• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

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

#61
Matthijs said:
Go ahead whistle: Love will tear us apart again. Do you think that melody started with the lyrics? Granted, in a lot of songs the guitar doubles the bassline, but I would not say it is the lead melodic instrument. In most songs the bass sets the melody and afterwards the guitar and lyrics double that line. Songs where the bass provides the hook are pretty common and were pretty much standard for post-punk and new wave. Someone else already mentioned the Smiths in this thread and there are lots and lots more. I like the Cure, but you're giving them to much credit.
Click to expand...
And that's the nice thing about opinions.
 
#63
Raman said:
I'll stick to my guns. I do believe there is a qualitative difference that was reached in this bass vs guitar/keyboard role reversal with The Cure. (Note that I never claimed they originated the movement: Only that they completed it.) Maybe another way to buttress my point would be to suggest that you whistle Smith's guitar part in most Cure pieces... Impossible! Not only is the bass at the forefront, but the guitar takes a significant step backward, leaving the melodic field altogether, which didn't happen, or never as much with Joy Division. You named Love will tear us apart. That's a great example, along with titles like Colony, Exercise One, Candidate, etc. Yes, the bass is way in front, but just besides the guitar and keyboard. Now compare to A forest, Charlotte Sometimes, Other Voices, Seventeen Seconds...
But, you know, I'm sure that we could argue about this fruitlessly forever. :)
Click to expand...

Probably :) I also think James Jamerson would smile at the suggestion that the bassline in Seventeen seconds is a leading melodic role. But I don't want to break up the Cure nostalgia, that's to much fun. I think I was 14 or 15 when they toured Holland after Boys don't Cry. It was only a tiny local venue, but they made a big impression. Swinging a dead rat on a rope over the audience probably had something to do with that too. I still have the cassettetape i copied from a friend back then. All pictures of my cure-hair in the years after that have been destroyed though, I've seen to that. And I can still feel the soap in my eyes when it had rained. I soon after discovered much more hardcore stuff (as kids do), but the thing with the Cure was that girls liked that too. Maybe because nobody had a melodic role in the Crass :rolleyes: I've passed 50 now, lost the hair (probably to excessive use of soap, gel and dye) and left punk behind a long time a go, but the Cure, Joy Division, the Jam and the Specials stayed. Especially since they drive my clean-cut 'urban'listening kids crazy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Raman
#65
bassstrangler said:
He covered for them twice, once in 1979 and then in 1983 or 84 as he was on the live album Nocturne and the studio album Hyaena.

Nocturne has a live DVD that is a great time capsule of that era and the video for Dear Prudence is pretty entertaining if you can stomach Siouxsie's armpit hair. Both feature Robert Smith, I also think he is in the video for Swimming Horses although I've never seen it. Smith also had a side project with Steve Severin called the Glove.

Simon Gallup was in a group called Fools Dance after he left the Cure. Interesting project as it featured Simon singing horribly on one song and JJ Burnel playing bass on a track, if I'm correct it was the one Simon sang on. I have a CD copy I made of the two vinyl EPs. Sold the vinyl as it was rare and needed the money. Good luck ever finding it though.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Never knew of this. Something new to listen to.

 
  • Like
Reactions: ERIC31
#66
SteveCS said:
I would wholeheartedly agree with this. I think the definition of post-punk 'pop' styles is more attributable to the independent record labels (Factory, Rough Trade, Fiction, etc) and to producers such as Martin Hannett than to any one band or artist...
Click to expand...
The Cure weren't pop at all until the Japanese Whispers album. Have you listened to Faith or Pornography? They were nowhere on the radio in those days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Raman
#67
matante said:
The Cure weren't pop at all until the Japanese Whispers album. Have you listened to Faith or Pornography? They were nowhere on the radio in those days.
Click to expand...

Yes I heard those around the time they came out. Not pop in themselves, perhaps, but the entomology of what followed is pretty clear. Unlike many bands that 'emerged' at their third album, the back catalogue was quite accessible stylistically to the latecomers.
 
#68
Matthijs said:
Probably :) I also think James Jamerson would smile at the suggestion that the bassline in Seventeen seconds is a leading melodic role. But I don't want to break up the Cure nostalgia, that's to much fun. I think I was 14 or 15 when they toured Holland after Boys don't Cry. It was only a tiny local venue, but they made a big impression. Swinging a dead rat on a rope over the audience probably had something to do with that too. I still have the cassettetape i copied from a friend back then. All pictures of my cure-hair in the years after that have been destroyed though, I've seen to that. And I can still feel the soap in my eyes when it had rained. I soon after discovered much more hardcore stuff (as kids do), but the thing with the Cure was that girls liked that too. Maybe because nobody had a melodic role in the Crass :rolleyes: I've passed 50 now, lost the hair (probably to excessive use of soap, gel and dye) and left punk behind a long time a go, but the Cure, Joy Division, the Jam and the Specials stayed. Especially since they drive my clean-cut 'urban'listening kids crazy.
Click to expand...
Well, maybe the average guy wouldn't whistle 17 Seconds's bass... I do, but I always only ever whistle the bass. Even with Crass! :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 10cc
#69
In the early Cure years, Robert Smith played just about as actively with Siouxie. I recall him saying he'd often play 2 gigs a night for the 2 bands! He left them just before a big world tour, which led Siouxie to not talk to him for years, if I recall right.

I also had The Glove cassette. I didn't care much for it, save for Mr Alphabet Says.
 
#70
Huuuuuuuuuuge Cure fan here. The Cure is about 90% responsible for my descent of madness into the world of effects pedals. Simon's been one of my favourites for years.

It wouldn't let me quote it on page 1, but "The Lovecats" was recorded with a fretless Rickenbacker with PJ pickups, not an upright.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Raman
#71
Jughead6 said:
And Robert plays a Bass VI. Awesome talent.
Click to expand...

Although not really my type of music, I've actually acquired a liking for their music in the last few years.

Years ago, I bought a Danelectro six string bass ( tuned E-e, same as the Fender Bass VI), but never really knew exactly what to make of it. Somebody here on TB suggested that I check out Robert Smith's playing with the Cure to hear how it's done. His talent didn't jump out at me immediately, but over time I was more and more impressed with what he does. It's subtle, but great nonetheless.
 
#77
winterburn69 said:
Pretty sure that was mimed to single version (as was quite common for TV appearances back in the day) also you can hear horns and other sounds present in the single version yet there was only 4 people on stage.

Live in Japan:
Click to expand...

I'm sure that was mimed as well. But there' also the fact that Thornally is credited as playing double bass for this song on the album...
 
  • Like
Reactions: matante

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back