"...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)

"On meeting The Cure"

I first heard of The Cure from my older sister. I don't remember exactly how she heard of them. This was probably back in the late 80's. I wasn't quite into music yet, but I would play card games with my sister in her room and The Cure would always be in the background. I remember that I didn't like the band, because of the way my sister started acting. She shaved the back of her head and started wearing strange clothes. Not so much Goth, but totally different from normal. A lot of thrift store shopping.

When I was about 13, in 1993, I was with a friend and I heard The Cure again...the Show CD. In that car ride I realized that I truly liked the Cure. The music and the lyrics were brilliant. And I practically knew all of the words from those days of playing cards in my sisters room. I immediately became obsessed with the band. Literally, the Cure and Robert Smith were all I thought of everyday. I bought every CD they had, oversized posters, T-shirts, anything Cure related. I even started buying vinyl records and I didn't even own a record player. I found chat rooms that were solely based on the Cure. To talk to other Cure fans was amazing, because there weren't that many around. My sister had even grown out of them a little bit.

My first concert was the Wild Mood Swings tour in 96. It was amazing. I just couldn't believe how phenomenal they were. I didn't get bored or sit one-second of the show. I look back at that show with such fond memories. It will never compare to any other show. 3 hours of simply the Cure and no opening band to sit through. I loved that. I wanted to see them again so badly. I would email them and beg them to come back. I said it would be a "dream" to see them again. Ironically enough when they toured again in 2000 it was called the Dream tour. I always wondered if I helped them think of that title. Or perhaps it was a dream for a lot of people.

When they came back to the states they played a few promo shows. I was the first in line to get tickets here in Atlanta. It didn't matter. The tickets sold out in seconds. I was so upset. The radio stations hoarded all of the tickets and had giveaways. I tried and tried winning, bu to no avail. Then finally a day or so before the show, I actually won! I was the 99th caller and I answered their question right. They listed 4 song titles and I had to know which wasn't a real Cure song. Not only did I win 2 tickets, but I also got to go to the stage rehearsals.

The day of the show, before we enter the venue we are told "no camera's and don't even try talking to them." I was upset because I wanted to bring my camera and my number 1 goal for the past 6 years had been to meet Robert Smith. We went in, listened to the band jam a little bit and then finally he came out. I was 2 feet away from Robert Smith! It was amazing, I can still remember it like it was yesterday. He sang a few songs and then it was time to wrap things up. We were ushered to leave. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't be that close and not meet him. As everyone else was leaving, I turned around and said loudly Robert! He knelt down on the stage to greet me. We spoke a few minutes and he signed several posters that I had. I even made him laugh. Then the rest of the crowd saw what I was doing and they turned around as well. The whole band signed things for us.

At one point a lady was taking pictures. I was so bummed because we had taken our camera to the car. I told Robert that and he said I could go get it. The security guard up front would not comply. I said "but ROBERT SMITH said I could go get it!" To no avail. I was so disappointed and I let the security guard know it. As a gesture of kindness he let us stand at the front of the line to this general admission show. Once inside we were right there in front. I also got to take a few live shots, because we had gotten our camera back by then. Still to this day I am bothered that I didn't just sneak my camera in. So there it was, my dream had came true. I met the Cure and I got to be front row of such an intimate concert.

Now to Today, My attitude towards the Cure has changed. I still love them and I consider them my favorite band, but the passion I once had for them is gone. In my opinion the albums have started going down hill. Bloodflowers was good, better than Wild Mood Swings. But I just don't care for the last album The Cure. No song at all on that album really appeals to me. Maybe it's just I haven't given it a fair try. But I never had to "try" before. I just loved the songs the first time I heard them. Then there is a little underlying bitterness that I have inside. I don't know where I read this but Robert Smith said in an article something like "if you don't like this new album, then you are not a true Cure fan."

