JANUARY
More work in the studio. A French
TV crew came to film the band. Only The Figurehead (demo version) would
be shown on TV two months later. Late January, the RAK studios in London were
booked to record the album with Phil Thornalley producing.
Recording Pornography would start an era of miscommunication in the band.
And that simply became a life style. Robert would read psychiatrists, anything
to do with mental illness and drugs would do the rest. The final lyrics were
written in a "stream of consciousness".
Calling the album "Pornography" was Robert Smith's idea. The word
certainly sums up the grim side of man both on the immediate and aspiring
level. Would it be physical or spiritual or both. A bit later, Robert would
say that title was just a "cheap gimmick" to grab everyone's attention.
But Polydor went concerned at the time, as well as some music critics. The
band would spend two whole months at RAK, also recording the "Airlock"
soundtrack (another film made by Ric Gallup to be projected before the band
entered the stage).
APRIL
10th
Bourges, Festival du Printemps
A one-off concert right after the album was done. The decision to appear on
this famous French festival was certainly taken right away, even if they didn't
have much rehearsals then. Hence a bizarre version of The Hanging Garden (drums
slowing down). So that wasn't the best performance of the year but they played
the Pornography songs a month before the release of the album, attracting
people's attention. The show was filmed.
11th
Paris, Studio Davout
Rehearsals for the upcoming tour, filmed and shown on TV at the time. Quite
a dark mood despite Robert's pink shirt.
18th
Plymouth, Top Rank
14 dates UK tour ("14 Explicits Moments") debuted with a repertoire
of 19 songs : Killing An Arab, 10:15 Saturday Night, Three Imaginary Boys,
Play For Today, In Your House, A Forest, M, Primary, Other Voices, The Drowning
Man, One Hundred Years, A Short Term Effect, The Hanging Garden, Siamese Twins,
The Figurehead, Cold, Pornography, Forever, All Mine.
A few tracks like A Short Term Effect (ending too early on that first concert)
were still under-rehearsed. The following nights were as "shaky"
as the first one : improvised lyrics on Siamese Twins and on A Forest in Bristol,
interrupting One Hundred Years in Brighton...
According to a journalist, Robert looked "dejected and tired" for
his birthday there.
All Mine is another fluctuating-form song, only played in 1982 and close to
Forever (a rework actually) as most of time Robert started singing (making
up the lyrics) and playing the guitar with the others joining after a while,
always including a tempo that got faster and faster before collapsing at the
end of the song. The length of the track often approched 10 minutes long.
27th
Manchester, Apollo
Very good concert. At Night was added to the live repertoire. This show was
recorded. A Forest and Killing An Arab from that recording would be used as
b-sides on The Hanging Garden single later. The following night in Birmingham
would be completely flat in comparison.
30th
Leicester, University
This show was a bit shortened for some reason. It didn't include an encore.
All Mine was just Robert's voice and guitar for three minutes and was medleyed
to the end of Pornography. Charlotte Sometimes was finally played live again
though.
MAY
01st
London, Hammersmith Odeon
Last concert in the UK and the first live performances of both A Strange Day
and Splintered in Her Head (In Your House and Other Voices were put aside
from now on). M was dedicated to Mary. A recording of All Mine (intro only)
from this show is included on the Pornography deluxe remaster cd. The song
had a few recurrent lines : "face down in the snow", "the sky
goes black", "death by drowning".
3rd
Release of the Pornography
album (FIX 7). As strange as it seems the entire tour in the UK was done before
the record was out. But a promotional 12" (One Hundred Years/ The Hanging
Garden) was given away at the shows there.
GO TO 1982 PART 2
