Twenty years ago tonight, Robert Smith and the rest of The Cure — aided by a pair of American DJs and shadowed by MTV and the music press — set up a pirate radio station at the headquarters of Fiction Records with plans to illicitly premiere their soon-to-released remix album ‘Mixed Up’ over the London airwaves.
Milestones: Robert Smith’s ‘Cure FM’ pirate radio broadcast was 20 years ago tonight
Video: R.E.M.’s ‘Driver 8′ covered by The Walkmen for the A.V. Club’s ‘Undercover’
The A.V. Club wraps up its summer-long web series ‘Undercover: 25 Bands, 25 Cover Songs, 1 Small Room’ with this final installment: Shambling indie rockers The Walkman take on R.E.M.’s 1985 single ‘Driver 8,’ from the just-reissued ‘Fables of the Reconstruction.’
Playlist: Sirius XM’s ‘Dark Wave,’ 8/29/10
Bookended by a pair of great Depeche Mode tracks, tonight’s ‘Dark Wave’ show on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave was a strong one, featuring some very early Cure (’Another Day’), a rare appearance by Oingo Boingo (’Pain’) and a blast of Skinny Puppy (’Smothered Hope’).
Lol Tolhurst: The Cure’s Robert Smith at work on ‘Mixed Up,’ ‘In Orange,’ BBC sets
There’s been no official word since last fall’s announcement by Robert Smith of plans for a series of archival releases, but this week ex-keyboardist Lol Tolhurst revealed that Smith is at work on a reissue of ‘Mixed Up,’ a BBC box set and a DVD release of ‘The Cure in Orange.’
Playlist: Sirius XM’s ‘Dark Wave,’ 8/15/10
The high points of this week’s ‘Dark Wave’ show on Sirius XM’s classic alternative outlet 1st Wave include a dose of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry (the always-welcome ‘Heaven’), great album cuts from Depeche Mode and The Cure (’Clean’ and ‘Torture,’ respectively) and a thumping Nitzer Ebb track (’Murderous’).
Video: Replacements’ ‘I Will Dare’ covered by Mates of State for A.V. Club’s ‘Undercover’
The A.V. Club’s web series ‘Undercover: 25 Bands, 25 Cover Songs, 1 Small Room’ follows up last week’s installment — Superchunk tearing through The Cure’s ‘Inbetween Days’ — with another iconic ’80s college-rock tune: The Replacements’ ‘I Will Dare,’ as reimagined by Mates of State.
Video: The Cure’s ‘Inbetween Days’ covered by Superchunk for A.V. Club’s ‘Undercover’
This week’s installment of the A.V. Club’s series ‘Undercover: 25 Bands, 25 Cover Songs, 1 Small Room’ features indie rockers Superchunk tearing through a cover of The Cure’s classic 1985 single ‘Inbetween Days.’
Playlist: Sirius XM’s ‘Dark Wave,’ 7/25/10
Tonight’s installment of ‘Dark Wave’ on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave features some pleasant surprises, including My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult’s ‘And This is What the Devil Does,’ The Cure’s ‘Screw’ and not one but two solo Daniel Ash tracks (’This Love,’ ‘Walk on the Moon’).
Vintage Video: The Cure on ‘That Was Then… This Is Now,’ 1988 BBC2 documentary
Twenty-two years ago, Robert Smith sat for a half-hour BBC2 documentary about The Cure that aired Aug. 8, 1988, as one of 10 installments of the series ‘That Was Then… This Is Now.’
Video: Wedding Present’s ‘My Favourite Dress’ covered by Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump
This week on the A.V. Club’s ‘Undercover’ series, Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump goes solo-acoustic to offer his take on The Wedding Present’s 1987 single ‘My Favourite Dress.’
Playlist: Sirius XM’s ‘Dark Wave,’ 7/18/10
Tonight’s ‘Dark Wave’ on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave featured many of the usual suspects, but a few gems stuck out, including a mid-period single from the rarely played Cabaret Voltaire (’Sensoria’), a dash of Die Warzau (’Funkopolis’) and some off-base picks for some of the show’s bigger bands (The Smiths’ ‘Never Had No One Ever,’ The Cure’s ‘Siamese Twins,’ Depeche Mode’s ‘Shame’).
Playlist: Sirius XM’s ‘Dark Wave,’ 6/27/10
‘Dark Wave’ on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave continues to impress by digging somewhat deeper than normal, with tonight’s episode featuring unexpected cuts from the likes of The Cure (’The Baby Screams’), The Smiths (’The Hand That Rocked the Cradle’) and Ministry (’Flashback’).