That statement was quite a blow to me. In my opinion I was a huge fan. I mean, I did own everything they made and I listened to their music all the time knowing all the lyrics. I traveled to Baltimore and even London to see them perform. How could he say that I wasn't a true Cure fan? I don't know. I still have faith in them to put out another good record like disintegration. I've seen the Cure 6 times since 96. The whole Curiosa idea was by no means appealing to me. I don't want to see 10 other bands. I want to see The Cure and that's all. I still went to the show and the Cure performed well. But please, mix it up a bit.

I've been reading the setlist and it's always the same. I mean the setlist changes a bit from city to city, but has it really changed all that much from 1996? I bought my 80 dollar ticket during the presale last year. I'm ready to be blown away by a change of scenery.

(From: Rebekah V., USA)

JFK Moment

It was May, 1987. I was playing piano in high school practice room in Wisconsin. A good friend of mine loaned me a cassette with Killing an Arab on it. He said, “Check this out”.
They say certain memories we never forget…they call it “flashbulb memory”…the day Elvis died, the day JFK was shot, the day I first heard The Cure.

The next month, my dad gave me my first Cure album, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me as a birthday present. I also remember seeing my first Cure video on MTV later that year and being quite upset about it. I was so into the music that I was afraid seeing what the band looked like might ruin it.

(From: Jeff Miller, Gainesville, Florida, USA)

"...so different from everything that was going on..."

I first got into The Cure in 6th Grade, around age 11 or 12, which was 19 years ago around 1989. My older sister had the first few records and I borrowed Boys Don't Cry from her because I was looking for something to do. I remember thinking that this music sounded so different from everything that was going on back then. I just got sucked in. Seeing as I didn't even have a job yet it took a while to buy all of their records so I would go to the library and rent the tapes until I could afford to buy more.

I loved that each of their records sounded so different and I just became more and more intrigued, admiring their diversity. I couldn't believe when I actually saw the band members, they were so strange that they were cool and I loved their sense of humor in their videos. I think my friends thought I was crazy for being so passionate about this band but I really felt the connection throughout my teenage years to their music and lyrics.

I do wish they were a little more up on their technical stuff and update their website a bit more. I have to search other cure fan sites to get the latest info sometimes. I wish there were more interactive things for the fans. I also wish it didn't cost so much to get a good seat at their concert! Other than that, they will forever be my favorite band.

(From: Michelle Galinis, Middleton, WI, USA)

"A lullaby to my 2 daughters..."

I was 15 and lost lost musically – no clue what genre I liked. I visited my cousin at Villanova on the way to summer break and a roommate loved the cure and we listened to them that weekend.
I knew from that moment on this was the music for me and they have been my favorite band to this day.
This music eventually allowed me to find the love of my life the next summer and we are now married w/ two kids.

I even sang Catch as a lullaby to my 2 daughters and it worked for both of them…

(From: Jeff Locante, age: 38, Pittsburgh, PA, USA)

"I don't think I will ever let the Cure go away from my life"

I'm a 35 yr old Male living in Harrisburg, PA (USA). I grew up in England from the age of 3 till I was 18. The first Cure song I heard was All I Want from the Kiss Me album. It grabbed my senses instantly and ever since I started buying a few of the albums. As I went through the different stages in my life I started listening to more and more of The Cure and was attracted mostly to the deeper sounds and words. When I moved to the US, I started buying all of their albums and listened to everything that was commercially available to me. As I went through relationships I used the music to relate in both sad and good times.

The music has been an inspiration in my life. I have been to 21 Cure shows. I don't have a favorite album, as they change depending on my mood. I can't wait for the new album and neither can my 6 year-old daughter that would give anything to meet Robert Smith and the Cure. She sings the words to several Cure songs, both hits and the darker ones almost perfectly. Think I've created a monster. I will be going to 4 shows this tour. I don't think I will ever let the Cure go away from my life, its been a wonderful experience.

(From: Davis Mathews, Harrisburg, PA, USA)

Good Times Bad Times

It was 1989 and I was in 6th grade (10 years old) living in Guadalajara Mexico. The song Lovesong was being played on the radio a lot so there is no way you could have missed them during that time. I loved that song so a friend of mine let me borrow the album (Disintegration). I immediately fell in love with the entire album. I would fall asleep playing the album, lights off, stereo next to my bed, beautiful music. My friends and I then started finding out more about them, I bought the Kiss Me album after that and then Starting at the sea. I remember watching The Cure specials on TV where they showed their videos. They were just big when Disintegration came out. I became a BIG fan of the cure during that time. When Wish came out it made my passion for them even stronger. I had all their albums at that point.

