
The Cure
The Cure can be booked through this site. The Cure entertainment booking site. The Cure
is available for public concerts and events. The Cure can be booked for
private events and The Cure can be booked for corporate events and
meetings through this The Cure booking page.
Unlike most middle agents that would mark
up the performance or appearance fee for The Cure, we act as YOUR agent in
securing The Cure at the best possible price. We go over the rider for
The Cure and work directly with The Cure or the responsible agent for
The Cure to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
the acquisition of The Cure for international dates and newer promoters
providing you meet professional requirements.
The Cure Biography
Out of all the bands that emerged in the immediate aftermath of
punk rock in the late '70s, the Cure was one of the most enduring and
popular. Led through numerous incarnations by guitarist/vocalist Robert
Smith (born April 21, 1959), the band became notorious for their slow,
gloomy dirges and Smith's ghoulish appearance. But the public image
often hid the diversity of the Cure's music. At the outset, they played
jagged, edgy pop songs and they slowly evolved into a more textured
outfit. As one of the bands that laid the seeds for goth rock, the
group created towering layers of guitars and synthesizers, but by the
time goth caught on in the mid-'80s, the Cure had moved away from the
genre. By the end of the '80s, the Cure had crossed over into the
mainstream not only in their native England, but also in the United
States and in various parts of Europe.
Originally called the Easy Cure, the band was formed in 1976 by
schoolmates Smith (vocals, guitar), Michael Dempsey (bass), and
Laurence Lol Tolhurst (drums). Initially, the group was playing dark,
nervy guitar pop with pseudo-literary lyrics, as evidenced by the
Albert Camus-inspired Killing an Arab. A demo tape, featuring
Killing an Arab, arrived in the hands of Chris Parry, an A&R
representative at Polydor Records; by the time he received the tape,
the band's name had been truncated to the Cure. Parry was impressed
with the song and arranged for its release on the independent label
Small Wonder in December 1978. Early in 1979, Parry left Polydor to
form his own record label, Fiction, and the Cure was one of the first
bands he signed to the label. Killing an Arab was re-released in
February of 1979, and the Cure set out on their first tour of England.
The Cure's debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, was released in May 1979
to good reviews in the British music press. Later that year, the group
released the non-LP singles Boys Don't Cry and Jumping Someone
Else's Train. That same year, the Cure embarked on a major tour with
Siouxsie and the Banshees. During the tour, the Banshees' guitarist,
John McKay, left the group and Smith stepped in for the missing
musician; for the next decade or so, Smith would frequently collaborate
with members of the Banshees.
At the end of 1979, the Cure released a single, I'm a Cult Hero,
under the name the Cult Heroes. Following the release of the single,
Dempsey left the band to join the Associates. Dempsey was replaced by
Simon Gallup at the beginning of 1980. At the same time, the Cure added
a keyboardist, Mathieu Hartley, to their lineup. The band's second
album, Seventeen Seconds, was released in the spring of 1980. The
addition of a keyboardist expanded the group's sound; it was now more
experimental, and frequently they would immerse themselves in slow,
gloomy dirges. Nevertheless, the band still wrote pop hooks, as
demonstrated by the group's first U.K. hit single, A Forest, which
peaked at number 31. After the release of Seventeen Seconds, the Cure
began their first world tour. Following the Australian leg of the tour,
Hartley left the band and the group chose to continue without him. In
1981, they released their third album, Faith, which peaked at number 14
in the charts and spawned the minor hit single Primary. The Cure's
fourth album, the doom-laden, introspective Pornography, was released
in 1982. Pornography expanded their cult audience even further and it
cracked the U.K. Top Ten. After the Pornography tour was completed,
Gallup quit the band and Tolhurst moved from drums to keyboards. At the
end of 1982, the Cure released a new single, the dance-tinged Let's Go
to Bed.
