I love both of these band’s music now but in 1983, being only 8, I think I was more concerned with “The Kids From Fame”. This rivalry, therefore, was news to me but I don’t find it surprising. For some there appears to be a strange delight in tightly defining music taste and corralling fans into distinct groups. It’s always seemed rather counterintuitive to me given how easy it is to see influences and make links between different music. To say you must like one or the other feels a little like sacrilege.
As a person who loves both, I remember being flummoxed to learn that there was a rivalry after being invited to a "The Smiths vs. The Cure" dance night at the Black Cat in Washington, DC (this would have been around the mid-aughts). I think there were cardboard cutouts of Morrissey and Robert Smith wearing boxing gloves flanking the stage, and the DJ alternated between playing the Smiths or Morrissey and the Cure, every other song. Obviously it resulted in a perfect dance night (all non-Smiths / non-Cure musical fat being cut and everything) and I had an amazing time.
I also had no idea about the Blur vs. Oasis thing until watching My Mad Fat Diary. I'm sure people over here were aware of it, but not the average 90s teen. The number of people at your high school or in your small town who are into certain subcultures / genres aren't plentiful enough to further subdivide themselves based on such things. I was lucky to find one other person who loved these bands enough to listen with me via a shared Walkman, one earbud each, on the bus going to away games for softball (she was a blonde cheerleader and I still keep in touch with her).
I love both of these band’s music now but in 1983, being only 8, I think I was more concerned with “The Kids From Fame”. This rivalry, therefore, was news to me but I don’t find it surprising. For some there appears to be a strange delight in tightly defining music taste and corralling fans into distinct groups. It’s always seemed rather counterintuitive to me given how easy it is to see influences and make links between different music. To say you must like one or the other feels a little like sacrilege.
As a person who loves both, I remember being flummoxed to learn that there was a rivalry after being invited to a "The Smiths vs. The Cure" dance night at the Black Cat in Washington, DC (this would have been around the mid-aughts). I think there were cardboard cutouts of Morrissey and Robert Smith wearing boxing gloves flanking the stage, and the DJ alternated between playing the Smiths or Morrissey and the Cure, every other song. Obviously it resulted in a perfect dance night (all non-Smiths / non-Cure musical fat being cut and everything) and I had an amazing time.
I also had no idea about the Blur vs. Oasis thing until watching My Mad Fat Diary. I'm sure people over here were aware of it, but not the average 90s teen. The number of people at your high school or in your small town who are into certain subcultures / genres aren't plentiful enough to further subdivide themselves based on such things. I was lucky to find one other person who loved these bands enough to listen with me via a shared Walkman, one earbud each, on the bus going to away games for softball (she was a blonde cheerleader and I still keep in touch with her).
Tobias and Metro people: there's a really cool film about the whole BLUE MONDAY phenomenon.
TRASH THEORY and their NEW BRITISH CANON series - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70LF-MIX1xw
And LOVECATS came up in a quiz question which I got wrong.
Which song by The Cure begins, “We move like cagey tigers”?
The first I ever learnt of The Cure was when Whigfield was influenced by that band.
"Weirdly hummable" capstones most of the music I know and like and has stayed with me.