For reasons unknown, the residue left by ’80s glam-rock outfit The Cure tends to center around their goth image more than their music. The most high-profile Cure reference in pop culture’s past decade was Sean Penn’s portrayal of an aging musician — his look based directly on Cure frontman Robert Smith — in the little-seen indie flick This Must Be The Place.
Which is a shame, because The Cure was a damn good band. You’ve forgotten just how good, probably. How prolific. And how, for all their moppishness and mascara, the boys were actually, against all odds, pop songsmiths of the highest order.
Case in point: the bouncy, spaced-out Close to Me, from the breakthrough 1985 album Head on the Door:
See also: Pictures of You, Love Song, and okay, sure, even the late-era sneak attack Friday I’m in Love.
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Sharpening Pencils 