The Dark were one of my favorite Boston Bands in the 80’s. A friend of mine had one of their albums, Darkworld, and I bought their EP Don’t Feed the Fashion Sharks at Nuggets record store on Commonwealth Avenue during one of our high school jaunts to Boston to troll all the great record stores for new music. That record received a lot of play on my turntable and "Better Than That" was one of my favorite songs on the album.
The Dark were a 1980’s Boston quintet consisting of Jason "Jace" Wilson (vocals), Roger Greenawalt (guitars/vocals a Berklee College of Music student 1978-1980), Matt Gruenberg (bass), Mike Hausman or Clark "Dark" Goodpastor (drums and Reeves Gabrels (guitars – another student at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, he left just several credits short from a degree in 1981). The Dark played mostly original music in the new wave/synth genre, but during gigs would sometimes throw in a few covers "Secret Agent Man" and "Smoke on the Water" done at breakneck speed. Others call The Dark a "Post Punk No Wave Death Disco Band".
Back then, whenever the band played a Saturday night gig, Greenawalt would host a pancake breakfast on Sunday at the band’s crashpad, known as Darkworld Headquarters, on Mt. Auburn Street in Watertown, Massachusetts. It was a bit of PR, and a bit of just hanging out with other musicians, writers and fans. Wade Steel took on the job of public relations in earnest and in the fall of 1981 was also the benefactor who released The Dark’s first single "Judy" on which Greenawalt confesses his infatuation for Judy Grunwald, who was then a singer for The Maps (but later went on to front Salem 66). In the song he sings "I’m really glad you dumped your boyfriend. He looks like an East German border guard"….only thing was Judy had not really dumped her boyfriend. Apparently she and her boyfriend didn’t react warmly to these lyrics. Oooops!!! "Judy" became a local Boston hit. Another of The Dark’s single, "More Fun" also received a lot of airplay on college and Boston radio stations.
In 1981 The Dark competed in famed Boston radio station, WBCN’s annual Rock & Roll Rumble. Each year WBCN would hold a huge contest called The Rock and Roll Rumble at a Boston club called The Rathskeller, or more popularly known as "The Rat". A preliminary set of the best local bands were picked to compete. Each night for about a week about 4 bands would play a 30-minute set and be judged by various judges from the Boston music industry. A winner was announced at the end of the night and the winning bands became semi-finalists. The semi-finalists then competed at a separate show and the winner of the Rumble was awarded such prizes as cash, studio time, legal services, and got their album produced. In 1981 The Dark made it to the finals. The winner was the band Someone and the Somebodies. The Dark finished second.
Ric Ocasek, the lead singer of The Cars (who were also based out of Boston) noticed the band. He produced The Dark’s second EP, Darkworld which was released in 1983. Mike Hausman was the drummer on this album. The Dark’s lead singer, Wilson, was dating the singer/bassist for a Boston Band called The Young Snakes – she was then a newcomer named Aimee Mann, who of course went on to fame as the lead singer of ‘til Tuesday and then solo success. When Wilson and Mann broke up, Hausman became involved with Mann, quit The Dark, and formed ‘til Tuesday. Clark Goodpastor came on as drummer for The Dark.
The Dark’s next EP was 1984’s Don’t Feed the Fashion Sharks which was released on Relativity Records, a New York label known for their work with seminal punk rock bands. Both of The Dark’s EP releases received only moderate reception from the critics. Greenawalt felt that The Dark needed to move to New York to make a go of things, but the other band members did not feel the same. Greenawalt moved to New York, and The Dark broke up.
Since moving to New York Greenawalt 0pened a recording studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn called Shabby Road Studios and has produced numerous bands and singers including Ben Kweller, The Pierces, Julian Velard, Thinking in Pictures, Electric Child, Lovely Liar, and Love Crushed Velvet. On December 8, 2004 he performed a one-day concert in Brooklyn of all 185 original Beatles songs played on the ukulele accompanied by various guest singer. He repeated the show again in Brooklyn in 2008, and has performed the marathon show an additional three times over the years at Williamsburg music venue The Brooklyn Bowl, as well as at the 2010 SXSW music festival in Austin Texas.
The Dark’s other guitarist Reeves Gabrels went on to great things as well. But first some background….He was born in Staten Island, New York in 1956. His mother worked as a typist and his father worked on tugboats in New York Harbor. Gabrels began playing the guitar at age 13. In 1971 when he was 14 his father arranged for Reeves to take lessons with a friend of his, Turk Van Lake (1918-2002) who lived in their neighborhood and had been a professional musician who played with Benny Goodman and others. After graduating high school Gabrels attended Parsons School of Design and the School of Visual arts. He kept up with his guitar playing and began to get some session musician work. Through this work he met jazz guitarist John Scofield and took more lessons from him. Thereafter Gabrels moved to Boston, Massachusetts so that he could attend Berklee College of Music. Gabrels was a member of Boston Bands The Dark, Life on Earth, The Atom Said, Rubber Rodeo, The Bentmen, and Modern Farmer from the 1980’s through early 1990’s. Modern Farmer consisted of Gabrels, Jamie Rubin, David Hull and Billy Beard (formerly of Boston Band Face to Face who scored a big hit with their single
"10-9-8" – See 80’s Quest post for April 6th). They released a self-titled album in 1993.
After The Dark broke up Gabrel’s wife at the time, Sara Terry, was working as a publicist for David Bowie’s 1987 tour. This led to Gabrels teaming up with Bowie and brothers Hunt Sales (bass) and Tony Sales (drums) in their band Tin Machine, from 1989-1993. Afterwards, Gabrels played with Bowie on many of his 1990’s albums including Outside (1995), as well as Earthling (1997), and ‘hours… (1999) which he also co-produced. A song from Earthlings called "Dead Man Walking" that Bowie and Gabrels wrote was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Since then Gabrels has done solo work, production and collaborative work with other musicians worldwide. His solo albums include The Sacred Squall of Now (Rounder/Upstart, 1995); Ulysses (Della Notte) (Emagine, 2000); Live, Late, Loud (Myth Music, 2003); and Rockonica (Myth Music/Favored Nations/Sony, 2005). Gabrels wrote the soundtrack for the 1995 David Sutherland film "The Farmer’s Wife", and collaborated with Public Enemy on a song called "Go Cat Go" for the Spike Lee movie "He Got Game. He has also written music for several PBS productions. He lived in Los Angeles from 2000 – 2006 and is now based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Jace Wilson (vocals), Matt Gruenberg (bass), and Clark Goodpastor (drums) stayed in Boston and formed the band Life on Earth.
On January 22, 1994 there was a reunion show featuring The Dark and The Young Snakes, I believe in Boston.
Lyrics
I could say the world is cold and blue.
I could say there’s no one left to talk to.
I could say that life’s a waste of time.
And I could say that none of this is mine,
(CHORUS):
But you know better than that,
And I just couldn’t say that to you.
You know me better than that.
