See 125 more photos

The Cure

1,014,645 listeners (35,677,138 plays)

Listening now: KelliM, educasablancas

Add to my Library Share

new wave, post-punk, alternative, 80s, rock… see all

2,331 shouts

Crawley, West Sussex (1976 – present)

Formed during the era of the 1970s while still in secondary school in Crawley, West Sussex, England, The Cure has been one of the most enduring bands of the last thirty years, even if that has come at the price of multiple line-up changes, with only original frontman Robert Smith remaining in the band. Shunning the anarchistic tendencies of many bands after their formation in 1976, The Cure’s first release was PlayKilling an Arab, based on material from French writer Albert Camus’ “L’Etranger” (translated into English as The Stranger or The Outsider). This track courted controversy because of its theme (misinterpreted as racist, it was in fact, about the futility of killing any ethnicity), but it started to secure a small following, which grew following the release of debut album Three Imaginary Boys and non-LP single PlayBoys Don’t Cry in 1979, the latter of which would become one of The Cure’s most famous songs.

Following this, The Cure moved from their leanings into the portentous territory, releasing three albums of doom-laden in three years, Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography, the latter of which charted inside the UK top 10, though the band were repeatedly dogged by the “Second-class Joy Division” tag. The group’s fifth album, following their third set of line-up changes, Japanese Whispers was, through their desire to escape the Joy Division description, a poppier effort, featuring danceable singles like PlayLet’s Go to Bed alongside pop songs like Love Cats. Following the commercial disappointment of follow-up album The Top in 1984, The Cure returned to form with 1985’s The Head on the Door.
Read More… Edit

Similar Artists

Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bauhaus, The Glove, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, The Sisters of Mercy, New Order… see all

See more

Videos

See more

Top Tracks

1 Play
7,707
2 Play
7,321
3 Play
6,631
4 Play
6,168
5 Play
5,804
6 Play
4,611
7 Play
4,132
8 Play
3,625
9 Play
3,553
10 Play
The Lovecats full track
2,967
11 Play
2,669
12 Play
2,573
13 Play
2,369
14 Play
2,296
15  
2,280
See more

Top Albums

See more

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).

Listeners

See more

Recent Activity

Related Journals

See more

Groups (967)

See more

More Information

Links
Band Members
Labels

Email Newsletter

Universal Music Group Get exclusive tour, release & promotion updates on The Cure from Universal Music.

What’s New

It’s here. Welcome to the new Last.fm! Read all about it on our blog.

“My mother always told me that Last.fm would make me go blind.”
© 2002–2008 Last.fm Ltd. Terms of Use