Peel Sessions 1978 - 85

Though it was by no means the greatest John Peel session that the Cure ever recorded (that honour belongs to their 1981 airing), the band's debut on the show, in late 1978, remains one of their best-loved, as the then all but unknown quartet previewed four of the songs that knowing journalists had already tagged the sound of "the southern Buzzcocks." Recorded on November 12 for broadcast on December 4, "Killing an Arab" (the group's still-unreleased debut single), "10:15 Saturday Night," "Fire in Cairo," and "Boys Don't Cry" all peeled out of Robert Smith's then-firm grasp on the mechanics of post-punk power pop, a little rougher and rawer than the versions that would eventually make it onto vinyl, but crackling with precision and energy regardless. Indeed, bassist Michael Dempsey later admitted, "the Peel session songs captured the spirit far more than the album versions, they’re more like the original demos that had secured our recording contract in the first place, just better quality. All the songs in the first Peel session should be seen as the definitive sound of the early Cure."

I’m not sure where these six Cure sessions all came from. Some are on the bootleg Early BBC Sessions 1979 – 1985 others are from sources as bland as the usual tapes we all made of the Peel Shows. Quality over all is good (it is MP3 after all) and let us not get all bunched up about source material, these are after all, all bootlegged.

The Cure; Peel Sessions 1978-1985

1st Peel Session 1978:

1.      Killing An Arab

2.      10-15 Saturday Night

3.      Fire In Cairo

4.      Boys Don't Cry

2nd Peel Session 1979:

1.      Desperate Journalist In Ongoing Meaningful Review Situation

2.      Grinding Halt

3.      Subway Song

4.      Plastic Passion

5.      Accuracy

3rd Peel Session 1980:

1.      A Forest

2.      17 Seconds

3.      Play For Today

4.      M

4th Peel Session 1981:

1.      Holy Hour

2.      Forever

3.      Primary

4.      All Cats Are Grey

5th Peel Session 1982:

1.      Siamese Twins

2.      A Hundred Years

3.      Figurehead

6th Peel Session 1985:

1.      The Exploding Boy

2.      6 Different Ways

3.      Screw

4.      Sinking