Various Artists - An Alternative Hendrix (1990)

I was listening to my New Fast Automatic Daffodils 'Peel Sessions' album the other day, and was reminded at just how great their take on 'Purple Haze' was, which in turn prompted memories of another couple of Hendrix covers by new wave/alternative bands that I'd always loved - 'All Along The Watchtower' by XTC and 'Foxy Lady' by The Cure. I wondered if there were any more punky versions of Hendrix's songs out there, and found that although there have been two tribute albums released, with 'Stone Free' in 1993 and 'If Six Was Nine' in 1990, they seemed to concentrate on more mainstream groups to contribute to them, and so I only had to borrow four songs from the latter to flesh out this collection of re-imaginings of Hendrix classics by some of my favourite new wave/alternative bands. 

Track listing

01 Purple Haze - New Fast Automatic Daffodils
02 Can You See Me - Thee Hypnotics
03 Stone Free - Supergrass
04 Are You Experienced - The Mock Turtles
05 Who Knows - Bevis Frond
06 Foxy Lady - The Cure
07 Love Or Confusion - The Screaming Trees
08 Hey Joe - Patti Smith
09 All Along The Watchtower - XTC
10 Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) - The Membranes
11 Crosstown Traffic - Richard Hell & The Voidoids

The Cure - Listen (1979)

As a very belated coda to my seven part series of The Cures' singles and b-sides we go right back to their beginnings. The founding members of the Cure were school friends at Notre Dame Middle School in Crawley, West Sussex, and their first public performance was at an end-of-year show in April 1973 as members of a one-off school band called Obelisk, which included future Cure members Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey, and Laurence 'Lol' Tolhurst. In January 1976, Smith and Dempsey were in another school band called Malice, and rehearsed Bowie, Hendrix and Alex Harvey songs in a local church hall. By early 1977 Tolhurst had joined Malice, along with Martin Creasy on vocals and Pearl Thompson on guitar, and they renamed themselves Easy Cure, after a song written by Tolhurst. After winning a talent competition, the band signed a recording contract with German record label Ariola-Hansa, and after unsuccessfully auditioning  new vocalists, Smith assumed the role. The new four-piece of Dempsey, Smith, Thompson, and Tolhurst recorded their first studio demo sessions as Easy Cure for Hansa at Sound And Vision Studios in London between October and November 1977. Hansa was dissatisfied with the group's demos and refused to release one of them, 'Killing An Arab', as a single, suggesting that the band attempt cover versions instead. They refused, and by March 1978 Easy Cure's contract with the label had been dissolved. At the same time Pearl Thompson was dropped from the lineup because his lead guitar style was at odds with Smith's growing preference for minimalist songwriting, and the remaining trio were soon renamed The Cure. The band recorded their first sessions as a trio at Chestnut Studios in Sussex, which were distributed as a demo tape to a dozen major record labels, and Polydor Records scout Chris Parry signed the band to his newly formed Fiction Records label. The Cure finally released 'Killing An Arab' as their debut single in December 1978 on the Small Wonder label, as a stopgap until Fiction finalised distribution arrangements with Polydor. The record garnered both critical and commercial acclaim, but not without some controversy, as the single's provocative title led to accusations of racism. In fact, the song is based on French existentialist writer Albert Camus's novel 'The Stranger', and the band had to place a sticker on the 1979 Fiction Records re-issue denying any racist connotations of the song. The Cure released their debut album 'Three Imaginary Boys' in May 1979, recording a few extra songs at the sessions that didn't make it to the final track listing, and this mopping up album includes those studio out-takes, along with some of those early demos, and a very oddly titled track from a John Peel session, which later morphed into 'Grinding Halt'. The overall sound quality of these recordings is pretty good, and it's an interesting insight into the early days of the band that we've come to know and love today.   

Track listing

01 I Want To Be Old (Sound And Vision Studio 10/10/1977)
02 Listen (aka Pillbox Tales) (Sound And Vision Studio 10/10/1977)
03 Meathook (Sound And Vision Studio 10/10/1977)
04 See The Children (Sound And Vision Studio 10/10/1977)
05 Do The Hansa (Morgan Studios 1979)
06 I Just Need Myself (Sound And Vision Studio 10/10/1977)
07 Accuracy (John Peel session 1979)
08 Winter (studio out-take 1978)
09 Faded Smiles (aka I Don't Know) (studio out-take 1978)
10 World War (Morgan Studios 1979)
11 Play With Me (studio out-take 1978)
12 The Cocktail Party (home demo 1978)
13 Desperate Journalist In Ongoing Meaningful Review Situation (John Peel session 1979)

The Cure - Plastic Passion (1982)

