#37
February 5 1980
The Cure
Bye Don’t Cry
Genre: New Wave
5 out of 5
Highlights:
Boys Don’t Cry
Plastic Passion
10:15 On a Saturday Night
Object
Jumping Someone Else’s Train
Subway Song
Killing an Arab
Fire In Cairo
I listened to this in the original format, Three Imaginary Boys, years ago so, I was sort of stunned that it came up on the list. But this is the version that was released in 1980 so I will give it a go as it’s actually different than the first album.
This release had to be cobbled together from the Three Imaginary Boys version and, weirdly, “Killing an Arab” is not available. But, “Fire in Cairo” is and I am left wondering…what was Robert Smith’s Middle East obsession about? Surely that’s been written about.
While Smith and the band would be known for it’s darker, gothier inclinations, I think we forget just how much their music was originally informed by that minimalism-meets-mod revival. In many ways this is angular Power Pop. And when you think about songs like “Friday I’m in Love” and some of the other big hits, it’s all right there. Smith LOOKS the part, but this band isn’t all dour and dark. (Although the road map for that is all over “Another Day”)
The Cure is dancing in the same halls as Adam and the Ants early days (“Object” “World War”) and even The Jam or the Vapors (“Jumping Someone Else’s Train”) at times and even Tubeway Army. This is such an album of the era. It rocks, but the subject matter is a laser focused arrow into the heart of outsiderism. The moody Cure that we all know and love are still Friday night Underground Hopping jitter-boys.
(The version of “Killing an Arab” I listened to is a live one and it’s spectacular.
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