Door, a classic album that seamlessly merged all of The Cure’s various earlier phases – post-punk, goth rock, alt pop, new wave, moody ambiance, synthpop – into a cohesive whole that was both eclectic and made sense. The opening track and lead single on The Head On The Door was “In Between Days”, a moody yet strangely effervescent pop song that worked equally well on the dancefloor or in lonely teenagers’ bedrooms. “In Between Days” became another UK hit at #15 (and the first Cure song to crack the Top 100 in America at #99). “In Between Days” is one of The Cure’s great songs and served as an excellent introduction to the new version of the band.

Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com 

3. “One Hundred Years” – The Cure: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

3. “One Hundred Years” – The Cure

(From the album Pornography)

1982

The Cure were rarely not in transition, especially in their early years. Both their sound and their line-up evolved on a regular basis. Following their second record Seventeen Seconds keyboardist Mathieu Hartley exited the group and the trio of Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst and Simon Gallup made the slightly darker and less ethereal third album Faith. This same line-up would then quickly return to the studio to record The Cure’s fourth record Pornography, one of the bleakest, darkest, and most desperate albums ever recorded. While the album does feature individual songs the whole record feels claustrophobic, labyrinthine and of a piece, largely due to the rhythmic similarity of Lol Tolhurst’s drumming style on the album. This was due in part to Tolhurst’s lack of real skill as a drummer (The Cure were born out of the punk aesthetic where talent was of secondary importance) and would presage the need to move Tolhurst from drums to keyboards not long after, but that monotonous feel is a key to the tone and success of the Pornography album as it lends a sense of being trapped in an inescable, never ending situation. And feeling trapped in an inescapable and never ending situation was exactly how Robert Smith felt at the time. The band was on the brink of implosion due to constant infighting (and at times actual fighting) during the recording of the record. These tensions were only exacerbated by constant abuse of drugs and alcohol, Robert Smith’s battle with extreme depression, and the constant music industry pressure to record, tour, promote, and repeat. The result was Pornography, an album that opened with the song “One Hundred Years”, a towering and brutal piece of nihilistic aggression that kicks off the album with Smith screaming the words, “It doesn’t matter if we all die!” and it never really lets up from there. The record company despaired when the finished album was presented to them due its title, its universally black content, and its lack of an obvious single. Indeed, ultimately the only single that would be pulled from the album was the primal and throbbing “The Hanging Garden” (the label probably should have released “A Strange Day” as the single instead although it’s debatable if that would have been any more successful). However, by this point The Cure had both developed a devoted fan base and earned a position of respect in the UK’s alternative/underground music scene and Pornography became a Top 10 hit on the UK albums chart (peaking at #8) to the great surprise of the record label. To support the album The Cure went back out on tour. By the time the tour ended though the band’s demons had caught up to it; Gallup and Smith were not on speaking terms and Gallup left the band, Tolhurst was a raging alcoholic, and Smith’s depression and substance abuse had hit the point where he was actively contemplating suicide. For all intents and purposes The Cure were done and Pornography was to serve as the band’s bleak swansong. But, of course, it wouldn’t. History and fate would intercede and The Cure would take a very circuitous and curious path to rebirth and eventual worldwide stardom.

Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com 

2. “A Forest” – The Cure: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

2. “A Forest” – The Cure

(From the album Seventeen Seconds)

1980

The Cure’s sound evolved quickly in their early days as the band moved from post-punk popsters to gloomy and skeletal goth rock. This transition was aided by the addition of new bassist Simon Gallup (who would stay with the group for most of its future history) and new keyboardist Matthieu Hartley (who would not) to the original core duo of singer/guitarist Robert Smith and drummer Lol Tolhurst. Robert Smith was and always would be the driving force behind The Cure but the additions of both Hartley and Gallup had a major impact on the sound of The Cure’s second album Seventeen Seconds. While Hartley’s tenure with The Cure would be brief (he would leave following Seventeen Seconds) his moody and minimalist keys and synths are all over the record, adding a sense of atmosphere and ambiance to Smith’s post-punk songs (that are largely a slower version of the type of songs on the debut without the added keys and synths). Simon Gallup’s bass work would have an even greater impact on the sound of The Cure, even if it wasn’t as immediately obvious. One of the most gifted and stylistically unique bass players of his era, Gallup’s bass riffs would be one of The Cure’s secret weapons for years to come. That said, The Cure and their fans wouldn’t have to wait to feel Gallup’s impact as Seventeen Seconds featured what is likely The Cure’s most archetypal song with “A Forest”. “A Forest” features Smith’s wiry, post-punk guitars and his spooky, almost claustrophobic lyrics that perfectly serve the song, but “A Forest” is driven by Simon Gallup’s propulsive and driving bass riff that creates the song’s perfect dark and mysterious groove. “A Forest” wasn’t a major hit but it was The Cure’s first taste of success as the song did get to #31 on the UK charts and #47 on the American dance charts. More importantly, “A Forest” set the template for The Cure’s ability to create moody, even bleak, music that has an undeniable sense of pop songcraft as well. This was a pattern that The Cure had explored on their debut album but with “A Forest” they had found a combination that would serve as the basis for their sound going forward. Even today “A Forest” sounds innovative and fresh and the song has remained a fan favorite and a live staple of the band (where it has become a showcase for Gallup’s incredible bass playing).

Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com 

Spring Songs: 44 Songs That Feel Pastoral, Warm, Hopeful & Resilient

Here is a playlist of songs that feel like spring to me. Some are hopeful and warm, some have a touch of storminess and resiliency; a sense of life getting better after hard times. Some of the songs are literal and some are more impressionistic, but when I listen to these songs they have a sense of innocence or strength (or both). If you are looking for a touch of springtime in your life give this playlist a listen.

1. “Boys Don’t Cry” – The Cure: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

1. “Boys Don’t Cry” – The Cure

(From the non-album single “Boys Don’t Cry”)

1979

The Cure would become the most critically and commercially successful post-punk band of all time. Indeed, The Cure would rise above their genre and era to become one of the best rock bands ever. This rise to greatness though would begin from relatively humble origins. The same band that would eventually release the towering, gothic monoliths of Pornography and Disintegration and the moody, fractured pop of The Head On The Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me would start their career with a handful of post-punk tinged, minimalist pop singles. The first of these was the Albert Camus inspired “Killing An Arab”, which was backed with “10:15 Saturday Night” as its B-side; the latter track would also serve as the opening song on The Cure’s 1979 debut album Three Imaginary Boys. The Three Imaginary Boys album did not sell particularly well but it was critically well received and earned The Cure a place among the emerging post-punk scene alongside other new UK bands like Siouxsie & The Banshees, Magazine, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and others. Following the release of Three Imaginary Boys, The Cure did what was a common practice for UK bands at the time and released a couple of non-album singles, the first of these being the infectious, maudlin pop of “Boys Don’t Cry”. Built off a sweetly melancholy and completely addictive earworm of a hook that is reminiscent of the British Invasion, “Boys Don’t Cry” was a should-have-been hit that wasn’t. However, The Cure weren’t ready to give up on “Boys Don’t Cry” quite yet and when the band released the American version of their debut album Three Imaginary Boys it was retitled as Boys Don’t Cry and included an altered (and improved) track listing for the album that including the British non-album singles “Boys Don’t Cry”, “Killing An Arab” and “Jumping Someone Else’s Train”. The American release of Boys Don’t Cry didn’t really improve the commercial fortunes of The Cure or the song “Boys Don’t Cry” but it was the better album to collect the songs from this early era of the band. Original bassist Michael Dempsey would leave the band soon after this (beginning the long and messy history of who actually is in The Cure other than singer and songwriter Robert Smith) and the Three Imaginary Boys/Boys Don’t Cry albums would be the only ones that he would play on. However, the story of “Boys Don’t Cry” doesn’t quite end here as in 1986 The Cure would release their deeply impactful singles compilation Standing On The Beach which rounded up all of the band’s singles to that point. To promote the new compilation The Cure re-recorded “Boys Don’t Cry” and released it as a single to promote the record (although the version that actually appears on Standing On The Beach is the original mix) and this time the song became a hit going to #22 on the UK charts and receiving a fair amount of notice on American college radio. This second release of “Boys Don’t Cry” sat on the precipice of The Cure moving from beloved cult band to the alternative rock titan they were about to become, but that is getting ahead of ourselves in the story.

Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com

7. “She’s In Parties” – Bauhaus: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

7. “She’s In Parties” – Bauhaus

(From the album Burning From The Inside)

1983

Bauhaus was splintering before they even began to write and record their fourth album Burning From The Inside. In hindsight, it is possible to hear them beginning to move in different directions on The Sky’s Gone Out the previous year. However, events would conspire to further divide the band apart during the recording of Burning From The Inside. Just before they were set to record the new record vocalist Peter Murphy became sick with pneumonia and almost died. His illness and slow recovery meant that Murphy contributed very little to the album that became Burning From The Inside other than coming in near the end of recording to do his vocal parts. The absence of Murphy meant that the bulk of the album’s songwriting and recording fell on Daniel Ash and David J. The two stepped up to the challenge and wrote and recorded the bulk of the material for the album. Daniel Ash and David J both even took a turn on lead vocals on a track on Burning From The Inside (Ash on “Slice of Life” and Daniel J on “Who Killed Mr. Moonlight”). Without Murphy to help with the bulk of the songwriting and recording the remaining members also included songs that were instrumental (or nearly so) like “Wasp” and “King Volcano” and resurrected old songs from their vaults. One of the latter was the opening track and lead single from the album, a song called “She’s In Parties”. “She’s In Parties” was written by the band early in their career but never previously recorded. Whatever the reason for it not being recorded before “She’s In Parties” benefits greatly by being recorded by this more experienced version of the band as the song is given a dark allure and creepy, yet sleek, sexual menace that works because the band doesn’t try to bury it in the aggression or gloominess of their early work. “She’s In Parties” shimmers with a dark beauty that is reminiscent of Siouxsie & The Banshees and has just enough pop sensibility to have become a UK hit, peaking on the UK charts at #26. This made “She’s In Parties” the highest-charting Bauhaus single written by the band (their cover of Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” went to #15). In spite of the high quality of the work done by Daniel Ash, David J, and drummer Kevin Haskins, when he returned to the studio Peter Murphy was upset that they had begun writing and recording without him. This tension only exacerbated divisions that had already begun to grow within the band over their future musical direction. Furthermore, both Daniel Ash and David J had enjoyed their greater control over the creative process on Burning From The Inside and wanted to continue it. However, with Murphy now recovered Bauhaus hit the road for a tour of Europe and Asia. The final show of the tour was scheduled for the Hammersmith Palais in London. The night before the final show the band decided to disband after playing that one final concert. As the band walked off the stage that night after a lengthy encore bassist David J told the crowd, “rest in peace” and Bauhaus was done. One week later Burning From The Inside was released; the work of a band that no longer existed. The album hit #13 on the UK album chart. Peter Murphy would go on to a successful solo career while Daniel Ash, Davis J, and Kevin Haskins would continue together as Love & Rockets. The band would finally reunite to tour in 1998 and again in 2005. The 2005 tour was an enjoyable experience for the group and so Bauhaus returned to the studio to write and record together again. This resulted in a new album and in 2008 Bauhaus released the much belated fifth album Go Away White to solid sales and critical praise before disbanding again until releasing a surprise new release titled “Drinking The New Wine” just this past week in 2022.

Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com  

6. “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything” – Bauhaus: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

6. “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything” – Bauhaus

(From the album The Sky’s Gone Out)

1982

While nearly every song on The Sky’s Gone Out is good and the album is quite varied, this restless spirit also makes The Sky’s Gone Out a somewhat less cohesive affair than previous Bauhaus albums. At times it feels like a good compilation of songs more than an album proper, and while it was intended to be an album in the proper sense of that word, it was compiled a little piecemeal. Along with the newly written songs The Sky’s Gone Out also contains an old song written early in Bauhaus career and never recorded (“In The Night”), a previous non-album single rerecorded for the record (“Spirit”), a cover of a Brian Eno song (“Third Uncle”), and on later editions their BBC recorded hit cover of David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” was added. These songs, all quite good, sit somewhat uneasily alongside the weird vaudevillian death ska of “Exquisite Corpse”, the stomping glam-metal of “Swing The Heartache”, the three-part suite of “The Three Shadows”, and the haunting and beautiful “Silent Hedges”. The album may have its ups and downs sonically but Bauhaus are always interesting and willing to push the boundaries of their sound and it mostly works as individual moments if not always as an album. Perhaps the best moment on the album though is buried very deep on The Sky’s Gone Out and that is the delicate and strange ballad “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything”. Definitely dominated by vocalist Peter Murphy and strongly suggestive of the direction he would pursue as a solo artist “All We Wanted Was Everything” feels sadly nostalgic for a lost moment or a moment that never happened. It’s sad and bittersweet and beautiful in a way that Bauhaus had not really been before and is one of the best songs in their amazingly good discography.

Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com 

5. “Silent Hedges” – Bauhaus: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

5. “Silent Hedges” – Bauhaus

(From the album The Sky’s Gone Out)

1982

By 1982 Bauhaus had earned enough success, especially with their rabid cult of fans, that they went into making their third album The Sky’s Gone Out knowing there were real expectations to be met. Bauhaus had to find a way to balance the expectations of their intensely loyal fanbase – fans who had definite expectations about what a Bauhaus record should sound and feel like – with their label’s desire to see the band have increased sales and commercial success and the band’s own need to continue to evolve musically and create what they want. The result of this tension is that The Sky’s Gone Out is full of excellent and interesting songs that are both innovative, yet familiar; songs that seemed to find the midpoint between the band’s desire to grow and their fans’ love for what they were. A good example of this is the track “Silent Hedges”, a song that opens with a brittle tension that transforms into something stronger and more defiant without losing its eerie, almost psychedelic power. It feels like a song that perhaps could have broken through and been a hit in the UK but it was never even released as a single. However, the record label got what they wanted as well and The Sky’s Gone Out went on to become Bauhaus’ most commercially successful album, even if that success came in an unexpected manner. While recording a session for the BBC Bauhaus performed a cover of David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust”. While not included on the original version of The Sky’s Gone Out (it was added to later editions) this cover of “Ziggy Stardust” went on to become Bauhaus’ biggest hit, peaking at #15 in the UK. In truth, it’s a pretty faithful cover and, while it sounds fine, does not do much to shed new light on the song. Nonetheless, it became a hit and earned Bauhaus a performance on Top of the Pops, while also helping sales of The Sky’s Gone Out (even without the song being found on it). Still, I’ve always felt “Silent Hedges” was a much more interesting song than this cover of a classic and that it is the standout track from this era.

Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com 

4. “Kick In The Eye” – Bauhaus: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

4. “Kick In The Eye” – Bauhaus

(From the album Mask)

1981

Bauhaus continued to have increased success even without scoring hit singles. In The Flat Field had sold well for an album released on an independent label and “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” still was on the UK independent singles chart two years after it was released. So for their second album, 1981’s Mask, Bauhaus jumped up to Beggars Banquet, the larger, parent label of 4AD. The first single released from Mask was “Kick In The Eye” and it was purposefully created to sound and feel different than the band’s earlier singles. While “Kick In The Eye” still has many of the qualities that defined Bauhaus’ music, most notably driving bass and an undercurrent of dark strangeness, Peter Murphy himself has said that the band wanted to make the single stand out from their previous work, and it does. Far more than any previous Bauhaus track “Kick In The Eye” is crafted with a rhythmic pulse made for the dancefloor and a slicker, more streamlined production. The track is no sell-out moment made for commercial appeal, it is actually still far from that by the standards of 1981, but it does have an unmistakable sense of swagger and pulse that announced goth rock could make it in the clubs…and maybe on the charts. In fact, “Kick In The Eye” did become Bauhaus’ first song to crack the UK charts when it hit #59. It also peaked at #29 on the US dance charts.

Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com 

3. “Double Dare” – Bauhaus: An Artist A Week/A Song A Day – A History of Alternative Music

3. “Double Dare” – Bauhaus

(From the album In The Flat Field)

1980

From its opening notes that sound like a klaxon call Bauhaus’ “Double Dare” announces itself with power. Originally the opening track on Bauhaus’ impressive debut album In The Flat Field (it was sadly moved to the second spot in the running order when non-album single “Dark Entries” was added on later pressings). “Double Dare” still has the rhythmic, trancelike quality previous Bauhaus songs had due to Daniel J’s driving bass groove and Kevin Haskins’ mechanistic drumming, but it is a much more aggressive song. Daniel Ash’s guitars variously shift from resembling the sound of tearing metal to that of razor-barbed wire and the overall effect of it all is frenzied and furious. Musically, “Double Dare” is a tour de force and sounds like little that had ever been done beforehand. However, as impressive as that is, it’s Peter Murphy’s roaring, challenging, mocking and defiant vocals that raise the song to that of alternative classic. Few songs have such a visceral sense of anger and iron running through them. “Double Dare” may not be a pleasant listen, but it is unquestionably a powerful one. And as an introduction to Bauhaus’ first album “Double Dare” was a sure sign that the band had held nothing back nor made concessions to the mainstream when creating In The Flat Field. This was music for the audience that Bauhaus had been cultivating with its early singles and the rest of the world could either get on board or get out of the way.

Follow all the posts at the Alternative Reality site: www.alternativealbumsblog.wordpress.com