Cure covers? RRHOF?

As a lifelong Cure admirer, I've gotta disagree with the suggestion that they be inducted into the RRHOF.

Thankfully (?) I know nothing about the RRHOF- I'm sure that Robert Smith is as deserving as certain previous inductees- but objectively, The Cure don't quite make it into the pantheon. Smith is a hero, for sure, but not a demi-god, god, or titan.

Do they take mere heroes in the RRHOF?

When I said "lifelong" admirer, I really meant from adolescence, with a five year break as I immersed myself in 60's/70's songwriters. When I rediscovered The Cure, the most impressive thing was how the songs stood up. Even when Smith is not playing with genre-exercises, he writes alot of songs that could gain new audiences if they were earnestly re-arranged, instead of sold as kitsch toward the post-alternative-kiddie market [Blink 182, or whatever.]

The Watson Twins take on "Just Like Heaven" for example. There's no reason it couldn't have been done by someone further outside the hipster-realm.

Why haven't the Dixie Chicks picked up this slack?

So, who are your suggestions for Cure coverers?

Since W seems to be determined to spend his last six months in office starting a war with Iran, I bet Toby Keith could be persuaded to record a shit-kickin' version of "Killing an Arab" to rally the troops.

Of course, Iranians aren't Arabs, but I doubt that Toby knows that. And I am pretty positive that W doesn't.

Oh yes, Bush is really seeking a second war to engage in because he is a war-mongerer, hates all Middle-Eastern people, does not perceive the consequences of the current war, and is anxiously awaiting the End of Days. Give me a break. Could it be that a country which proclaims genocide and Jihad as state policy should not be allowed to acquire the means to destroy all human life without maybe a little pushback? I am liberal in a great number of things but will never comprehend this attitude. It is backlash against this pacifist insanity that unfortunately elected Bush in 2004.

Perhaps we should have included political inclinations in our earlier census? Would be interesting.

As for the Cure, I have no great opinion on who should cover their songs. I long ago came to the conclusion that the worst evaluator of Cure songs are the hardcore Robert Smith fans. Those who do not buy into the Bob Smith schtick can generally better identify the Cure's good pop songs from their dross. The Seventeen Seconds, Faith, Pornography era albums are essentially tuneless in my opinion even though the constituency seems to get off on the gloom.

I've never seen a tree I didn't think could use a hug.

Unless they're in my yard and I have to mow around them. I hate those damn things and wish they would fucking die.



(Of course, now I feel guilty and want to go home and tell my trees I love them.)



Post Edited (07-10-08 12:01)

I am extremely liberal on ecological issues, and so do not respond to this jab

Wasn't intended as a jab. You're good folks, Nosepail, and always have worthwhile points of view.

But back to the topic of Cure covers, "Just Like Heaven" is the Cure song that probably could be added to the list of candidates for a covers moratorium. Off the top of my head, it's been covered by Dinosaur Jr, the Watson Twins, Katie Melua, Charlotte Martin, and possibly Tori Amos (I can remember running across a cover labelled as being by Amos, but suspect it was the Charlotte Martin cover mislabeled.)

And I fully expect a teen-pop version of "Friday I'm In Love" to crop up on Radio Disney any day now. Miley Cyrus or the Jonas Brothers would drive the 10 year olds nuts with it.

I think I have mentioned this before but it was the Cure's "Head on the Door" CD that was the door for me into discovering there was great music out there that wasn't being played on the radio. At age 16 it was a mind blowing album for me and altered my musical trajectory so the Cure hold a special place in my heart. As such here are songs I would love to see covered and by whom:

The Blood - Latin Playboys
In Between Days - New Order
Close to Me - Blind boys of Alabama
Love Cats - Tony Bennett
Never Enough - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Six different ways - Bob Dylan

The Ivy already did a great job of "Lets go to bed" and I fully support the Teen Pop version of Friday I'm in Love that Breno suggested. If there has to be trashy pop on the radio it might as well be a good song.

Wouldn't New Order covering In Between Days be kind of redundant, since it was the Cure trying to sound like New Order in the first place?

Luka Bloom did a nice acoustic version of "In Between Days" and I would've like to hear him do "Pictures of You" in the same vein.

> If there has to be trashy pop on the radio it might as well be a good song.

I always thought it'd be really cool to hear Britney Spears cover E.C.'s "This Year's Girl."

A few years back, I got a copy of "Tributo a the Cure: Porque No Puedo Ser Tu". It's pretty kickass and to these ears, shows what great songs Robert Smith has written. The bands provide fresh takes on tunes spanning their discography (up until 1999), in espanol to boot. (I do agree with the prior comment about the Pornography era that is a tad gloomy).

Helpfully tying together two recent threads, iTunes now has a live version of Scarlett Johansson covering "Boys Don't Cry." She sounds a bit like Natalie Merchant waking up from a nap.