You know better than that,
And I just couldn’t say that to you.
You know me better than that.
I could say I’m not, but you know I am.
I could say I can’t, but you know I can.
I could say that thing’s might not work out.
But I can’t think of anything to say that about.
I never owned a Damned album back in the 80's but first became acquainted with them when they were the musical guests on the English television comedy show "The Young Ones" which was airing on American t.v. on the MTV channel. They seemed like a groovy, gothic kinda band, and were always there on the music scene over the years, especially when Halloween rolled around in October. They seemed to perform a lot of Halloween shows in October....
The Damned formed in London, England in 1976. They were the first punk rock band from the U.K. to release a single and have a punk album on the music charts. Over the years the band has had a revolving cast of members, recorded on numerous different record labels, and has broken up numerous times and gotten back together; however the founding members were Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns), drummer Rat Scabies (Chris Millar) and singer Dave Vanian (David Letts) who was the sole constant member of the band over all of its’ incarnations over the years.
Rat Scabies had tried out for the punk band London SS and became acquainted with guitarist Brian James (who was in London SS whose other members went on to form The Clash – see February 26th 80’s Quest post- and Generation X – see 80’s Quest post. Later he was in The Lords of the New Church). Scabies was in a band called Masters of the backside with Vanian, Captain Sensible, and Chrissie Hynde (who later became the lead singer of The Pretenders – see 80’s Quest post). Scabies and James decided to start a new band of their own and invited Sid Vicious (of Sex Pistols fame) and Dave Vanian to audition as singers. Only Vanian showed up, so he got the job as lead singer of their new band, The Damned.
The Damned first gig was a festival in Croydon, England, and their second gig was supporting the Sex Pistols at their 100 Club gig on July 6, 1976. The Damned released a single "New Rose", and as mentioned above, they were the first English punk band to release a single, and also an album. Nick Lowe produced both their first single and their first album: Damned Damned Damned. The lead single off the album was called "Neat Neat Neat". The album also contained a cover version of The Stooges 1970 song "I Feel Alright". In 1977 The Damned had another first: They were the first English punk band to tour the United States. In March 1977 they opened for T. Rex on their final tour.
The Damned tried to get Pink Floyd’s Syd Barrett to produce their second album, but were unsuccessful. Instead Barrett’s Pink Floyd bandmate Nick Mason took on the position, but reportedly was rather disinterested in the project, which was called Music for Pleasure. As a result, the album flopped commercially and with the critics. For awhile The Damned broke up and the members worked on side projects and solo recordings.
The Damned reformed without James, but added Lemmy of Motorhead on bass for their studio demo recordings and a handful of shows. The band released some hit singles "Love Song" and "Smash It Up" leading up to the release of their next album, Machine Gun Etiquette, which included a cover song of Jefferson Airplanes hit "White Rabbit". Their new album was very influenced by 1960’s garage rock and contained Farfisa organ on numerous songs. The album was recorded at Wessex Studios at the same time The Clash was there to record their album London Calling, so Clash members Joe Strummer and Mick Jones sang on the album’s title track but were uncredited, however. The album was very well received by the critics and fans.
The band released a double-album, The Black Album in 1980 which included a 17-minute goth song called "Curtain Call". The next year, 1981, The Damned released a 4-song EP called Friday the 13th. In 1982 they released the album Strawberries.
It was in 1984 that The Damned made their television appearance on the BBC television comedy show The Young Ones. They performed their single "Nasty". By now Vanian was fully engulfed in a gothic-look that included chalky white face makeup and a style similar to that of a vampire.
The Damned were signed by MCA Records and released a 1985 album with them called Phantasmagoria which contained their big hit "Grimly Fiendish" as well as "The Shadow of Love". Their next album 1986’s Anything was a commercial flop. MCA records made the unlikely choice of containing one of The Damned songs, "In Dulce Decorum" on the soundtrack Miami Vice II, believe it or not! In 1987 the band began working on another album for MCA, but it was never released and their record contract was cancelled and the band went on hiatus.
In 1993 Guns N’ Roses (see 80’s Quest post) covered The Damned’s song "New Rose" on their The Spaghetti Incident album. In 1995 The Offspring recorded another Damned cover, "Smash it Up" which appeared on the movie soundtrack for Batman Forever.
In 1993 the band had reunited with yet another line-up, and toured for about 2 years. They recorded a new album, Not of This Earth but by the time it was released The Damned had broken up again mostly due to legal issues (Vanian and Captain Sensible accused Scabies of releasing the album without proper authorization). By 1996 everything was o.k. again and the band reformed with yet another line-up which included Patricia Morrison who had previously played with The Bags, The Gun Club (see 80’s quest post) and The Sisters of Mercy. Morrison and Vanian later were married and had a daughter, Emily in 2004.
The Damned continued to release singles and albums in the 2000’s and tour. In 2011 they were still performing at numerous festivals.
Lyrics:
Grimly fiendish plays the game that never plays
Sing out loud but never prayed
Grimly fiendish wears a coat thats black and long
He doesn't know that it's all wrong
Simply fiendish, a child caught in a grown up world
No lies convince the court
Once a week I could be found on the faces all the frowns
Hide and seek, tried so hard to find that crime could pay
Just for today
(chorus)
Bad bad bad boy (x8)
Let me get the story straight
You never gave me a break
It's a case of give and take
You didn't make me good you just painted me green
You made me part of your forgotten dream
Grimly fiendish, we'll send you just where you belong
I remember the build-up to the release of Terence Trent D’Arby’s first solo album, Introducing The Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby was a very big deal. He was touted as being the "next coming" in soul music and his voice was compared to greats like Sam Cooke, and Al Green. I bought into the excitement and bought the album. I loved it and played it all the time. When D’Arby was set to go on tour, I thought it was going to be a show to remember. I was nuts to get tickets to his show in Massachusetts (I can’t remember if it was Boston or Worcester). Back in those days there was no internet, so you had to purchase your tickets by calling the ticketing company (usually Ticketmaster) on the telephone. Everyone else who wanted to see the show was also calling in at the very same time trying to buy tickets too, so you would get busy signal after busy signal on the phone unless you were lucky enough to get through to a live ticket seller before the show sold out.
I finally made it through on the line. I was soooo excited! I remember thinking that the lady on the telephone assisting me seemed like a real doofus. It didn’t seem like she even knew who Terrence Trent D’Arby was because she kept pronouncing his last name as "Dee-Arby" instead of "Darby". "What a square," I thought. She also quite annoyed me because she took forever to complete my transaction. Slowly repeated every detail of my purchase, all the while calling him Terrence Trent Dee-Arby. I was really worried that the show would sell out before she would get through her stupid spiel and sell me my ticket already! Finally the transaction was completed. I excitedly waited for my tickets to arrive in the mail. And I waited, and waited, and waited. I got worried when my tickets still hadn’t arrived two weeks prior to the show, so I called Ticketmaster to inquire about them. I learned that the doofus must not have put my order through correctly because there was no record of the sale, no tickets were going to arrive, and I was not going to get to see the show. I was livid.
