THE PORNOGRAPHY TOUR


MAY

05th
Rotterdam, De Doelen
First of the 31 dates in Europe. Hardly any time to rest after the UK tour. Still that night was a good one with a weird ending on 10:15 Saturday Night, the instruments were completely out of tune (on purpose) ! All Mine included an interesting and revealing last verse that maybe can relate to the mood in the group : "All you asked was 'I should go ?' / Nothing makes me stay / Nothing makes you go / So we stand and look at each other / For days and days and days and days."

That was probably the tour where Robert Smith talked and exchanged the less with the audience. Very little communication overall but there were exceptions, quite incomprehensible most of the time. The frustration was certainly accumulating too. Technical problems weren't rare : tape missing a few times (for One Hundred Years drums and Pornography intro), lost harmonica for Splintered In Her Head (in Düsseldorf -instead the Cure's singer yelled in the microphone), detuned guitar (Aachen)... "An atmosphere rotting with time".

Somehow, this served the Pornography songs and the intensity needed to play them even if most friendships were "desintegrating". A fight between Robert and Simon would occur in Strasbourg resulting in the cancellation of the next two concerts in France as nobody could find where Robert had gone. Just home apparently. The tour would resume thanks to Robert's father who persuaded him to come back. But of course, the Cure's future was most uncertain from now on even if they played live together again.


JUNE

07th
Paris, Olympia
Two sold out nights in Paris in front of a fanatical audience. Probably a big shock for the band. The first show was broadcast on the radio including a fantastic version of All Mine (labeled "All I Have To Do Is Kill Her" on bootlegs in reference to the lyrics).

11th
Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
Last night of the tour. The typical encore was replaced by an improvised track featuring Zerra 1 (the opening act) and Gary Biddles (more or less Cure roadie then) on vocals. Robert was on drums, Lol on bass and Simon on guitar. The result (ten minutes long) was very poor actually, despite an all right beginning. For the final show, the group wanted to do something special but unfortunately that just reflected the uneasiness that surrounded the tour. The mess that closed this last concert comes as no surprise in retrospect.

The band pratically dissolved after the tour. Everybody went away. Originally a show in Sydney was planned in August but of course it was cancelled. The record company took the opportunity to release The Hanging Garden as a single (FICS 15). The video was made a while back at the York House, Richmond (a London borough).


AUGUST

Flexipop Magazine (giving away a flexi disc on each issue) asked the Cure for a song. But with the band being no more, Robert Smith recorded a new song on his own called Lament (written on the previous month).


SEPTEMBER

Island Studios
Robert and Lol started to work on a new single, Let's Go To Bed. Simon wasn't called back, so the duo used a drum machine while Lol gave up drums for good to play the keyboards. The skeleton of the song is actually based on a unreleased track demoed late '81 called Temptation. For the single's final recording they hired Steve Goulding on drums.


OCTOBER

A video for Let's Go To Bed was directed by Tim Pope. It's the first video of a long term collaboration between the band and Tim.

Robert Smith also recorded a demo with Steve Severin at the Playground studios. Both had being talking for years about making a record together. The song that resulted from the session was a rough version of Punish Me With Kisses (to be released later on The Glove album).

24th
Kid Jensen Session, BBC radio
The songs recorded for the radio were : Let's Go To Bed, One Hundred Years, Just One Kiss, Ariel. Lol took care of the keyboards.


NOVEMBER

Robert spent the three following months playing the guitar for Siouxsie and the Banshees (tours / TV). The Let's Go To Bed single (FICS 17) just went out under the name of the Cure against the will of Robert Smith who ended up denying it. An obvious will to get away from responsabilites after four years of continuous work.


GO TO 1983