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::Today's soundtrack: The Cure "The World in My Eyes" ::
This is the last one. I promise. This will be the last post regarding the almighty RADNESS of my favourite band, The Cure. This week is front man Robert Smith's birth-week, as he turns 50 years of age on April 21st. As Smith celebrates 50 years, we also celebrate 30 years of The Cure's existence. This week I'll let you all off light on the reading and give you some of The Cure's best music videos through the ages with handy YouTube links (and as always, we all know about the finickiness of YouTube, so some of these links may not work as time goes on, FYI).
I will begin by telling you that The Cure's earliest music videos are terrible. It wasn't until they acquired director TIM POPE that their videos really took shape into anything noteworthy. There is only ONE video I feel is the exception to this, and it is "Charlotte Sometimes," as seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQKy4-_RiMk
I think it's neat because it was filmed in an old sanitarium, and it's like The Cure members are haunting her there. Check out that young, dapper Mr. Smith! You'll notice, however, that the band is pretty stiff looking. This was how they were in all the videos previous as well (when they were even IN the video AT ALL, that is. Yeah, I'm looking at YOU "Killing an Arab" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train"!). They're just sort of... there. To give you the contrast, here is Tim Pope's FIRST Cure video, "Let's Go to Bed":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX0wTiTiimU
Notice how loose and full of personality they are? Also, how goofy is that video? You gotta pay attention to all of the dancing around that Lawrence does in the background and what was the deal with Smith yelling at those eggs? And then painting on Lawrence's back? Just all-out fun, is what. Also great fun is two videos later, their hit "The Lovecats":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0vdt7f2YRw
Yes, it is positively adorable when Smith is singing "I'd do anything for you" to an actual real, live kitten at 1:14, but it is HILARIOUS when that same kitten scratches him but good at 1:31. You can see Smith cry out out in surprise. Another point of cool with this video are the alternate vocals the first time he sings "all these years and no one home." Love that version! Yes all those stuffed cats ARE freaky.
The next notable Cure video through the ages is off their 1985 Head on the Door album, "Close to Me." The Cure are inside a wardrobe which, for some reason, is perched precariously on a seaside cliff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d4-pDw_dHw
As the wardrobe tumbles into the ocean depths, what fate lies ahead for our heroes?? The video may seem bland to you, but it is definitely worth noting because it is the ONLY one of their videos to actually have a sequel where we do learn what happened next when the remix of the song is released in 1990.
Alright now is time for probably their most famous video, its 1986's "Just Like Heaven," off the album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-nkSGg0lk4
This is The Cure video which got the heaviest MTV rotation in the United States. Whenever they had a top 100 Alternative countdown or whathaveyou, this was always on it, somewhere in the 40s, I think. I could go check. I taped it off the telly in 1996 or so. That girl seen dancing with Smith on the cliff is his then girlfriend-now wife Mary Poole. She did it on the condition that she be unrecognizable, but we all know it's her.
The most interesting video for the singles off of Disintegration is definitely for "Lullaby":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEx7pkmFc6s
Does Smith usually go to bed with that much make-up on? He must ruin his sheets. Love how the evil spider stalking him is himself! Masterful touch. Also, check out how Boris Williams holds his drum sticks. That's how you can tell someone actually had lessons, by how they hold their sticks. Yep, he's a real pro.
And yes, because I know you're dying to know what happened to The Cure after they fell into the ocean at the end of "Close to Me," I give you "Close to Me (Closest Remix)"!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7wMIoiTUYE
In case you were wondering how they all fit in there, I loooove how Porl Thompson was squished into the over head compartment. Also, "hey guys, I think we lost Lawrence somewhere..." "Um. Yes. 'Lost.'" Is it just me or do you also find those human faces on the starfish and octopus to be deeply disturbing?
It's The Cure having the time of their life on the set of the video for "Friday I'm in Love":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSmfNxmaQHc
Why, yes, Simon, I think I will join you in a pint! Thanks. This video took only nine minutes to film, a time record for them, considering it's got everything going on at once, even Laurel and Hardy impersonators.
Now, I've never been too big a fan of "The 13th," but there's something so bizarre about the video that draws me in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlL0e-wI6ic&feature=related
How much like the Dark Knight joker does Smith look at the end in the mirror?? Throughout the video it feels like there is something going on, but like I'm left out of exactly what. I mean, his shirt is ripped and bloodied and things... but then there's that catfight and how funny is that zoom on the "other woman" when she turns up?
Unfortunately, Tim Pope's LAST video for The Cure was "Wrong Number" in 1997, total count being about 37. I'm not even certain whether or not he directed "The 13th", there, as a complete list for Pope's Cure vids is hard to come by. Take a look at some of the post-Pope videos for further comparison:
It's Robert Smith living in a weird stop-motion world in "End of the World":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4cU0NIGZMQ
I really like the parts when Smith gets his hand frozen and then when he stands and his chair flies away. Sometimes it does seem like it would nice if my dirty dishes just disintegrated rather than having to clean them. The other members of the band don't even show up until 2:45, which is kind of insulting to them, isn't it? The look on Smith's face at the very end is priceless.
And now one of their most recent vids for "Sleep When I'm Dead":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqIU6agWD80&feature=related
You'll notice how pretty boring it is. Well, all the videos for the singles off the latest record 4:13 Dream are this way. Black and white, standing there playing instruments, bleh. You can totally tell Tim Pope doesn't direct for them any more.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little visual trip down memory lane which coincidentally also makes for a swell chart showing how Smith has ballooned over the years. But, hey if you think Smith is showing his age, did you notice Porl Thompson in that "Sleep When I'm Dead" video with the shaved head and tattoos? Could you stop with the close-ups on that ugly mug, please? Eeeee! And I thought Smith wore too much eye-liner. And sorry I seem to have inadvertently lied about there not being much to read in this post. OR DID I?
William the Bloody (watching you fall)
PS: If you enjoyed these videos and would like to own them, they are available on the video compilations Staring at the Sea: The Images, Play Out and Galore, The Videos 1987-1997. Which I own, so neener neener.
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