Then something happened to them during the Wild Mood Swings era. I wasn't really excited about it and I didn't even bought the album. I still loved them for everything else they had done before but their new songs weren't that great for my taste. I can say that I was a little dissapointed. By the time the The Cure album came out I had forgotten a little about them but that album sounded more like The Cure and it felt like they were back. I liked it a lot and reinforced my passion for them. To finish up, I want to say that I have loved The Cure from the moment they came into my life, during the good times, and the bad times, so for this reason, I consider myself a BIG fan, because no matter what, I'm still here, anxious to hear new songs and see them live.

(From: Ernesto, Houston TX, USA)

Tim Pope's videos

I was nine years old when I first heard Robert Smith croon. It was 1991, and the Picture Show VHS cassette was played in heavy rotation at "The Planet," a non-profit children's summer program that I attended, where kids learned to do wood shop, arts and crafts, and kit- built radio controlled cars. I was enrolled at The Planet because it was a young boy's paradise. The Cure was an incidental (but totally surreal and mesmerizing!) backdrop keeping everyone company while they worked.

As I would later come to understand, The Planet's founders: Dave, Tom, Al, and Sophia - a group of original hippies who continued discovering psychedelic music that picked up where the Rock and Roll of the 60s left off - were avid Cure devotees and found Tim Pope's music videos to be both innocent and provocative enough to entertain children ages 8-13. Consequently, after that summer of The Cure pumping through my ears, I purchased my first audio cassette: Mixed Up. I would later work at The Planet myself, having become lifelong family with Dave, Tom, Al, and Sophia. And we're still blasting The Cure!

(From: Jordan, California, USA)

"Fascination"

It was a handful of moments that cumulatively pushed me over the brink into full-on fandom....In 1989, I was mainly a metal-only kinda guy, but was ever so slowly warming up to things like Siouxsie and piL....thing is, I hated stuff that was commercial and I always thought The Cure were some effeminate haircut band, fluffy pop for girls....

Then one night I was flipping through the channels on tv and saw the band on PBS playing live (thinking back now, it had to be In Orange, and the song had to be Faith). I remember thinking the vibe was incredibly heavy and somber, not at all the silly pop band i had thought they were.a little later, Disintegration came out and i saw the Fascination St video on MTV. It was incredibly dark and heavy in its own way and it definitely appealed to me. around the same time i caught an MTV interview bit with Robert on the Week in Rock -- the one where he's standing outside some enormodome on a cloudy day and announcing that after the Disintegration tour, the band would break up because The Cure had never wanted to get so popular.

I thought (naively), "how noble! what integrity!" little did I know....anyway, the final straw was when I went over to a friend's house a month or two later and, while waiting for her to get out of the shower, found a copy of Disintegration and put it on. The bells and chimes and then, whooosh -- Plainsong. I was absolutely enchanted. The walls fell down. I bought Disintegration and from that point forward I started aggressively exploring the back catalog, becoming more and more fascinated all the time. The Cure also proved to be the gateway to so many other bands: Depeche Mode, New Order, the Smiths, and loads and loads of other genres of music that I had ignored for years. Even though they've sullied their legacy in recent years, The Cure remain probably my favorite band of all time.

(from: andy - Pennsylvania, USA)

"Pictures of You"

I became a Cure fan because of a very tragic moment in my life, when I was a senior in High School I was in love with this girl and all she talked about was The Cure. So one day I asked her who The Cure were, she just smiled and said "a very great band". A year after we graduated I lost track of her so one day I decided to get a hold of her, it so happens her aol screen name was cure213.