Terence Trent D’Arby was born in 1962 in New York, NY to a musical family. His father, Reverend James Benjamin Darby, played guitar and had been a big rock and roll fan before becoming a Pentecostal minister, and his mother Frances was a gospel singer, teacher and counselor.. Back then Terence Trent D’Arby was known simply as Terry Darby.
The family relocated to New Jersey, Chicago and finally settled in Deland, Florida when Terry was a teenager. In high school he sang with the DeLand High School Modernaires. He also took up boxing and began training in Orlando, Florida. He won the Golden Gloves lightweight championship and received an offer to join the United States Army and attend boxing school, but his stepfather was adamant that Darby attend college instead.
Darby studied journalism at the University of Central Florida for one year, but quit in 1980. He enlisted in the United States Army so that he could continue boxing and have a chance to be a Golden Gloves contender. He was stationed at Fort Sill in Oklahoma and was next stationed in Frankfurt, Germany with the Third Armored Division (Elvis Presley’s former unit).
In Germany he was denied paratrooper training and assigned to a supply clerk post. He became more interested in the Frankfurt nightlife scene than his army duties, and began singing again. He joined a 9-piece pop-soul band called Touch. In 1983 He went AWOL from the Army and turned himself in just before leaving Germany for London England. In London he briefly performed with a band called The Bojangels, but then signed a solo recording contract with Columbia Records.
In 1987 Darby changed the spelling of his name to D’Arby and in October released his first single "If You Let Me Stay" from his solo album Introducing The Hardline According to Terence Trent D’Arby. It reached #68 on the charts. It was his second single "Wishing Well" that finally earned him fame. It hit #1 on the charts. He had one more #4 hit from this album, a lovely soulful ballad called "Sign Your Name". D’Arby was a natural media manipulator and created quite a buzz for his first album calling it among "the most brilliant debuts from any artist in the past 10 years". The ploy worked and the album sold over a million copies over the first three days of its release, and sold over 14 million copies overall. It earned him a Grammy Award in 1988 for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. While his bravado got him lots of press and stirred up public interest, his haughtiness began to work against him with the critics. Critics dug deeper and were happy to report on discrepancies in his early bio.
In 1989 he released his second album, Terence Trent D’Arby’s Neither Fish nor Flesh. The critics like the album, but it was a commercial flop, reaching only #61 on the charts, and spawning no hit singles.
D’Arby moved to Los Angeles, and after 4 years released another album 1993’s Terence Trent D’Arby’s Symphony or Damn (Exploring the Tension Inside the Sweetness). It sold even worse than his second album charting at only #119; however, spawned one Top 100 single, a duet with singer Des’ree, called "Delicate" which got to #74 on the American charts; however, did well in the U.K. rising to #4 on the charts there.
In 1995 he released TTD Vibrator which mixed soul, funk, hard rock, Latin, and gospel music and went on a successful world tour, yet the album was a commercial failure. D’Arby threatened to retire as a performer and work instead as a producer. In the 1990’s his relationship with his record company, Columbia Records, was very strained. He left the label in 1996.
In 1995 Following a series of dreams D’Arby started calling himself Sananda Maitreya and officially changed his name in 2001 proclaiming that Terence Trent D’Arby was dead.
In 1999 Maitreya performed with INXS (their lead singer Michael Hutchence died in 1997) at the opening ceremony for the Sydney Olympics in Australia.
In 2001 he moved to Munich, Germany and started an independent record label called Treehouse Pub. He released his first album in 6 years on his new label, Wildcard. Initially the album was available for free on his website and later released commercial through Universal Music, and then again on Maitreya’s own label.
In 2002 Maitreya moved to Milan, Italy and began working on songs for his next album, Angels & Vampires Volume I. The songs were released in chapters on Weedshare allowing fans to hear the work as it evolved. In July 2005 the fully mastered album was released on MP3 on his website, and later on CD.
In 2005 he released Angels & Vampires Volume II, again releasing songs chapter by chapter, finishing the album in April 2006 and selling it online. At the end of 2007 a limited 2-CD edition of Angels & Vampires was released.
He released another album on his website in 2009 called Nigor Mortis: A Critical Mass, and later on CD. His 2010 album was called The Sphinx.
Maitreya continues to make music in Milan, Italy where he lives with his family, and tours around Europe with his band The Nudge Nudge.
Over the years he appeared in two films and played singer Jackie Wilson on the television mini series Shake Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story. His music has appeared in numerous movies including Frankie and Johnny (1991), and his song "Right Thing, Wrong Way appears during the end credits of Beverly Hills Cop III. In 1996 he co-wrote the song "Letting Go" with Hans Zimmer for the movie "The Fan" which starred Robert DeNiro. In 2007 three of his songs appeared in the Judd Apatow movie Knocked Up. His song "What Shall I Do?" was featured in an episode of the American television series Girlfriends on UPN.
Lyrics:
(Spoken:)
Sweetheart listen,
I know the last few pages
Haven't been good for the both of us
And I've caused you a lot of grief
But put those bags down, o.k.?
Before you make a decision like that,
Please just listen to me
'Cos I don't want you to leave.
I definately don't want you to leave
Just hear me out.
Honey, don't leave me now
With my head on my shoulders wrong
Have I done something wrong for you to leave?
I know I've been careless, girl
And I must apologize
I'll try better next time, baby
If you let me stay
If you let me stay
I'll say what I should've said
If you let me stay
I should have said that I love you
It you let me stay
And I should have said it from my heart
If you let me stay
How can I compensate
For my indiscretions, dear
Tell me it's not too late
That I'd love to hear
If you walk out on me
You will see a grown man cry
I didn't miss my water
Till my well ran dry
But if you let me stay
If you let me stay
I'll say what I should've said
If you let me stay
I should have said that I love you
It you let me stay
And I should have said it from my heart
If you let me stay
Your pretensions aim for gullible fools
And now who needs you anyway?
I'll get mine elsewhere
I taught the school
You will regret it someday
If you let me stay
I'll say what I should've said
If you let me stay
I should have said that I love you
It you let me stay
And I should have said it from my heart
If you let me stay
In the late 80’s through early 90’s I was a DJ on college radio station W.U.N.H, 91.3 FM. It was during my time there that I came across Current 93’s 1988 album, Earth Covers Earth, containing this song "Hourglass for Rosy Abelisk". Apparently there are other Hourglass songs, such as Hourglass for Diana, but it was the one for Rosy Abelisk that caught my ear. It sounded like something out of a horror movie, like some weird creepy child reciting a dark invocation before all hell broke loose. I used to like to play it on my show because it was so freaky and different. I must admit however, that during the summertime when the campus was deserted, and it was dark after midnight, and I was all alone in the studio, and nearly alone in the entire Memorial Union Building where the station was housed – playing this song could send a chill up your spine and make you look over your shoulder a bit! I wonder how many listeners I scared in their own homes, or driving all alone at night in their cars! I don’t think that I could listen to a whole album or more than one album of this stuff, but I did like pulling this album from the shelves and giving this song some play from time to time.
