The list of famous people to come from Crawley, my home town, is not a particularly long one. Growing up, there was boxer Alan Minter, who won the World Middleweight title and an Olympic Bronze medal, and twice Olympic decathlon champion Daley Thompson. Nowadays there is England football coach Gareth Southgate, and perhaps comedian Romesh Ranganathan, and maybe TV presenter Dan Walker. Below this we are really scraping the barrel. However, to me, Robert Smith ( and some of the other members of The Cure ) are the ones to be most proud of, and the easy winners of the "Most Famous To Come From Crawley" award.
I was in the Sixth Form at Thomas Bennett Comprehensive when Three Imaginary Boys came out. Robert Smith, Lol Tolhurst and Michael Dempsey had attended St Wilfried's Roman Catholic School but were two school years higher, so I wouldn't have played any schools sports against them, even if they played any sport !
There was a lot of excitement when it was reported that The Cure would be playing at Northgate Community Centre, one of the neighbourhoods of Crawley, just after the release of "Three Imaginary Boys". The internet records this concert as being on April 29, 1979. Myself and some friends made the walk over to Northgate, but got nowhere near to the Community Centre due to the vast number of people who had turned up in the hope of getting into the tiny venue, so we turned away and went to the pub instead.
I had to wait until I was at Cardiff University until I finally saw The Cure in concert. My memory was that this was in 1981 on the "Faith" tour, where the film of "Carnage Visors" was the opening act, and I was pretty sure that "Primary" was one of the songs played. However, there is no trace of this concert listed anywhere I can find on the internet, although there is one from November 1980, where "Primary" is not on the set-list, and it was before "Carnage Visors" was released. Perhaps I am I going senile.............
Three Imaginary Boys was notable for its cover, with the record label deciding that The Cure should be anti-image, and so the three band members were represented by household appliances, namely a lamp, a fridge and a vacuum cleaner. More annoyingly the song titles were not listed and instead were represented by a symbol or a drawing. It was only when I purchased Boys Don't Cry, the repackaged US version, that I knew the titles for sure !
I bought the album more out of loyalty to the local boys made good, and without having heard any of the songs, although I had heard and liked the single "Killing An Arab", which isn't included on the album. I was pleasantly surprised how good some of the songs were, particularly liking the first three songs and also tracks 4, 5 & 6 on side two. I thought there were a couple of duds though. I couldn't see the point of the Jimi Hendrix cover "Foxy Lady", which didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the album, and I thought "Meat Hook" was dreary, and "Subway Song" an awful filler.
The sound was minimalist and stark, dominated by the bass lines and vocals, with the guitar and drums sounding very "tinny", and it very much fitted into the "post-punk" label that was applied to it at the time. Unlike later Cure albums, where keyboards feature heavily, this is very much a three-piece band of guitar, bass and drums.
"10:15 Saturday Night" is probably the song which is best remembered from the album, usually being the track taken to represent the LP in any compilation set, and is included on the "Staring At The Sea" singles collection, having apparently been released as a single in France ! With the line "And the tap drips, drips, drips, drips, drips....." featuring regularly the guitar replicates the sound of a dripping tap. The song is quite hypnotic, and the structure of the song is quite mature for a young band's first album.
"Accuracy" is quite funky and catchy, driven along by the bass line. "Practice all day for accuracy" could suggest they were signing about playing darts, but probably isn't.
"Grinding Halt" could be a Buzzcocks song, with a sharp, jerky rhythm and the bass line repeating the melody. As the title suggests, the song ends with a halt.
"Another Day" is a slower number which wouldn't have been out of place on the subsequent "Seventeen Seconds" or "Faith" albums if it had a different arrangement. It also points in the direction of "Faith" lyrically with "Winter in watercolours, shades of grey"
"Object" is another Buzzcocks "post-punk" style song "But don't try to fool me 'cause I can see through your disguise, you're just an object in my eyes" whereas "Subway Song" is mainly jazz style bass and a spoken vocal, with finger clicking and harmonica in the fade-out. Personally, I think it is spoilt by the scream to finish but actually, it wasn't as bad as I remembered.
There are probably a lot of better Jimi Hendrix songs than "Foxy Lady" that could have been covered and this sounds very much like it was recorded in one take or as a demo. It's not even sung by Smith, with Michael Dempsey singing instead.
"Meat Hook" has an echo added to some of the vocal and features another jazzy bass-line,. It also sounded better 40 years later.
The urgent pace returns with "So What" and it is probably about as angry as The Cure have ever sounded. "And if you knew that nothing could replace you. If you were sane your heart wouldn't ache, but so what ?"
"Fire In Cairo" retraces the Arabian vibes of "Killing An Arab", with the chorus having each letter of the title sung rapidly. It's probably the most easily accessible "pop" song on the album.
"It's Not You" is another "post-punk" track with a great guitar riff, bordering into pop territory. "You wear your smile like it's going out of fashion, dress to inflame but douse any idea of passion". "I would murder you if I had the alibi here in my hand, but you just laugh cause you don't understand"
"Three Imaginary Boys" also hints at the direction of both the song "Seventeen Seconds" and the album itself with a slower tempo but still manages to be a toe-tapper. There's quite a catchy chorus and it has one of the few guitar solos on the album. "Close my mind and hold so tight, scared of what the morning brings. Waiting for tomorrow never comes".
"The Weedy Burton" wasn't credited on the album sleeve or the label of the record and is a short jazz flavoured instrumental outro. It's best to think of it as a bonus filler.
In summary, "Three Imaginary Boys" sounded ever better now that what I remember from 40 years ago. However, anyone who first discovered The Cure at the time of the "Disintegration" album will probably be disappointed by that this is nothing like the atmospheric, but gloomy Gothic reputation the band subsequently acquired.
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. 10.15 Saturday Night
2. Accuracy
3. Grinding Halt
4. Another Day
5. Object
6. Subway Song
Side Two :
1. Foxy Lady
2. Meathook
3. So What
4. Fire In Cairo
5. It's Not You
6. Three Imaginary Boys
7. The Weedy Burton
Released : 1979
UK Chart Position : 44
Singles : None
