"...the music has a prominent place in my personal spiritual practice"

I was 17 years old and had just begun my first semester away at college. previously I knew of the Cure, had seen pictures of Robert Smith in music magazines and read some interviews, but had never heard any of the music- I lived in a rural area outside a small town in the bible belt of the American South East, and there were no Cure records to be found and no radio stations that would play them if you could find them. For a brief time in High School, I'd had a boyfriend who was heavily into The Cure, but he never played any of the music for me- he seemed unwilling to share it with me (or perhaps that was my imagination). At college there was a cute girl in one of my English lit classes named Tabitha, all i really remember about her now is how long her eyelashes were, and that it was she who lent me the first Cure album I would hear: a bootleg cassette of Japanese Whispers.

I was captivated immediately, especially by Lament and The Lovecats. it was the fall of 1989, and the second Cure album i heard (and first one i bought) was "disintegration". and there was no looking back then. from that point on, there were two types of music in my mind: The Cure... and everything else. as to the question of how my attitude to the band has changed over the years- they are more than a band to me now. I am learning everything I know about playing guitar from watching and listening to Robert Smith. I consider the Cure an important part of my life, and the music has a prominent place in my personal spiritual practice. thanks for your interest in my story.

(From: L. Kathleen Hickman, USA)

"Le Cure, they are ze best"

I am a massive Cure fan and have been since 1988 when I was 16. I think my Cure story is quite interesting because I "missed" The Cure a couple of times before I realised they were my band.

In the late 80s one of my school friends had a French pal. We lived on the same street so his pen pal stayed for a week in his house. We were all interested as to what he was like. I asked my friend what he did all day and he said he basically lazed around listening to the Cure. When I met him in person I asked him what he was into and he said "Le Cure, they are ze best". I had not heard of them and asked if they were French. He said "no, they are English". I was surprised, a French guy listening to an English band. And if they were so great why had I not heard of them? At this point I didn't think of checking them out for some reason. Looking back it may have been a bootleg copy of The Cure in Orange that he was listening to, or the head on the door.

About a year later my brother had a German pen pal called Marco. He came over to stay with us. He was also listening to the Cure. In particular the 12" version of Boys Don't Cry. I also liked the song. Even at this stage I still didn't get into the Cure though. I did think to myself that it was strange that the French and the Germans really like the Cure and my friends and I were not into them.

Shortly after this I joined the lower sixth form at school. Everyone seemd to have some musical aliegance. Lots of people were into U2 due to The Joshua Tree etc. Somebody lent me a copy of Staring at the Sea the singles. I was hooked from that point on. I loved the singles. There was no band to match them from the dark brooding "a forest" to the light hearted The Lovecats. I rapidly started collecting all the albums, I devoured all of them. Even the heavy albums such as pornography. I knew I had found my band. Not to mention the majestic Disintegration was released shortly afterwards with the strange songs such as Lullaby.

I also got The Cure In Orange on VHS. The concert blew me away. In paticular the extended version of A Forest, A Strange Day, Push... I hope they release it on blu ray as I can't watch it anymore.

I grew up on the same street as the television presenter "Vernon Kay". He has even presented MTV europe music awards. He is also a Radio 1 DJ. If you google him he will appear. I have lost touch with him but we were friends back them. One day on the radio he claimed the French pen pal was his but I am sure it was my other friend Simon who had the French pen pal. I remember because his mother was fluent in French and could tell him off in perfect French. It was impressive. So where Vernon got that idea from I don't know.

I can even play many Cure songs on my acoustic guitar including Just Like Heaven, Boys Don't Cry, In Between Days etc.

So I still love the Cure. They are my favourite band. People think I am crazy for liking the Cure but that is the way it is.. I can't wait for the next album. For me the only problem has been meeting other Cure fans. I have only seen them live once in the early 90s on the Wish tour. I thought it was a great gig. Robert went into Foxy Lady (Jimi Hendrix) at the end. I got very close to the front and was only 5 feet away from Robert Smith.

Recently I went skiing with a friend to the portes du soleil in France. We flew to Geneva airport. My friend said a previous time he had been there he met the cure. The whole band sat next to them in an aiport cafe. He warned them that the table was wonky as they had just sat at the same table and then moved. He said they were very nice people and seemed quite ordinary. Even though there was no missing Robert due to the hair. I thought to myself it should have been me, I am The Cure fan.

Another strange Cure story. I was working with a guy called "Blewitt" at work. An older guy in his late 40s. He was from the South of England near Surrey/Sussex. I had just bought the rerelease of Three Imaginary Boys and he saw it on my desk. He said to me, "oh yeah, the cure, I like The Lovecats, but not the other stuff" (this is typical from a non Cure fan). He said I used to work with the brother of Robert Smith's girlfriend. I had read a book about the Cure and remembered that Robert's childhood sweetheart was called Mary Poole. I said to him "the guy wasn't called Poole was he". When I said that the guy appeared shocked. He said "How did you know that?" When I told him about the book he still would not believe me. It was very strange.

