"The Hanging Garden" | ||||
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Single by the Cure | ||||
from the album Pornography | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 12 July 1982 | |||
Genre | Gothic rock [1] | |||
Label | Fiction | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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The Cure singles chronology | ||||
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"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. [2]
In addition to being issued as a 7-inch single with a live version of the Cure's earlier single "Killing an Arab" on the B-side, "The Hanging Garden" was also released in a deluxe edition known as A Single, formatted both as a gatefold double pack of 7-inch singles with a total of four tracks, and also as a 10-inch EP including a live recording of "Killing an Arab" and the studio version of "A Forest" from the group’s second album. [3]
The video shows the band playing in the York House Gardens in London, England. The band also wears masks, which is similar to the concept of the Pornography album. Robert Smith recalled: "For the 'Hanging Garden' video we got two people who did Madness videos but it was a really awful video. They wanted to make us look serious and we wanted them to make us look like Madness". [4] The video was directed by Chris Gabrin. [5] [6]
At the time of its release, NME writer Adrian Thrills was not impressed with the single, writing, "The Cure have drifted disappointingly and indulgently from the idyllic pop invention of their younger days". [3] BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel went on to include the song at No. 25 in his Festive Fifty list for 1982. [7]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stewart Mason wrote that the song was heavily influenced by Siouxsie and the Banshees. "The urgent, thundering drums that underpin 'The Hanging Garden' are clearly some sort of homage to Budgie, who provided very similar drum patterns to years' worth of Siouxsie & the Banshees songs. Similarly, Simon Gallup's bass borrows something from Steven Severin's insistent throb, and Smith's own guitar is primarily used for drones and ornamentation, much as it was in the Banshees". [8]
The live music and art precinct in central Hobart, 'In the Hanging Garden', was named after the song. [9]
Double pack
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era".
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976 by guitarist, lead vocalist, and main songwriter Robert Smith and drummer Lol Tolhurst. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, including stints of guitarist Pearl Thompson and drummer Boris Williams, 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).
Gothic rock is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Cure.
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.
Nocturne is a live double album and video by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 25 November 1983 by Polydor Records. Co-produced by Mike Hedges, Nocturne features performances recorded at two shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London, on 30 September and 1 October 1983, featuring Robert Smith on guitar.
"Killing an Arab" is the debut single by English rock band the Cure. It was recorded at the same time as their first album Three Imaginary Boys (1979), but not included on the album. However, it was included on the band's first US album, Boys Don't Cry (1980).
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).
Standing on a Beach is a greatest hits album by English rock band the Cure, released in the United States on 15 May 1986 by Elektra Records and in the United Kingdom on 19 May 1986 by Fiction Records, marking a decade since the band's founding in 1976. The album's titles are both taken from the opening lyrics of the Cure's debut single, "Killing an Arab".
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.
"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.
The Scream is the debut studio album by British rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released on 13 November 1978 by Polydor Records. Its innovative combination of angular and serrated guitar with a bass-led rhythm and machine-like drums played mostly on toms, made it a pioneering work of the post-punk genre.
"The Walk" is a song by English rock band The Cure, released as a stand-alone single in June 1983. It later appeared on the compilation album Japanese Whispers. It was recorded when the band was briefly reduced to the two founder members Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst upon the departure of bassist Simon Gallup in mid-1982, following the end of the band's tour in support of the album Pornography. According to Tolhurst, they chose Steve Nye as producer at the time due to his work on the album Tin Drum by Japan. Tolhurst later commented: "It was the first time we had worked with a 'proper' producer, as opposed to doing production with an engineer that we really liked. […] He was able to make electronic instruments sound more natural, and that's what we wanted."
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.
Timothy Michael Pope is a film director most known for his music videos, for having directed feature films, and for a brief pop career.
"10:15 Saturday Night" is a song by British post-punk band the Cure. It was the B-side to their December 1978 single "Killing an Arab" as well as the opening track of their debut album Three Imaginary Boys. It was also released in France as a single, with the track "Accuracy" as the B-side. It has been performed live during most of their shows since its release, and was included on their 1984 album Concert: The Cure Live.
"Hong Kong Garden" is the debut single of English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was released as a single on 18 August 1978 by Polydor Records, reaching number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.
"The Staircase (Mystery)" is a song by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, released as a stand-alone single on 23 March 1979 by Polydor Records. The track was written by Siouxsie Sioux, John McKay, Steven Severin and Kenny Morris, and was produced by Nils Stevenson.
Kenneth Ian Morris, known professionally as Kenny Morris, is an English drummer, songwriter and visual artist. He was the first studio drummer of Siouxsie and the Banshees. He joined the band in January 1977; he had attended their first live appearance at the 100 Club a few months earlier and had been impressed by their performance. Morris's first studio recording with the group was in November 1977 when they recorded their first John Peel session for BBC radio. Music journalist Kris Needs said : "Like as a rhythm machine for feet and guts Kenny Morris' drumming is unorthodox, primitive and far removed from the clicking hi-hats of the fly-strength paradiddle merchants".
"Love In a Void" is a song by the English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, written by singer Siouxsie Sioux, bassist Steven Severin, drummer Kenny Morris and guitarist Peter Fenton. Originally included as the b-side to the 1979 single "Mittageisen" in West Germany, it was later released as a double A-side single in September of the same year. It was also included on the band's 1981 ten track UK Gold certified compilation album Once Upon a Time: The Singles, and on the CD reissue of the album Join Hands.