I’m relatively new to this blogging thing (hey, I never claimed to be a trendsetter, now did I? I didn’t even own a cell phone until 2007). But I have noticed that many bloggers seem to shut down on the weekend. Perhaps they simply have better things to do, or maybe they found their hits went down when a big chunk of their audience simply wasn’t trying to kill time at work.
Well, I can assure you that the Analog Kid certainly has nothing better to do. I also don’t have a real job, so the concept of “The Weekend” is lost on me. Every day is a music day here at the Analog Kid Blog, and I promise you that there will be a brand-spankin’-new blog post ready to go each and every day. Yes, even at 10:15 on a Saturday night…
The Cure: “10.15 Saturday Night” (Robert Smith/Michael Dempsey/Lol Tolhurst)
B-side of the U.K. 7″ single Killing An Arab
Small Wonder Records, 1978
I was a late arrival to The Cure party (or should I say funeral?). I remember first seeing the iconic t-shirts in high school– yes, goth was alive and well and living in Plano, Texas, in 1984. But it wasn’t until 1987 and the release of Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me that The Cure’s music made a real impact on me, and even then I was really only into the uptempo stuff like “Why Can’t I Be You?” and “Just Like Heaven.” The mopey stuff just didn’t do it for me.
All of that changed with the release of Disintegration in the summer of 1989. It was, in fact, the perfect Cure storm for the Analog Kid. Consider the following:
1) Disintegration is a remarkable album.
2) Disintegration is a remarkably depressing album.
3) I had just been dumped by my girlfriend in remarkably depressing fashion.
Robert Smith, where had you been all my life?
I listened to Disintegration every night when I went to sleep (or, should I say, tried in vain to go to sleep). Songs like “Closedown” and “Pictures Of You” became the soundtrack to my lost summer. I also jumped into The Cure’s back catalog head-first. Faith. Pornography. Seventeen Seconds. Goddamn this was some agonizing stuff. I’ve always been an album guy as opposed to a singles guy (“Singles remind me of kisses, albums remind me of plans”), but the greatest hits compilation Standing On A Beach made quite an impression on me as well. One song in particular stood out in my current state of emotional wreckage: “10.15 Saturday Night.”
“Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip…”
A guy sits alone in his kitchen, waiting for the girl to call. She doesn’t call. All he hears is the leaky faucet.
“Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip…”
She doesn’t call.
“Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip…”
I was one messed-up kid that summer, and The Cure was my prozac, Sure, I was depressed as hell– but at least I wasn’t as depressed as THIS guy:
His pain somehow made me feel better. I didn’t have to listen to the leaky faucet– I had The Cure. And it didn’t hurt that the band also had some kick-ass t-shirts that immediately attracted the cute goth girls to the sad, lonely guy wearing them. I said it before and I’ll say it again: Robert Smith, where had you been all my life?
Obviously, this story is not a unique one. Every Cure fan probably tells a similar tale, but that doesn’t lessen the importance of the band and its impact on me that long, lonely summer . I didn’t even realize at the time that “10.15 Saturday Night” was the b-side of “Killing An Arab,” the very first record The Cure ever released. Heck of a start, lads. They certainly went on to make better records, but “10.15 Saturday Night” will always be the one that keeps drip drip dripping back into my brain.
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Bonus Tracks!
The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.
The Cure: “Just Like Heaven” (Robert Smith/Simon Gallup/Porl Thompson/Boris Williams/Lol Tolhurst)
From the album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
Elektra Records, 1987
The Cure: “Why Can’t I Be You? [12″ Remix]” (Robert Smith/Simon Gallup/Porl Thompson/Boris Williams/Lol Tolhurst)
From the 12″ single Why Can’t I Be You?
Elektra Records, 1987
Vinyl rip courtesy of The Analog Kid
Why Can’t I Be You? [12″ Remix]
The Cure: “Closedown”
(Written By Robert Smith/Simon Gallup/Roger O’Donnell/Porl Thompson/Boris Williams/Lol Tolhurst)
From the album Disintegration
Elektra Records, 1989
The Cure: “Pictures Of You [Remix]”
(Written By Robert Smith, Simon Gallup, Roger O’Donnell, Porl Thompson, Boris Williams & Lol Tolhurst)
From the U.S. CD single Pictures Of You
Elektra Records, 1989
Squeeze: “If I Didn’t Love You” (Chris Difford/Glenn Tilbrook)
From the album Argybargy
A&M Records, 1980
The Cure: “Killing An Arab” (Robert Smith/Michael Dempsey/Lol Tolhurst)
Small Wonder Records, 1978
The Analog Kid 