The Cure

Super Cure Lineup, Anyone?

Hi,

Would anyone express interest in the idea of there being a mega-Cure lineup, which consists of each and every band member in the Cure's rich history?

The lineup thus would consist of:
Robert Smith - our mad genius de jure
Porl Thompson - guitar, sax and keyboards (1976-78, 1984-93, 2005-present)
Mick Dempsey - bass (1976-79)
Simon Gallup - bass (1979-82, 1984-present)
Phil Thornalley - bass (1982-84)
Lol Tolhurst - drums (1976-82), keyboards (1982-88)
Andy Anderson - drums (1983-84)
Boris Williams - drums (1984-94)
Jason Cooper - drums (1994-present)
Roger O'Donnell - keyboards (1988-90, 1995-2005)
Perry Bamonte - keyboards (1990-95) and guitars (1995-2005)

I could imagine the Cure doing a two-or-three-drummer attack a la the Doobie Brothers, and a three-lead guitar attack a la Lynyrd Skynyrd. And a three-keyboard attack.

But ... would this kind of mega-reunion work out?

~Ben (ClassicTVMan1981)

Re: Super Cure Lineup, Anyone?

Interesting idea! One of the wildest, most fun shows I've ever seen had 3 drummers, 3 bassists, 3 guitarist and lots of energy and silly costumes: Green Jello. It was sort of like seeing a goofy, more theatrical version of Primus.

I don't know if The Cure's music would necessarily be enhanced by a megalineup, though. I guess it would all depend upon the arrangement.

Re: Re: Super Cure Lineup, Anyone?

LA Lovecat wrote:
Interesting idea! One of the wildest, most fun shows I've ever seen had 3 drummers, 3 bassists, 3 guitarist and lots of energy and silly costumes: Green Jello. It was sort of like seeing a goofy, more theatrical version of Primus.

I don't know if The Cure's music would necessarily be enhanced by a megalineup, though. I guess it would all depend upon the arrangement.

Re: Super Cure Lineup, Anyone?

Not sure how cohesive it'd be, but it'd sure be FUN!!!

Re: Re: Re: Super Cure Lineup, Anyone?

fattyowls wrote:

LA Lovecat wrote:
Interesting idea! One of the wildest, most fun shows I've ever seen had 3 drummers, 3 bassists, 3 guitarist and lots of energy and silly costumes: Green Jello. It was sort of like seeing a goofy, more theatrical version of Primus.

I don't know if The Cure's music would necessarily be enhanced by a megalineup, though. I guess it would all depend upon the arrangement.

I'd like someone like John Frusciante (Chili Peppers) to step in on guitar..
Maybe Jimmy Chamberlain (Smashing Pumpkins) on Drums..
Hear me out on this one, but Lol to jump on keyboards. I'm not sure what his stuff on Presence is like but it has to be better than Roger's elevator music. Not wanting to start a fan war on that one either.. He's great with The Cure, don't get me wrong but.. well let's put it this way, I use his solo stuff as bedtime music for my 1 year old.. Enough said.. :p
Can't think of anyone for Bass at this point.. I think Si' is indespensable.. love his work.. told him so too when he came to Oz.. he smiled and blushed, of course!

I don't think Dempsey, Hartley or Anderson ever really cut it.. that whole era apart from the actual music really sucked for the group, it was only really '85 when they became a stable formation, well as much as you can call that in terms of The Cure..:p

Re: Re: Super Cure Lineup, Anyone?

cats_n_cheese wrote:
Not sure how cohesive it'd be, but it'd sure be FUN!!!

Re: Re: Re: Re: Super Cure Lineup, Anyone?

LA Lovecat wrote:

fattyowls wrote:

LA Lovecat wrote:
Interesting idea! One of the wildest, most fun shows I've ever seen had 3 drummers, 3 bassists, 3 guitarist and lots of energy and silly costumes: Green Jello. It was sort of like seeing a goofy, more theatrical version of Primus.

I don't know if The Cure's music would necessarily be enhanced by a megalineup, though. I guess it would all depend upon the arrangement.

I'd like someone like John Frusciante (Chili Peppers) to step in on guitar..
Maybe Jimmy Chamberlain (Smashing Pumpkins) on Drums..
Hear me out on this one, but Lol to jump on keyboards. I'm not sure what his stuff on Presence is like but it has to be better than Roger's elevator music. Not wanting to start a fan war on that one either.. He's great with The Cure, don't get me wrong but.. well let's put it this way, I use his solo stuff as bedtime music for my 1 year old.. Enough said.. :p
Can't think of anyone for Bass at this point.. I think Si' is indespensable.. love his work.. told him so too when he came to Oz.. he smiled and blushed, of course!

I don't think Dempsey, Hartley or Anderson ever really cut it.. that whole era apart from the actual music really sucked for the group, it was only really '85 when they became a stable formation, well as much as you can call that in terms of The Cure..:p

It seems we have similar opinions re: Cure bass and keys! I totally agree re: Roger and Lol. I'd be happy to see Teddy again, though!

For bass, I thought Phil did a respectable job while Simon was away, but there's this very subtle moodiness in Simon's playing that makes his sound so much more pleasing to my ear. It's very subtle, but it makes a big difference in the overall beauty of the songs, to my ear at least. I've tried to figure out what it is. I think it's a very slight, almost imperceptible difference in timing. He seems to have a better emotional connection to the music and interprets it in his own way, adding this lovely, moody flavor to it. That's just my intuitive, untrained perception of it, though.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on what makes Simon's playing so much nicer to listen to, fattyowls. I was really impressed with all the information you had on their effects yesterday! :)

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Super Cure Lineup, Anyone?

fattyowls wrote:
It just comes down to the fact he and Robert are so close musically and the fact that apart from Lol they obviously have that history..
He's been playing the songs so long he really could play his patterns in his sleep..
You can see from live performances that he puts everything into his playing, he concerntrates intensly and as we can tell from the infamous bass throw (?) in Vegas that he gets frustrated if he doesn't play well or something doesn't go right..
As for Lol even though his playing within in the group was fairly simple, both in drums and keys, they were so integral to those songs at the time. I even think Jason when he first started out and was rehearsing the back catalogue said that Lol's and Boris' playing didn't come naturally to him, obviously not only were they not his parts but he actually mentioned they were quite complex..
Not to say that this current line up is wrong, but I don't think there's really that comradeship of the past line ups..
Which is fair enough because the group isn't THE most important thing in their lives anymore..

Re: Super Cure Lineup, Anyone?

I did forget to include:

Matthieu Hartley (keyboards, 1979-80)

But, yeah, it still would be intriguing if this kind of reunion would ever happen.

Of all the keyboardists throughout the band's history, three of them are also guitarists (Smith, Thompson and Bamonte). One of them would play one part while the others would do theirs.

~Ben

Re: Super Cure Lineup, Anyone?

This is an idea that Neil Finn (Crowded House) has done and plans to do again..
He's basically called his muso buddies, flown them out to his house/studio, have rehearsed intensely for two weeks a batch of songs that spanned his career and put on a one off concert..
All these other guys were obviously all in other bands (Eddie Vedder was one of them, Johnny Marr [Smiths] was another) but they all got together for this one gig..
I'm sure it had the potential to stuff up in many ways - time constraints, jetlag, ego.. But they put that all aside and did what was a great success!