Icons, Idols and Inamoarata: Robert Smith

Ah the quintessential stereotypical post-punk poster boy, Robert Smith. Father of the 'Cureheads' who pretty much only listened to The Cure and the The Smiths. The Cure were one of the bands that shaped my listening habits and helped me through the first three years of high school (which aren't usually the easiest for anyone), along with influencing my style and my poetry at the time. I began listening to them around 12 or 13 years old, I first heard the band without seeing them, became completely enamoured and found myself scrambling through the local record stores trying to find anything at all by them. I remember seeing the cover for 'Boys don't Cry', holding it in my hands knowing how good they sounded and my heart fluttering at Robert's big hair, hen toed stance and the proportions his baggy jumper and skinny jeans gave him. My 'boyfriend' at the time (who I barely spoke to, as 13 year olds do) had really turned in feet, which I now know is really not that 'cute' as I thought it was at the time, he had the long fluffy hair and beautiful amber eyes, so immediately I fell for both him and Robert as they were something new and exciting. As that relationship came and went, the memories associated with it stayed and The Cure healed my poor tween heart (which took about a week) and the feelings for them grew and grew and haven't stopped since.  Robert was the sweet, shy, talented and wholesome frontman that my parents remembered from their 20's/30's and approved of me admiring. After all; it made a lighter change from Marilyn Manson (circa 2004 at the time), Pantera and Anthrax blaring from my room 16 hours a day (when I was home). The Cure weren't really an underground or alternative culture exclusive band in the 80's and 90's, they made television appearances and were played on the radio in my country. They were a turning point in many ways for the alternative subcultures emerging in England and Los Angeles, they bridged a gap between bands like Virgin Prunes and Southern Death Cult (later to become The Cult) and bands like Duran Duran and Sonic Youth who were household names by the time The Cure came on the scene. Clubs like Xclusiv in Yorkshire and the Bat Cave in London played The Cure, your local corner shop in Crawley or Scunthorpe played The Cure, their music was diverse and interesting, it fit seamlessly in the record collection of any self respecting Goth (although in the early 80's anyone alternative used to be called Punk in Britain) and the record collections of Yuppies and New Romantics alike.

Robert Smith had early beginnings in music when he and his sister began piano lessons as children but it wasn't until 13 or 14 that he discovered Rock and became more seriously, he has said that he "started to play and learn frenetically" (Tellier, Emmanuel 1997) when he began borrowing his brothers guitar. It wasn't until December 1972 that his musical career really began when he received a guitar for Christmas (the date has been disputed as '72 or '78 and no one is 100% sure whether he himself bought it or his parents did) and that same Woolworths guitar was used in very early Cure recordings.  The band went through various names until The Cure came to be in roughly 1977/78. As their name changed so did their sound, it evolved greatly over the years, even in the space of an album there are many directions and styles taken and used. In August 1979 while The Cure were working on their first album "Three Imaginary Boys" Smith met Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees at a Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire gig at the London YMCA. They hit it off and Severin invited Smith and The Cure on tour with them to promote their second album ' Join Hands' with Smith playing in both bands every night. From this he learnt how to be a front person and changed his persona drastically, and thus rose the iconic smeared lipstick and eyeliner that Smith is so famous for now. The look that was fully realised by the early 80's that influenced so many aspiring alternative kids, actually came from a pretty dark time in his life. "While touring 1982’s desolate ‘Pornography’ album Smith was struggling with severe depression and suicidal urges, he chose to make the album as a way to prevent himself from "going off the deep end", while the album was a commercial failure and poorly received, despite the single "Charlotte Sometimes" being popular, it also caused a split in the band when at the end of the tour bassist Simon Gallup quit the band. Robert Smith recalls: “I was a monstrous person at that time" (NME,2014). After the release of 'Pornography' the band took a lighter, more radio friendly sound which would later change several times. Smith has struggled with addiction and depression, this may have been the root cause of the problems on tour. Whilst in the midst of another very difficult time in Smith's life my favourite album of all time was born; Disintegration (1989), ironically it may never have come to fruition at all. Whilst recording Smith was not only in a very dark place but the bands record label warned that it would be commercial suicide to release the dark, brooding soundscape that is Disintegration. Disintegration was not only a success but has become somewhat of a turning point for the band away from their previous more palatable sound and has become an iconic record for many people for many reasons, myself included. There's something in Disintegration that isn't in their other records, I'm not sure if that's pain and strife from the drug addiction Smith is said to have been struggling with or if it's the change of direction and sound at that point, it shows experimentation and exploration for the band. Smith has remained an enduring part of the alternative/post punk scene for decades and still performs. He made an impact on my life, and now hopefully his music can make an impact on yours. 

A song from each of their albums chronologically starting with Three Imaginary Boys:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okiCApJeonQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xik-y0xlpZ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4s4kGvQfIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWmdt4Zn0-o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zowlf0JcvM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjvfIJstWeg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3nPiBai66M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijxk-fgcg7c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGgMZpGYiy8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weT9Sj3FADc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4nXnuV7j6Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtYL7F7aXI0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctBliTDIXDg

 ~Amaris~