Music

Tape of The Cure’s First-Ever American Show Unearthed. Stream It Here.

Alan Cross 1 Comment

Let’s go back to the spring of 1980.  Iran is holding a bunch of American embassy people hostage. Thousands of Cubans floated northward towards Florida in the Mariel boatlift. Terry Fox was about to make his way westward from Newfoundland in his Marathon of Hope.  And the Cure was touring the US for the first time.

They played six shows, three of which were in New York.  Fans were introduced to their new album, Seventeen Seconds.  In tow was Melody Maker journalist, Van Gosse.  For whatever reason, he decided to record the first show on the tour, a gig in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, on April 10.

The audio isn’t great–What do you want?  It was a cassette!–but at least we have the event documented. 

Flip over to Slicing Up Eyeballs to hear the tape and to read more about how it all happened.  And if you want to download the gig, both sides of the cassette are available here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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One thought on “Tape of The Cure’s First-Ever American Show Unearthed. Stream It Here.”

  • I absolutely love this era of the Cure. They were so young.

    Reply

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