Another band from the late 70's that I loved, just like XTC, was The Cure. 'Killing An Arab' and '10:15 Saturday Night' were indie classics, and after hearing them I was hooked on this bright new band. Their debut album 'Three Imaginary Boys' was chock full of short, sharp pop-punk songs, and is still a favourite album of theirs after all this time, possibly because it's so different from the band that they became from their second effort onwards. Their songs became more polished, and another classic track, 'A Forest', heralded a change of style to a more lush, atmospheric sound, culminating in the 'Faith' album of 1981. Along the way they carried on releasing stand-alone singles, as was 'Killing An Arab', and I still have all of them on 7" vinyl. Even the singles that they released from their albums had exclusive b-sides, and so it's no surprise that 2004's 'Join The Dots' box set managed to fill four CDs with these b-sides and remixes. What it didn't do, however, was include the A-sides of the non-album singles, so I thought that I'd raid that box set and add some tracks from the 'Standing On A Beach' compilation to make a definitive collection of non-album songs from The Cure. When I'd finished I found that I had five 40 minute albums, so I feel another series coming on. This one, and the next as well, bring back memories of buying the singles and playing them over and over, as before the internet the only way to hear the songs was to play the records. Some of my favourites are on this album, with 'Jumping Someone Else's Train' and 'Charlotte Sometimes' bridging the pop-punk of the debut album and Robert Smith's more assured songwriting of 'Seventeen Seconds', and ultimately  'Faith'.

Track listing

01 Killing An Arab (single 1978)
02 Jumping Someone Else's Train (single 1979)
03 I'm Cold (b-side of 'Jumping Someone Else's Train')
04 Boys Don't Cry (single 1980)
05 Plastic Passion (b-side of 'Boys Don't Cry')
06 Pill Box Tales (b-side of 'Boys Don't Cry' 12")
07 Do The Hansa (b-side of 'Boys Don't Cry' 12")
08 Another Journey By Train (b-side of 'A Forest' 1980)
09 Descent (b-side of 'Primary' 1981)
10 Charlotte Sometimes (single 1981)
11 Splintered In Her Heart (b-side of 'Charlotte Sometimes')
12 Let's Go To Bed (single 1982)
13 Just One Kiss (b-side of 'Let's Go To Bed')

The Cure - The Exploding Boy (1985)

The next installment of rarities from The Cure covers the years from 1983 to 1985. It starts with their blatant attempt to get a Top Ten hit single with the catchy 'The Love Cats', giving them a number 7 chart position after 'The Walk' had opened up the charts for them with a number 12 hit a few months earlier. 'The Caterpillar' and 'Close To You' quickly followed those two into the charts, so this collection contains songs from their most commercial period so far. 'Lament' was a free vinyl 7" given away with Flexipop magazine in 1982, after they'd upgraded from flexi-discs to hard vinyl, and for the rest of the tracks I've added the appropriate b-sides from the 'Join The Dots' box set to songs from the 'Japanese Whispers' compilation of 1983 to make an album that showcases The Cure's pop side to great effect. 

Track listing

01 The Love Cats (single 1983)
02 Speak My Langauge (b-side of 'The Love Cats')
03 Mr. Pink Eyes (b-side of 'The Love Cats' 12")
04 Lament (Flexipop freebie 1982)
05 The Walk (single 1983)
06 The Dream (b-side of 'The Walk')
07 The Upstairs Room (b-side of 'The Walk' 12")
08 Happy The Man (b-side of 'The Caterpillar' 1984)
09 Throw Your Foot (b-side of 'The Caterpillar' 12" 1984)
10 A Man Inside My Mouth (b-side of 'Close To Me' 1985)
11 Stop Dead (b-side of 'Close To Me' 12" 1985)
12 New Day (b-side of 'Close To Me' 10" 1985)
13 The Exploding Boy (b-side of 'In Between Days' 1985)
14 A Few Hours After This... (b-side of 'In Between Days' 12" 1985)

The Cure - Mansolidgone (1985)

The third volume of Cure rarities concentrates on demos and out-takes recorded during the sessions for 'Faith' , 'Pornography', and 'The Head On The Door'. Some are studio demos by the whole band, a few are Robert Smith's home demos, while the songs recorded during the 'Faith' sessions were completed tracks which were left off the eventual album. Most of these tracks are instrumentals, possibly being tried out as the basis for a song once some lyrics had been added, but 'Airlock - The Soundtrack' doesn't really fit into that category at all, as it's a decidedly odd 13 minute piece of musique concrete that no-one could possibly sing over! When Smith does decide to add a vocal then we get great songs like 'Screw' and 'Lime Time', and even though this album is mostly just the band experimenting in the studio, it's still interesting to hear them trying things out for possible future songs.  