Current 93 is a British Experimental occult group that was formed in 1982 and is led by David Tibet (real name David Michael Bunting). Tibet had been in the bands Nurse With Wound and Psychic TV prior to founding Current 93, a collective inspired by Aleister Crowley’s dark magic and philosophies. Tibet is the one constant member of the collective. The name of the band is inspired by Crowley, as The 93rd Current is the definition of the Thelema cult (Sorry…I can’t really explain that without having to do a massive read-up on Crowley, which I have not done). Tibet’s main collaborators include Steve Stapleton of Nurse With Wound, John Balance of Coil, and Fritz Haaman of 23 Skiddoo. Nick Dave, Bjork, Andrew W.K., Tiny Tim and Soft Cell’s Mark Almond have also lent their talents to his work.
Current 93 has released over 20 albums and as far as I can tell is still going strong through 2010. The music consists of tape loops, spoken mantras and poems, experiments with voice, Gregorian chants, atmospheric and sometimes sinister industrial sounds, haunting recitations, among many other things. It is fluid, experimental, and constantly changing. This particular song is from Current 93’s late 1980’s apocalyptic folk phase, the lyrics are a recitation of an English poet, John Hall (1627 – 1656), of the Caroline Period.
There is an awful lot of conceptual thought behind Tibet’s music that you can read up on Wikipedia and someone’s very extensive knowledge of Tibet and Current 93 is chronicled at: http://www.scaruffi.com/vol4/current.html if you are interested.
Lyrics:
My life is measur'd by this glasse, this glass
By all those little Sands that through passe
See how they presse, see how they strive, which shall
With greatest speed speed and greatest quicknesse fall
See how they raise a little Mount, and then
With their owne weight doe levell it agen.
But then th'have all got thorough, they give o're
Their nimble sliding downe, and move no more.
Just such is man whose houres still forward run,
Being almost finsht ere they are begun,
So perfect nothings, such light blasts are we,
That ere w'are ought at all, we cease to be.
Do what we will, our hasty minutes fly,
And while we sleep what do we else but die?
How transient are our Joyes, how short their days!
They creepe on towards us, but flie away
How stinging are our sorrows! where they gaine
But the least footing there they will remaine
How groundless are our hopes, how they deceive
Our childish thoughts, and onely sorrow leave!
How real are our feares! they blast us still,
Stil rend us, still with gnawing passions fill;
How senseless are our wishes, yet how great!
With that toile we pursue them with that sweat!
Yet most times for our hurts so small we see,
Like Children crying for some mercurie,
This gapes for Marriage, yet his fickle head
Knows not what cares waite on a Marriage bed.
This woves Virginity, yet knows not what
Lonenesse, griefe, discontent, attends that state.
Desires of wealth anothers wishes hold
And yet how many have been choak'd with Gold?
This onely hunts for honour yet whop shall
Ascend the higher, shall more wretched fall.
This thirsts for knowledge, yet how is it bought?
With many a sleeplesse night and racking though?
This needs will travel, yet how dangers lay
Most secret Ambuscado's in the way?
These triumph in their Beaty, though it shall
Like a pluck't Rose or fading Little fall.
Another hoasts strong armes, alas Giants have
by silly Dwarfes been drag'd unto their grave.
These ruffle in rich silke, though ne're so gay.
A well plum'd Peacock is more gay than they.
Poore man, what art! A Tennis ball of Errour,
A ship of Glasse, toss'd in a Sea of terrour,
Issuing in blood and sorrow from the wombe,
Crauling in tears and mounting to the tombe,
How slippery are thy pathes, how sure thy fall,
How art thou Nothing when th'art most of all!
"Just Like Heaven" is one of those songs….no matter how many times I hear it played, I just never ever get tired of it. Oh! The lyrics – "You, strange as angels dancing in the deepest oceans, twisting in the water - You're just like a dream" Oh! The imagery – you can absolutely picture the scene: "Show me, show me show me how you do that trick, the one that makes me scream she said. The one that makes me laugh she said and threw her arms around my neck". It is so lyrically lush, and dark, dreamy, and desirous. This song does no wrong by me!
The Cure is one of those bands that an outsider teenager discovers and just has to love! They sing of love and desire, repulsion, being shattered, death, angels, kisses, hate, wonder, spite, wildness, wantonness, the sky, the sea, gardens, heaven, and the wind. They sing of strangeness, longing, crying, glorifying, being glad, being outraged, death and good-byes, discovery and hope. What they cover in their songs is not trite. And they do it in a way that is gothic and dark, but also at times playful and light.
I came to know this band in high school, but really loved them during college. I remember hanging around a group of people who worked at the college radio station and going to parties in the seacoast town of Dover and The Cure being on. Whenever I hear their song "Hot, Hot, Hot" it reminds me of a first date I had around that time. The song was on the radio, and we were singing it later when we walked in the streets. Makes me think of that guy to this day!
Robert Smith had a distinctive look that no one else was sporting. A mess of tall black hair that looked like as if he just rolled out of bed and slept on only one side of his head, black clothes, black eyeliner, pasty skin and smeared red lipstick. When I was very little, one of my favorite books was "The Best Loved Doll" by Elliot Gilbert (1962). In it this doll, Jennifer’s hair is all askew, she’s all banged up and faded, and her dress is all pale and rumpled, but her owner decides that out of all the dolls she owns she wants to bring Jennifer to this doll party for little girls. Jennifer ends up winning a medal for "Best Loved Doll" at the party. Well, Robert Smith totally reminds me of Jennifer, The Best Loved Doll.
I’ve seen a ton of concerts in my lifetime, but The Cure is one band…to this day that I have never seen perform live. I remember being home from college, and being really excited because MTV was going to be airing a live concert of The Cure playing "Live at L’Orange" (France). I waited all week for the concert to air, and even stayed in on a weekend night to watch it, and I couldn’t believe how dull and boring the band turned out to be during the show. They stood very still and boring while delivering their songs. With so much going on in their lyrics, I guess I was flummoxed that and totally surprised that not much went on in their show. I think the "Live at L’Orange" show really tainted my view of what seeing them live might be like. I’m not sure if L’Orange was just a dud, and I am really missing out on something. Perhaps I will see them live one day yet, and find out.