So when I attempted to get hold of her I got no response, it turn out that she had passed away that night. She was killed by a drunk driver, so when I found out I was devistated. I was so mad that I never got a chance to tell her how I felt about her, the night after her funeral I decided to download a bunch of Cure songs to see what she loved about them so much. The first song I heard was Pictures Of You the song brought tears to my eyes, ever since that day I have been a huge Cure fan. Their music touches me and they sing to my soul.

(From: Bobby Vela, Texas, USA)

"Just Like Heaven"

I'm 32 years old and I've been into The Cure since I was 15. I remember the very first time I ever heard a Cure song - My high school boyfriend and I were at the local Wendy's and he asked me to listen to Just Like Heaven. I recall not being entirely thrilled with it, but he insisted I borrow Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. I agreed to give it a chance and took it home. It quickly grew on me and in no time I was completely obsessed with this brilliant band. My boyfriend made a few copies of his cassettes while I slowly built my own collection by asking all my relatives to buy me nothing but Cure albums for Christmas and my birthday.

I still remember the thrill of getting a new-to-me album and the shivers I'd get from a particularly engaging song (such as Mixed Up's version of A Forest). I currently own all their albums (on cd now, of course), as well as some bootlegs and collectible vinyl, and I've seen them four times in concert so far (once at Wembley Arena in England which was a dream come true). Even after all these years they are my #1 favorite band and I can't foresee that ever changing. That being said, I'm not a blind fan - I feel some of their albums are weak (Wild Mood Swings) while others are quite solid (Faith). I will always have a soft spot for their earlier work, although I'm really looking forward to their new album as well as seeing them live next month in Chicago.

(From: Nicole, USA)

"Pins"

It was DC 1986, and I was 15. An old friend and I had been seeing people in Georgetown with the Cure written on bags, bags with Cure pins on them, and we got curious. Went out and bought the Standing on the Beach cassette, the one with the B sides. Absolutely loved it, started to buy all Cure music we could find!

And then lo and behold, they were touring in '86, went with a big group of friends and had an amazing time, of course!

My attitude toward them has not changed at all in the past 22 years. I still love the music, love going to concerts, and buy all music I can. There have been stages in my teen and very early 20's when I was into different music, but I've always gone back to the Cure, and actually have turned many friends onto the Cure who didn't know them before.

(From: Avalon1970, Washington DC, USA)

"A soft spot in my heart"

I'm 34 years old now, and will be attending the Cure show in Dallas in June. That being said, I got into the Cure in 1986. A friend of mine, Shyla, had an older brother who was in college at the time. He was into punk and new wave bands. He would make tapes of bands that he liked for Shyla. Echo & the Bunnymen, Smiths, Siouxsie and of course The Cure. Shyla and I would listen to his tapes over and over. The first Cure song that really caught my attention was Charlotte Sometimes. I bought Standing on a Beach first, quickly followed by Faith.

By the end of 1987 I had all the Cure albums including the newly released Kiss Me album. Understand that the Cure were pretty unknown in America at the time. Of course New York and Los Angeles had a much bigger Cure following than the rest of the U.S. I "adopted the Cure/deathrock/goth" look soon after getting into The Cure. And yes, I got picked on a lot! That was a long time ago, and I don't walk around dressed all in black and make up anymore, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for the Cure. I've met Robert 3 times and seen the Cure 13 times. I rarely listen to them anymore, but when the weather gets cold and the sky is grey, I always pop in 17 Seconds or Disintegration. I will forever love them, even if I don't keep up with the new stuff.

(From: Trey, Texas, US)

"There was one lone Cure fan in my English class"

In 1987, I was reading a Thrasher Magazine profile on then young pro- skateboarder Tony Hawk. The article mentioned that The Cure was one of Tony's favorite bands. Hawk was one of my heroes then, and I thought "If he likes them, I should definitely check them out."

I lived in Virginia at the time and our middle school had it's share of Smiths and U2 fans. Fortunately for me, there was one lone Cure fan in my English class. Clad in black and white leggings, a black top, a black skirt, bright red lipstick, topped with tousled blue black hair, Alyssa looked like something out of The Cure's Lullaby video. She was an avid Cure fan and let me borrow the double vinyl release for Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. I protected the bright red sleeve as I made my way home from school to drop the needle on the vinyl. I listened with curious intensity to the first track The Kiss. Thudding Flanged Bass, building dynamics ... all leading into the wailing wah-wah guitar work.

