FEBRUARY

The BRITS awards were the opportunity to hear about the group again, since Lullaby won the award for best video. Only Robert Smith, Boris Williams and Roger O'Donnell attended the ceremony. A short interview of Robert for the radio was also recorded in the toilets there !

Then the band got together to make a video for Pictures of You, the next planned single off Disintegration. The filming took place in Ballachulish, Scotland, and turned eventually into a snowball fight despite the cold. A second edit for the video was also done for the 12" extended mix of the song. It included additional shots and layered, slow-motion image effects. Sadly, it was only shown on TV a couple of times.


MARCH

The Pictures Of You single was released in multiple formats with live versions of Last Dance, Fascination Street, Prayers For Rain & Disintegration recorded in London the previous year as B sides. The cover showed Mary (Robert's wife) and the picture was taken around 1980 during holidays in Scotland.

At the same time in France, Entreat, a 6-track promotional cd, recorded live in London, was offered for buying three albums of the group at once in Fnac stores. 4000 copies of these were made and instantly became a rarity.


MAY

Elektra Records (the band's US record label) asked the Cure to cover a song from their catalog for their forthcoming 40th anniversary compilation. Originally, Robert Smith tried Pirate Ships (by Judy Collins) on his own but changed his mind so the group could cover Hello I Love You (by the Doors). Three versions were recorded in a studio in Launceston, Cornwall, UK : a regular one, a "crazed one" lasting about ten seconds and a long psychedelic one.

The band also attempted to record an electronic EP around the same time. The only song that survived was Harold and Joe. Roger O'Donnell left the Cure during the session, apparently due to tensions with other members. Failing to make good electronic music, the band (now a 4-piece) recorded Never Enough as a reaction of this frustration.


JUNE / JULY

Robert Smith agreed to play live in summer festivals around Europe as long as somebody videoed the World Cup football matches on TV in case they were on stage at the same time. Porl suggested Perry Bamonte (the Cure's assistant since 1984) could play keyboards for the concerts. And everyone thought it was a good idea. Perry then had to learn the songs parts as fast as possible.

The repertoire was the following :
Killing An Arab, 10:15 Saturday Night, Boys Don't Cry, Jumping Someone Else's Train, In Your House, A Forest, Primary, Charlotte Sometimes, A Strange Day, Let's Go To Bed, The Walk, Lament, Shake Dog Shake, Dressing Up, In Between Days, Close To Me, A Night Like This, Catch, Why Can't I Be You ?, Just Like Heaven, Pictures Of You, Lullaby, Fascination Street, The Same Deep Water As You, Disintegation, Never Enough.


AUGUST

03rd
Praha, Sportovnihala
A few more dates were booked, mostly in Eastern Europe. The group actually stayed a whole week in Prague, visiting the city and posing in front of Franz Kafka's house. They also added a few more songs to the live repertoire : Play For Today, M, Faith, The Perfect Girl. Robert Smith dedicated Faith to the people that signed a petition for the band's coming.

04th
Leipzig, Zentralstadion
Filmed and broadcast on TV. The following night, the concert in Dresden was shortened as the Cure's singer suffered from food poisoning.

11th
London, Crystal Palace Bowl
Back to England and last concert of the year which turned into a "garden party".

30th
Never Enough video shooting at Magic Eye Studio, London. Inspired by the Tod Browning's movie "Freaks". The single would be out on the following month.

31st
Chris Parry and Robert Smith had the idea to set up a pirate radio (following the current trends) to launch the promotion of the Mixed Up album. A project that started during the summer and consisted in putting together rare remixes and brand new ones especially done for this "party" album. The Walk and A Forest were re-recorded by the band because the original master tapes for these were lost. Both new versions were then remixed for Mixed Up.


OCTOBER

Mixed Up was released and most reviews slagged off the record. The sleeve was painted by Maya (who made the Lovesong cover as well). Around the same time, Robert painted a self portrait and a few lines from A Letter To Elise were written on the canvas.

Close To Me (remix) was released as a single off Mixed Up. The band filmed a video for it, taking things where the original one left them : under water. The end of the year was spent working on new songs.


GO TO 1991