The Cure was formed in Crawley, Sussex England (a suburb of London) in 1976. Robert Smith grew up in working class Crawley and remembers his childhood as difficult. While in Middle School Smith (on piano) formed a band called The Obelisk with childhood friends Laurence Tolhurst (drums), Michael Dempsy (guitar), Marc Ceccagno (lead guitar), and Adam Hill (bass) for a one-time performance. In 1976 Ceccagno (on lead guitar) formed a more serious band called Malice with Smith (this time on guitar), Dempsy (now on bass), and two of his other classmates at St. Wilfrid’s Catholic Comprehensive School. Ceccagno left the band to pursue playing jazz-rock fusion in the band Amulet. By this time, punk had emerged and Malice’s remaining members had become very interested in this new type of music. In January 1977 they changed the band name to Easy Cure. Their old classmate Tolhurst, and Porl Thompson (lead guitar) joined Smith and Dempsy. They auditioned several singers, but finally decided to just let Smith take on the role of lead singer.
In 1977 German record label, Hansa Records had a talent contest. Easy Cure won and received a recording contract. They recorded tracks, but they were never released. Hansa apparently thought they could mold the teenagers and make them sing cover songs, but the boys refused. By March 1978 the contract with Hansa Records was negated. Thompson left the band. Smith, Dempsy, and Tolhurst soldiered on, now calling themselves The Cure.
The Cure recorded a demo tape at Chestnut Studios in Sussex and sent it out to numerous major record labels. Polydor bit, and signed the band to its Fiction record label in September 1978. The band released their first single in December, "Killing an Arab". The song got them noticed, and garnered some controversy. Because of the title, some thought the song was racist, but it was actually based on the novel, "The Stranger" by French existentialist Albert Camus. When more singles were pressed the band placed a sticker on them denying any racist connotations.
The Cure released their debut album, Three Imaginary Boys, in May 1979. The band did was not pleased with the recording and found it to be a bit lightweight. They released the single "Boys Don’t Cry" in June, and embarked on a tour as the opening band for Siouxsie and the Banshees tour of England, Ireland and Wales from August – October.
When Siouxsie’s guitarist, John McKay, suddenly quit the band, Smith was recruited to stand in on guitar for them on the rest of the tour. In "The Siouxsie & The Banshees Authorized Biography" by Mark Paytress, Robert Smith described the experience of playing on stage with Siouxsie as follows, "On stage that first night with the Banshees, I was blown away by how powerful I felt playing that kind of music. It was so different to what we were doing with The Cure. Before that, I’d wanted us to be like The Buzzcocks or Elvis Costello, the punk Beatles. Being a Banshee really changed my attitude to what I was doing." In October 1979 another Cure single was released "Jumping Someone Else’s Train". Dempsy was not pleased with the new material Smith was writing for The Cure, so he left the band and joined The Associates, another band on the Fiction record label. Simon Gallup (bass), and Matthieu Hartley (keyboards) joined The Cure. In November and December The Associates actually ended up touring in support of The Cure and another band The Passions.
Smith wanted to make The Cure’s second album much better and more substantiative than their debut album, so he tried to maintain much more control over it and was a co-producer. Seventeen Seconds was released in 1980. It reached #20 on the U.K. charts and the single, "The Forest" became their first U.K. Top 40 hit reaching #31 on the charts.That same year (1980) their debut album was repackaged and renamed Boys Don’t Cry for release in the United States. The Cure set out on a world tour in support of both albums. At the end of the tour, Hartley left the band because he was not partial to the morose tone the music was taking.
Their third album, Faith was released in 1981 and charted at #14 on the U.K. Charts. The Cure also released a single that was recorded outside the album called "Charlotte Sometimes". Smith was totally serious about the more somber direction the music was taken, often refusing to play older songs on stage, and even becoming so absorbed in the music that he was leaving the stage in tears. He has stated that he always considered his music a catharsis and a therapy.
Smith was under a lot of mental stress due to the simple pressures of growing up when their album Pornography was released in 1982. The album was very death-focused and nihilistic. The Cure released "The Hanging Garden" as a single and went on tour in support of the album (which became their first Top 10 album in the U.K.). It was during this tour that Smith adopted his trademark look of tall messy hair and smeared red lipstick. There were incidents that led to Simon Gallup leaving the band. He and Smith did not talk to each other for 18 months. Smith looked back on that time and has stated in a Spin magazine article that he was a pretty monstrous person during this time.
For most of 1983-1984 Smith was a full time member of Siouxsie and the Banshees. He played on their live Nocturne album and their Hyaena album. He also formed a side project called The Glove with Siouxsie drummer, Steve Severin. They Glove released one album, Blue Sunshine. At the same time, The Cure, now a duo consisting of Smith and Tolhurst (who was now playing keyboards instead of drums) released an album intended for the Japanese market only titled Japanese Whispers containing the songs "Let’s Go to Bed", "The Walk" and "The Lovecats", but their record company decided to release it worldwide
When Smith turned his full focus back to The Cure again, their musical direction changed from minimal punk-tinged pop to a more lush, moody, and at times what some might call dirge-like music. Their next album, 1984’s The Top was actually considered quite psychedelic. Smith played all of the instruments (except drums and saxophone) on the album. The album was another Top 10 in the U.K., and finally broke the Top 100 in the United States. The band again went on a worldwide tour with a rotating cast of member. A roadie on the tour got Smith and Gallup talking again, and the two reconciled. Gallup rejoined, so did Porl Thompson and there was a new drummer, Boris Williams along with Smith and Tolhurst rounding out the band.
Their next album The Head on the Door, was released in 1985 and contained a mix of both optimistic and pessimistic songs. The album reached #7 in the U.K., and #59 in the United States. Two singles from the album, "In Between Days" and "Close to Me" became smash international hits. There was another world tour.
Next the band released a compilation album Standing on a Beach (in 3 different formats each with a different name and different track listings). The singles "Boys Don’t Cry", "Let’s Go to Bed" and "Charlotte Sometimes" were re-released. The band also released a videotape and laser disc format containing music videos for each song on the album and called it Staring at the Sea. They toured in support of the compilation album. They also released a live videotape of one of the shows on the tour that was filmed in the south of France called The Cure in Orange. The band was now very popular in Europe and had a long history of hitmaking there, but had remained a cult-status band in the United States until this compilation album hit the scene. From there they gained steam in the U.S. and this album reached the Top 50 there.
The Cure released a double album in 1987 called "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me" which spawned the hits "Why Can’t I Be You", "Just Like Heaven", "Hot, Hot, Hot!!!". It was a smash album reaching the Top 10 in many European countries and the first of their albums to enter the Top 40 in the United States. "Just Like Heaven" became their biggest single to date in the U.S. and cracked the Billboard Top 40.
In 1989 they released their next album Disintegration. It entered the U.K. charts at #3 and reached #12 in the U.S. It spawned a series of hits including "Fascination Street", "Lullaby", "Lovesong" and "Pictures of You" . "Lovesong" reached #2 on the mainstream American pop charts becoming the only Cure song to reach the US Top 10.
By this time Tolhurst had developed an alcohol problem, and the band gave Smith an ultimatum that either Tolhurst would have to go, or else the rest of the band would quit. In 1989 Tolhurst’s departure was announced. Roger O’Donnell joined in his place. Smith was now the only remaining founding member in the band. The band embarked on a tour, and for the first time The Cure were playing stadiums in the United States. They also performed "Just Like Heaven" at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, California.