At the crescendo of what seemed like a wall of sound, Robert Smith began his vocals. I was stunned. I was hooked. I listened to Kiss Me over and over and over again. In addition to the lyrical content, I was fascinated with the production value. I loved the placement of the instruments in the aural spectrum. Drums here. Rhythm Guitars over there. I loved the ups and downs. The dynamics were amazing. From that point forward, I began amassing their entire catalog, any reading material on the band, miscellaneous promotional items, limited pressings, strange one off collaborations, etc. I also made every effort to see them live when touring in the US. The Cure has been my favorite band for over 20 years. They are still relevant. They are still evolving. With every new release, The Cure continue to connect with me in the way they did when I was 12.

(from: Patrick Miller, Mississippi, USA)

"Their unwillingness to compromise"

My name is Tracy from WA State and here is my story about how I got into The Cure. I was in the 8th grade and a really good friend of mine kept telling me about this band called The Cure, oh and also how much she loved the lead singer Robert Smith. She kept telling me how much I should check them out and how much she'd knew I'd love them. So finally I went out and bought 2 Cure cassette tapes, they were Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me and Disintegration. I listened to the Kiss Me album first and really did like quite a few songs on it, shortly there after I listened to Disintegration and that was it I was in love!!

That entire album struck right to my core and made me feel things I had never experienced with any music before in my entire life. The music and the songwriting is utterly amazing!! As much as I realized how much I really liked this band and their music then it wasn't until some years later that the music started to have a deeper meaning for me. Like turned into the upmost adoration and has been growing more and more as the years have gone by. I can truly say I love this band so much more today than I did the very first time I listened to them 19 years ago.

Their ability to stay as relevant today as they were many years ago and their unwillingness to compromise where the music is concerned has never ceased to amaze me. They still are doing the things the way they always have and we as fans respect and admire that so very much. As we near the release of the newest Cure album, I am so excited to see what they have in store for us this time round! Nothing short of magnificent musical poetry I am sure, but should we expect anything different? I mean we are talking about The Cure here!!

(from: Tracy, WA State, United States)

"This band spoke to me"

In 1988, a junior in High School, I was listening to some pretty terrible music. I lived in a small town about an hour outside of Las Vegas, with no record stores or radio stations, so Vegas was the only destination. I would listen to KLUC, a pop/top 40 station, enjoying whatever in the world was in the top 40 then. I don't care to remember- the only acts that really come to mind are Taylor Dayne and The Cover Girls. You get the idea.

I had a friend who was into "weird music." He's the first person I ever reached a different consciousness with, if you understand my meaning. We were out hanging around and messing about, and he gave me a couple cassette tapes to listen to. One was A Momentary Lapse Of Reason by Pink Floyd. The other was The Head On The Door by some band called The Cure. I never listened to Top 40 again. I'd heard the song Just Like Heaven on the radio from time to time and enjoyed it but never really thought anything of the group. I absolutely devoured The Head On The Door, especially Push, and this prompted me to explore their back catalog. I got into all the older albums, and it's like something just clicked: THIS was the band I was supposed to be listening to. This band spoke to me. Their lyrics explained my day to day life. I could believe there was something beyond the borders of this horrible little town I lived in. I could dream again.

Naturally, when 1989 rolled around, I got Disintegration on the day it came out and was lost. It was, honestly, the only thing I would listen to. My friends got tired of me talking about it. I became the absolutely biggest cure fan there was. And it's not like I dressed like Robert per se, with makeup and big hair. I was a pretty normal kid, wearing t-shirts and jeans. I did, of course, adopt Robert's look of baggy sweaters and high tops. I thought this was the coolest thing ever. I dressed like that until I was 25. Wish came around and things just continued. This tour was the first time I saw them live, at the Rose Bowl in 1992. I was blown away. I didn't think things could get any better than that. In some ways I was right, and in other ways I was very wrong. When Porl and Boris both left the group, I was crushed. Who was this Jason Cooper character? Why is Roger in the band again? Would Burn be the last great song?