Recently a new guy joined work and it turns out he is a big Cure fan. I had to meet one some day. Hopefully we will be able to see the next Cure concert in the UK with the new album.

Anyway, I hope you like my stories etc. This can be used for material if you like. If you use it online or something would you let me know. I would like to see other peoples stories too.

(From: John Thompson, Bolton, England)

"At my funeral, they will play 2 Late"

When I was a teenager, I had what would turn out to be the best job ever, working at Tower Records. It was such a great place to work with no real dress code and a company that totally promoted individuality and self-expression. I worked on the "video" side of the store with people who would turn out to be close friends for the rest of my life. The great thing about working on the video side was that we could play any video we wanted to--providing it wasn't too offensive.

Between our Planet of the Apes marathon days and playing Willy Wonka over and over, we would play various promo videos that were sent to the store from different record labels. I was working one day when someone popped in one of those promo videos. The video that was playing was obviously older because the Cure song was Lovecats but Head on the Door had already been out for a while at that time. I had heard the singles from HOTD and liked the band well enough, but when I saw the Lovecats video, I was mesmerized and instantly hooked--what a fantastically, quircky band and a really fun video. It was shortly after that when I built up my collection with everything they had realesed and I've bought every Cure related thing I could get my hands on since--it is always fun having people look at my cd collection and seeing the Judge Dredd soundtrack and looking at me in total confusion...:)

Over the years, the band has remained my favorite. When the original TheCure.com site (the old house one) was up, I found a score of like-minded friends who I have remained close to over the last 11 years. I know it sounds weird, but it was really great meeting people to whom I could talk about the band members using their first names and knowing they knew exactly who I was talking about--dorky, I know. At the time that the site was alive and thriving, I felt more connected to the artists who I admire so much. The access to so much information so quickly really made The Cure experience more intimate. It was a great experience connecting with other Cure heads and talking endlessly about different versions of Forever or what Robert wore at certain shows, even talking with Roger back when the Conservatory was still on IRC. Their music remains extremely important to me after all this time.

Just about any important event that I can remember in my life has some sort of connection to a Cure song--either it was playing in the background at the time, or there was a song in my mind that would be appropriate for such an event. When my kid was born, we brought Kiss Me x3 to the hospital and the album was playing the whole time. When my best friend died, it was Faith and Pornography that I listened to while lying on the floor, crying my eyes out for weeks. The one time I was in a bit of trouble with the cops, Paris was playing in the car when I got pulled over (to this day I won't even allow that CD in the car!). Although most Cure fans have their preferences, I think it's fair to say the faithful all anxiously await each new release. Some songs I love, some songs I will always skip over and that's ok--not every song is for me, but most are. I am older now, a grown woman, but I get excited, even now, knowing I will be going to a Cure show next month.

Anyone who knows me, even slightly, knows that nothing will keep me from a Cure show. I even got my really large family to reschedule a huge party for my parents because it interefered with Curiousa and they all, even my parents, totally understood and knew that the party would have to be changed. In the summertime, I will always try to find a shirt that allows my Robert Smith tattoo to show. I will always buy everything they release. I will always check Chain of Flowers each day. After all these years, they remain the single most important artists to me and that will not change. At my funeral, they will play 2 Late.

(From: Lisa - whereabouts: unknown)

"I cannot imagine a life without their music"

I can honestly say I do not know how I got into the Cure at first, although I was definitely at school in the very late 80’s (I am 34 this year!). It must have been through friends as we were all into alternative music. I remember buying Boys Don’t Cry and being blown away by its simplicity yet its power. Then listening to Disintegration for the first time and being utterly confused by how different and yet amazing Plainsong sounded. It was then a mission to find everything inbetween and became thoroughly absorbed by the journey and history of the band.

I saw them live for the first time at the Brits (Wembley Arena) in '91 and it was like nothing I had ever heard before, then again in Cambridge at the beginning of the Wish tour. My Cure T-shirts and manic dancing to Lovecats was always magnetic and several girlfriends were met as a direct result!

My love affair with the band waned through the late 90s as I grew up for a while and then something happened to me in 2003 and I was hooked again. The Cure arrived in the post on the first day of release, I saw them again – by travelling to Ireland for the DAY in 2004 and then again in Antwerp last month. Hardly a day goes by without my listening to something Cure related and looking for album/tour details on COF.

Robert and the band have been so much a part of more than half my life and I cannot imagine a life without their music. Some songs move me even when I hear them for the 7843rd time!

P.S. Of course I didn’t tell you that for the Cambridge gig I died my hair black and backcombed it. Unfortunately by the following day it had gone blue and got ripped in the VI form common room!!!!

(from: Robert Ellinor, England)