O’Donnell was short-lived and by May 1990 he quit the band and was replaced by one of the band’s guitar technicians, Perry Bamonte. In November the band released a collection of remixes called Mixed Up. It did not do very well. "Never Enough" was released as a single.
1994’s album, Wish reached #1 in the U.K. and #2 in the U.S. (their most successful album on the U.S. charts) spawning the upbeat hit, "Friday, I’m in Love". The band toured in support of the album and filmed the tour calling it "Show" and released a live album by the same name. The culled more footage into another film entitled "Paris" that was released in 1993.
The band’s line-up went through another big transition and by 1994 only Smith and Bamonte remained, later joined by Gallup after recovering from some health issues, and O’Donnell again. The band recorded the song "Burn" for the 1994 movie The Crow, as well as the theme song, "Dredd Song" for the 1995 Sylvester Stalone movie Judge Dredd. Wild Mood Swings
With the poor performances of both Wild Mood Swings and Galore Smith feared The Cure might be close to the end. The Cure had one more album they were obligated to record under their record contract, Smith set out to make a serious Cure album and came out with Bloodflowers in 2000 (it was supposed to be the third in a trilogy of albums that included Pornography and Disintegration). The band embarked on a 9-month worldwide tour. The album was critically well received and was nominated for a Grammy Award.
In 2001 The Cure released a Greatest Hits compilation and DVD. In 2002 they headlined twelve major summer music festivals and performed three concerts in Europe (2 in Berlin and 1 in Brussels) in which they played songs from the trilogy albums: Pornography, Disintegration, and Bloodflowers. They played the songs from each album in the trilogy in their entirety each night. The Berlin performances were released on DVD in 2003 as The Cure: Trilogy.
2004 saw the band releasing a box set, Join the Dots: B-Sides and Rarities, 1978 – 2001(The Fiction Years). They also released a new album, The Cure, that same year. It debuted in the Top Ten both in Europe and the U.S. in July 2004. In July and August the band headlined the famed Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California to promote the album, and then embarked as a headliner on another North American music festival, Curiosa. In 2004 MTV also presented The Cure with an MTV Icon award.
In 2006 the band began writing material for their 13th studio album. It was released in 2008: 4:13 Dream. There have been hints that part two of 4:13 Dream may one day be released on iTunes.
The Cure was announced as a nominee for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. The Cure’s legacy is as one of the first alternative bands to gain commercial success and break out of their underground status well before alternative music became accepted in the mainstream. The band Interpol has expressed how much The Cure was an influence on everyone in the band. was released in 1996 and earned mostly negative reviews. "The 13th" was the highest charting single at #44. Another greatest hits compilation, Galore, was released in 1997. It was the end of their commercial peak. In 1998 The Cure recorded a song for the soundtrack of the X Files movie called "More Than This", and contributed a cover of the song "World in My Eyes" to a Depeche Mode tribute album called For the Masses.
Lyrics:
Show me, show me show me
how you do that trick The one that makes me scream she said The one that makes me laugh she said and threw her arms around my neck
Show me how you do it and i promise you I promise that
I'll run away with you
I'll run away with you
Spinning on that dizzy edge I kissed her face and kissed her head and dreamed of all the different ways I had to make her glow Why are you so far away? she said and won't you ever know that i'm in love with you? That i'm in love with you?
You
Soft and only You Lost and lonely You Strange as angels Dancing in the deepest oceans Twisting in the water You're just like a dream... You're just like a dream...
Daylight licked me into shape I must have been asleep for days and moving lips to breathe her name I opened up my eyes and found myself alone, alone, alone above a raging sea that stole the only girl I loved and drowned her deep inside of me
Do you remember the first time that you heard Culture Club? Do you remember your reaction the first time you saw their lead singer, Boy George? I do. The first song I heard by Culture Club on the radio was the song "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me". I heard it numerous times on the radio before I ever saw the band’s video on television. I think the song may have come out well before the video was released. At any rate, I thought that a black woman was singing the song. Imagine my surprise when I saw the video for the first time and realized that the singer was a white gay man who kinda dressed like a woman. It was 1983 and we had never seen anything like Boy George! The media and the public went crazy for him. Some didn’t know what to do or how to react, others capitalized on the public’s fascination with Boy George. There was marketing galore. I even had a stuffed Snoopy dog that was dressed in the same type of tunic Boy George wore on the Colour by Numbers album complete with black hat and rasta braids! There was even a fashion doll (the same size as a Ken, Barbie doll) that was released.
During my third year of high school my class visited Harvard University to sit in on a class on Homer’s "The Iliad", I was more excited about the opportunity to walk around Harvard Yard and the vicinity afterwards. I saw my first Hare Krishna’s in Harvard Square (which inspired my next Halloween costume) and went shopping for record albums. I remember that two of them I bought that day were Culture Club "Kissing to Be Clever", and The Joboxers "Like Gangbusters" plus one other that I can’t recall at the moment. I was never a huge fan of Culture Club, despite owning the Boy George Snoopy, but I quite liked a number of their songs (today’s 80’s Quest song "Miss Me Blind", "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", "Time", "I’ll Tumble 4 Ya", and "Church of the Poison Mind"); and on the flipside, there were other songs by Culture Club that I utterly loathed ("Karma Chameleon", "The War Song", "It’s a Miracle" and "Move Away" ). Though they were not my favorite band musically, I absolutely enjoyed watching Boy George anytime he was on television for an interview. I found him very sharp and witty and funny. I remember I recorded on VHS one interview with Boy George and "his mum" which was great fun!
Boy George (real name George O’Dowd) was born in 1961 in Bexley, England. He came up during England’s New Romantic movement during the early 1980’s. In reaction to the nihilism and grubby fashion of punk rock, the New Romantics loved to wear flamboyant and elegant clothing and wear elaborate and unusual make-up. Their home base was London’s Blitz Club. It was here and in the other clubs of London that Boy George honed his androgynous look, wild outfits and makeup.
For an instant in 1981 Boy George occasionally sang with the band Malcolm McLaren was managing, Bow Wow Wow (see 80’s Quest post for February 5th) under the name Lieutenant Lush, but then he met Mikey Craig (bass) and they decided to form their own band. They got a drummer, Jon Moss, who had played with Adam and the Ants (see 80’s Quest post for January 10th) and The Damned (see 80’s Quest post for March 12), and enlisted Roy Hay (guitars) to join. The group tossed around band names such as In Praise of Lemmings and Sex Gang Children. They settled on the name Culture Club because they had an Irish lead singer, a black British bassist, a white guy on keyboards and guitar, and a Jewish drummer. Culture Club recorded some demos that EMI Records financed. In the end, EMI decided not to sign them, but Virgin Records did (in the U.K.). Their United States releases were on Epic Records.
