oh man: GM in "Freedom '90" mode could have covered "Close to Me."
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 August 2012 16:38 (eleven years ago) link
Coming up to the really REALLY good stuff now.
#22 - Fire In Cairo, 414 points, 20 votes
Three Imaginary Boys, 1979
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIqf67ovjAE
― nate woolls, Friday, 17 August 2012 16:40 (eleven years ago) link
bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce
this is a great song (not on my ballot tho, which when I look back at it makes me wonder if I didn't need serious amounts of Paxil as I was compiling it)
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 16:42 (eleven years ago) link
I like Fire In Cairo, but I never got why people like it THAT much. I mean, over "Killing An Arab"??
― LeRooLeRoo, Friday, 17 August 2012 16:46 (eleven years ago) link
didn't vote in this (too much and I'm not THAT huge a fan to expend the effort) but pleased to see the results
I would have liked to see what Robert Smith's record collection looked like in the late 70s through the 80s - his range of influences has always seemed a bit inscrutable to me (Barrett, Bowie, probably some krautrock - altho the Cure doesn't really sound like any of those things in and of themselves)
― Shameful Dead Half Choogle (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 17 August 2012 16:49 (eleven years ago) link
he was a big pop fan too
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 August 2012 16:50 (eleven years ago) link
I guess Bowie's pop too (in England)
A Nick Drake fan too.
― nate woolls, Friday, 17 August 2012 16:59 (eleven years ago) link
i hope this is one of those polls where there's tons of non hits in the Top 20 but i guess they've had far too many great singles for that.
― piscesx, Friday, 17 August 2012 17:06 (eleven years ago) link
I can see Smith loving Drake's mopey englishness but I don't hear it much in his songwriting or guitar-playing really
― Shameful Dead Half Choogle (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 17 August 2012 17:07 (eleven years ago) link
I think I can guess what the highest album track will be. Is it too early for predictions?
― LeRooLeRoo, Friday, 17 August 2012 17:12 (eleven years ago) link
I got Boys Don't Cry for Christmas in 1992, and sometime in the next month I had it on the family stereo while my mom was taking down Christmas decorations. "F-I-R-E-I-N-C-A-I-R-O" finally made her demand it be turned off.
I got over it pretty fast myself.
― da croupier, Friday, 17 August 2012 17:13 (eleven years ago) link
do you mean just whatever top 40 stuff was current at the time in the UK...? This is one of the most curious things to me about Smith's ouevre, that he has very clear pop smarts for hooks, arrangements, song structures, etc. but they're filtered through this bizarre (or at least highly unusual) stylistic tics - his voice, odd instrumentation, broad swathes of digital reverb, strange effects, harsh synth and guitar tones etc. The pop angle was mostly dormant for a lot of their overly goth period (Faith, Pornography etc.) but it really came to the fore later obviously.
xp
― Shameful Dead Half Choogle (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 17 August 2012 17:15 (eleven years ago) link
Love love love this one
#21 - The Funeral Party, 433 points, 16 votes
Faith, 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLV1YwfIkGA
― nate woolls, Friday, 17 August 2012 17:19 (eleven years ago) link
now that's an album track i'm glad to see everyone's behind
― da croupier, Friday, 17 August 2012 17:20 (eleven years ago) link
wow almost 20 more points than "Fire In Cairo" with 4 fewer votes
― da croupier, Friday, 17 August 2012 17:23 (eleven years ago) link
haha love this song, but not nearly as much as my dad does (it's his favorite Cure song, he used to make me play it on repeat)
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 17:38 (eleven years ago) link
the harmony on it really makes it IMO, which is probably why live performances of it tend to fall flat for me (ps Robert, in case you are reading this my falsetto is good enough to do your harmony parts, yr ppl should call my ppl, where "my ppl" is me speaking in a funny voice)
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 17:40 (eleven years ago) link
Didn't think this one would beat "Faith" and "The Drowning Man". I guess it's prettier.
― LeRooLeRoo, Friday, 17 August 2012 17:44 (eleven years ago) link
Never really been a fan of this myself
#20 - Lullaby, 443 points, 17 votes
Disintegration, 1989
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqxYy8OOTOE
― nate woolls, Friday, 17 August 2012 17:49 (eleven years ago) link
?? Can see no argument for "Killing an Arab" over the much better "Fire in Cairo." "Cairo," like "Grinding Halt," has feeling and mystery; "Killing an Arab" has feeling but opens up to say "hey look I'm name-checking stuff from a book" -- plus "I'M ALIVE. I'M DEAD" is too on-the-nose as far as I'm concerned. Not saying it's a bad song, just that it's below the median for early Cure.
(To be fair, "Boys Don't Cry" is pretty lyrically on-the-nose too, but dude, those triplets!)
