Curve were an English alternative rock and electronic music duo from London, formed by Toni Halliday on vocals and occasional guitar, and Dean Garcia, who looked after the bass, guitar, drums, and programming. Garcia, half Hawaiian and half Irish, had already played in some small bands when he auditioned for Eurythmics, and he was introduced to Halliday by Dave Stewart after he had read a rock magazine interview with her in which she praised his pre-Eurythmics band, The Tourists. Garcia had played bass guitar as part of Eurythmics' live band in 1983/84, and also on two of their studio albums, while Halliday was signed to Stewart's Anxious Records label as a solo artist. The pair formed an ill-fated group named State Of Play in the mid-1980's before parting ways, with Halliday embarking on an unsuccessful solo career and Garcia took on further stints as a backing musician, before reuniting for a more long-term partnership in Curve. This new band released three acclaimed and increasingly successful EP's on Anxious Records throughout 1991, and also made an impact on the UK album charts in 1992 with their debut studio album 'Doppelgänger'.
The group toured extensively during this period, with Halliday and Garcia being supported on stage by two additional guitarists (Debbie Smith, later of Echobelly, and Alex Mitchell) and a drummer (Steve Monti, formerly of Ian Dury and the Blockheads). The band were invited to record two sessions for the John Peel show, and these were later issued as the 'Radio Sessions' album in 1993, while their second album 'Cuckoo' from the same year was a harder-edged affair, but didn't repeat the UK Top 20 success of the band's debut. That, coupled with the stress of the tour in support of the record, may have contributed to Halliday and Garcia's decision to disband the group in 1994. During their hiatus, Halliday formed the band Scylla, having their track 'Helen's Face' featured on the 'Showgirls' soundtrack, while Garcia began a solo project under the name Headcase. Halliday also collaborated with The Future Sound Of London, Freaky Chakra, and Leftfield on tracks from their various albums. In 1996 Curve reformed and released the 'Pink Girl With the Blues' EP, and they also collaborated with Paul Van Dyk by reworking the mostly instrumental song 'Words' from his album 'Seven Ways' and adding Halliday's vocals.
In 1997, they released 'Chinese Burn' as the first single from their third studio album 'Come Clean', and this displayed a more pronounced influence of electronic music than earlier releases. The follow-up to 'Come Clean' was an internet-only compilation titled 'Open Day At The Hate Fest' which was released in 2001, and this was followed by their fourth studio album 'Gift', featuring guitar from My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields. In 2002 the band released the internet-only fifth studio album 'The New Adventures Of Curve', plus various download-only tracks via their official site, but in in early 2005 Halliday announced that she had left Curve for good. None of the tracks from the first three EP's appeared on any of their albums, so the first disc of 'Learning Curve' (I love a good pun) collects all the tracks from those records, and although they have actually been officially compiled on the 'Pubic Fruit' album from 1992, it's the perfect introduction to the second disc of rare b-sides and compilation appearances from the first incarnation of this innovative and much-missed outfit.
Track listing
Disc One - Learning The EPs
01 Ten Little Girls (from the 'Blindfold' EP 1991)
02 I Speak Your Every Word (from the 'Blindfold' EP 1991)
03 Blindfold (from the 'Blindfold' EP 1991)
04 No Escape From Heaven (from the 'Blindfold' EP 1991)
05 Coast Is Clear (from the 'Frozen' EP 1991)
06 The Colour Hurts (from the 'Frozen' EP 1991)
07 Frozen (from the 'Frozen' EP 1991)
08 Zoo (from the 'Frozen' EP 1991)
09 Clipped (from the 'Cherry' EP 1991)
10 Die Like A Dog (from the 'Cherry' EP 1991)
11 Galaxy (from the 'Cherry' EP 1991)
12 Cherry (from the 'Cherry' EP 1991)
Disc Two - Learning The Rest
01 Falling Free (b-side of 'Horror Head' 1992)
02 Mission From God (b-side of 'Horror Head' 1992)
03 Today Is Not The Day (b-side of 'Horror Head' 1992)
04 Arms Out (b-side of 'Fait Accompli' 1992)
05 Sigh (b-side of 'Fait Accompli' 1992)
06 I Feel Love (from the NME compilation album 'Ruby Trax' 1992)
07 On The Wheel (b-side of 'Missing Link' 1993)
08 What A Waste (with Ian Dury, from the 'Peace Together' charity album 1993)
09 Low And Behold (b-side of 'Superblaster' 1993)
10 Nothing Without Me (b-side of 'Superblaster' 1993)
Superb, thankyou.
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