Categories: uncategorized
Date: 26 February 2009 18:00:16
So The Cure have been proclaimed this years god-like geniuses by the NME. Have to say I am really pleased, in an age when so many of the "god-like genius" type bands are simply dinosaurs or parodies of themselves who have turned into pantomime acts The Cure have remained "proper indie".
My first memory of coming across The Cure was sometime in the mid 80's when I first heard Boys Don't Cry. Sure I must have heard the song before coming across the iconic poster, but really don't remember. Both provide me with fond memories. The music of the juke box at the school youth club. The juke box was full of mid 80's pop trash most of which I thought was pretty crap, but it also contained this song, which was obviously poppy enough to let it be the token indie hit on there. So it was, whilst friends were telling me I would grow into liking dance music, (something that only happened post '88 when rave and happy hardcore emerged), this provided the one chance for me to hear what I wanted. The poster was one I think I had on my bedroom wall at some point, purchased from upstairs in Moons - one of my two favourite shops in Ipswich, as I was growing up. Sometime during this period I got my mum to buy me a copy of Standing on a Beach/ Staring at the Sea: The Singles on cassette. I remember her getting it for me, disturbed by the price but wanting to make me happy.
Fast forward a few years to the beginning of the 90's. There I was sitting listening to the evening session or reading NME, I don't remember which, when a "small venue" tour was announced. Now, this wasn't a tour visiting particularly small venues, but having established themselves as the key indie band playing Chrystal Palace and the like this was a low key tour, to promote "Wish". Anyway the way it worked was the tour was announced on a Wednesday or Thursday night, with the tickets going on sale about a week later. They were also only available from the box offices of the venues concerned. Now, the sensible thing to do would have been to go and queue overnight to ensure that you got a decent ticket, but unfortunately at the time I was married to a bloke who didn't mind The Cure, but certainly wasn't into them. The idea of letting his Mrs. head off to a neighbouring city to queue overnight with a bunch of blokes ineye pencil and too much hairspray wasn't his idea of a good idea. So it was that I had to head off on the earliest train of the morning and join the end of a v. long queue. The wait was an anxious one, the queue was v. long and there was a real question mark over whether there would be any tickets left by the time we reached the front. As it was there were, but only in the upstairs seated bit of the Cambridge Corn Exchange.
The gig itself was not particularly awe inspiring, but it did give me the opportunity to hear the band some of my favourite songs live. Also having seen The Cure live is still something which can gain you points amongst certain groups of people.
Fast forward on another couple of years to the middle of the 90's when I was a student for the first time. I won a NME competition to go to the screening of a Cure film - The Show, and goody bags with CD's and t-shirt in. That made me popular with a few friends who got the goody bags aswell.
Now, in a different millenium I smile, listening to their greatest hits. The double CD purchased a few years ago now is regularly played, the music sounding just as good now as it did when I first heard it a quarter of a century ago. On the logic that god-like genius awards go to enduring acts and allow those of a certain age to reminise at length, I think I have just proved why they deserved this award.
