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The World According To The Cure's Robert Smith

07/15/2013
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(Gibson) The Cure are one of the most talked-about acts slated to play Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits this year, and with a new wave of fans discovering the band's classic alternative tunes, it's suffice to say the Cure are hot. The band would be little without its legendary frontman Robert Smith, and in honor of the Cure's upcoming U.S. festival run, we decided to look back on Smith and his eyeliner-wearing, goth-laced legacy with these choice quotes.

On what he remembers from being a very new band, as told to Word (via CraigJParker.blogspot.com): "When we started doing this, I was still at school. When we did Three Imaginary Boys it was spiky, it wasn't really me. I remember bending Lol's ear to be a bit more like XTC. I played with the Banshees [after their guitarist John McGeoch suddenly left] through our first tour, and it allowed me to think beyond what we were doing. I wanted to have a band that does what Steve Severin and Budgie do, where they just get a bassline and the drum part and Siouxsie wails."

On gaining mainstream success, as told to SPIN in 1993 (via The Guardian and Rock's Backpages): "I'm sort of worried about the fact that we've become quite popular in America, but this is it � we've hit our level. We won't get any bigger, which is a relief in a way!"

On what he was listening to when the Cure were first getting their feet wet, as told to Word (via CraigJParker.blogspot.com): Nick Drake and Van Morrison were my touchstones. And funnily enough, Space Oddity. But I also listened to the Gayane Ballet Suite by Khachaturian, which sounds terribly pretentious, but if anyone listens to it, they'll discover the most brilliant sound. I wanted to incorporate all that into an album, and that was what Seventeen Seconds was all about. My dream was to be someone who could go anywhere and play music: in some ways that's still my dream.

On not wanting the single "Let's Go To Bed" to ever be released, as told to the Rock 'n' Roll Alternative Show in 1983 (via Impression of Sounds): "It wasn't as dumb as I wanted it to be. It was really me reacting against the Cure's image, the states we've gone through. So I wanted to do something that was really, really dumb and pop. The words mean nothing. Once I recorded it I thought maybe this isn't quite right. And it was taken over and taken to its logical conclusion and released... Looking back maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. But at the time I was really, really angry 'cause I didn't want it released." More

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