In May and June of 1982 the band released two songs that went nowhere, "White Boy" and "I’m Afraid of Me". In September 1982 they released a reggae-tinged single "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" it leaped up the charts to #1 in the U.K. and #2 in the U.S. The band released their debut album, "Kissing to Be Clever" in 1982 and it reached the U.S. shores in 1983. The album spawned two more hits "Time (Clock of the Heart" and "I’ll Tumble 4 Ya". Culture Club was the first band since The Beatles to have three Top Ten hits in America from a debut album. Kissing to be Clever sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. and over 3 million copies worldwide.
In 1983 they released their second album, "Colour by Numbers" which was a real sensation that shot straight to #2 on the U.S. Charts and contained the singles "Church of the Poison Mind" (featuring Helen Terry on backing vocals), "Karma Chameleon" which became their biggest hit, "Miss Me Blind", "It’s a Miracle", and "Victims. The album sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. ". Culture Club won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Boy George accepted the award via satellite saying, "Thanks America. You’ve got style. You’ve got taste, and you know a good drag queen when you see one."
Boy George and Hay wrote songs for Helen Terry’s solo album, and a song "Passing Friend" for The Beach Boys. Culture Club also wrote two songs that appeared on the movie soundtrack for Electric Dreams, "The Dream" and "Love Is Love".
Despite (or because of) their success trouble started brewing. Boy George was using his newly earned money on lots of drugs. Unknown to the band or the public Boy George and Jon Moss had a secret 4-year relationship that was turbulent, physical, and violent. This was revealed in 1995 when Boy George’s autobiography, "Take It Like a Man" was published. In it he openly discussed his homosexuality and also revealed that he had a romantic relationship with Culture Club drummer Jon Moss which was tumultuous and tortured and was one of the big reasons for Culture Club’s demise because of the pressure to hide the relationship and the tension that created. Moss who by 1995 was married to a woman, denied having a homosexual relationship with Boy George.
The band’s third album, 1984’s "Waking Up With the House on Fire" did not do as well as the previous two albums and contained one hit, "The War Song". Two other singles that were released were only modest hits, "Mistake No. 3" and "The Medal Song". The album sold 2 million copies worldwide. Boy George felt that Culture Club was pressured by Virgin and Epic Records to quickly release a follow-up to Colour By Numbers, after coming off an exhausting world tour, and the material on the album suffered for it.
In 1984 Boy George participated in the recording of "Do They Know It’s Christmas" a holiday fundraising song for the famine in Ethiopia, released by Band Aid, a band arranged by Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats consisting of some of the most popular bands and singers in England at the time (see January 20th 80’s Quest post).
In 1986 Culture Club recorded another album, From Luxury to Heartache. Recording was hindered because by now Boy George was struggling with drugs. Nevertheless the first single, "Move Away" became a hit. The second single, "God Thank You Woman" went nowhere and by the time of its release we were seeing Boy George on the television news looking pasty and wan as the police raided his home. In July 1986 he publicly admitted to having a heroin problem and went to rehab with Dr. Meg Patterson who had previously helped Eric Clapton and Peter Townshend overcome their addictions. Once Boy George was off heroin, he unfortunately took up prescription drugs. Later that year his friend, musician Michael Rudetsky died of a drug overdose at Boy George’s home. Boy George was cleared of charges that would have implicated him in Rudetsky’s death. He completed another stint at rehab.
In addition to Boy George’s problems with drugs, the tension between he and Moss was so high that their American tour was cancelled. Culture Club broke up in by the summer of 1986. A 1989 attempt at a reunion was cancelled.
Boy George recorded several solo albums containing dance hits that were popular in Europe, including a reggae version of 1970’s soft rock band, Bread’s hit "Everything I Own". He did not regain cache in the U.S. again until he recorded a song for the 1992 movie soundtrack of The Crying Game – a cover song of the same name that was originally recorded by Dave Berry in 1964.
Boy George’s next incarnation was as a successful club DJ in London. He would also tour and DJ at other clubs around the world. He also began running a small independent British dance music label called More Protein Records.
In 1998 Culture Club reunited for a tour with some other 80’s bands. They also appeared on the American television show VH1 Storytellers. In 1999 Boy George released another solo album. The band reunited and toured again in 2002.
Lyrics:
Miss me
I know you'll miss me
I know you'll miss me blind
Chorus 1:
I know you'll miss me
I know you'll miss me
I know you'll miss me blind
Bet you got a good gun
Bet you know how
To have some fun
And then
You turn it around on me
Because I'm better
Than the rest of the men
Chorus 2:
I say you'll miss me
And you always do
I say you'll miss me
Now would I lie to you
Now there's no need
To demand
Grab my golden hand
I'll teach you
And you'll never be sure
If the way that you need
Is too much like greed
Decide if you are rich or you're poor
(chorus 1)
Bet you make the fool run
Bet you know how
To make it last 4 ever
But you know
I'm never really sure
If you're just kissing to be clever
(chorus 2)
Because this love
That I have to give
Must be better than thet kind
It can make you rich
It can make you poor
But I know that
You'll miss me blind
I can’t remember how I first came to know about The Cult, but I always thought that they were a band that rocked! The drums and guitars are heavy, and the lyrics are raw. The lead singer, Ian Astbury, always reminded me of a warlock, but I guess his interests really lie in Native Americans and shamanism. During the 80’s when my friends and I were teenagers, our city promised that they would build an arena where concerts would be held. We were excited. We waited. And waited….and waited. The arena did not get constructed until 2001 when I was in my thirties. The inaugural show of the new arena was Aerosmith (because a number of their members live in New Hampshire where the arena is, and because the band got their start in NH), with The Cult opening. Matt Sorum of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver was drumming with The Cult at the time. Whatta show!
Ian Astbury (real name Ian Lindsay), son of a merchant navy man was born in 1962 in Heswell, Merseyside in England. In 1981 he formed a band called Southern Death Cult in Bradford, Yorkshire England. The band signed to an independent record label, Situation Two, and released a 3-track single called Moya. They toured England sometimes headlining and other times opening for Bauhaus and Theatre of Hate. They received critical acclaim, but after only 16 month broke up in February 1983. There was a self-titled compilation of Southern Death Cult’s triple single, radio sessions from John Peels Radio One show, as well as live performances.
In 1983 guitarist Billy Duffy (born 1959 in Manchester, England) joined up with Astbury. Duffy came from the band Theatre of Hate, and had also played in the Nosebleeds with Morrissey (prior to him becoming the lead singer for The Smiths). Astbury and Duffy started a band called Death Cult. By June 1983 Death Cult was playing out and in July they released a self-titled EP and toured Europe. In January 1984, prior to appearing on the English television show The Tube, they changed the band name to The Cult.
Throughout the career of The Cult the band line-up changed innumerable times, but Astbury and Duffy were the two most consistent members throughout. At times famous drummers from other bands performed for a tenure with The Cult including Mark Brzezicki (Big Country), Eric Singer (Kiss), and Matt Sorum (Guns N’ Roses).
