JANUARY
Reading, Eden Studios
Recording the Top album. Robert Smith played on most instruments except drums,
Phil Thornalley being in Australia producing and Lol being unable to follow
physically (he helped with some lyrics though). The sound on record reflected
that : large amounts of alcohol, magic mushrooms (inspiring Throw Your Foot's
lyrics), living an alienating life style... Also Robert would often jump on
a cab to join the Banshees recording the Hyaena album before coming back to
Reading and work some more on the Cure's album. No wonder he confessed a breakdown
later.
It should be noted that Dylan Thomas turned into Robert's favorite poet during
this era. Actually when the recording of Birdmad Girl began, the song didn't
have the finished lyrics so lines from Love In The Asylum were sung to have
a vocal track on tape. The poem refers to a "girl mad as birds".
Another
song from the Top album, Bananafishbones, finds its origin in a novel by J.D
Salinger entitled A Perfect Day For Bananafish.
Porl Thompson (taking care of the record covers with Andy Vella) was asked
to play saxophone on Give Me It at the end of the recording session and finally
stayed in the band. A good choice since he could do guitar parts and play the keyboards
on stage.
30th
Munchen, Alabama Halle
A one-off live performance for the German TV was set up with Norman Fisher Jones on bass.
That was also used as test for later in the event Phil Thornalley
couldn't go on tour with the band.
FEBRUARY
02th
Kid Jensen Session, BBC radio
The session included Norman Fisher Jones on bass (Thornalley still being unavailable)
, Porl on guitar/keyboards, Lol on keyboards, Andy Anderson on drums and Robert
Smith. The songs recorded were The Empty World, Piggy In The Mirror, Give
Me It, Bananafishbones.
24th
Manchester, Oxford Road Show
TV
Two new songs live on TV (Shake Dog Shake & Give Me It). Norman Fisher
Jones on bass with the band for the last time (his time replacing Phil was
short-lived).
MARCH
Robert dedicated most of this month to the Banshees : TOTP, touring... Since
he wanted to remain Steve Severin's friend. The
Caterpillar being the next planned single, the band asked Tim Pope to
make a video for the song. It was filmed at the Palm House, Kew Gardens, Surrey.
Porl also had to draw the cover in one day being inspired by Dali and Miro's
paintings.
30th
The Caterpillar / Happy The Man single release (FICS 20). A quite surprising success followed in the English charts. But the previous singles helped for this national recognition.
APRIL
06th
The Tube TV appearance.
Phil Thornalley was now on bass and would stay so for the rest of the year.
Robert, Lol, Porl and Andy also helped recording Tim Pope's own single, I
Want To Be A Tree, produced by Chris Parry. The vinyl's groove would read : "A
Smith is a good as a smile" on the b side. During the same recording
at Olympic studios, Robert took the opportunity to record a song on his own
(using a drum machine and while being "under the influence") : New
Day. The idea for the song dated back December 1983 (Shout / Sadacic) but
never really worked out well while making The Top album.
25th
Newcastle, City Hall
A sold out tour in the UK debuted (with And Also The Trees as special guests).
Setlists varied quite a bit at the beginning of the tour trying out old songs they wouldn't play anymore after a few dates. Robert Smith probably wanted to concentrate on the rest of The Top songs they just learned (Happy The Man, Dressing Up, Birdmad Girl...). A better equipment than the previous years (sound and lights) and an even more distinctive guitar
sound (with lots of effects) brought the Cure to a level they didn't reach
before on stage.
MAY
The Top album was released (FIXS 9).
04th
Bristol, Colston Hall
Maybe the funniest moment of the tour happened there, or how to recover from a bad start.
Robert announced the opening track, Shake Dog Shake, and nothing happened
for ages. So after a while, he just explained : "It's got
a quite arty intro". The following night in Oxford was filmed with two
cameras for promotional purposes. Only Primary
and A Forest would be shown. This particular concert was also recorded (along with London
dates) for a live album.
GO TO 1984 PART 2
