Robert Smith (musician)
Robert James Smith (born April 21, 1959 in Blackpool , England ) is a British singer and guitarist . He co-founded the rock band The Cure (1976) and became the group's front man in October 1977 after Peter O'Toole left . He was also involved in various other musical projects, including a. from 1982 to 1984 as lead guitarist of the group Siouxsie and the Banshees , as part of the project The Glove (1983) and together with drummer Jason Cooper and guitarist Reeves Gabrels as the third member of the band project COGASM.
Personal development
Robert Smith was born the third of four children. He has a brother and two sisters. A sister was married to Pearl Thompson , one of the guitarists on The Cure. Smith was raised a Catholic and attended Notre Dame High School and St. Wilfrid's Comprehensive School in Crawley . He got good grades in high school, but when he started playing guitar at the age of eleven it quickly became apparent that he had found his passion in music. Smith married his childhood sweetheart Mary Poole in 1988, to whom he dedicated the song Lovesong on the album Disintegration . The two decided early on not to have children.
Identification mark
Robert Smith often wears smeared red lipstick on stage. The original plan was to wear the lipstick normally. However, after the lipstick smeared during his performances due to closed eyes and the proximity to the microphone, Smith decided to make this his signature mark.
Cooperations
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Smith worked with various musicians and groups during his musical career.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was guitarist with Siouxsie and the Banshees and released the album Blue Sunshine in 1983 with Banshees co-founder Steve Severin under the band name The Glove . He played in the background vocals on the 1980 album The Affectionate Punch by the Associates . The cure song Cut Here (2001) deals with the suicide of Associates singer Billy MacKenzie in 1997.
Smith collaborated with Blink-182 in the song All of This in 2003 and sang a cover version of the Bee Gees hit To Love Somebody on Corgan's debut album The Future Embrace (2005) with Billy Corgan . At an MTV unplugged show, The Cure played a mixed version of the Korn song Make Me Bad and Cure's Inbetween Days together with Korn .
Contrary to his intention in the late 1980s to never get into the mainstream, which should have happened after the album Japanese Whispers at the latest , Smith is also open to excursions into dance music in the new millennium. In 2004 he sang on Junior Jack's club hit Da Hype and on Junkie XL's Perfect Sky (also as a co-author). He also recorded a cover version of the Cure classic A Forest with Blank & Jones . On the Faithless album To All New Arrivals , the song Spiders, Crocodiles & Kryptonite was a remix of the Cure hit Lullaby . Smith is also responsible for the vocals on Paul Hartnoll's song Please from his 2007 album The Ideal Condition .
In 2010 he contributed the vocals for the song Come To Me by the British instrumental post-rock band 65 Days of Static and for the song Not In Love by the Canadian electronic band Crystal Castles . The following year, 2011, there was a collaboration with the band The Japanese Popstars on their song Take Forever .
| year | Band / musician | contributed to |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Siouxsie and the Banshees | Band member 1979–1980 and 1982–1984 |
| 1980 | Associates | The Affectionate Punch (album) - backing vocals |
| 1980 | The Stranglers | The Stranglers and Friends - Live in Concert (Album) - Guitarist on 3 songs (Get a Grip on Yourself, Hanging Around, Down in the Sewer) |
| 1983 | The Glove (aka Steven Severin & Robert Smith) | Blue Sunshine (album) |
| 1993 | Cranes | Jewel (Song) - Remix |
| 1997 | Cogasm (aka Jason Cooper, Reeves Gabrels & Robert Smith) | Orgazmo (film) |
| 1997 | David Bowie | 2 songs (The Last Thing You Should Do & Quicksand) with David Bowie during his 50th birthday concert |
| 2000 | Reeves Gabrels | Yesterday's gone (song) |
| 2004 | Blink-182 | All of This (Song) |
| 2004 | Tweaker | Truth Is (Song) |
| 2004 | Earl Slick | Believe (Song) |
| 2004 | Billy Corgan | To Love Somebody (Song) |
| 2004 | Junior Jack | Because hype (song) |
| 2004 | Junkie XL | Perfect Sky (Song) |
| 2004 | Blank & Jones | A forest |
| 2005 | Korn + The Cure | Make Me Bad / Inbetween Days (Song) - MTV Unplugged |
| 2006 | Placebo + The Cure | If Only Tonight We Could Sleep (Live) (Song) |
| 2006 | Faithless | Spiders, Crocodiles & Kryptonite (Song) |
| 2007 | Paul Hartnoll | Please (song) |
| 2010 | Anik Jean | J'Aurai Tout Essaye (Song) |
| 2010 | 65daysofstatic | Come to Me (Song) |
| 2010 | Crystal Castles | Not in Love (Song) |
| 2011 | The Japanese Popstars | Take Forever (Song) |
| 2015 | The Twilight Sad | There's A Girl In The Corner (Song) |
| 2015 | Eat static | In All Worlds (Song) |
Others
In early 2010 Robert Smith played a cover version of the Fain / Hillard song Very Good Advice for the Alice-in-Wonderland soundtrack. After the newly recorded solo Cure songs Pictures of You (Paulmac Remix) for the soundtrack to One Perfect Day (2004), it was the first actually official solo release under the name Robert Smith. In 2010 he covered the song Small Hours for a John Martyn tribute album . This album was released in 2011. In 2012 he contributed a cover version of the song Witchcraft for the soundtrack album Frankenweenie . In 2015, Robert Smith recorded a cover version of The Twilight Sad song There's A Girl In The Corner , which appeared as the B-side on their single It Never Was The Same .
Smith was a guest speaker on an episode of the American television series South Park .
Robert Smith is the subject of the song "Robert Smith in my pub" by Tommy Finke .
In the title role of the film " Cheyenne - This Must Be the Place ", Sean Penn plays a rock star whose appearance is reminiscent of Robert Smith.
literature
- Dave Thompson, Jo-Ann Greene: The Cure Biography. Moewig, Rastatt 1989, ISBN 3-8118-3034-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ picturesofyou. In: picturesofyou.us. 1989, accessed January 23, 2011 (press release).
- ^ Andy Gill: Robert Smith - What becomes of the broken-hearted? Quote: “My wife and I decided at a very early age that we would not have children. I don't feel responsible enough to bring a child into the world. "
- ^ The Independent: Robert Smith - What becomes of the broken-hearted? November 7, 2008
- ↑ Robert Sandall: Disintegration: A Classic Interview With Robert Smith Of The Cure in 1989. In: thequietus.com. 1989, accessed on November 25, 2010 (English, interview): “I started wearing it because it made me feel confident and more attractive. I'm completely featureless without it. But on stage I always used to lean my mouth on the mike and shut my eyes so I wouldn't have to see the people. And at the end I'd come off with lipstick smeared all over my face, so I thought I might as well go on with it like that and make it look intentional. "
- ↑ Chart sources: DE CH UK1 UK2
- ↑ Video clip with description on YouTube
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Smith, Robert |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Smith, Robert James (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British singer and guitarist and founder of the rock band The Cure |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 21, 1959 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Blackpool |