The "Cure"

1979 saw the first single of the punk band, the Cure, but in their subsequent 15-year career their influence on mainstream music has been prodigious. Still recognizable with their familiar punk lipstick and teased hair, the band have loosened their style appealing to a far wider audience, from their old faithful fans to a younger mass culture. Essentially the story of the Cure is the story of the introspective and domineering Robert Smith, its founder and leader. As the group evolved, he took it from a benign dictatorship to a quasi-democratic unit, the pivotal role in this change being played by video director Tim Pope, the first collaborator to be treated as an artistic equal. The development of the band is traced in this book, centred around the Smith/Pope axis, and looks at the way in which the story of the Cure is one of success gained on its own terms, a triumph of single-mindedness over fashion. Featuring interviews with Tim Pope and many of those who have worked with the group over the years, this biography analyzes their contribution to the shaping of popular music as well as interpreting their own success and sensibilities.