Short resume:

 

Robert Smith is one of the most influential British singers and songwriters of the 20th century. If the name doesn't ring a bell, he's the frontman of 'The Cure'. If this doesn't ring a bell either, you've surely lived in a hut for the past 30 years, since this band is one of the most enduring and popular that rock has ever produced. With their depressive yet catchy guitar riffs and bright lyrics they've taken over the mainstream arena. So, whether you're a 70s hippie, flower child or a 17-year-old emo, you cannot help falling in love with their outlandish style.

The genius behind The Cure is none other than Smith, now in his late 40s, but still a prolific artist. He's the only original member, he has complete creative power over his music and he's at the same time a singer, a guitarist, bassist and songwriter. Oh, and his disheveled look is somewhat of a trademark for the band, along with his unkempt, sticky, big hair, his ink-black eyeliner and the hot red lipstick applied in the now traditional I've-just-been-French-kissed style. Add all sorts of goth-like clothes, some artsy, refreshing videos and there you have it: the legendary Robert Smith, whose music gave birth to endless followers.

However, don't be fooled by his looks since in his private life, he's a regular man, happily married with his high school sweetheart and an intelligent lad who loves to read in his spare time. Controversy hasn't really been in his agenda but, at times, he does seem a little bit conceited when talking about other bands and once stated 'I could write songs as bad as Wham's if I really felt the urge to, but what's the point?'. On some other occasion he trashed Duran Duran, stating that they epitomized everything he hated about the 80s. Even so, I'm no music critic but, by comparison, The Cure makes these two other bands sound like a piece of chalk rubbed against a blackboard. And music history has proven that this guy has earned the right to be condescending if he likes to.

 

Biography:

 

The lead singer of 'The Cure', and the only original member of the band, Robert Smith has been in the eye of the press for over 3 decades. But 'pop culture's unkempt poster child of doom and gloom' has always been a private person shrouded in mystery.

Born to Alex and Rita Smith, on the 21st of April, 1959 the singer is the third of four children. Throughout his adolescence, Smith was a bright student but his heart was set on making music. Apart from this 'good kid' label, he was even back then the rebellious type - after all, the guy did appear wearing a black velvet dress to school and was expelled for supposedly being a malignant influence. But that was back in the good old days when he had the whole future ahead of him. These being said, when you talk about Robert, you cannot overlook his adolescence. It was then that he met his lifelong companion and wife, Mary Poole. And, around the same period he met the guys with whom he would later sing in Easy Cure (the band's original name), and in 1976 the schoolmates Smith, bassist Michael Dempsey and drummer Laurence 'Lol' Tolhurst formed the now famous band.

From here, what followed resembles a modern fairy tale: the band's melancholic lyrics combined with the punkish beats bewitched the public and the critics alike. Now, everybody who owns a TV knows Robert's trademark face and he sort of became the epitome of androgyny, to put it mildly. At least you can swear he made it his goal in life to look like a chick and he really has it all: the big sticky hair, the ink-black eyeliner and the smeared scarlet lipstick. Apart from that, he's a regular bloke, happily married and he hasn't even been involved in any major scandal (apart from a minor alcohol problem). But image is important in Hollywood and over the course of the years Robert's off-the-wall looks have become a trademark. And Robert surely knows it: 'That whole thing about attention-seeking isn't really a part of it. I started growing my hair long and wearing make-up and stuff because I was at school and I wasn't allowed to.'

But bear in mind this: now every sexually disoriented, 15-year-old boy thinks it's cool to wear makeup and black nail polish and Smith is considered the forefather of the 'emo' movement. So, some 30 years since they emerged into the limelight, The Cure are still recruiting new generations of fans and the frontman is still looked up to by the millions of fans who had his music as a soundtrack for their depression back in the 80s. So, naturally, when you're part of one of the highly-regarded bands in rock history you can do no wrong.

