And We Danced

As one of the most enduring bands to come out of the British Punk explosion of the mid-1970’s, the Cure may seem unlikely candidates for inclusion in a guide to Dance music. However, as is true of the Clash, Jam, John Lydon (of the Sex Pistols), and others, the Cure frequently incorporate Dance beats among the myriad sound textures utilized in the recording studio. The Cure have been devoted enough to the dancefloor to reach the Top 10 of the American Dance charts 3 times and count more than a dozen Dance chart appearances in their repertoire.

The Cure formed as the Easy Cure in 1976 by Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey, and Laurence ‘Lol’ Tolhurst. The band played dark, stripped-down punkish Pop. By the release of their first single Killing An Arab on the independent label Small Wonder in 1978, the band had truncated their name to simply the Cure. The single was re-released in February of 1979 on the Fiction label, and the first album Three Imaginary Boys followed in May with good reviews from the British music press. A tour later in the year with Siouxsie and the Banshees began close connections between the bands. The non-album single of Boys Don’t Cry backed with Jumping Someone Else’s Trainwas the Cure’s first release to reach the American Dance charts. The band’s second album Seventeen Seconds, released in 1980, included A Forest, their second single to appear on the American Dance charts.

During the early 1980’s the Cure continued to increase their popularity at home in the U.K. but remained primarily a minor New Wave band with a few minor Dance hits in the U.S. 1981’s Primary broke into the top 30 of the Dance chart and 1983’s Let’s Go To Bed nearly made it as well. Finally in 1983 the Cure broke into the Pop album chart with the EP The Walk. A new lineup of the Cure including Smith, Tolhurst, Andy Anderson and Phil Thornalley released the singles The Lovecats and The Caterpillar demonstrating the band’s facility with bright Pop. In 1985 Thornalley left the group and Boris Williams, Porl Thompson and former member Simon Gallup were added. This lineup recorded the band’s most successful album yet. The Head On the Dooralbum was released to critical acclaim and chart success on both sides of the Atlantic. It became the band’s first album to break into the Top 100 of the American Pop album chart. The propulsive, danceable Pop of the single In Between Days landed in the Dance Top 40 and the Pop singles Top 100 for the first time. The compilation Standing On the Beach - The Singles was released in 1986 to strong commercial success and it was obvious the Cure were on a roll.

1987’s sprawling 2 disc set Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me was a breakthrough success commercially and artistically. The range of music proved the band could move far beyond skeletal Pop and gloomy dirges. The first single release, the nearly manic Why Can’t I Be You?, landed in the top 30 of the Dance chart on the strength of remixes by Francois Kevorkian. Its followup Just Like Heaven was also a success in clubs and became the Cure’s first top 40 Pop hit in the U.S. Hot Hot Hot!!!, a third single from the album with more Francois Kevorkian remixes, nearly reached the Dance top 10. The next year was one of turmoil for the band as Lol Tolhurst was kicked out and replaced with Roger O’Donnell of the Psychedelic Furs. Tolhurst later sued the band. In the spring of 1989 the followup to Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me appeared. Disintegration is arguably the band’s greatest artistic statement and one of its biggest commercial hits. Though darker than Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, Disintegration is filled with memorable melodies. Remixes of Fascination Street and Love Song by Mark Saunders became the band’s first two Top 10 Dance hits in the U.S. Love Song reached number 2 on the U.S. Pop singles chart. A stadium tour of the U.S. and U.K. sealed the Cure’s rise to superstar status. Never Enough, the band’s third Top 10 Dance hit in the U.S., appeared in the fall of 1990 during the tour as a release from their Mixed Up compilation of remixes.

The 1990’s were a decade of turmoil for the Cure resulting in numerous conflicts within the band and personnel changes. As a result, only 2 new albums of studio material were released. Wish appeared in 1992 and included the hit Friday I’m In Love, the band’s last appearance on Dance charts. Wild Mood Swings was released in 1996 to disappointing sales and reviews. Bloodflowers, released in 2000, was well-received and, according to lead vocalist Robert Smith, it completed a trilogy begun with Pornography and continued on Disintegration. After all three of the previous albums arrived with threats by Robert Smith to disband the group, 2004’s album The Cure appeared with no such comments. The music is a pleasing return to some of the most successful musical styles of the band’s past.