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The Cureheads | |
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 The Cureheads live at Glastonbudget 2018 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | New wave, post-punk |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Members | Gary Clarke Jordan Cooper Nigel Gorman Philip Mayor Vlad Ivanov |
| Website | www |
The Cureheads are the longest surviving and arguably the most prevalent tribute band dedicated to The Cure. The band plays the live music of and dresses as The Cure.
The Cureheads were formed in 1990 by Gary Clarke, vocalist of The Hiram Key and then-lead singer of Nosferatu. The band played its first show in Stockholm in July 1990 at Frietzfronten in St. Eriksgatan 89, an underground bar owned by a Swedish political party. In the same year they appeared on ZTV (Swedish Music TV Channel) playing live from Stockholm Water Festival. They played their first large headline show at the WGT in 1995. Then known as Fat Bob & The Cureheads.
The Cureheads name is taken from the Irish slang term for anyone with that "1980's mop haired 'Gothic' look". [1] They were originally known as "Fat Bob & The Cureheads" until 2000. [2] When Ita Martin of Fiction Records suggested they should change the name as not to offend The Cure
Since 1990, The Cureheads has played venues including The Vic Theater in Chicago, [3] Camden Palace in London, The Temple Bar Music Centre in Dublin, CBGB in New York, and Razzmatazz in Barcelona. [4] In 2010 The Cureheads played to 10,000 people ın Chile at the Teatro Caupolicán in Santiago (the old national basketball stadium of Chile). The show was recorded for national television and covered by national TV news, as The Cure had never played in Chile up until after that point despite having a huge fanbase there. [5] The band has toured in the UK, the US, continental Europe, and South America, playing festivals, including opening for Echo and The Bunnymen and The Pretenders at Guilfest, BKK Live in Bilbao (opening for Depeche Mode), The Isle of Wight Festival (2016,2017 & 2021), Glastonbudget (2017 & 2019), Glastonbarry 2022 and Roskilde Festival in Denmark, [6] The band state that they strive to re-create the experience of seeing a mid to late 1980s concert by The Cure, capturing not only the sound, but also the wardrobe, attitude and staging using lighting and various background video and computer images. [2]
In 2007, The Cureheads were given as a wedding gift by Charlie Simpson of Busted to the bass player of his new band Fightstar. The band played a 1-hour set and were joined onstage by Charlie Simpson for a performance of The Cure’s "Inbetween Days". The band claim that Charlie fell off the stage and passed out during the last verse.
In 2012, The Cureheads played in Paraguay and Argentina ahead of The Cure playing there in 2013. [7]
Current and past line-ups are pulled together from various Gothic rock bands such as Nosferatu, Killing Miranda and The Essence, and Andy Anderson (an original drummer from The Cure) joined The Cureheads from August 2012. Ron Howe, original Sax player on the Head on The Door album by the cure often guests with The Cureheads [8] Andy Anderson left The Cureheads after he failed to appear at the airport on the morning of their South American tour in November 2012. The Cureheads claim that they haven't heard from Anderson since. [2] Their set-list consists of songs from the full recorded history of The Cure. The Cureheads regularly appear onstage with Ron Howe (the saxophonist from The Cure's Head on The Door Album).
Since 2018, The Cureheads have been opening their shows with an extensive set of songs, tributing Siouxsie and the Banshees fronted by Ceri Gregory (vocalist with Elesium & actress featured in Torchwood & London’s West End) This "double headline tribute show has been touring as "The Story of Goth" [9]
2022 Record Collector Magazine publish an interview with Gary Clarke in a special edition focussing entirely on The Cure. The interview focuses on the history of The Cureheads & their experiences of the last 32 years.
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member, though bassist Simon Gallup has been present for all but about three years of the band's history. The band's current line-up features Smith and Gallup alongside longtime members, Roger O'Donnell (keyboards), Perry Bamonte (guitar), Jason Cooper (drums) and Reeves Gabrels (guitar).
Robert James Smith is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and the co-founder, lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the Cure, a British post punk rock band formed in 1976. His guitar-playing style, singing voice, and fashion sense, often sporting a pale complexion, smeared red lipstick, black eye-liner, unkempt wiry black hair, and all-black clothes, were highly influential on the goth subculture that rose to prominence in the 1980s.
Seventeen Seconds is the second studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 18 April 1980 by Fiction Records. The album marked the first time frontman Robert Smith co-produced with Mike Hedges. After the departure of original bassist Michael Dempsey, Simon Gallup became an official member along with keyboardist Matthieu Hartley. The single "A Forest" was the band's first entry in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.
