JANUARY

More rehearsals and work on the new songs.

07th
John Peel Session (Langham studio 1)
Songs recorded for the radio program : The Holy Hour, Primary, All Cats Are Grey, Forever. Still no definitive lyrics for the first two songs. Primary was still different musically (bass line and tune) compared with how it would turn out on the following month. Forever was an improvised attempt based on the chords from Three. That classic "song" would often close the shows for years and years.


FEBRUARY

2nd / 11th
Morgan studios, London
Recording sessions for the Faith album started but it became a difficult process : the band was "thrown out in favour of more important people" to the Red Bus studios and then to the Roundhouse, the Trident and finally Abbey Road studios. The lack of continuous work in the same place resulted in the recording taking longer than expected : about a month.

Around the same time, Ric Gallup (Simon's brother) was asked to make a film, Carnage Visors, to replace support bands on the upcoming tour.

26th
Kid Jensen Session, Langham studios
Recorded for the BBC radio. Strangely, a drum machine was used instead of having real drums. Songs : The Funeral Party, The Drowning Man, Faith (different lyrics).


MARCH

16th
Point studios
Robert and Simon recorded the soundtrack to Carnage Visors while Lol took care of a drum machine.

27th
Primary / Descent single released (FICS 12). The cover was drawn by Porl and Andy Vella founding their association under the name "Parched Art". A video was also made for Primary (along with one for Other Voices on the same day, the band wearing heavy make up on both).

APRIL

Contacts were made to find unusual venues to play at while on tour. The only place that agreed to let the band play was an old church, St Andrews, in Norwich (booked for May 12th).

11th
The Faith album release (FIX 6). The misty cover depicts Bolton Abbey (North Yorkshire) where Robert Smith used to play as a child.

18th
UK Picture Tour (31 shows). The Funeral Party & The Drowning Man sounded pretty unrehearsed on the beginning of this tour, certainly difficult songs to perform without being in the mood - especially with Robert getting a cold after a week on the road. The guitar solos were extended on songs like A Forest or M, giving more atmosphere to the songs. A few songs had improvised lyrics when the tour started : In Your House, Play For Today, The Holy Hour, Seventeen Seconds...

The live repertoire included : Killing An Arab, 10:15 Saturday Night, Accuracy, Grinding Halt, Fire In Cairo, Three Imaginary Boys, Boys Don't Cry, Jumping Someone Else's Train, I'm Cold, Seventeen Seconds, Play For Today, In Your House, A Forest, M, At Night, Another Journey By Train, The Holy Hour, Primary, Other Voices, All Cats Are Grey, The Funeral Party, The Drowning Man, Faith, Forever.


MAY

02nd
Bristol, Colston Hall
Robert had a word at the beginning of the show about the fact that if people wanted to dance, they could. Nothing wrong with people "enjoying" themselves (!). Maybe a reaction against the press reviews comparing the show with a religious ceremony.

17th
Newcastle, City Hall
Definitely in the mood to try different things that night. A Forest lyrics were improvised while Killing an Arab's intro turned into a joke with different notes at first. Faith included the line "Slowly the picture fades", a recurrent line later for the extra lyrics of the song.

22nd
Dublin, Mai Ball College
Robert Smith later talked about this show (in the 10 Imaginary Years book), telling a whole story about stopping the concert because of a wild audience... When that was probably just a couple of drunken people shouting in the back at times. Reviews from the show reported nothing extraordinary.

27th
The Picture tour reached Belgium, Germany and Holland (34 shows). The Dutch dates were performed under a circus tent, a way to avoid traditional venues, even if that meant having to built the tent every night. Other Voices was also introduced as being "about a girl who got a new head for Christmas".

The song Seventeen Seconds was quickly put aside on the continent and Faith became "bigger", Robert adding improvised lines once the tour arrived in Wiesbaden (Germany), always refering to a woman who died, picture fading, growing old, getting lost...


JULY

04th
Torhout, Festival
That was the first time the band played at this major Belgian festival. There was no encore as they were only allowed to play for 75 minutes. Robert probably hated having to play in such festivals (the bill also included Robert Palmer, Dire Straits...), introducing Faith as follows : "It's our rock and roll number, so you're supposed to clap your hands in the back, I think. It's off our new album called Slipping Sally Through The Alley. It's called Faith."

05th
Werchter, Festival


GO TO 1981 PART 2