Smith devoted most of the beginning of 1983 to Siouxsie and the
Banshees, recording the Hyaena album with the group and appearing as
the band's guitarist on the album's accompanying tour. Smith also
formed a band with Banshees bassist Steve Severin called the Glove that
same year. The Glove released their only album, Blue Sunshine, later in
1983. By the late summer of 1983, a new version of the Cure --
featuring Smith, Tolhurst, drummer Andy Anderson, and bassist Phil
Thornalley -- was assembled and they recorded a new single, the jaunty
The Lovecats. The song was released in the fall of 1983 and became
the group's biggest hit to date, peaking at number seven on the U.K.
charts. The new lineup of the Cure released The Top in 1984. Despite
the pop leanings the number 14 hit The Caterpillar, The Top was a
return to the bleak soundscapes of Pornography. During the world tour
supporting The Top, Anderson was fired from the band. In early 1985,
following the completion of the tour, Thornalley left the band. The
Cure revamped their lineup after his departure, adding drummer Boris
Williams and guitarist Porl Thompson; Gallup returned on bass. Later in
1985, the Cure released their sixth album, The Head on the Door. The
album was the most concise and pop-oriented record the group had ever
released, which helped send it into the U.K. Top Ten and to number 59
in the U.S., the first time the band had broken the American Hot 100.
In Between Days and Close to Me -- both pulled from The Head on the
Door -- became sizable U.K. hits, as well as popular underground and
college radio hits in the U.S.
The Cure followed the breakthrough success of The Head on the Door in
1986 with the compilation Standing on a Beach: The Singles. Standing on
a Beach reached number four in the U.K., but more importantly it
established the band as a major cult act in the U.S.; the album peaked
at number 48 and went gold within a year. In short, Standing on a Beach
set the stage for 1987's double album Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. The
album was eclectic but it was a hit, spawning four hit singles in the
U.K. ( Why Can't I Be You, Catch, Just Like Heaven, Hot Hot
Hot!!! ) and the group's first American Top 40 hit, Just Like Heaven.
Following the supporting tour for Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, the Cure's
activity slowed to a halt. Before the Cure began working on their new
album in early 1988, the band fired Tolhurst, claiming that relations
between him and the rest of the band had been irrevocably damaged.
Tolhurst would soon file a lawsuit, claiming that his role in the band
was greater than stated in his contract and, consequently, he deserved
more money.
In the meantime, the Cure replaced Tolhurst with former Psychedelic
Furs keyboardist Roger O'Donnell and recorded their eighth album,
Disintegration. Released in the spring of 1989, the album was more
melancholy than its predecessor, but it was an immediate hit, reaching
number three in the U.K. and number 14 in the U.S., and spawning a
series of hit singles. Lullaby became the group's biggest British hit
in the spring of 1989, peaking at number five. In the late summer, the
band had their biggest American hit with Love Song, which climbed to
number two. On the Disintegration tour, the Cure began playing stadiums
across the U.S. and the U.K. In the fall of 1990, the Cure released
Mixed Up, a collection of remixes featuring a new single, Never
Enough. Following the Disintegration tour, O'Donnell left the band and
the Cure replaced him with their roadie, Perry Bamonte. In the spring
of 1992, the band released Wish. Like Disintegration, Wish was an
immediate hit, entering the British charts at number one and the
American charts at number two, as well as launching the hit singles
High and Friday I'm in Love. The Cure embarked on another
international tour after the release of Wish. One concert, performed in
Detroit, was documented on a film called Show and on two albums, Show
and Paris. The movie and the albums were released in 1993.
Thompson left the band in 1993 to join Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's
band. After his departure, O'Donnell rejoined the band as a
keyboardist, and Bamonte switched from synthesizers to guitars. During
most of 1993 and early 1994, the Cure was sidelined by the then-ongoing
lawsuit from Tolhurst. Following the settlement in the band's favor in
the fall of 1994, the group was set to record a follow-up album to
Wish, but drummer Boris Williams quit just as they were about to begin
the record. The Cure recruited a new drummer through advertisements in
the British music papers; by the spring of 1995, Jason Cooper had
replaced Williams. Throughout 1995, the Cure recorded their tenth
proper studio album, pausing to perform a handful of European musical
festivals in the summer. The album, titled Wild Mood Swings, was
finally released in the spring of 1996. A second singles collection,
1997's Galore, yielded the new Wrong Number, and the original album
Bloodflowers followed in early 2000. An all-encompassing Cure
retrospective entitled Greatest Hits, which included two brand-new
songs, was issued in fall 2001. The band returned with another original
album, self-titled, in 2004. Prior to commencing work on a follow-up in
2006, Bamonte and O'Donnell departed, only to leave room for Thompson's
third stint. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine