If love is a reciprocal feeling, then the Cure and I are deep in it. In fact, the origin of this column you’re reading right now began with a review of the Cure’s latest concert at Red Rocks that ran on this very blog. I was not able to attend the show, though I wanted to immensely, being a Cure fan and all. So I logged on to Backbeat Online fully anticipating a glowing report. What I found upset me to such a degree that I quickly typed in a scathing (albeit immature) retort.
Now, had I known that any real human being would actually read my little tirade defending my favorite band, I probably would have toned it down -- or at the least, taken out the repeated insults. Then again, in admittance of being a passionate and impulsive fan, who knows, really, if hindsight bias does anyone a bit of good?
As it were, the folks at the paper not only noticed my reckless response, but also offered me a job. I then received a personal email from the one and only Michael Roberts continuing our conversation. As I read his intelligent, concise and balanced email, my mind flailed in agony. “What do I do now? I take it back. I take it back. Well, not all of it. But most of it.” After a healing phone call to Mr. Roberts wherein I ate a proverbial crow sandwich (mental note: it’s not good form to attack a writer’s family, for Smith’s sake), my feather-filled stomach flip-flopped in ecstatic relief.
Another conversation with my new editor let me know I needed to pitch a few ideas, and fast. In a daydream I saw the hand coming up out of the water, black nail-polished fingernails no less: the very subject from which all this activity sprang could be my theme: Why I Love The Cure. There are so many reasons why I love The Cure, and it will be a pleasure to share them.
As for the suspicions that I may well have been offered a writing opportunity purely because Westword has some kind of diabolical plan to recruit any and all naysayers, thus quashing resistance to their world domination plan – well, that remains to be seen. I, for one, choose to believe that people really want to know why I love The Cure’s lush synthesizers, happy drums and soaring guitars put to agonizing lyrics.
Regarding my embarrassing yet fruitful comment, I tried to delete it, dudes. Maybe it is better that my first lesson is public knowledge… After all, the Cure landed me a job.
-- Rachael Pollard
Fascination Street will appear every Wednesday, except when it doesn't.