Pornography is the fourth studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 4 May 1982 by Fiction Records. Preceded by the non-album single "Charlotte Sometimes", it was the band's first album with new producer Phil Thornalley, and was recorded at RAK Studios from January to April 1982. The sessions saw the band on the brink of collapse, with heavy drug use, band in-fighting, and frontman Robert Smith's depression fueling the album's musical and lyrical content. Pornography represents the conclusion of the Cure's early dark, gloomy musical phase, which began with their second album Seventeen Seconds (1980).
Japanese Whispers is the second compilation album by British group The Cure. It was released in late 1983 by Fiction Records. The title is a pun on the children's game Chinese whispers.
The Top is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 4 May 1984 by Fiction Records. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number ten on 12 May. Shortly after its release, the Cure embarked on a major tour of the United Kingdom, culminating in a three-night residency at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.
The Head on the Door is the sixth studio album by English rock band the Cure. It was released on 13 August 1985 by Fiction Records. Preceded by the single "In Between Days" which had reached No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart, The Head on the Door was described by Melody Maker as "a collection of pop songs". With its variety of styles, it allowed the group to reach a wider audience in both Europe and North America. In the United Kingdom it became their most successful album to date, entering the albums chart at No. 7 on 7 September.
The Glove was a 1983 English musical collaboration and recording project by the Cure's Robert Smith and Siouxsie and the Banshees' Steven Severin. They released one studio album, Blue Sunshine, in 1983 as part of Severin's solo deal with Polydor. The latter came up with the band name, the album title and the blue/yellow sleeve concept, as Smith had to leave the project before completion due to prior commitments with the Cure.
Concert: The Cure Live is the first live album by English rock band the Cure. It was recorded in 1984 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London and in Oxford during The Top tour. The cassette tape edition featured, on the B-side, a twin album of anomalies, titled Curiosity : Cure Anomalies 1977–1984.
The Cure in Orange is a concert film by British rock group The Cure. It was shot on 35mm film at the Théâtre antique d'Orange in the French countryside, on 8, 9, and 10 August 1986. Band members Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams (Drums), and Lol Tolhurst (Keyboards) make their way through 23 songs, under the direction of Tim Pope.
"A Forest" is a song by the English rock band the Cure. Co-produced by Mike Hedges and the band's Robert Smith, it was released as a single from the band's second album Seventeen Seconds on 28 March 1980. It was their debut entry on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number 31. The accompanying music video was first shown on BBC's Top of the Pops programme on 24 April 1980.
Clifford Leon "Andy" Anderson was a British drummer, best known for his work with The Cure and Steve Hillage, as well as a lengthy session career.
Nosferatu are an English second wave gothic rock band. As of 2023, the members are Damien DeVille and Tim Vic.
"The Hanging Garden" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released as the sole single from their fourth studio album, Pornography. The release is sometimes referred to as A Single. The single reached No. 34 on the UK Singles Chart.
"A Letter to Elise" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released as the third and final single from the album Wish on 5 October 1992. In 2010, Pitchfork Media ranked it at number 184 in their list of "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s".
The Cure: Trilogy is a double live album video by the Cure, released on two double layer DVD-9 discs, and later on a single Blu-ray disc. It documents The Trilogy Concerts, in which the three albums, Pornography (1982), Disintegration (1989) and Bloodflowers (2000) were played live in their entirety one after the other each night, the songs being played in the order in which they appeared on the albums. Trilogy was recorded on two consecutive nights, 11–12 November 2002, at the Tempodrom arena in Berlin. A third, previous Trilogy concert in Brussels on 7 November was not used.
"Punish Me with Kisses" is the second single by the English post-punk band the Glove from their sole studio album Blue Sunshine. released in 1983 by Wonderland Records/Polydor. The Glove were a side project for Robert Smith of the Cure and Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees. The song was recorded in 1983 while Smith was also a member of the Banshees, and also featured future Banshees keyboardist Martin McCarrick and new Cure drummer Andy Anderson.
Pink Military were a post-punk band from Liverpool. Led by former Big in Japan singer Jayne Casey, other band members included former Deaf School drummer Tim Whitaker, guitarist Martin Dempsey who also played in Yachts and It's Immaterial and drummers Chris Joyce and Budgie.
The Cure: "Reflections" refers to a set of shows in which The Cure played their first three albums Three Imaginary Boys, Seventeen Seconds and Faith in full at the VividLive festival at the Sydney Opera House on 31 May and 1 June 2011. All three albums were played in their entirety on both nights, along with several other tracks from the same era.
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| Live albums | |
| Compilations | |
| Remix albums | |
| Extended plays | |
| Singles |
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| Other songs | |
| Video albums | |
| Tours | |
| Related articles | |
