The Cure - Disintegration [1989]

The Cure Disintegration alive in my collection

While everyone is still meme'ing that insipid "It's gonna be May" bullshit, I felt that it was time to remind the masses that good music exists in the world, even if it is 30 years old.

The Cure, Disintegration was released on this day back in 1989.  I was about to turn ll, and for whatever reason, I vividly remember asking my mother why on earth she was playing so much Cure on this day because it did not sound like anything, I had remembered...  Then...  The reason for this is, The Cure as a group had gone from their Darkwave style rather dramatically over the years since their first album, Three Imaginary Boys, in 1979.  Right up into 1982 with Pornography, they were the gold standard for Goth Rock/Darkwave/Gloom introspective culture.  It would be a whole 10 years until I adopted that lifestyle, but when I did, you best believe that The Cure was my go-to when it was not Bauhaus, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Echo & The Bunnymen, OMD, and of course, The Smiths.

Disintegration was a full return to form for Robert Smith and the Cure.  They had gone the long and dusty road of popish music and commercialism for the sake of mainstream success.  As usual, in addition to alienating the core fans of the band, it sent Robert Smith back into the drug-induced haze that for better or worse, fueled the group's comeuppance.  It is sad the price of success is sanity and health, but, in 1989, they went back to basics and purposefully went for the kind of dark that only someone who has seen some shit could talk about.

Lullaby

It took The Cure 8 albums to create something that is widely considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time.  Their first single, Lullaby, easily in my top 5 favorite songs of all time, (Ask me about that list sometime.), was their first single to ever reach #1 in the UK.  Think about that for a minute...  8 albums with countless singles and it took one of the darkest songs they have ever done to reach #1!?  In the states it was a different story, they had long been successful and popular, but it took songs like Fascination Street and Pictures of You to put this album over the top.  (Figures, it would be the most commercial, least dark songs on the album...  Yeah, I threw that shade.)  In fairness though, Lovesong did become a #1 hit in the US, so I guess there was some hope there, right? Regardless, Robert Smith was actively looking to make an album darker than he has done before.   He was in a very different headspace.  The band was wildly popular for the wrong reasons and he was strung out. he was calling for the band to break up!  Talk about not being able to handle fame.  In the states, it was all stadium level shows at that point.  Following the Prayer Tour that summer, after winning numerous awards and claiming to not want to tour or record anymore.  Fortunately, or unfortunately that was not the case.

The Cure would go on to record 6 more studio albums, none of them reaching the success or popularity of Disintegration, but, all of them dragging pieces of it with them.  So yeah...  That is what we celebrate on this day...

Just know, when you weren't listening to Madonna in her prime when Donny Osmond was a soldier when Jodie Watley was a 1 hit wonder, and when the Fine Young Cannibals were driving you crazy with that incessant song, there was the Cure.  They came back to form with one of the greatest albums, ever.

Information about this release pictured above:

I picked this up sealed from Academy Records in NYC.  It's the 2010 remastered reissue, which kind of throws me given the hype sticker on the front.  I mean, technically, they're not wrong.  It is the first time it's been issued on 2LP's, but, it's certainly been released on vinyl before, many times actually.  Polydor did it and did it well along with Electra back in 1989. You can find an original for around $30+ depending on condition.  Curiously, the reissue is significantly less depending on where you get it and what condition it is.  Expect anywhere from $15-30.  As if I had to mention it, on vinyl.

{Sigh} What's Your Record Store Day Plan?

I am not about to begin to shill for RSD.  This is not what this post is about.  I am also not going to dwell too long on why I am not a huge fan of it anymore, but, I kinda have to defend myself a bit before I begin to talk about why I am still going out for it.

In a nutshell, years ago RSD was a cool idea.  It spotlighted independent music stores at the beginning of the vinyl resurgence, and drove people into the stores often for the first time.  The idea, like many good ideas obviously expanded to encompass independent artists and many different types of media.  At some point however, it became more about the money and a lot less about music.   That is my issue.  I am all for getting in line to make a purchase for something I really, really want. 15-20 years ago, it was concert tickets at Jones Beach, 10-11 years ago, it was records.  It was awesome to follow your favorite artists that a lot of people have never heard of and find out that they were releasing a new album just for you on a special day that non vinyl witch folk would even know about.  Getting caught up with other fans of music while waiting for the store to open and hearing the stories and anecdotes of what brought them here and why one store is better or worse than another and how many different record stores you were going to try to get to on that day...  All if it!  It was a great time.  Even over time as the day became less indie and more commercial it was kind of tolerable.  You were getting larger artists releasing or reissuing their work on that 1 day giving more fans reasons to come out to more stores to make the day more successful.

At some point, probably within the last 5/6 years or so, that came to a grinding halt.  Now, RSD is lost in a myriad of gimmicky releases and reissues that only a handful of stores, might carry at premium prices for the truly hardcore that need the heart shaped, liquid and or blood filled, glow in the dark album inside of a scratch and sniff jacket with a lenticular cover.  (Ok, that does sound a little dope.) It is completely unnecessary, and not at all representative of the culture of music or vinyl.  It is more of a yearly expo in how artists and stores can out do themselves and much less about what fans want and expect.  

Then you have the rules that the stores need to abide by.  A list gets made annually and from that list, people get hyped, stores order "X" amount of an album that they think their customers would want, receive half of that order and then one of the following is true;

• They are unable to sell a chunk of what they received because demand for an already over pressed album just is not there and it was too expensive anyway.
• They sell out almost immediately because of flippers*

This is not only frustrating for fans and customers, but it breads a measure of distrust from the store right up through the ranks of the RSD organizers.  So, to that I say, do not believe the hype.  This is the first year in a while where I cannot find 1 album on "The List" that I'm even a little excited about.  (Okay, Maybe the Weezer Teal album, cause, reasons....) Really though, I generally have a better time going out later in the afternoon or the following week seeing what was overlooked and maybe getting it at a discount.  That said...

I have got a whole day to kill on Saturday, and I fully plan on being in at least 1 record store at some point, mostly the truly independent stores that really are not doing too much around RSD.  Also, I am not aiming to discourage you from supporting your local record store. If you're in the Northeast region of the United States, I have a few suggestions of places you should check out if you can.

Red Scroll Records Wallingford, CT

Above all, this is consistently my most favorite record store in the Northeast by.  They had their big annual sale a week ago ahead of RSD to clear out space this year and it was, as usual, awesome.  This year I am assuming as per usual, you line up out back, go through the tent of all the RSD offerings and if none of that does it for you, they store is open for general shopping.  They have live music; giveaways and they generally make a part out of it.  Why are they getting top mention? Well, they are pretty much the ONLY record store I have seen around that somehow manages to get the European RSD exclusives in addition to the domestics.  I snagged a dope Hooverphonic UK release here on RDS a couple of years ago.  In general, you never know what you are going to find in Red Scroll, but you'll never leave without something.  Get here if you can.

Village Vinyl Brookline, MA

I love this store.  Jonathan, the owner, just within the past week moved from the smaller more cramped store in Brookline Village Massachusetts to a much roomier location at Coolidge Corner about 1/2 mile up the street.  The biggest draw here is, in addition to him being an awesome person, of all the used vinyl in the store, literally none if it is in bad shape.  The problem with a lot of record stores is conditioning.  It is my biggest knock against the local Boston favorite In Your Ear.  What's the point of having a decent selection of records if the condition is pure shit?  At Village Vinyl, most if not all the records are in plastic sleeves, the media is in VG+ and higher.  The organization is on point, it is easy to shop, it is bright and it is roomy.  I cannot wait to hit this store weekly once he gets up and running at full speed.  He'll be open on RSD and I believe he hinted at doing something cool.  Bonus about this shop, I have never seen so many sealed records in a used shop before.  (Not in the states anyway.)  If you are in Boston, you need to go here above all else.

Record Exchange Salem, MA

This place is one of the, if not the oldest record store in Massachusetts.  When you get off the train in downtown Salem and look to the hill, you can kind of see it like a beacon.  As you make the trek through downtown Salem past Harrisons Comics, up through the highway and climb just a little higher to that wooden nirvana of vinyl, you get filled with all the history the town has to offer just before you open the door to this shop.  Then you get slapped with so much more.  The wall displays alone are awe inspiring.  Almost floor to ceiling records front facing from an era where rock was king.  Some of the most rare and hard to find bits of music are just around you.  Then you start digging and flying through the racks.  Thousands, and thousands more records in all kids of conditions that you've been looking for have somehow all ended up here through the years.  As you get a stack of music that you plan on buying you strike up a conversation with the guys that work there an realize that they're only there for the same reason.  They love it and cannot picture themselves doing anything else.  You ask if they can hold that Black Sabbath Vertigo pressing of Black Sabbath, you look back and it is gone.  I love this store.  

Bull Moose Various Spots Through ME and NH

I'm not a fan for commercial chains if I can help it, but these guys somehow managed to retain their identity.  Unlike Newbury Comics, which is full on the Bull Moose dark twin as it were, Bull Moose as a company is run very much like and reminds me a lot of Tower Records.  The people that work there proves this.  They are passionate about the music, the movies the games, all of it.  Depending on which store you head into, you'll see a completely different selection of vinyl depending on where you are at great non screw you prices.  The selection is also generally always fresh.  I have never seen much the same stuff lingering in the used and new sections twice.  The biggest bonus about Bull Moose?  This is where Record Store Day began and it shows.  They still maintain the founding beliefs of what it should be.  All about the music and the support.  Get to one if you are anywhere north of Massachusetts.

Rough Trade Brooklyn, NY

Best new vinyl store in all of New York!  I cannot go back home without stopping in there at least once.  It makes me need to the original in the UK.  This place has it all from UK releases to domestic indie.  I mean, everything.  It is a living repository for all genres of music.  It is to new what Red Scroll is to used.  You'll never go in here without coming out with something.  Sure, it is a little out of the way, but where better to get turned on to something new that you cannot get from an average record store in the Unite States that isn't Amoeba?  When I head down in a couple of weeks for the WFMU Record Show, you best believe I'm hitting this place like I'm mad at it.  Right after....

Academy Records Annex Brooklyn, NY

Remember that scene in Pulp Fiction where Mia Wallace does a line of coke in the bathroom, jerks her head up and says, "I said GODDAMN!  GODDAMN, GODDMAMN!"  Yeah, that's the reaction you get when you walk into the Brooklyn location.  It’s bigger than the home location on the Lower East side, and for that you see a lot cooler stuff.  I mean, you can go into any record store and see great things on the wall that are rare and necessary for your collection, but, here, you want it all.  Most used records stores tend to be left with a lot of "filler" albums to the point where you get the feeling that it's been "picked."  Here, that just does not happen. The quality and curated availability of the vinyl here is so far above average, you almost do not need to shop anywhere else for anything ever.  It's a crime that they'll be right around the corner from the WFMU show.  I have a feeling that if anyone stops here first, they'll go broke before they get to the show.  

Woah, 2 posts in 24 hours?  I just tied my posting record for all of 2018!  Maybe I'm serious this time.  Have fun out there this weekend.



* Mother Fuck Flippers.   

They are more than 50% of the reason that RSD has become a raging joke.  Please don't buy anything from these ass-hat profiteering price-gouging dicks.  Visit /r/vinyl and try to see if anyone is willing to grab something for you if you're not in an area or not around a store that has what you're looking for this RSD. I'm sure someone there will be more than willing to grab you a copy at a reasonable price, whatever the fuck that is for RSD, and ship it to you without you having to get it inflated on eBay or something similiar.