The Cult’s 1984 debut album, Dreamtime, was recorded in Monmouth, Wales. Astbury was very interested in Native Americans and it showed in the song lyrics. In April 1984 the band released a single called "Spiritwalker" that hit #1 on the independent music charts in the U.K. and sold well there. They went on tour throughout Europe and released a second single "Resurrection Joe". The Cult went on tour in support of Big Country, and then headlined their own tour in Europe with The Mission (then called The Sisterhood) opening for them.
In May 1985 The Cult released a single called "She Sells Sanctuary". It reached #15 on the U.K. charts and spent 23 weeks in the U.K. Top 100. In August the band recorded their second album, Love. "She Sells Sanctuary" was included on the album along with other singled "Rain" and "Revolution". The band went on a worldwide tour from mid-1985 to 1986.
Upon returning from tour the band recorded a dozen new songs at the Manor Studios in Oxfordshire England with producer Steve Brown (who had also produced their Love album). The band hated the sound of these recordings. They took the single "Love Removal Machine" to New York so that producer Rick Rubin could remix it. Rubin would work with them only if they re-recorded the whole song. As it turned out, they ended up re-recording the whole album with Rubin at the decks. "Love Removal Machine" was released as a single in February 1987, and the album, called Electric, was released in April. Two other singles were released "Lil Devil" and "Wildflower" and the album outsold the band’s previous album, Love. The band went on a U.S. tour, and were supported by Guns N’ Roses who at that time, had not yet broken through. When the tour reached Australia the band ruined £30,000 of equipment, and therefore could not tour Japan because they couldn’t find anyone to rent them new equipment. Tensions were high and the band were barely speaking to each other. Astbury and Duffy fired their drummer and their management team and moved to the United States in Los Angeles, California. The fired drummer sued the band numerous times over his firing and alleged unpaid royalties, resulting in lengthy court battles.
The Cult signed with new management and wrote 21 new songs for their next album. They recorded in Vancouver, Canada from October to December 1988 and released their next album, Sonic Temple, in 1989. It hit the Top Ten in both the U.S. and the U.K. The lead single from the album was "Fire Woman" and the second release was "Edie (Ciao Baby)" about tragic Andy Warhol acolyte, socialite, and model, Edie Sedgewick, followed by "Sun King" and "Sweet Soul Sister" in 1990. The band toured Europe with Aerosmith, and toured the U.S. as the opening band for Metallica for most of 1989 before going out on their own headlining tour. After The Cult finished an American show in Atlanta, Georgia in February 1990 band management informed Astbury that his father had just died from cancer. The remainder of the tour was cancelled. The band was again on the verge of splitting as their bassist was retiring and moving to Canada and their drummer was leaving to join Guns N’ Roses.
In 1990 Astbury organized a music festival called The Gathering of the Tribes in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Soundgarden, Ice-T, Indigo Girls, Queen Latifah, Iggy Pop, Public Enemy, The Cramps and The Charlatans played the two day festival, which some say was the inspiration for the first Lollapalooza tour which started the following year (1991).
In 1991 Astbury and Duffy began writing for their next album, but their relationship had deteriorated. They rarely were present together in the same studio during all of the recording. It showed in their next album, Ceremony, and sales were not as high as their previous 3 albums. Still, the band toured Europe in 1991 and the U.S. in 1992. The band was in court again when the parents of the Native American boy pictured on the Ceremony album cover and in the video for the song "Wild Hearted Son" sued for exploitation and unauthorized use of the child’s image. The band released the single "The Witch". They also recorded a song, "Zap City" for the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie soundtrack.
By the early 1990’s listeners ears were gravitating towards grunge music, and interest in The Cult waned. In 1994 the band released their next album The Cult to very little fanfare. Subject matter ranged from the death of one of their former band members, Astbury’s aimless days in Glasgow during the 1970’s, and his sexual abuse at the age of 15. The album only reached #69 in the U.S. The band did go on tour in support of the album, but by the time they made it to South America in the Spring of Astbury quit after a show in Rio de Janeiro and the band broke up.
By 1996 Astbury was in a new band called Holy Barbarians. They released only one album, Cream in May 1996. In 1997 and 1998 Astbury recorded a solo album, Spirit/Light/Speed, which was not released until 2000.
The Cult reformed and toured in 1999. They also recorded a song for the movie soundtrack for Gone in 60 Seconds called "Painted on My Heart".
In 2001 the band signed to Atlantic Records and recorded a new album, Beyond Good and Evil, but it was not the comeback album they had hoped for. The band also found working with Atlantic Records difficult. Atlantic stopped promoting the album, and the band’s 2001 European tour was cancelled due to security concerns after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City. The band returned to the U.S. and toured with Aerosmith for 11 weeks. The band took most of the year 2002 off.
In late 2002 Astbury announced that The Cult was "on ice" indefinitely. He began performing with Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger of The Doors first under the name The Doors of the 21st Century then D21c, and finally Riders on the Storm. D21c was sued both by former lead singer of the Doors, Jim Morrison’s family and John Densmore the original Doors drummer. During this time Duffy was playing with Coloursound along with former Alarm lead singer Mike Peters.
The band reunited again in 2005 to make their first live appearance in 3-1/2 years on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. They did their first stage show in March 2006 at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California. The band went on tour in Canada, Europe, the U.K. the United States, and South America.
In May 2007 the band signed a deal with metal record label Roadrunner Records and recorded their 8th studio album, Born into This. The band went on tour supporting The Who in Europe during Summer 2007 and then followed up with a headlining tour in the U.S. The band’s New York City show at the Irving Plaza venue in November 2006 was recorded and released in 2007 as The Cult New York City DVD.
The band did not continue with Roadrunner Records, but continued touring. They began releasing their singles on iTunes and worked with a media technology company Aderra, Inc. to make their music available on CD, DVD Dual Disc, USB Flash Drive, 12-inch vinyl, FLAC download and MP3 download.
In May 2011 The Cult signed to Cooking Vinyl Records. They began writing new songs at the Witch Mountain studio in the Hollywood Hills and recorded at Hollywood Recording Studios in California. Their album, Choice of Weapon, will be released on May 22, 2012.
Lyrics
Hey You
You’re a wild honey child
I’m out of control
Everytime you are near me
I’m a wolf child baby
And I’m howlin’ for you
My heart beats faster
Hey, hey and it’s overpowered, wow
I’m a wolf child, girl
Howlin’ for you
Wild Flower
Star of my dreams
The most beautiful thing, yeah
Yeah you
Sweet sensation of the nation
Oh, my soul.
You’re a perfect creation
You’re an angel, baby
And I’m cryin’ for you
My heart beats faster
Yeah, hey and I’m overpowered
I’m a wolf child, girl
Howlin’ for you
Wild Flower
Star of my dreams
The most beautiful thing, yeah
I love you every hour
Wild Flower
Burning down the night
Set the world alight, yeah
