January 1988 - Cure News #4
 

cure news number four 

January 1988 

thank you for all your letters and suggestions, and a special thank you for all the christmas cards i received. firstly, i hope everyone living in europe managed to see at least one show on "the honeymoon tour". i made it to five shows; all equally brilliant, yet very different. i hope you enjoyed the tour as much as i did. as you already may know "the cure on orange" (catalogue number 041 554 2) was released in the uk on 12 november. it is available from most video stockists, rrp £14.99. it will be available worldwide shortly. polygram video have kindly offered 10 vhs copies of the video to the information service - to get your hands on a copy simply answer the five questions on the entry form, and return it to me. i'll announce the winners next time.

the "kiss me kiss me kiss me" lp has been re-released in the uk as a special limited edition of 15,000 units containing a 12 inch orange vinyl ep. featuring the following tracks: a japanese dream, breathe, a chain of flowers, sugar girl, snow in summer, and icing sugar (remix) 

"the honeymoon tour" started on 22 october in norway, taking in sweden, denmark, germay, belgium, holland, switzerland, france, spain, italy and england, culminating with a brilliant performance at wembley arena on 9 december. the rest of december and january saw a well earned rest, breaking off briefly in early january to record the promotional video to accompany "hot, hot, hot", with tim pope directing as usual....

 love janie

questions and answers number four
(all answers by robert)

there's countless rumours at the moment that "kiss me kiss me kiss me" will be the last cure album and the current tour will be the last - is this true?
no! they were spread to create atmosphere!

assuming the above are false, what are your plans for 1988?
a cure album will be recorded in late summer and i will be doing some songs on my own sometime soon too...

do you think george michael's current single sounds more than a bit like "close to me"? (no offence intended!) - strange that it's called "faith" too...
there is very little worse than an uninspiring thief, particularly when he carefully shapes his stubble!

did the disheartening reviews of the cure's first four albums ever make you feel like a failure?
in retrospect do you feel any of the critics were justified in their comments? i never really bother about 'reviews' of our records - they are generally based on unimportant criteria and incorrect assumptions of intent - (in fact criticism by fools can actually strengthen your resolve and determination...)

a lot of your lyrics (i.e.: "boys don't cry" / "in between days") seem to be about losing a girlfriend - are you expressing fears about your relationship with Mary, or are they fictitious situations?
they are a mixture of fear, fiction and reality. i rarely know calm. in anything. 

how do you resolve your popularity, your fame, being placed on a pedestal, inside yourself, when faced with crowds of people that are there because of you?
i still feel funny when i am being stared at - but i think the kind of fame the group enjoys (?) is fame through understanding; most people feel they know us because they know about us - it is a kind of affinity, not worship. at least i hope...

what is your reaction if you are told that someone is totally obsessed with you, thinks about you, listens to you, writes to you, every day?
if they lived with me for a day, they would be writing to someone else by midnight!

do you ever think about how many lives you have changed - or that there may be one person who has devoted his / her whole life to you - but may never even be able to meet you? how does it make you feel?
thinking, sometimes knowing, that some of our songs have affected people as they affected me, is the most fulfilling part of the cure. it makes the world turn a tiny bit slower. 

do you read your fan mail?
yes - but i no longer answer the bulk of it (as you know!)

what happened to the numerous tracks demo'd for "kiss me kiss me kiss me" that never made it? will we ever get the opportunity to hear them?
yes - some (about 7) are in the running for the next project - although only 2 or 3 will probably be worked on, as our next stuff has to be very different...

who decides what tracks go on an album or which track is to be the 'a' side of a single?
we are usually in agreement - if we're not - i decide! (?)

why did you only play at 2 uk venues?
because the tour through europe was to long, and we didn't want to perform tired shows in smaller venues in the uk right up to christmas. selfishness i suppose. 

would you consider playing behind the "iron curtain"?
we consider it from time to time, but never seem to act.

what happened to "the glass sandwich"; the book of short stories with no endings you were writing?
i am still writing!

what is your opinion of the unoffical biography written by jo-anne green?
utter rubbish - as "ten imaginary years" proves!

what are the best and worst moments of your career so far?
all the worst moments have been caused by my ill-health - when i've let myself go too much, and suffered the consequences - but most of the rest of it has been fab. (the worst in 1987 was playing in berlin, the best, the third night at wembley).

when composing, what comes first, the music or the lyrics?
the music (90% of the time). the words are always scribbled and hidden away; i come back to them months later (usually when i don't understand them anymore!) 

what's the best line you've ever written?
"there's nothing left but faith"

what do you sing in the bath?
usually something banal (like "she maybe the face i can't forget...!") or just one note very loud... 

what are your political views? do you use your vote, and if so do you consider yourself / your family and close friends / the entire population of the uk when voting?
i am humanitarian socialist, but too inactive. i consider firstly myself, secondly my nephews and nieces and third everyone else when i vote.

what would you do if you were prime minister?
massively re-allocate a restructured tax-system, mainly from defense to education and health.

what is your opinion on nuclear defense / nuclear power?
they are both obviously unnecessary and harmful; unfortunately the knowledge and fear that gives birth to nuclear defense are too deeply ingrained, and the hidden vested financial interests in nuclear power have more weight than the ecologically and socially more acceptable tidal / solar / wind / fossil fuel alternative. 

you say your greatest fear is dying, yet a short (?) while ago you didn't want to reach the age of 25. what happened to change your mind?
I reached 26.

are you still friends with siouxsie & the banshees?
yes.

what's your least favourite cure track?
"object"

what is the picture of on "the head on the door" sleeve?
a picture of my sister janet, taken by porl.

you have been described as 'the thinking teen's pin-up' - what do you think about this?
i try not to! (or just cut my hair off...)

what song by another artist do you wish you had written?
millions. "sweet talking guy" was the first i started humming in my head... then came "love will tear us apart"...then "life on mars"...then...

 how many hours a day
a) do you sleep
b) does simon drink 

a) it varies - from 5 to 10 hours, usually between 3am and 3pm
b) 25.

is simon still searching for the perfect drink?
i think he would forget it if he found it.

did anything interesting happen on simon's stag night?
a) i don't know. b) i can't remember. c) yes. 

why do you tell so many fibs?
i don't think i do!

you never wear a watch; do you possess one - or is it so you always have an excuse for being late?
i have a betty boop watch, but it doesn't work; i hate the passing of time. (there is merely night and day in the cure world...)

what did you dream about last night?
crashing in a plane and skiing and eyes.

who, if anyone, would you like to 'trade places' with for a day? why?
mary. so i would know what i'm like.

have you ever considered taking up acting?
i have (taken it up!)

if you competed in "mastermind", what would your specialist subject be?
drinking. or the works of patrick white.

if a fairy granted you 3 wishes, what would they be?
to be able to become invisible, to be able to fly and to never grow up...

if the cure were asked to represent england in "the eurovision song contest", would you do it? (!!!)
yes of course! and lol would sing (to give us a chance...)

what colour lipstick do you use?
"mary quant crimson scorcher"!

what make are your white baseball boots. where do you buy them?
"hi-tec" and "reeboks", from lilleywhites in london.

do you hate anybody? who? and why?
i hate lots of people for many different reasons - some people and reasons for i don't even know... but none of them too much of the time...

how does one "do the hansa"?
get a fake tan, wear ill fitting 'designer' cloths, gold, particularly on your little finger, and dance without feeling - this is doing the hansa (as far as i can remember...)

do you get bored answering all these questions??
no. tired. so now i am going to bed. goodnight.

love robert xxx

(Text & photos from thecure.com)

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