NAKED LOVES : 3. THE CURE - THE HEAD ON THE DOOR (1985)
The Head on the Door arrived at just the right time in my life. Just out of school and with little or no prospects of finding a job (this was, after all, still the years of 'Thatcher's Britain' to paraphrase The Young Ones!), none of my friends seemed very interested in forming a band and I was resolutely stuck in the most boring town in the world. EVERY teenager thinks they are stuck in the most boring town in the world, don't they? But trust me, I was.
Preceeded by the joyous blast of splintering acoustic guitars that is 'Inbetween Days', The Cure were primed for a big hit with the release of their 6th album in late summer of 1985. The songs were compact and commercially astute, with barely a pause for breath on what would become one of their most upbeat releases. Housed in Andy Vella's gorgeously nightmarish sleeve design, the album flies past like a train not destined to stop at your station. Kyoto Song is a sad refrain wrapped in a Japanese lullaby whilst The Blood is all Spanish guitars and red wine dancing. Six Different Ways sounds like the theme to an old kids T.V. show whilst Push ends side one with chiming guitars and one of THOSE Simon Gallup bass lines. This song sounds great 38 years later, and is indeed, still part of the bands live set. Don't be fooled by all the hairspray and da-glo socks, there's a lot of musical dexterity on show on this record, and to me, this is one of the best Cure line-up's EVER.
Side Two revs into action with The Baby Screams and we're off an running on a post The Top lysergic rush. Close To Me is a long-lost Motown dancefloor filler that never actually was, whilst A Night Like This is probably the best teenage anthem to love ever recorded to vinyl. Originally written by Robert when he was only 17 years old, it remains an absolute stonewall classic. Gallup's distorted bass returns to ruffle a few back-combed barnets on the spiky Screw, before album closer Sinking mines at Robert's ever-thoughtful take on age and mortality. By 1989, these thoughts would preoccupy the whole of Disintegration, but back in 1985 Robert was happy to leave it to the very last track on the record, with the singer worried that he was 'slowing down as the years go by...' Based on the pace of this album and the band's pop ingenuity, we would never have known.
The Head on the Door sounds as good today as it did back then. I will always love it. The Cure encouraged me to think for myself and to finally quit that one horsetown and go off in search of rock and roll dreams for myself.
I never looked back.