Track listing

01 Going Home Time (out-take 1981)
02 The Violin Song (out-take 1981)
03 A Normal Story (out-take 1981)
04 Demise (studio demo 1981)
05 Airlock - The Soundtrack (previously unreleased 1981) 
06 Break (Group home demo 1981)
07 Mansolidgone (studio demo 1985)
08 Inwood (Robert Smith home demo 1984)
09 Screw (studio demo 1985)
10 Push (Robert Smith home demo 1984)
11 Innsbruck (Robert Smith home demo 1984)
12 Lime Time (studio demo 1985)

The Cure - Out Of Mind (1989)

For this post we're back to proper songs, after the last album's excursion into the more experimental side of the band. The Cure had quite a few hits between 1987 and 1989, with three singles cracking the top 30, before 'Lullaby' hit number 5. The various b-sides are all as good as their flips, and by adding an exclusive track from a Fiction Records compilation we end up with great little album.   

Track listing

01 A Japanese Dream (b-side of 'Why Can't I Be You?' 1987)
02 Breathe (b-side of 'Catch' 1987)
03 Snow In Summer (b-side of 'Just Like Heaven' 1987)
04 A Chain Of Flowers (b-side of 'Catch' 12" 1987)
05 Sugar Girl (b-side of 'Just Like Heaven' 12" 1987)
06 To the Sky (1987 song, from the Fiction compilation 'Stranger Than Fiction' 1989)
07 Babble (b-side of 'Lullaby' 1989)
08 Out Of Mind (b-side of 'Lullaby' 12" 1989)
09 2 Late (b-side of 'Lovesong' 1989)
10 Fear Of Ghost (b-side of 'Lovesong' 12" 1989)

The Cure - Scared As You (1994)

Volume five of my Cure rarities series contains quite a few cover versions, as in the early 90's they seemed to be the go-to band for any label that wanted to cobble together a cheap compilation album. It also includes their contribution to 'The Crow' soundtrack album, and a few choice b-sides from their singles between 1990 and 1993.    

Track listing

01 Hello, I Love You (from the Elektra Records tribute album 'Rubiyat' 1990)
02 Harold And Joe (b-side of 'Never Enough' 1990)
03 The Big Hand (b-side of 'A Letter To Elise' 1992)
04 Halo (b-side of 'Friday I'm In Love' 1992)
05 Scared As You (b-side of 'Friday I'm In Love' 12" 1992)
06 Purple Haze (from the Jimi Hendrix tribute album 'Stone Free' 1993)
07 A Foolish Arrangement (b-side of 'A Letter To Elise' 12" 1992)
08 Burn (from the soundtrack to 'The Crow' 1994)
09 Young Americans (from the 104.9 XFM compilation album)
10 This Twilight Garden (b-side of 'High' 1992)
11 Play (b-side of 'High' 1992)

The Cure - Cut Here (2005)

The penultimate volume of my Cure rarities posts takes us right up to 2001, and includes a  soundtrack only item, their contribution to a Depeche Mode tribute album, and  some choice b-sides. I've named this album after the 'Cut Here' single, as it's a nice anagram of the band's name, and I've adapted the sleeve of the single by adding a band picture.

Track listing

01 Home (b-side of 'Mint Car' 1996)
02 Waiting (b-side of 'Mint Car' 1996)
03 A Pink Dream (b-side of 'Mint Car' 1996) 
04 Dredd Song (from the 'Judge Dredd' soundtrack 1995)
05 It Used To Be Me (b-side of 'The 13th' 1996)
06 Ocean (b-side of 'The 13th' 1996)
07 Adonais (b-side of 'The 13th' 1996)
08 This Is A Lie (b-side of 'Gone!' 1996)
09 World In My Eyes (from the Depeche Mode tribute album 'For the Masses' 1998)
10 Cut Here (single 2001)
11 Signal To Noise (b-side of  'Cut Here')

The Cure - All Kinds Of Stuff (2008)

A very apt title for the final post in my Cure rarities series, as it includes a one-off single, some rare b-sides, a few album out-takes, a film soundtrack offering, and their contribution to a charity album. All kinds of stuff, in other words. 

Track listing

01 More Than This (from 'The X-Files: The Album' 1998)
02 Possession (previously unreleased song from the 'Bloodflowers' sessions 2000)
03 Coming Up (extra track on the Japanese/Australian versions of 'Bloodflowers' 2000)
04 Just Say Yes (single 2002)
05 Why Can't I Be Me (b-side of 'alt.end' and 'Taking Off' singles 2004)
06 Your God Is Fear (b-side of 'alt.end' and 'Taking Off' singles 2004)
07 Love (from the Amnesty International album 'Instant Karma' 2007)
08 Down Under (b-side of 'Sleep When I'm Dead' 2008)
09 All Kinds Of Stuff (b-side of 'Freakshow' 2008)
10 NY Trip (b-side of 'The Only One' 2008)
11 Without You (b-side of 'The Perfect Boy' 2008)