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 17 August 2012 17:49 (eleven years ago) link
well... "Killing An Arab" is going to be pretty on-the-nose considering the lyrics are taken pretty much verbatim from the book, so that doesn't bother me
"Lullaby" is fantastic and, looking back at my ballot, I am astounded that I didn't vote for it
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 17:56 (eleven years ago) link
It's existentialist, man! (x-post)
― LeRooLeRoo, Friday, 17 August 2012 17:57 (eleven years ago) link
"Lullaby" didn't make my ballot either, but it's a great great pop single.
― LeRooLeRoo, Friday, 17 August 2012 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
― LeRooLeRoo, Friday, August 17, 2012 12:46 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Why does it have to be one or the other? I love and voted for both.
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Friday, 17 August 2012 17:59 (eleven years ago) link
xp: I mean, it's super creepy, the video is wonderful, and it's in my vocal range; this shit should have been in my top 5
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 17:59 (eleven years ago) link
clearly I'm on a happy/poppy kick ATM, if I did my ballot now it would be all "The Walk", "Friday I'm In Love', "Boys Don't Cry", "The Perfect Girl", "Hey You!", "Hot Hot Hot!!!", "Six Different Ways", "The Caterpillar" etc
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:01 (eleven years ago) link
#19 - Lovesong, 461 points, 17 votes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU6wkCxDHCk
― nate woolls, Friday, 17 August 2012 18:13 (eleven years ago) link
totally dreamy song, not on my ballot, I can sing this one too
probably the 2nd-weakest song on Disintegration (after "Closedown")
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:15 (eleven years ago) link
Never cared for this
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:17 (eleven years ago) link
I'm still thinking about what Cure song my dad might like. Maybe "Plainsong" or something with Santana-esque shred guitar ("Cut"?).
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:18 (eleven years ago) link
IIRC my dad really liked all of their albums up through Disintegration except for Pornography which he just thought was tuneless whining with no real songcraft; the closest he got to liking that album was "Siamese Twins" and even there the meandering vocal melody drove him insane.
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:22 (eleven years ago) link
Starting to suspect we're past the point where "Burn" might have shown up. Thanks a lot, DJP!
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 17 August 2012 18:24 (eleven years ago) link
;_;
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:25 (eleven years ago) link
s'ok
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 17 August 2012 18:26 (eleven years ago) link
I was just listening to "Burn" yesterday, what a great great great song
not quite as great as "To The Sky" or "A Chain of Flowers" or "A Japanese Dream" tho
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:26 (eleven years ago) link
"Closedown" is gorgeous. "Lovesong" is alright. It was nice to hear it on the radio in 89.
― LeRooLeRoo, Friday, 17 August 2012 18:27 (eleven years ago) link
I had "Lovesong" low on my list, but couldn't leave it off. Apart from being a fine pop tune, I remember how weird it seemed that the Cure had a top 10 hit. A significant moment in that late '80s wave of "college rock" taking over.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:28 (eleven years ago) link
Good run this, that's four of my top dozen or so in the last five places
― Ismael Klata, Friday, 17 August 2012 18:29 (eleven years ago) link
Lovesong was a top ten hit?
it hit #2 in the US!
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:30 (eleven years ago) link
It's lyrics played a key role in an episode of 'One Tree Hill'. Does it get any better than that?
― pandemic, Friday, 17 August 2012 18:31 (eleven years ago) link
I don't love "Lovesong" but thought it would be higher, maybe because I'm the right age to remember this being massively huge and ubiquitous
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:32 (eleven years ago) link
I'm amazed. Lullaby was top ten in the UK, which isn't that unusual, but dive said it was impossible for them to do that in the US.
― Ismael Klata, Friday, 17 August 2012 18:34 (eleven years ago) link
I didn't remember it reaching #2, but I do remember that a lot of people who made fun of newwave/postmodern/weirdo rock before that were all of the sudden very into that song (in my own sphere, natch, but I bet that was the case in a lot of places). It was on the radio all the time, the video was constantly played on MTV, and The Cure owned America for about three weeks.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 17 August 2012 18:41 (eleven years ago) link
The Cure's top forty history in America:
Just Like Heaven #40Lovesong #2Friday I'm in Love #18
― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 August 2012 18:42 (eleven years ago) link
not quite as great as "To The Sky"
i remember taping this off the radio! still totally love that song
― sarahell, Friday, 17 August 2012 18:45 (eleven years ago) link
#18 - Let’s Go To Bed, 473 points, 20 votes, 2 #1 votes
single, 1982
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w8vhe_LiuQ
― nate woolls, Friday, 17 August 2012 18:58 (eleven years ago) link
I was looking at my grim, dour ballot and thinking "I don't really want to change any of this, but something's not quite right..." and then I put "Let's Go To Bed" on at #40 and went "perfecto"
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 17 August 2012 19:00 (eleven years ago) link
<3 lovesong and let's go to bed
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Friday, 17 August 2012 19:06 (eleven years ago) link