Wild Mood Swings came out in 1996, and though I was into the album immediately, over time I started to think, "Hmmmm...this album is ok. There are some good songs, but wow, there are some terrible ones too. And the drumming's off, and..."But then the Swing Tour hit. The first time I'd seen them more than once, in multiple cities. The best night of my life (up to that point, at least) was in August of 1996 at the Irvine Meadows Ampitheatre. I'd driven out from Vegas with my friend Jennifer, and by some weird freak occurrence, we happened to meet a guy named Stymie who knew Daryl Bamonte. One call and we were on some sort of guest list, and after the show (an amazing show that ended with Faith) we strolled backstage and hung out with THE CURE!!! WOW!!! I talked with Simon for half an hour (coolest guy ever), spoke with Robert about music and laundry (private joke) and was basically in a dream world for two hours. What a night!Of course, time passes, people get older, tastes change. I met my wife in 1997 who immediately asked me, after coming to my apartment, "When are you going to take down these gloomy old Cure posters?"

The band went on hiatus, I discovered other music, and when Bloodflowers rolled around, I didn't even know it was coming out until I saw it at Tower Records. I of course bought it right away, and immediately knew something was wrong. Why was Robert's voice mixed so high? What happened to the lyrics? I saw them on that tour here in Los Angeles, but it was pretty forgettable. They didn't even play Pictures Of You. Right about that time, I discovered A Chain Of Flowers website and started keeping up to date on daily news, etc. Time passed again, and suddenly it was late 2003 and, apparently, the Cure were going to produce an album with...Ross Robinson? And then launch a festival-style tour? What was this?The less said about the 2004, self-titled album the better, as far as I'm concerned. Although there are some good ideas floating around and some decent pieces of music, it is, without a doubt, one of the absolutely worst produced, recorded and mixed albums I have ever heard. Wrong in every single way. I didn't bother seeing them at the Curiosa thing. What was the point?

Now, it's 2008. I've gotten all the re-issues (of course), and I've hunted down and downloaded all the unreleased stuff I could possibly find. I've read the forums on COF and waited patiently and impatiently along with everyone else for any and all news on the new album. I've listened to, and for the most part disliked, the live new songs that were released on Youtube. And I've pretty much lowered my expectations about as far as they can go. Is it because I'm older, and I've changed? Is it because Robert it still writing to some imaginary fan that he thinks only wants a particular type of thing? Is it because he's just lost it? Or is it a combination of all of those? I'm not sure, but I'm not really excited about whatever's going to come out. But I'm going to be at the record store buying it the day it comes out, because that's the kind of fan I am. I'm going to get whatever singles they release. I'm seeing them on May 31 at the Hollywood Bowl, and if I can get tickets to the Shrine, I will. But I won't buy any t-shirts or posters. I need money to eat!

(from: Scott Otto, Las Vegas, US)

"Permanently hooked"

I always thought their videos were really interesting when watching MTV during the 80’s and although I liked mainstream hairband shit at the time, I always respected Robert’s uniqueness and thought the songs were great.

Then, in 1990, my freshman year in college, a friend gave me a copy of Disintegration, and the first time I listened all the way through, I nearly wept. “This is it!” I though, “this is my music.” I soon obtained The Head on the Door and Kiss Me albums, and I was thoroughly, completed and, apparently, permanently hooked.

My feelings for The Cure and Robert in particular have matured. Whereas he was something of a demigod to me in the past, I now admire him as a great artist with a terrific work-ethic. Even their performances have gotten better and better over the years. I admire the great effort they put into everything they do—and that they’ve rarely compromised although there have been many missteps (see Wild Mood Swings) along the way. Their flubs show them as mere mortals like the rest of us, and make their many moments of brilliance glow all the more.

Their music has been the soundtrack of my life for 18 years now, and will stay with me—I’m quite certain—to the end.

(from: Jeff Kowalski, USA)