The Cure (Michael Dempsey, Simon Gallup, Phil Thornally)

[matante]

Seventeen Seconds, Pornography, Faith, Disintegration

My first bass was a black P bass because of Simon Gallup. My first pedal was a Boss Flanger because of Simon Gallup.
The first bassline I learned was "Push" from the Head on the Door album. I was 15.

My favorite song is Faith.

 

[matante]

The Cure - yes! This here was my first proper bass line:

T

I once fell for a stripper in Hollywood because she did a striptease to the Holy Hour.

 

[Raman]

I once fell for a stripper in Hollywood because she did a striptease to the Holy Hour.

Curious: "matante" ? That's Quebec slang for "aunty".

 

[matante]

Curious: "matante" ? That's Quebec slang for "aunty".

It's Spanish for "killer."

 

[Raman]

It's Spanish for "killer."

I bet there are confused Latinos who move here then...

 

[Raman]

Faith is also my favourite. Perfect symbiosis between lyrics and music. I actually fully understood the concept of faith listening to this song.
Really close behind are The Drowning Man, 17 Seconds and The Holy Hour. The Drowning Man is also a masterpiece of lyrics-music symbiosis. The chord progression makes you feel exactly as if you were being drowned under waves upon waves in the sea.

 

[Spectrum]

As is my usual wont with music trends, I didn't get into post punk/new wave until after it had stopped being the "in" thing, but when I did I warmed up to the Cure pretty quick. I remember Fascination Street being on the radio in 1989 and thinking, "Wow, why have I ignored this band, this is great!" I have the Disintegration album on vinyl and it's one of those end-to-end albums that is a complete work with no filler.

The band I'm in now covers a couple of Cure songs. We would cover more but don't want to come off as a tribute band.

 

[Raman]

See the discrepancy?

Do you mean that Joy division did it before?
If so, I disagree. True, like many post-punk bands, they had started putting the bass toward the forefront. But The Cure went beyond. In Joy Division, the guitar (and later the keyboard) still is the lead melodic instrument. Whereas with The Cure, the guitar becomes completely atmospheric.
Do a test: Ask someone to whistle a Cure song. In most cases, they'll spontaneously whistle the bass line, without even realizing it if they're non musicians!

 

[Spectrum]

To be fair, Yes pretty much put Chris Squire's bass about as far up front as you could and still call it "bass playing". Everything else you say about the Cure is pretty easy to agree with, though.

 

[Raman]

To be fair, Yes pretty much put Chris Squire's bass about as far up front as you could and still call it "bass playing". Everything else you say about the Cure is pretty easy to agree with, though.

True that the bass is prominent, just as with, say, Rush. Yet I don't think that the average Yes fan (of which I am) will spontaneously whistle their bass lines... (Then again, whistling a Yes song is quite a challenge to start with!)

 

[Mechanical]

I'm just gonna leave this here...

 

[Raman]

I'm just gonna leave this here...

???

 

[Laurent]

My two favorite tracks from the Cure: A Forest and Charlotte sometimes.
I saw them at Bottlerock in Napa in 2014 and they were magic. Reeves Gabrels set them on fire with his guitar work.
That was my sixth concert, the first one was in the late 80's.

 

[Raman]

I saw them a few times in that era (late 80's). The last concert I saw was during the Disintegration tour. (I don't care much for what they recorded after...)
They were great concerts. This said, I wish I could have seen them in a more intimist setting than in a mega venue where people scream at the top of their lungs the whole time...

 

[Nev375]

So I take it you like a bit of the Cure, eh?

 

[Raman]

So I take it you like a bit of the Cure, eh?

Somewhat.

 

[pica]

There's almost no original members left from when I started listening to The Cure

 

[Spectrum]

The Cure was touring recently and came through my area about a month ago, but I didn't go because the ticket prices were high and the seats were so far away. That band still draws huge crowds, a really huge fan base.

 

[bassstrangler]

The first time I heard Screw off of The Head on the Door I sold my guitar and bought a Bass. I never heard anything that cool ever (at that time in 1985). Simon Gallup is the reason I picked up a Bass and my biggest influence with David J and Peter Hook following close behind.

 

[Ray man]

I saw them a few times in that era (late 80's). The last concert I saw was during the Disintegration tour. (I don't care much for what they recorded after...)
They were great concerts. This said, I wish I could have seen them in a more intimist setting than in a mega venue where people scream at the top of their lungs the whole time...

I saw them August 20th 1989 at Giant Stadium. I think it was possibly there first show ever in the US.
I was the 12 year old, standing right next to a tower of loudspeakers, I was wearing a Cure jacket.
We even got an audience Bootleg of that very show.