The band emerged as this artsy, well-read postpunk trio who sang pseudo-literary tunes about reading Camus (in 'Killing an Arab') or growing up ('Boys Don't Cry'). Although nowadays Smith overshadows his band members (to such a degree that most of us don't even know how they look like), in the beginning, he wasn't even supposed to be the frontman - he only did it out of necessity, since the original vocalist had left and they couldn't find another one. So, Robert had to sacrifice himself for art's sake. And apart from being a soloist, he is a multi-instrumentalist who can play 6 and 12-string guitars, bass guitars, double bass, keyboards and violins.

The Cure's first album, 'Three Imaginary Boys' was released in May 1979 and the British critics were truly enthusiastic about it. An interesting fact is that this album contains the only song in the entire band's history that is not sung by Smith - the cover for Jimi Hendrix's 'Foxy Lady', performed by Michale Dempsey. However, this was not exactly Robert's will, since the track was intended as a soundcheck but the record company decided to keep it on the album. Consequently, on the next albums, the singer made sure he had complete control over his work.

The 80s found Robert popularizing his by now famous surreal, nightmarish look and his Gothic way of dressing - and I say this with all consideration, since the man is an eccentric talent. Apparently, Smith used for the first time punk princess Siouxsie Siouxscarlet's lipstick after using opium, but the singer claims he has been wearing makeup his entire life. At the same time, he joined her band, 'Siouxsie and The Banshees', as a guitarist, so he was basically in two big-hair bands, which deeply increased his popularity. After their 1989 album 'Disintegration' was released, it was warmly received by the critics and consequently, the band won the long awaited 'home recognition' in 1991, when they were bestowed Best British Band at the British Music Awards. And the rest is history, as they say. Songs like the bittersweet 'Lullaby', 'Close To Me' or 'Just Like Heaven' were not only worldwide hits, but also made us see what kind of magic was in store for the years to come. So, we can only pray for another album.

Robert Smith has never been the stereotypical rock superstar and his life was never about sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, and maybe that's because in all of his interviews he comes off as a mature and well-read man, whose only eccentricity is wearing makeup. Unlike fellow artists who bone everything that moves (and has the label 'supermodel' attached to it), Smith had the luck of meeting the girl of his dreams in his teens. And, although it's surely not easy being the object of affection of millions of fans and still keeping your integrity intact, Smith is still happily married to his high school sweetheart. Which is a rarity in Tinseltown, I might add.

Well, yeah, the dude did have a drinking problem as he later admitted: 'In the past, I didn't really give a s**t about what I was saying, so I would just be drunk all the time. The only way I could get through a day of interviews was to have two drinks with every interview, so the person at the end of the day... well, I'd make sure it was someone who didn't speak very good English. I suppose the years go by, and you have to worry more and more'. Altogether, his music was after all labeled as punk, and Smith was a little bit too 'clean'. In the end, who the hell gives a f**k whether he drinks one too many shots of whiskey, since most of us have had the best times of our lives listening to his music in the background?

He doesn't believe in this whole legendary aura of 'living on the edge' and considers it a 'pile of crap'. Aside from that, Smith was never the prototype of artist to use his sadness in order to gain money from it, since 'everybody is making an industry out of misery now' and stated in an interview that he was not a depressed person, but he had written most of his songs while being melancholic.

In the past few years, Robert showed his support and full appreciation of younger bands such as Placebo, The Smashing Pumpkins or Faithless, by collaborating with them, hence demonstrating his true love of music and the fact that he's not one of those elder lads who believe the music made by 20 or 30-year-olds sucks and that everything sounded better back in the old days. So, for that and for giving our lives a little bit more flavor, Happy Birthday, Robert Smith!

So, do you think 'The Cure' would have been the same without him? IN or OUT?

 

Discography:

 

The Cure

 

June 1979 'Three Imaginary Boys'

April 1980 'Seventeen Seconds'

April 1981 'Faith'

May 1982 'Pornography'

May 1984 'The Top'

August 1985 'The Head on the Door'

May 1987 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me'

May 1989 'Disintegration'

April 1992 'Wish'

May 1996 'Wild Mood Swings'

February 2000 'Bloodflowers'

June 2004 'The Cure'